Welcome to the unofficial web page of the RAVE-MP ARC 5.0 / 2.5 MP3 Player.
Here, you will find information, documentation, pictures and the firmware
for this MP3 player.
DISCLAMER:
I'm not responsible for the information, software or any kind of data found
on this page. USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
Why?
I've made this site because I own one of this players that a friend gave
me in a non-working condition. The error was a sad face and a bug on the display
and the internal microdrive doing an ugly noise! yeahh.. typical when a hard
disk is dead or about to dead.
After sending various emails to the GoVideo / Rave support team and getting
no response, i've decided to bring the player back to life by myself.
First, i've dissasembled the unit, removed the microdrive and placed a 128Mb
Compact Flash card. But I've got the same error.
The second step was to look around the Net for this error. I've found a forum
at ecoustics.com with some guys having the same problem (view
the forum).
The problem is that the firmware (or part of the firmware) is stored on the
microdrive. There is no firmware update available on the RAVE-MP
Web Page for this model.
Now, the problem is: How to get an image of the microdrive?
I've emailed again to the Support Team, but I got no response, again.
I've contacted Terry F. from the ecoustics forum and he sent me two images
of the microdrive. Thanks a lot Terry!!
If you are having the same problem, look at "The sad face and a bug"
of this page and you'll find how to repair your player.
If you have any sugestion, correction, or information to ad, feel free to contact me at sclancy_bug@yahoo.com
Pictures
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Specifications
- 2.5 / 5GB internal memory provides 2 / 4 hours of MP3/WMA playback.
- Internal 10hr Lion rechargeable battery.
- WMA 9/DRM compatible and USB 2.0 compatible .
- Large 128 x 64 Mono backlit LCD.
- FM Tuner, FM recording, and voice recording.
- Includes earbuds, power adapter, carrying case, USB cable, and arm band.
Techincal info
This player is based on the SIGMATEL STMP3550 chip, used in many mp3 players,
including the I-Pod Shuffle.
Inside the ARC Player, you will find the following chips:
- Sigmatel STMP3550B. Main controller - DATASHEET
- SDK-DOCOUMENTATION
- Samsung K4S281632F-TC75. 128 Mb SDRAM - DATASHEET
- Atmel AT24C64. 64 Kbit (8Kbytes) Serial EEPROM - DATASHEET
- Philips TEA5767. FM Stereo RADIO - DATASHEET
For the storage you will find one of the following microdrives, depending on the capacity:
- Seagate ST1 model ST625211CF microdrive, firmware version 3.04,
2.5GB.
- Seagate ST1 model ST650211CF microdrive, firmware version 3.04, 5.0GB.
Microdrive Picture
Those microdrives are compatibles with the Compact Flash 2.0+ standard
In theory, you can replace the microdrive with a standard Compact Flash card
(128Mb, 256Mb, 512Mb, etc..)
Internal Pictures
Coming soon..........
The Sad Face and a Bug
If your Rave ARC player is showing a sad face and a bug when you turn it
on, probably your microdrive is damaged or has lost data.
You can replace the microdrive with another one or with a Compact Flash card
but first you need to write an image to the microdrive/card.
Here, you will find a tutorial and an image file to write on the drive.
This tutorial is written to be used with Linux OS. You may do the same job
on a Windows OS, but I don't have the tools to do this on Windows, and don't
want to spend time searching for them. I prefer Linux for this.
If someone wants to write a tutorial for Windows, sent it to me, and i will
post it on this page.
5.0Gb Version: ravemp50.zip DOWNLOAD
2.5Gb Version: ravemp25.zip DOWNLOAD
Requeriments:
- Rave ARC drive image (download it from the links above)
- Compact Flash to IDE adapter or an USB Compact Flash reader (I've used a
digital camera!)
- Compact flash card or Microdrive (At least 128Mb)
- Linux operating system
- Skills on linux, partitions, filesystems, etc..
Step by step for microdrives.
1. unzip the ravempXX.zip file. You will get an 128Mb image file.
2. Identify the device for your compact flash IDE adapter or the USB Reader.
It will be something like /dev/hdb for IDE adapter and /dev/sda for the USB
adapter.
3. Once you have identified the device, it's time to dump the image. Use this
command:
#dd if=ravemp50 of=/dev/hdb (or the corresponding
device)
BE CAREFUL!! if you do this
on the wrong device you may loose data on your local hard disk or other storage
device!
If you are unsure, don't do this. Try to get help
from someone with enough knowledgement.
4. Check the drive partitions:
#fdisk /dev/hdb
type 'p' to show the current partition table, you
will get something like this:
now type 'q' to quit.
5. Now.. you can instert the microdrive on your player and check if it works!
Information on partitions:
The RAVE-MP ARC players use three partitions:
1st. (16Mb) It's not really a file system, but contains the Firmware. It's
identified as a 'HIDDEN FAT 16' (0x06)
2nd. (62Mb) Identified as 'FAT 16' (0x0c) and used to store some files for
indexing the music, playlists and other configuration files.
3rd (The remaining of the disk). It's a 'FAT 32' (0x0c) and it's used to store
the mp3's and wma's files..
When you plug the player to the USB, you will only see the third partition (the data partition)
To Do
Add a tutorial based on Windows
Add Internal pictures