Wanted - Information on Troubleshooting and Repair of Pilots

[ltaylor912]

Hi,

I am seeking information on troubleshooting of Insignia Pilots in an effort to repair some Pilots.  Although I have located some general information on various sites (e.g., this site, anythingbutipod.com, etc.), I cannot locate the specific information needed to address the following issues (details follow this message). 
(1)  Issue: Pilot Does Not Power On with fully-charged battery or when connected to PC
(2) Issue: Replacement of cracked LCD screens with (assumed) functional screens

I've already dealt with, and failed to obtain useful information from, members of the tech support group for Insignia MP# players as well as the local Best Buy Geek squad.  If anyone has suggestions for good sources of information (or strategies for repair), your response is appreciated.   Thanks.

ltaylor912


(1)  Issue: Pilot Does Not Power On with fully-charged battery or when connected to PC.

When attempting to start the player with the ON/OFF switch or when connected via USB cable (I've tried several different cables and different ports), there is not any response.   The lights on the scroll wheel do not light; the player does not turn on.   

The player is not visible in My Computer.  Although not powered on, the player is identified by the PC as an 'unknown device' in control manager and some of the properties (e.g., CURRENT POWER STATE) are listed.  Other properties (e.g., FIRMWARE REVISION) are not visible.   A comparison of the properties of the nonfunctional players with those of a functioning player revealed the missing/differing properties. 

Inspections of the power switch, USB connector and circuit board do not reveal any obvious problems.  Troubleshooting steps also included: disconnecting the battery for a few minutes and reconnecting it, holding the power switch on for an various extended lengths of time,  attempts to power on by depressing various combinations and sequences of buttons - including the power switch.  Also, the player has put on 'Hold' prior to plugging in USB port and then releasing hold.  I have yet to try to uninstall the unknown USB device (the player) and to reinstall it - a ploy that I'll try next.

The current power state is D3.   Under the shaky assumption that the hardware is OK, I wish to determine if there is any way to hack into the unpowered device to change settings that would force it to power up.  Also, I wish to know if the firmware is really missing or just not recognized when the device is in the D3 power state.   Some preliminary searching in forums for developers and engineers is providing some information. 



(2) Issue: Replacement of cracked LCD screens with (assumed) functional screens

I have a couple of players with cracked screens that are primarily black- one that shows about 10% of the right side of the screen; the other that has light illuminating the spiderweb of cracks in the screen.   I would like to be able to read the screen - especially when it comes to using the settings    If I cannot get the non-powering players to work, I am considering trying to replace one of the nonfunctional screens with one that (I assume) is working OK.  I've seen some posts and photos in forums (e.g., anythingbutipod.com) re: Pilot disassembly and (failed) attempts to replace the screen.  Despite the difficulties in successfully replacing the screens, someone must be doing it.   (A couple of sellers on EBay appear to be involved in doing so.)   Any suggestions, instructions, etc. are welcomed.

[Jax]

You're asking the tough questions. I don't have any certain answers, but I have some suggestions that will hopefully help or at least inspire something.

1) Have you tried connecting to them on a less restricting operating system? By this I mean a Unix/Linux environment. Maybe then you could see all the files, as Linux ignores hidden and password protected windows directories.

2) I know nothing about changing the screen out and haven't taken one apart to take a close look at how it's connected, but if you have the right wires, and are lucky you might just be able to solder it into the same location as the old one was.

[Dana]

I was going to suggest anythingbutipod but you have already looked there. There was a good post there with pictures of disassembly. If memory serves, replacing the screen involved de-soldering the video cable and soldering the new one in place. Someone could do it but that someone would not be me.

[tbell913]

   I have an Insignia (my 2nd one in less than a year).  Other than it freezing up frequently, I love it. But now I have a real problem. It won't charge.  I think the USB port has something wrong. I've tried connecting several different USB cables to charge up the battery, but no luck.  I bought a battery on Ebay and requested the seller charge it up so I could at least get to the settings menu.  I did have a setting set to ignore the USB, so I changed that, but whenever I plug in the USB cable, nada, zip, nyt, nothing.  I don't want to go out and buy another...
   Can you fix or do you know of anyone that can fix or replace the USB port in an Insignia?
   Thanks!