troubleshooting intermittent noise

[gmf]

Hi,

This is my first post to this forum, and I just heard of Phatnoise for the first time last week, so...

I just bought a used 2004 Passat, Monsoon sound, that has a Phatbox in the trunk.  It's got a disk (don't
know the size) and about 44 songs from the previous owner's musical library.  I have no
cradle and no software, and don't want to invest in the Phatbox unless I first know that
it's working, which it is, sort of...

Some of the songs play all the way through.  Some skip to the next song part way through,
and some end in a horrendous buzzing noise that seems to come from the right side speakers,
and will stop if the track is skipped or reset to its start.  The timing involved with the (really
bad) noise seems to be about the same each play.  That is, if I restart the bad track, it plays
for, say, 20 seconds, then cuts to noise.  It is definitely not usable.

So, my questions are:
1.  Is this the Phatbox?
2.  Is this the disk?
3.  Is it bad blocks on the disk?
4.  Can it be something else?

I've read about the alternator whine thing, and this isn't it.  I've heard alternator
whine before.  This noise does not allow for any music.  It's nasty and makes you think
the speakers are about to blow.

I can play the radio and in-dash CD just fine.

If it's the physical disk, I can probably replace it.  If it's the files on the disk, it seems that with the help of this forum I can reformat it (I have no problems with computers/software) if I buy a cradle.  If it's the Phatbox itself, I have to think long and hard about whether to invest in it.

Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot this problem?  I don't know the history of this Phatbox at all, but I can grab any info that can be had by looking at it, or taking it out if necessary.  I'm guessing it's 2004-2005 vintage.

Thanks for any help!

George

[VorTechS]

Poor encoding could account for the noise, particularly if the tracks have been ripped from something like Nero 6 using the MP3 Pro encoder [which does all sorts of strange things to the encoded tracks].

Really you need to get hold of a cradle to give it the acid test, which would be to find yourself a CD that is in mint condition, and use the PhatNoise Media Manager software to rip it to the DMS cartridge and then check the playback through the PhatBox once it's been ripped.  If your whine returns, then there is certainly some kind of problem but narrowing it down will be a process of elimination.  [You can download the PhatNoise Media Manager software for free from the PhatNoise website].

Certainly a good test of it is the disk over hardware, would be to check the playback of the same tracks through the cradle on your PC.  If the noise is gone, then there's some kind of fault between the PhatBox and the Head Unit.

It could be cabling, but I find that unlikely if you get initially good playback - but it's definately worth checking that the cables between the PhatBox and the Head Unit are well fitted, and that there are no obvious signs of damage or 'pinching'.

A bad disk is a possibility - which you could test given you had a cradle by running ChkDsk on it, and get it to look for bad sectors, it would certianly account for the track skipping.  If it does turn out to be the disk, you could replace it - but you would need to make sure that your PhatBox is hacked first.

So, you could try begging to see if someone has a cradle they can sell you on the cheap - but you can get new ones on Ebay, this link should show any matches up:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=dms+cradle&category0=

They're not too expensive, and you'll need one eventually - but if you decide not to keep the PhatBox then it'll be handy for the person that you eventually move it on to, or you can re-sell it to someone who only has a USB1.1 cradle.

So to sum up in a take off of South Park: Cradle, cradle, cradle.......!

Good luck.

[sbingner]

You could also probably get it to work with a 44<->40 pin IDE adaptor... where are you at? maybe you could use somebody else's cradle or DMS to test it?

[judb]

sounds like an encoder issue to me.  could be Ogg files that are too high of bit rate or WMA files that are too high bitrate for instance.

Could be a damaged disk too but I think you'd have other issues perhaps.

If the phatbox plays at all it is likely in working order.. but the DMS could be having issues, which are pretty easy to fix in most cases... if the box is hacked or if you get a cradle and hack it you can swap any drive into the dms and carry on easy enough.

[gmf]

Thanks for the quick, informative responses.  As someone who supports open source myself,  that is always much appreciated.  I think the advice to bite the bullet and get a cradle is what I'll do.  It's a good point that it shouldn't be too hard to resell if I abandon the box.  I'd hate to have to back out to a CD changer -- so last century...

If anyone listening has a cradle to sell, my email address is my user id @ maine.rr.com
If anyone's near Portland, Maine and has a cradle to borrow, ditto!

George