Firmware Breakage

Update: I just got the unit serviced by Dane-Elec under warranty. Check post #6 for more info about warranty service from Dane-Elec.

I just got a Dane-Elec branded M6 today. I didn't perform any firmware updates. I was charging the unit, unplugged it without doing anything special to disconnect, and immediately the M6 began to have problems. Upon starting it up again, it remained on for as long as I was using the touchpad and a few more seconds, and then it would shut off. It did this a few more times, then I got a white screen of death.

I attempted to run a firmware update from the preinstalled Dane-Elec firmware (which appeared to be 2.003.2 with Dane-Elec additions) to Meizu firmware 2.003.2. I verified that I was installing the firmware for the correct M6 type (SP and not TP) It got as far as displaying "updating resources" and then promptly died.

I ran DFU Tools as described in the MeizuMe FAQ with firmware 2.003.2. I hit the "Enumerating..." error described elsewhere.

So I tracked down firmware S1.009 and ran DFU with the resources from that.

It seemed to work; I didn't get any error messages and it just showed grayed-out "download" and "abort" options, while "close" was available. Upon unplugging the device and powering it on, it flashed and the screen remained blank. I soft-reset the unit and tried to run DFU again. Windows refused to detect the presence of the unit. I attempted another soft-reset and got the same problem.

Does anybody have any suggestions? I'm at wit's end.

EDIT: For reference, I made certain that I was holding power+m the entire time while running DFU tools.

Hi,
Try doing a hard reset, I think it was pressing right button for 15 secons... or even left button 15 secons that will format the unit.

Anyway it could be a hardware problem...mine got "burnt inside" at its 2nd week while it was USB connected; my new one (warranty) has a longer way when pressing the play button and haven't heaten again so much.

When upgrading, be patient, copy the files, let it do, power it on again, and if it powers off or says something about RESOURCES just copy it again.

Good luck!

(I'm from Barcelona, sorry for my limited english)

Thanks for the link. I'll look at it.

My Spanish is pretty broken, but I managed to find a post that looked like it was what you were talking about- it had 10 steps total, and 7 related to actions performed on the M6 directly.

None of the steps worked. Here's where it stands now.

If I press the power button, the screen will flash once and remain blank. Holding any button + power results in the same flash. It will do this for a few times, then it will stop responding. Holding the enter button down for 10 seconds (as if it were functioning normally and I wanted to do a soft-reset) seems to allow the flash to occur again.

I've plugged the device into Windows after hitting the power button and gotten nothing. I tried it on Linux and the kernel log doesn't even register the device having been plugged in. Same with pressing and holding any of the buttons including m.

Still looking for a solution; haven't found any yet. Any more ideas?

Okay, I'm at an impasse. I can't get to anything approaching a UI on the Meizu and I can't get any computer to acknowledge it as being plugged in. The backlight stayed on for about 10 seconds after hitting power + enter once, and that's the closest to a response I've gotten.

I need help here. Is there any possibility of recovering this unit, or is it bricked? I was really impressed with what I saw of the functioning unit and I'd like to not have to possibly pay for another unit or for a different product altogether.

Alright, here's an update.

I came to the conclusion I could have tripped across the bug mentioned in this post and looked through the documentation that Dane-Elec shipped with the unit.

I couldn't find any mention whatsoever that unplugging it while charging could cause a problem.

The limited warranty from Dane-Elec covers "normal use with the included written materials" and since the bug was not mentioned in the documentation, it seemed as though it would be up for warranty service.

Also, if it happened that I just had bad luck and the unit was destined for brickhood no matter what, it would still be Dane-Elec's fault and they would be obliged under the limited warranty to fix or replace the unit.

Dane-Elec honored the warranty and replaced the unit.

My recommendation to anybody having this problem with a Dane-Elec M6, would be to try to remember if you may have tripped a known (but not documented in the included materials) bug before the M6 died. I haven't had a chance to try out the new unit yet, so I can't tell if I tripped across a bug or just got a bad unit.

Oh, wow, that makes 6 players now in the past few weeks I've found with this same dfamn thing. And MY player isn't even a Dane Elec, NOR an SP unit!