Mega Player 533- F/W v2.00.02 & Driver v1.672- Possible Problem & Fix to Recover

[bickel72]

RE: Firmware v2.00.02 & Driver v1.672 Update dated 06/04/06 for Megaplayer 533 - Model MS5533.
I think that there is a possible problem with the above Driver & Firmware Versions as they do not seem to work for the Mega Player 533 - Model MS5533 ???. It renders the player inoperable (ie.Unable to turn player on at all) and also makes the 256MB flash drive unrecognisable to the computer (ie. computer asks for a disk to be inserted into the flash drive, similarly like the SD Expansion slot) .
All Steps to update the firmware were followed to the letter, including no battery, updating to the new version of the driver software v1.672, formatting the drive at the same time and pressing sustained "play" button.
Possible Fix : I was able to make the player operable again by reinstalling the original driver software & rolling back the firmware version back to v1.00.06 again (Try original firmware v1.00.02 if you haven't saved the v1.00.06 Firmware to your hard drive, as MSI does not have any longer the v1.00.06 firmware on their website to download anymore ). It now works as it did before  (unfortunately still with the "ROCK" setting bug) .
NOTE: In order for computer to recognise the drive, Press sustained "Play" button when connecting to the computer, then please go to "start" (below left corner) and enter "programs" and choose "MSI MEGA PLAYER MS-5533" then "Download Firmware".
Computer should then recognise the player and allow for the firmware update :lol_anim:. 
My main concern is that many of MSI's other unsuspecting customers will download this particular software and experience the same problems as I did. They probably won't be able to figure out how to rectify this issue & therefore unfortunately be left with a player that does not work at all .
I have logged this problem now with MSI, but have yet to hear a response from them.
Has anyone else out there experienced this same problem or is it just me??? ???.
I searched this forum for any similar posts for this problem but found none.
If I am doing anything wrong to update firmware v 2.00.02, please let me know.
I did notice however that driver v1.672 software for MS5533 was called a "Megastick" and NOT a "Mega Player". Is this possibly the cause of the problem as it is the wrong driver for the MSI 533 Mega Player - Model MS5533 ???. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[linhart.ondrej]

I have EXACTLY the same problem! Sad to say I have deleted 1.00.06 firmware and 1.548.10.139 updater, so I downgraded to 1.00.01 firmware from original CD-ROM. Thank you very much for recovery solution bickel72 and I hope that MSI will solve this problem as soon as possible...

 

[bickel72]

I am glad to have at least helped one person, linhart.ondrej and I too hope that MSI will solve this problem as soon as possible.

I am still waiting for an outcome to my logged problem with MSI. Hopefully, not too much longer. 

For those people who require a backup copy of the v1.00.06 Firmware from MSI for Mega Player 533 - Model MS5533, I have uploaded a copy on rapidshare. :grin:
 
http://rapidshare.de/files/18883282/MS5533_FirmwareV1.00.06.rar.html

If anyone has been successful with updating their Mega Player 533 to Firmware v2.00.02, please let me know. 



EDIT by Stu: firmware ZIP attached to this post!

[attachment deleted by admin]

 

[linhart.ondrej]

SUCCESSFULLY UPDATED TO 2.00.02!!!!! The problem was that you must keep play button pressed for entire updating process (very annoying but works). So, put off battery, press and hold play button and connect player to USB port (still hold button). With your other hand run firmware updater (version 1.672, still hold button), and check Format checkbox. Then start updating (still hold button). After update is completed you at last release button. Yes, it is 2.00.02 with fixed bugs and some new features!!!

 

[Stu]

nice one guys, consider this stickied!

 

[bickel72]

Unfortunately linhart.ondrej I have already tried that particular technique and it was unsuccessful. 

If you press sustained "play" button when connecting to computer, player is not recognised at all by the computer and the computer tries to locate the device over and over again but with no success. 

Please advise me of how long did it take to get your computer to recognise the device???, I tried holding the "play" button (when connecting to my computer) for over 10 minutes with no success.

If you connect without sustained "play" button first, computer will connect properly and allow for the firmware download. If you THEN press the sustained "play" button during the firmware download (with reformat included), firmware update will succeed but will disconnect abruptly immediately after. (EVEN with the sustained "play" button still being pressed). If you then put a battery into the player, player is then inoperable & no longer works.(ie. it will not turn on at all). 

In order to make the player work again, you have to reinstall the original driver software & roll back firmware version to v1.00.06 again.

NOTE: At this time the screen actually shows that the firmware update was successful with v2.00.02 installed and with v1.00.06 to be reinstalled again.

I have tried several different techniques to update the firmware to v2.00.02 (including following ALL of the advised instructions from MSI) but none of them have been successful. 

linhart.ondrej or anyone else for that matter who has or has not been successful in updating firmware to v2.00.02, could you please advise me of whether you were (1) Successful, (2) What operating system is being used by your computer and also (3) What Device Chip is being used in your Mega Player 533. (You can find this out in the Firmware Update Screen. If you click on the "Show Details" Button within this screen you will see it in the top right corner).
 
My Details are as follows:-
Operating System: Windows Millenium (Me)
Player Device Chip: 3500  

Any assistance that anyone could give me would be great as I will be onforwarding all this additional info to MSI so that they may be able to assist me further with this problem.

 

[linhart.ondrej]

Player was recognised in about 10 seconds, but now after updating to 2.00.02 player drives are not detected by computer so then nothing cannot be copied to or from player. This really starts pissing me off and spoils good image of MSI products. I hope that now I will be able to revert back to 1.00.01 firmware.

 

[bickel72]

linhart.ondrej, from the problem that you describe it may be only a driver software problem. ie Driver v1.672.
Before you go & revert back to the original firmware v1.00.01, (NOTE: v1.00.06 Firmware ZIP is now attached to this post), try this possible fix.
Possible Fix : Try reinstalling the original driver software from MSI Original CD-ROM and see if the computer now recognises the drives properly.
If this turns out to be the cause, I believe the whole problem may be with Driver v1.672 and not the v2.00.02 Firmware Update. Then again, my particular problem could possibly be a combination of the two (since I cannot update firmware to v2.00.02 at all).
Please let me know how on you go, so that I can notify MSI of any results.
NOTE: Could you please also refer to my prior reply post (dated 28 April 2006) and advise me of your particular details, so that I can update MSI with my logged problem. Any help that you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

[linhart.ondrej]

Player firmware 2.00.02. Uninstalled 1.672 driver and installed driver from original CD. Drives are now recognized by Windows XP (but you must press and hold play button when connecting player to USB port, otherwise nothing is recognized by Windows or by firmware upgrading application), but these drives are not accessible. Firmware upgrading application shows messagebox "Media state not recognized.". I try to restore 1.00.01 firmware, (I cannot use 1.00.06 provided by you, because newer version of firmware upgrading application (driver) is needed). Chip version of my MS-5533 player is 3500. And one notice: When I connect player to USB port and restart computer, it freezes with blank screen when Windows XP (Service Pack 2) is booting. Also player works in USB 1.0 mode although my USB ports are all 2.0 version.

10 minutes later...

I successfully downgraded to 1.00.01 and player works fine like new. Everything is correctly detected and drives are accessible. So MSI is responsible for this by posting functionless firmware and drivers. Hope that they will correct this very soon (I contacted their technical support and they simply copied and pasted instructions from firmware download page as reply - unbelievable).

 

[bickel72]

linhart.ondrej from what you say it appears that both Driver v1.672 and Firmware v2.00.02 are faulty.

I have pretty much given up on this upgrade version (if you can call it that). Looks like I am going to have to wait for the next instalment of driver & firmware versions from MSI (if any).

Like you, my initial logged problem to MSI Technical Support got the copy and pasted instructions from the MSI firmware download page as a reply. I then further elaborated on the problem with a detailed response query but to this date MSI have not replied and the query status remains as "open". 

I am not aware of what driver version is from my original CD-ROM, but you can upgrade to Firmware v1.00.06 with it. I have uploaded a backup copy of this MSI Mega Player 533 - Model MS5533 driver on rapidshare. 

http://rapidshare.de/files/20262928/MS5533.zip.html

Note: Unfortunately Firmware v1.00.06 comes with the "ROCK" setting bug.
Refer to the below topic by Hotarm.
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=91816.msg659395#msg659395

I have never used Firmware v1.00.01, so I do not know how good or stable it is (especially when you compare it with the unstable v1.00.02) but v1.00.06 seems to work OK (with the exception of the bug described above).
If MSI ever reply to my logged problem with a solution, I will advise of the outcome on this post.   

 

[abc]

I followed every step bickel72 sent me and it worked fine. @ bickel72  Thank you once again.. Hope MSI can solve this problem or atleast remove that F/W update which is no good at all.. 

 

[Questioon]

Hi,

Briefly, it is possible to install/use firmware version 2.00.02 as seen...

http://something.atspace.com/Gallery/Images/1.jpg
http://something.atspace.com/Gallery/Images/2.jpg

PS: Sorry for poor image quality. All I have was a cheap webcam at the moment.

Edit: I noticed that direct clicking does not work but you can copy paste USL's into browser's address bar

 

[bickel72]

Questioon, congratulations on being successful. 

Unfortunately, the problem is that Firmware v2.00.02 & Driver v1.672 does not seem to work for everyone.

There have been several cases (including myself) where these particular Firmware & Driver Version updates have not been successful & have actually left the Mega Player 533 inoperable afterwards, no matter what techniques were used to update the software (including MSI's Website Instructions). 

Could you advise since upgrading your Mega Player 533 to Firmware v2.00.02 did you get the same problem as linhart.ondrej, where the player drives are now no longer being detected by the computer so that nothing can be copied to or from the player.

Also, it would be very informative if you could tell us:-
(1) What operating system is being used by your computer. 
(2) What Device Chip is being used in your Mega Player 533. (You can find this out in the Firmware Update Screen. If you click on the "Show Details" Button within this screen you will see it in the top right corner) and
(3) Was there anything different in the procedure that you used that allowed you to be successful with the firmware upgrade to v2.00.02?
 
Any further details that you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Questioon]

Hello,


Actually it is a long story including 2 other 533s which are fried (literally) during upgrade process.

Here are some of my experiences...

After completion of one of my upgrade attempts  I inserted battery and get "usb power surge" message when plugged. That rendered the device inoperable with the battery. It was still recognizable by windows both as recovery and storage devices depending on pressing/not pressing start button before plugging.

To be sure I checked the usb voltage of my PC  with a multimeter and it was about 4.5 volts on load. During my countless plugging unplugging attempts I accidentally noticed that if I connect USB cable sort of half way (like only dc power pins connected but data pins not) device was able to start as mp3 player. I mean original mega logo appeared and device was able to play mp3s as normal. Then I made a special usb cable to try to power it with 3 serially connected AAA cells (~4.5 volts total) via USB port. And surprise,... it was working. So for a couple of days I used it with that external battery pack. It was big and ugly though. And I gave it to a friend who likes customized! devices : ).


And here is what I did to install latest firmware into my second 533:

1) I deleted all file instances and registry traces of old 533 driver and downloader versions both automatically (by uninstaller) and manually (coz related sys file was still there, in system32\drivers folder and maybe also in driver backup after automatic uninstallation). Also maybe it is necessary to perform a complete search because despite I deleted the related sys, windows was able to install recovery device  probably from its driver backup folder. I also deleted related oemxx.inf from \inf folder (be careful, don?t delete the wrong oemxx.inf ones belong to other devices). Because windows rename/recopy original *.inf into oemxx.inf.

2a) I put firmware files from zip into driver installation package's bin folder.

2b) Again I put firmware files from the zip into c:\program files\msi\... after installation (though this step is probably unnecessary)

3) I removed battery, pushed the button, plugged in, windows recognized it as recovery device, after about 5 seconds  (not too long coz a device timeout occurs sometimes, and if this happens unplug and replug while still pressing the button)  started software, now device was disappeared from hardware list momentarily and re-recognized as storage volume.

4) Here I get an error message like "operating system error..." It was impossible to use software with the device recognized as "recovery device". I unplugged and re-plugged now without pressing the button, device was recognized as usb storage volume and I started the software and upgraded the firmware. Device was inoperable...

5) Repeated the process, now with pressing the button. I upgraded the firmware. And everything was OK. Rock EQ fault was gone. A playlist function is added, hough I dunno how to use this  as yet : ) When I go into playlist option I?m unable to exit, and only way I found to exit is turnoff. Except this detail it works properly.

My computer is a standard Dell latitude c600 (an old model with one USB-1 port only), with windows xp spII. Device chip is stmp3502 according to latest driver but it was a stmp3500 according to driver on the cd came with the device.

Hope this helps,

Best regards.

PS: Despite the whole adventure I really like this device, its plain design, SD card feature, removeable battery, and especially its stmp35xx chip, also used in ipod shuffles which is regarded as best sounding ipod model, by some people.

PS 2: Maybe this is known to everyone, but I just noticed that it is possible to play non-compressed wav files with maga player 533 (16 bit 44.1 khz stereo PCM files). All you have to do is copying them into "voice" folder of the device. Then you have CD quality audio. I dont know whether it is possible with older firmwares too, or just a feature of latest one.  I also tried higher quality formats like 24 bit 48 khz but device couldnt see these ones

 

[linhart.ondrej]

It is our only hope that MSI will release new FULLY FUNCTIONAL firmware and driver soon.

 

[abc]

Hello,


Actually it is a long story including 2 other 533s which are fried (literally) during upgrade process.

Here are some of my experiences...

After completion of one of my upgrade attempts  I inserted battery and get "usb power surge" message when plugged. That rendered the device inoperable with the battery. It was still recognizable by windows both as recovery and storage devices depending on pressing/not pressing start button before plugging.

To be sure I checked the usb voltage of my PC  with a multimeter and it was about 4.5 volts on load. During my countless plugging unplugging attempts I accidentally noticed that if I connect USB cable sort of half way (like only dc power pins connected but data pins not) device was able to start as mp3 player. I mean original mega logo appeared and device was able to play mp3s as normal. Then I made a special usb cable to try to power it with 3 serially connected AAA cells (~4.5 volts total) via USB port. And surprise,... it was working. So for a couple of days I used it with that external battery pack. It was big and ugly though. And I gave it to a friend who likes customized! devices : ).


And here is what I did to install latest firmware into my second 533:

1) I deleted all file instances and registry traces of old 533 driver and downloader versions both automatically (by uninstaller) and manually (coz related sys file was still there, in system32\drivers folder and maybe also in driver backup after automatic uninstallation). Also maybe it is necessary to perform a complete search because despite I deleted the related sys, windows was able to install recovery device  probably from its driver backup folder. I also deleted related oemxx.inf from \inf folder (be careful, don?t delete the wrong oemxx.inf ones belong to other devices). Because windows rename/recopy original *.inf into oemxx.inf.

2a) I put firmware files from zip into driver installation package's bin folder.

2b) Again I put firmware files from the zip into c:\program files\msi\... after installation (though this step is probably unnecessary)

3) I removed battery, pushed the button, plugged in, windows recognized it as recovery device, after about 5 seconds   (not too long coz a device timeout occurs sometimes, and if this happens unplug and replug while still pressing the button)  started software, now device was disappeared from hardware list momentarily and re-recognized as storage volume.

4) Here I get an error message like "operating system error..." It was impossible to use software with the device recognized as "recovery device". I unplugged and re-plugged now without pressing the button, device was recognized as usb storage volume and I started the software and upgraded the firmware. Device was inoperable...

5) Repeated the process, now with pressing the button. I upgraded the firmware. And everything was OK. Rock EQ fault was gone. A playlist function is added, hough I dunno how to use this  as yet : ) When I go into playlist option I?m unable to exit, and only way I found to exit is turnoff. Except this detail it works properly.

My computer is a standard Dell latitude c600 (an old model with one USB-1 port only), with windows xp spII. Device chip is stmp3502 according to latest driver but it was a stmp3500 according to driver on the cd came with the device.

Hope this helps,

Best regards.

PS: Despite the whole adventure I really like this device, its plain design, SD card feature, removeable battery, and especially its stmp35xx chip, also used in ipod shuffles which is regarded as best sounding ipod model, by some people.

PS 2: Maybe this is known to everyone, but I just noticed that it is possible to play non-compressed wav files with maga player 533 (16 bit 44.1 khz stereo PCM files). All you have to do is copying them into "voice" folder of the device. Then you have CD quality audio. I dont know whether it is possible with older firmwares too, or just a feature of latest one.  I also tried higher quality formats like 24 bit 48 khz but device couldnt see these ones

anyone tried this procedure? did it work?didn't work for me.. 

 

[v2.pain]

I finally solved "the v2.00.02/v1.672 firmware update problem" [after 20 install/reinstall edited for languiage]
[I also tought (at the time) that my player is dead/fried...doesn't matter now dough..]

It's almost funny now how easy I made it to work again with updated firmware..
point is that when you connect it on USB without pressing anything and start updater
and when it says "Media state not initialized" you check "Format" and run it..when completed
unplug it..and then again connect it with play pressed all the time (as described in instructions)..
start updater again with format option checked and wait to complete..thats it!
now finally everything works fine as it should be (v2.00.02)..

P.S. "Questioon" wrote that he didn't figured how to work with playlist..just, when you are in the "playlist", need to press next/previous key for about half a second to navigate through folders (when you copy music to player you put it in folders if you want to use playlist feature)

v2_no_more_pain_manual

 

[Questioon]

Hi,

Thanks for explanation about playlist.

And actually your solution looks similar (same maybe) to my last steps (step 4-5) I mentioned above.

Interesting

 

[abc]

Don't mind my post earlier, it works.. tanx.  

 

[bickel72]

It appears to me that the method described above by Questioon & v2.pain only seems to work for people with Windows XP. 

Please let me know if I am wrong. (I unfortunately have Windows Me).

Would you believe that I am still waiting for a response from MSI Online Technical Support (Request was Originally Sent 15/04/2006). 

Like I said before, I am now content to wait for the next instalment of driver & firmware versions from MSI (if any).