Looks like there is a problem with loading the files into the new Reader (PRS-505). Happened to me twice, happened to some other guys over at the
Russian Forum.
The bug doesn't totally brick the Reader, it just hangs it up. What happens is that after you copy some book[s] into the Sony Reader and then unplug the PRS-505 from the USB (having first pushed the "Eject button" in eBookLib) you try to open a book file, and the Reader hangs up with a message "Formatting..." down at the bottom of the screen. Nothing can be done to get the Reader out of this state except a Soft Reset. Plugging into the USB doesn't appear to help. After the reset the Reader comes to the menu, and when you try to open another book or the same book, you get hung with the same message.
It seems that the only way to recover from this situation is by resetting the Reader, and then connecting to the PC before it comes all the way to the menu. The Reader then can be successfully accessed via the USB (both eBookLib and Mass Storage Device interface), the books can be removed, the cache cleaned. I ended up removing all the LRF and PDF files from my Reader to get it back, it may be possible to remove only some of the files.
The problem appears to happen when loading either LRF or PDF files. It does seem to be somewhat repeatable, which raises some questions about Sony's QA. The bigger the loaded file, the higher the chances of hanging up.
Anyone has had similar experience?