Problem charging iMP 550

[babylonx]

2 years ago I bought an iRiver iMP 550. I'm from Greece so I bought it from our capital, Athens. I live about 350 miles away, in Thessaloniki. I was very happy with my new player until the problems started. 6 months after buying it, it started having performance problems: the sound jumped when I was moving. I thought it was a natural problem, a damage beacuse I used it a lot. It was going worse and another most important problem came up: when trying to charge, the charging started and it stopped after about 2 minutes (charging smiley dissapearing from screen). Even if I left it, batteries wouldn't charge (it would play for about 5 minutes, then turn off) I had 2 pairs of batteries just in case I was out of energy and the same happend with both.
I send it back with guarantie at 11 months of use. Despite the fact they did about a month, they called me to tell me that the player was ok and that my batteries were faulty!!! No jumping, no charging problem according to them! And I had to pay send and receive shipment cost for these bullshit! I accepted that and I packed it and keep it safe for future use cause I bought a cell phone with mp3 player and I replaced it.

Now, one year later, I decided to spend my precious money to buy a new pair of these expensive gumstick batteries, just to realize that I WAS RIGHT! THE PLAYER IS FAULTY AND WILL NOT CHARGE FOR MORE THAN 2 MINUTES!!!

I'M REALLY MAD WITH THAT SERVICE AND I THINK THAT I DESERVE A BETTER SERVICE FOR A 200 BUCKS PLAYER!

Does anyone have the same problem?

P.S.: Firmware upgrades didn't help.

Thnks for your time.

[Lsportline43]

If all you need is to recharge the gumstick batteries then I don't think this is a really bad problem. I've seen gumstick rechargers on ebay and other internet sites before. Do a search and see what you come up with.

[ChristoMorris]

Exactly the same thing for me... I thought one of my batteries was dead, so I've bought another one. It did the trick... for a while. I swapped my old battery with the one I thought to be dead, and same thing, it worked for a short time.

Therefor, I think the player is faulty, cause I managed to charge either the new or the older batteries with a AA charger.

I can't find out what's wrong with the player. Did you find anything about that? I don't want to buy a gumstick charger for the moment...

Thanx...

[w0lv3121n3]

Have you tried claiming warranty? they usually just replace the whole thing

[U10]

While using the AC adapter, try flashing the firmware. Reflashing the firmware on my iMP-350 seems to have resolved the recharge problem I was having. I've been running on the rechargeable batteries for hours today after previously only being able to run for about an hour.

Paul

[ceycey]

Hello, I have just bought imp-700. And I spent last night to run it. Because batteries are not charged,imp700 is switched off in a few minutes. It is impossible to run it with other batteries. Firmware upgrade did not work. I saw many commands above, I just would like to ask if there is anyone who altready solved this problem? If yes, then please help me.Thanx..

[mrmxyzptlk]

I have a tip I want to share with those whose gumstick batteries aren't holding a charge:

I discarded the gumstick batteries that came with my iMP-550, because I could no longer recharge them. I purchased a new set, but after a short time I was having the same problem with the new batteries as well. However, I just downloaded the most recent firmware, burned it to a disc, and played the disc in the iMP-550 - the same procedure I would normally perform to update the firmware, except that instead I was reinstalling the same firmware that was already there. Now the batteries hold a full charge. (This might be the same thing that U10 wrote in his/her post; I'm not sure whether he/she meant flash the current firmware, as I'm saying, or update the firmware.)

I believe this tip should be posted in the iRiver FAQ, or in another prominent position somewhere on the iRiver Web site. I've seen plenty of posts in their forum from iRiver owners agonizing because the batteries in their players will no longer charge. I myself believe that the iRiver batteries I threw away, thinking they were at the end of their usable life, were probably perfectly good.

[Mr-wyx]

Same problem on my friends iMP-550. mrmxyzptlk, hope your tip will help. Thx!

[U10]

Another tip may be to use a regulated 4.5vdc 1000 mah adapter -- one that provides a constant 4.5vdc regardless of the amperage requirements of the player.

[czirjakzsolt]

I have the same problem , can anyone confirm it works?

[rauttiz123]

I have trouble charging the batteries on my less than a year old iRiver iMP-550. The player tries to charge for about a minute and then stops charging. Discharge & charge does not work either. I have firmware 1.81 (eu) on my player and I just tried to reflash it with the same firmware. That did not help.

I searched the web if others are having the same problem and found this interesting disscussion between some customer and iRiver support:
http://www.mp3store.cz/mp3-prehravac...lack:komentare

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for contacting iriver customer service.

If there was any bug or problem on the firmware we don't release or will replace to bug-free version.
Since the release you are the only customer having the problem.

So we assume that your player is defective.

If you have further enquiries, please feel free to contact us again.

Regards,
iris


-----------------------------------------------------
Your Enquiry:------------------------------------------------
Email: ...
Country: -
Model: -
Subject: RE: Reply from iriver Customer Service(CS Ref: 68647)
Dear iRiver support,

there is a misunderstanding, I am not going to return your product therefore
I will not generate any RMA number.

I just wanted to let you know that there is something wrong in your last
firmware 1.81 for iMP-550 that you offer in download area of your website..
After I applied this new firmware the charge functionality stopped working.
There wasn't such issue with previous firmware 1.5x(?) that was in my iMP-550.
You should either correct FW1.81 or will not offer it more.

Regards, ...

---------------------------------------
Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for contacting iriver customer service.


We are very sorry to cause you any inconvenience with our product.

Would you please click below link to generate RMA number and fill out the
form to request RMA.
http://www.iriver.eu.com/rma_request.html?&L=0

If you have further enquiries, please feel free to contact us again.

Regards,
iris


-----------------------------------------------------
Your Enquiry:----------------------------------------------
Email: ...
Country: -
Model: -
Subject: RE: Reply from iriver Customer Service(CS Ref: 68647)
Dear iRiver support,

I have got your product a quite long time and already upgraded to several
firmwares. I am experienced user and I obviously checked all posibilities
before sending you the issue report.

ad question 1) Yes it is on 'Charge on'.
ad question 2) When I hold STOP during the playback, recharge mode icon appears,
however after 1-2 minutes disappears (the display comes to switched off)
and charging is stopped (besides the battery indicator is 'empty').

Thanks for the reply,
...
-------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Customer

Thank you for contacting iriver customer service.

1. Would you please check that charge function on the menu is set to "Charge
on"?
2. Would you try to hold STOP button dudring the playback and changes to
recharge mode?

If you have further enquiries, please feel free to contact us again.

Best Regards,
iriver
-----------------------------------------------------
Your Enquiry:-----------------------------------------------
Email: ...
Country: Czech Republic
Model: iMP-550
Subject: iMP-550 FW 1.81 - doesn't charge
- Operation System : Windows XP

My iMP-550 stopped to charge batteries after the upgrade to last firmware
1.81. I can use it only via AC adapter. Please repair!

Does anyone know where I could get older firmware where charging still works? I could only find the original firmware 1.05 and the latest firmware 1.81.

[rauttiz123]

After I flashed the factory firmware v1.05 the discharge & charge worked again.

I'll keep this firmware as charging is much more important than ogg file support and a worm game. I would recommend flashing an older firmware if you are having problems with charging using the v1.81 firmware.

[Boniver]

Thanks for this information.

[DD]

Originally Posted by Boniver

Thanks for this information.

Thank you for bumping loads of old threads just to access the Buy/Sell/Trade forum! In future, please try and reach post-thresholds in legit ways.

[jankem2ishere]

Had the same problem here, but for me the solution were new Batteries.

[snapper007]

I expirienced the same problem when I bought a second hand unit from a friend. He didn't discharge/charge the batteries according to the manual so I tried to get the batteries back to live without any luck. After approx. 2 minutes this discharge/charge cycle would stop without any warning.

Thats how i tested and solved the problem:
I went back to firmware v1.05(eu) by burning the firmware on a cd-rw with
UltraISO, Write Speed 10x and Disc-At-One (DAO) mode and flashed the player with firmware v1.05(eu). To my surprise the discharge/charge mode worked with this firmware (original firmware) perfectly !
So I burned firmware v1.81(eu) the same way as I did v1.05(eu), flashed the player with firmware v1.81(eu) and to my surprice the discharge/charge mode is working perfectly !

(This issue is a firmware problem and not a battery problem and does mislead easely, beacause I also thougt, that my batteries are faulty)

I presume that my friend did not update to firmware v1.81 properly to be more precise I guess the burning speed could be an important part of this process (don't burn with maximum speed).

I would like to thank all members for their contributions and make this forum so valuable to all iRiver enthusiasts.

Good luck to all

[infest]

I had an imp450 lying around for about 1 yr without use because of the not-charging problem. i upgraded firmware from 1.0 to 1.1 and now it does charge again

i burned the cd with maximum speed, no problems though

[Amartin]

I had a three-years old i550 with firmware 1.03, and it stopped charging like all of your. Sometimes, when i tried to charge it for many times for 1 minute and then changed option to "DischargeThenCarge" , player discharges and then charges normally. But now it doesn't works. All solutions listed in this topic didn't help me. I flashed to 1.05, then 1.81, back 1.05 - no result, no good charging. What else may help?

[nevar9]

I have the same problem. I have already bought a new adapter (Sony AC-E45A) , new batteries (Sony NH-14WM) and i have tried 1.05 , 1.70 , 1.81 firmware. Nothing will work. Player will charge for a minute and then crap out. I figure this is a manufacturing defect. My warranty has expired 1 year ago.. so there is nothing i can do, except to buy a seperate charger for the batteries. However, i wonder if the player would still work with batteries, even when they are charged. So in my case the player only functions as CD player at home nowadays. Pitty...