"USB connected" - is my A2 dead?

[headspin]

Whenever I turn it on, it scans the files, goes to the main menu, and immediately goes to the "USB connected" screen even though nothing is connected.

I can actually hook it up to a PC and see the files, and disconnect the cable which turns the unit off. But when I turn it on again, it does the same thing again.

Is there anything I can try? Right now, the only things I can do with it are use it as a USB drive and pretend it's a prototype iPhone. [cry]

[Konechiwa]

try holding the joystick down (pushing it in) then turning it on. My screen inverted everything on the right side once...really weird. but i did that, and it fixed it.

You'll see a short "firmware" screen though so dont be alarmed.

[headspin]

I did that... no luck. I even (just now) tried upgrading to the new firmware... the upgrade seems to have succeeded, but still the same problem.

It's like there is some kind of sensor that recognizes the cable as plugged in even though it's not? Maybe there's a way to disable it completely?

Or maybe some file on the hard drive indicates it's in the middle of a transfer?

Or perhaps something made it go to a USB host mode? Does it / can it do that? Maybe some of the keys are stuck?

I think the first option is the most likely, unfortunately, but the second would be the easiest to fix if.

[FoxStream]

This is due to internal PMU[] registers malfunction.
My next Syntex patch subversion 7.x will include special code branch to overcome this internal bug in the a2_player binary.
If you read "patch" related thread, you will see that I've struggled with the same problem while disabling my card reader in the USB-host mode - the symptoms are the same !
I found the "right cure", but my solution relates to the SW v.1.81...

[02keilj]

try plugging the USB cable into the player but not the computer and then using a paper clip touch the two outside pins on the end that would go into the computer, i had this problem with my old iriver H320 and this problem worked, it happened on my A2 a little while ago and i tried the same thing which fixed it

[headspin]

OK, I figured out I can, in fact, perform a downgrade, so I downgraded to 1.81 + Syntex patch v.7 (the newest, right?) and no joy - I also tried the paper clip solution but that didn't work either.

I'll be waiting for the next Syntex patch... for the time being, my A2 is just a 20GB hard drive, and I'm using a $15 refurb 1GB creative player; it's painful for a number of reasons I won't go into (stupid thing can't always remember where I left off - combine that with a top x10 FF speed or less, and a joystick you must painfully keep depressed for the 5 minutes it would take you to get to the middle of a CD). Hey, I guess I hate the thing so much I had to go into it.