iFP-890 won't connect to anything!!

[susitucker]

Hi,

This is my first post here.

I have an iFP-890 that I've used for voice recording for a couple of years now. I upgraded the firmware to UMS 1.85, and it was used as a plug-and-play volume to transfer files. I have successfully connected it to both Mac OS X and Windows XP SP2. I haven't used the music manager since the firmware update.

The iRiver was in a drawer for a couple of months, unused, and when I found it, the battery was dead. So I replaced the battery and it started right up and worked just like it did before. No problems.

So I made a voice recording--an hour or so--and I plugged it directly into the USB port on my C2D iMac (2.33 GHz, 2 GB RAM, OS X 10.4.10) and waited for the drive icon to appear on my desktop...but it never showed up. I searched through the terminal to see if the volume would appear in /Volumes/ but it didn't.

So I took it to my Dell Latitude D610 laptop running Windows XP SP2, and when I plugged it in, the laptop didn't recognize the drive, and it didn't start to install the new hardware. I checked the device manager (or whatever it's called) and couldn't find anything in any of the connections that referenced the USB iRiver.

I plugged the USB cable into all of the USB ports on the Mac and the PC, and none of them worked, although they work just fine with all of my other peripherals.

The iRiver works just fine--I can replay the voice recording I made, I can listen to the radio--but it won't connect to any computer at all. I've tried removing the battery for up to an hour in hopes of resetting the device. I've restarted the computers in all sorts of configurations--USB plugged and unplugged--to get them to recognize the iRiver, but they just won't do it. I'm stuck.

Obviously I haven't reinstalled the firmware because I can't connect to a computer that will let me transfer the firmware files to the device, so I'm stuck with a Catch-22 here.

Can anyone give me some advice on what I can do to make this connection work?

Thank you for reading,
Summer

[wrench]

Just to be sure: did you try different USB-cables?

[susitucker]

No, I didn't try different USB cables. I only have one cable that fits the iRiver. Where can I get another USB cable that fits my iFP-890?

[wrench]

Hmm, I think it's a standard "USB type A <-> mini USB type B" cable.
I really have a lot of them, because all my USB device stuff (2 digicams, 2 cardreaders, imagetank HD, MP3 player,...) came with such an USB cable and they all fit my iRiver device (and they work, of course).
I've spread all these cables onto the different PCs in my office and at home, so I don't have to care about a cable if I want to connect one of my mini USB devices...

[susitucker]

I finally found another USB cable and I tested it on both computers, but still no luck. Should I give up?

I realize that I can connect the iRiver to the Mac or PC with a male-male audio cable and then record the recording from the iRiver into a sound-editing application, but the whole purpose of the UMS, for me anyway, was to be able to download the whole file within seconds. Still, I guess the iRiver is better quality than an audio cassette. I'm very disappointed.

But how do you delete files from the iRiver? I have only been able to remove files by reformatting the device. That doesn't seem practical all the time.

[wrench]

Originally Posted by susitucker

Should I give up?

Hmmm, well... I don't have any idea for now.

Originally Posted by susitucker

But how do you delete files from the iRiver?.

In file-browsing view, navigate to the file you want to delete and press the REC/MODE button (it has a red dot on it).
Confirm with "yes" and the file is gone.

[susitucker]

Thanks, at least I can "manage" my recordings. I didn't know how to do that.

I appreciate your help.

SST