PRS-505 PRS505 "bricked"

dave45 · 09-23-2012, 06:56 PM

Whilst charging my PRS505 it seized up so I stuck the paperclip in the back... and reset the spring-loaded switch several times,,, now it comes up with "Firmware update did not complete successfully Please try again"

????

Googling this phrase turns up several optimistic strategies (like resetting 10 or 12 times)... doesn't seem to work

I've also downloaded the "Guide to changing fonts" and scooped the stuff linked to in Appendix C... problem seems to be that the device is not recognized by Windows USB any more.

I have emailed Sony tech support, but after 4 days all I have is a robot response advising me of 4 utterly irrelevant issues.

Maybe I haven't been pressing things in the right sequence... is there a definitive answer?

Mark Nord · 09-24-2012, 02:06 AM

Hi dave45,

Welcome to MR, sorry to hear from your problem.

As long as it comes up with the "Firmware update did not complete successfully Please try again"-Message, all you have to do is
A) get a Windows PC
B) download http://prs-plus.googlecode.com/files...taller_505.exe
C) connect your 505 to the PC
D) run Uninstaller_505.exe follow instructions on screen.

HTH

dave45 · 09-25-2012, 05:43 PM

Unfortunately not...

The program just sits there waiting for a PRS505 to be connected, but I think because it is "bricked" the device is now not recognized by Windows USB.

Meanwhile I have finally received a response from Sony:
_____________________________________________
In response to your enquiry, please connect your reader to different PC for complete 4 hours, and then try to reset it by pressing the reset button for 7 seconds.

1. If the issue is still evident, please perform a hard reset by following the steps below:

2. Ensure the Reader is powered off.

3. On the back of the Reader, using a pin or paper clip, press the RESET button.

4. Turn on the Reader.

5. While the screen displays "Starting up...", simultaneously press and hold down the Mark button and the VOL + button until the Reset All screen is displayed.

6. Press the 5 button to reset the Reader.

Please note that all the books will be deleted.
___________________________________________

This doesn't work either

My comments :

re 2 - how do you tell with an e-ink screen?
re 3 and 4 - with the paperclip pressed in the power-on switch does NOTHING... you have to release the paperclip first. THEN the power/charging light goes solid yellow, the screen shows "Starting Up" after 20 secs, then shortly afterwards the "firmware did not complete" message WHATEVER you do with the Mark and Vol buttons. And the power light flashes yellow every 2 seconds... until you press the paperclip reset button.
If you plug in the PC's USB lead at the stuck-flashing-yellow stage the screen changes to "Updating Firmware now".

There has to be a way !

rkomar · 09-25-2012, 09:19 PM

Those instructions work on my 505 (at least up to getting the screen for wiping the device). You have to hold down the Mark and Vol+ buttons for quite a while before the wipe screen comes up (~15 seconds). Maybe the filesystem got corrupted (bad hardware, or USB cable yanked or device reset while files were getting copied over) and it thinks it's part way through a firmware update now. Not sure what you can do about it. Out of curiosity, is there a firmware update file on the device now?

BaenSidhe · 09-26-2012, 02:02 AM

It might depend on what PC you're connecting your 505 to. I know that if I tried to connect my 500 to my Windows 7 64 bit PC, it won't be detected by the PC. If you are using a newer PC, try connecting to one with an older OS.

Mark Nord · 09-26-2012, 02:18 AM

Quote:

re 2 - how do you tell with an e-ink screen?
re 3 and 4 - with the paperclip pressed in the power-on switch does NOTHING... you have to release the paperclip first. THEN the power/charging light goes solid yellow, the screen shows "Starting Up" after 20 secs, then shortly afterwards the "firmware did not complete" message WHATEVER you do with the Mark and Vol buttons. And the power light flashes yellow every 2 seconds... until you press the paperclip reset button.
If you plug in the PC's USB lead at the stuck-flashing-yellow stage the screen changes to "Updating Firmware now".

There has to be a way !

re2. after one short press of the reset-button, the device is turned off
re3-4: you are right, release reset, then flip the power-switch

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaenSidhe

It might depend on what PC you're connecting your 505 to. I know that if I tried to connect my 500 to my Windows 7 64 bit PC, it won't be detected by the PC. If you are using a newer PC, try connecting to one with an older OS.

I double that, XP will do fine. (Under Vista/Win7 you might have to disable UAC and run the program as Admin.)

Uppon connect there should be one (1) removeable media dedected with just one file in it "!protected".
At this state run the above mentioned PRS+ uninstaller.

dave45 · 09-26-2012, 07:28 PM

#rkomar - I was only charging it, not uploading files or anything... but smth seems corrupted

#Mark - tried it on Win7 and XP.. no removable media nothing. So the firmware program has nothing to work with...

As it is not responding to anything, I guess its a hardware problem.... would dismantling it help?

I am guessing the repair costs will be prohibitive - may as well buy a second hand one on ebay or a new kindle or abandon e-readers altogether as too much hassle. I've already tried spinning in circles on Sony's repair website and tried asking for a cost... just got a robot response with irrelevant links [sigh]

or is there a way with some form of XML repair file on an SD card?

rkomar · 09-26-2012, 08:40 PM

I've seen others with similar problems explain that they got past the "firmware update wasn't completed" message by either pressing the reset button in the hole about 10+ times in a row while it was starting up, or by holding the reset button down for 10+ seconds and then pressing the enter button. After that, it could be detected by the desktop when the reader was plugged in via USB. You may still have to get the latest firmware upgrade from Sony and install it from your desktop if the reader is actually corrupted.

There appears to be a test mode that you can get into by putting software on an SD card, however, I wouldn't be surprized if the system has to be already booting properly for the tests to work. Anyway, if you're interested, it's described in the 505 Service manual. Search for SKU8473.pdf online to get a copy of the manual.

Mark Nord · 09-27-2012, 03:25 AM

dave45

you might try the Sony-Stock-Updater from here:http://s02.download.sony.com/prs/prs...1.00.18040.exe

But it is crucial to get the Reader detected from the PC.

Hardware-defect is possible, but as long as the message on screen changes from "..failed, try again" to "...updating now" there is some detection on the PRS 505 side.

Can you try with a different USB-cable, please?

And try this sequence to restart and connect the reader:
1) reset, wait some seconds
2) power on, with USB cable NOT connected
3) connect USB cable within the next second, before the start-screen comes up (just reach down after flipping the power-switch, and plug in the connector)

I'm not sure if the Updater should be already running while restarting/connecting the reader, or if it should be started afterwards. So try both scenarios.

PS: repaircost will probably exceed the cost of a new T2, and you will get a significant better display.

dave45 · 09-27-2012, 07:00 AM

Thanks guys - will check out that PDF
and it does go from "try again" to "updating now" when I plug the USB cable in... so maybe its not dead yet.

I'm fairly sure I've tried the USB cable on startup sequence and I've definitely tried hard-resetting > 10 times.

If I've nothing to lose, how about opening the case and disconnecting the battery for a while - would that force any different behaviour?

Mark Nord · 09-27-2012, 10:36 AM

Hi dave45,

i don't think that disconnecting the battery wil change things, but if you are opening the case, check out the service-manual and take extra care with the keyboard-ribbon-cable, it tends to crack.

For me, startup and immediate plug in the USB cord, got the device recognised, so that the firmware could be flashed. (Had to do it quite often while starting developing for PRS+)

Good luck.

dave45 · 09-27-2012, 12:56 PM

I took it in to the local Sony Store, and they confirmed that I'd already tried everything they would have done. The minimum repair cost is 30 UK pounds less than a new T2, which the guy then showed me... looks good. I'm tempted.

But I'll persevere in resurrecting this old thing awhile longer.

dave45 · 09-27-2012, 07:01 PM

I'm now getting "USB device has malfunctioned" whilst connecting the PRS505 to a Windows PC during the bootup process (together with the be-bop noise on audio).

Meanwhile the Sony updater program is loaded and pleading for me to "connect a PRS505 to update"...

the PRS505 is connected and lying that it is "updating firmware now"

it isn't

it is still a brick

dave45 · 09-27-2012, 07:18 PM

oooh - now on the XP laptop its coming up as drive E:\ with a file called "Protected!!" 0KB

plugging it back in the Win7 PC goes back to USB device not recognized

dave45 · 09-27-2012, 07:35 PM

ohhh so close!... Win7 is a non-starter, but XP has promise....

paperclip reset
power switch
as the screen blanks, insert the USB lead connected to XP with the reflasher software running
wait for the bing-bong USB connected noise
(a window may pop up with the protected!! file showing) dismiss it quick - you have 3 seconds!.... the "Update" button on the reflasher program is active - click it quick

apparently starts updating

bong-bing - USB disconnected - reflasher reports "Update isn't complete, please try again"

09-23-2012, 06:56 PM	#1
dave45 Member Posts: 20 Karma: 520 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: sony prs505	PRS505 "bricked" Whilst charging my PRS505 it seized up so I stuck the paperclip in the back... and reset the spring-loaded switch several times,,, now it comes up with "Firmware update did not complete successfully Please try again" ???? Googling this phrase turns up several optimistic strategies (like resetting 10 or 12 times)... doesn't seem to work I've also downloaded the "Guide to changing fonts" and scooped the stuff linked to in Appendix C... problem seems to be that the device is not recognized by Windows USB any more. I have emailed Sony tech support, but after 4 days all I have is a robot response advising me of 4 utterly irrelevant issues. Maybe I haven't been pressing things in the right sequence... is there a definitive answer?

09-27-2012, 03:25 AM	#9
Mark Nord 2B \|\| !2B Posts: 851 Karma: 194010 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Austria Device: Sony PRS505/650/T1/tolino vision 5	dave45 you might try the Sony-Stock-Updater from here:http://s02.download.sony.com/prs/prs...1.00.18040.exe But it is crucial to get the Reader detected from the PC. Hardware-defect is possible, but as long as the message on screen changes from "..failed, try again" to "...updating now" there is some detection on the PRS 505 side. Can you try with a different USB-cable, please? And try this sequence to restart and connect the reader: 1) reset, wait some seconds 2) power on, with USB cable NOT connected 3) connect USB cable within the next second, before the start-screen comes up (just reach down after flipping the power-switch, and plug in the connector) I'm not sure if the Updater should be already running while restarting/connecting the reader, or if it should be started afterwards. So try both scenarios. PS: repaircost will probably exceed the cost of a new T2, and you will get a significant better display. Last edited by Mark Nord; 09-28-2012 at 02:04 PM. Reason: typo

09-27-2012, 10:36 AM	#11
Mark Nord 2B \|\| !2B Posts: 851 Karma: 194010 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Austria Device: Sony PRS505/650/T1/tolino vision 5	Hi dave45, i don't think that disconnecting the battery wil change things, but if you are opening the case, check out the service-manual and take extra care with the keyboard-ribbon-cable, it tends to crack. For me, startup and immediate plug in the USB cord, got the device recognised, so that the firmware could be flashed. (Had to do it quite often while starting developing for PRS+) Good luck. Last edited by Mark Nord; 09-28-2012 at 02:06 PM. Reason: typo

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09-24-2012, 02:06 AM	#2
Mark Nord 2B \|\| !2B Posts: 851 Karma: 194010 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Austria Device: Sony PRS505/650/T1/tolino vision 5	Hi dave45, Welcome to MR, sorry to hear from your problem. As long as it comes up with the "Firmware update did not complete successfully Please try again"-Message, all you have to do is A) get a Windows PC B) download http://prs-plus.googlecode.com/files...taller_505.exe C) connect your 505 to the PC D) run Uninstaller_505.exe follow instructions on screen. HTH

09-25-2012, 05:43 PM	#3
dave45 Member Posts: 20 Karma: 520 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: sony prs505	Unfortunately not... The program just sits there waiting for a PRS505 to be connected, but I think because it is "bricked" the device is now not recognized by Windows USB. Meanwhile I have finally received a response from Sony: _____________________________________________ In response to your enquiry, please connect your reader to different PC for complete 4 hours, and then try to reset it by pressing the reset button for 7 seconds. 1. If the issue is still evident, please perform a hard reset by following the steps below: 2. Ensure the Reader is powered off. 3. On the back of the Reader, using a pin or paper clip, press the RESET button. 4. Turn on the Reader. 5. While the screen displays "Starting up...", simultaneously press and hold down the Mark button and the VOL + button until the Reset All screen is displayed. 6. Press the 5 button to reset the Reader. Please note that all the books will be deleted. ___________________________________________ This doesn't work either My comments : re 2 - how do you tell with an e-ink screen? re 3 and 4 - with the paperclip pressed in the power-on switch does NOTHING... you have to release the paperclip first. THEN the power/charging light goes solid yellow, the screen shows "Starting Up" after 20 secs, then shortly afterwards the "firmware did not complete" message WHATEVER you do with the Mark and Vol buttons. And the power light flashes yellow every 2 seconds... until you press the paperclip reset button. If you plug in the PC's USB lead at the stuck-flashing-yellow stage the screen changes to "Updating Firmware now". There has to be a way !

09-25-2012, 09:19 PM	#4
rkomar Wizard Posts: 2,986 Karma: 18343081 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Sudbury, ON, Canada Device: PRS-505, PB 902, PRS-T1, PB 623, PB 840, PB 633	Those instructions work on my 505 (at least up to getting the screen for wiping the device). You have to hold down the Mark and Vol+ buttons for quite a while before the wipe screen comes up (~15 seconds). Maybe the filesystem got corrupted (bad hardware, or USB cable yanked or device reset while files were getting copied over) and it thinks it's part way through a firmware update now. Not sure what you can do about it. Out of curiosity, is there a firmware update file on the device now?

09-26-2012, 02:02 AM	#5
BaenSidhe Groupie Posts: 150 Karma: 1087916 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: PRS-500 and PRS-650	It might depend on what PC you're connecting your 505 to. I know that if I tried to connect my 500 to my Windows 7 64 bit PC, it won't be detected by the PC. If you are using a newer PC, try connecting to one with an older OS.

09-26-2012, 07:28 PM	#7
dave45 Member Posts: 20 Karma: 520 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: sony prs505	#rkomar - I was only charging it, not uploading files or anything... but smth seems corrupted #Mark - tried it on Win7 and XP.. no removable media nothing. So the firmware program has nothing to work with... As it is not responding to anything, I guess its a hardware problem.... would dismantling it help? I am guessing the repair costs will be prohibitive - may as well buy a second hand one on ebay or a new kindle or abandon e-readers altogether as too much hassle. I've already tried spinning in circles on Sony's repair website and tried asking for a cost... just got a robot response with irrelevant links [sigh] or is there a way with some form of XML repair file on an SD card?

09-26-2012, 08:40 PM	#8
rkomar Wizard Posts: 2,986 Karma: 18343081 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Sudbury, ON, Canada Device: PRS-505, PB 902, PRS-T1, PB 623, PB 840, PB 633	I've seen others with similar problems explain that they got past the "firmware update wasn't completed" message by either pressing the reset button in the hole about 10+ times in a row while it was starting up, or by holding the reset button down for 10+ seconds and then pressing the enter button. After that, it could be detected by the desktop when the reader was plugged in via USB. You may still have to get the latest firmware upgrade from Sony and install it from your desktop if the reader is actually corrupted. There appears to be a test mode that you can get into by putting software on an SD card, however, I wouldn't be surprized if the system has to be already booting properly for the tests to work. Anyway, if you're interested, it's described in the 505 Service manual. Search for SKU8473.pdf online to get a copy of the manual.

09-27-2012, 07:00 AM	#10
dave45 Member Posts: 20 Karma: 520 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: sony prs505	Thanks guys - will check out that PDF and it does go from "try again" to "updating now" when I plug the USB cable in... so maybe its not dead yet. I'm fairly sure I've tried the USB cable on startup sequence and I've definitely tried hard-resetting > 10 times. If I've nothing to lose, how about opening the case and disconnecting the battery for a while - would that force any different behaviour?

09-27-2012, 12:56 PM	#12
dave45 Member Posts: 20 Karma: 520 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: sony prs505	I took it in to the local Sony Store, and they confirmed that I'd already tried everything they would have done. The minimum repair cost is 30 UK pounds less than a new T2, which the guy then showed me... looks good. I'm tempted. But I'll persevere in resurrecting this old thing awhile longer.

09-27-2012, 07:01 PM	#13
dave45 Member Posts: 20 Karma: 520 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: sony prs505	I'm now getting "USB device has malfunctioned" whilst connecting the PRS505 to a Windows PC during the bootup process (together with the be-bop noise on audio). Meanwhile the Sony updater program is loaded and pleading for me to "connect a PRS505 to update"... the PRS505 is connected and lying that it is "updating firmware now" it isn't it is still a brick

09-27-2012, 07:18 PM	#14
dave45 Member Posts: 20 Karma: 520 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: sony prs505	oooh - now on the XP laptop its coming up as drive E:\ with a file called "Protected!!" 0KB plugging it back in the Win7 PC goes back to USB device not recognized

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09-27-2012, 07:35 PM	#15
dave45 Member Posts: 20 Karma: 520 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: sony prs505	ohhh so close!... Win7 is a non-starter, but XP has promise.... paperclip reset power switch as the screen blanks, insert the USB lead connected to XP with the reflasher software running wait for the bing-bong USB connected noise (a window may pop up with the protected!! file showing) dismiss it quick - you have 3 seconds!.... the "Update" button on the reflasher program is active - click it quick apparently starts updating bong-bing - USB disconnected - reflasher reports "Update isn't complete, please try again"