DMS is detected as "No Disc"

[flyguy111971]

I recently hacked my Kenwood Keg and now i'm having issues with my 120 GB DMS. The original 10 GB DMS still works fine, but the 120 GB is acting strange. It can be read perfectly on my computer and loads fine with PMM. When I insert into my Phatbox it starts to load and then reads "No DIsc". I reformatted both PHTSYS and PHTDATA and reloaded the firmware from Phathack DMS tools. Still, when I insert into the box, it starts reading the first playlist and then it goes straight to "No Disc"
 
What can be done?

[VorTechS]

If you are using v2.10 of the tools, make sure you have created a playlist in PMM containing some music as this version of the tools doesn't create a default playlist.

Failing that, Drop the level 10 RC pairs onto PHTSYS, stick the DMS in the box till it shows No Disc and post the resulting logfile.txt.

[flyguy111971]

I added playlists and still "No Disc"

I dropped the level 10 RC pairs into PHTSYS, stuck it in the phatbox and don't see a logfile.txt when put back on the computer. Do you know the exact filename?

[sbingner]

your partition table could be messed up

[flyguy111971]

So how do I fix the partition table?

What I didn't mention was how this came about(if that helps). After I hacked the Phatbox, I started using the SSA functions a few days later and was cycling through the Artist and Genres on the disc. Suddenly, it got stuck on a disc and the buttons weren't responding anymore. It finally responded with the "No Disc" output and has remainded that way ever since. Even after reformatting the PHTSYS and PHTDATA it still reads "No Disc". When pressing the SSA button again, it still makes the "chime" sound and displays D-01 T-01, but doesn't respond because it thinks there aren't any playlists on the disc, even though I loaded it that way off of PMM. It just goes back to the display of "No Disc".

I've had nothing but problems since I've hacked this device. I was only looking for a way to prolong my Phatbox when the hard drives eventually fail. I could've done without the SSA functions in the first place. My 10 GB disc still works, but I couldn't imagine living without my 120 GB disc.

[markbowen]

You've got another thread about your 120GB DMS not working properly on your computer ("Couldn't initialize SQL DB").  So, it's actually not been working properly in the computer and the phatbox, which suggests the possibility that the hard drive might be failing.

It happened to me last year, and the first sign of the drive failure was the "no disc" in my car, even though for a while it seemed to work fine in the computer.  (Is the drive a Hitachi, by any chance?)

I suggest running a thorough scan (including surface scan, with repair) of the drive.  If the scan hangs and doesn't complete, the drive is toast.

If the scan does complete without incident, try using the hack tools to rebuild the DMS from scratch.

[flyguy111971]

Yeah Mark. I think you may be right. I made one final attempt to start from scratch and loaded a playlist onto it. I put it in my car and after spending about 20 seconds on D-01 T-01 it went to the words "EJECT". I put it back in my USB cradle and my computer can't even read it anymore. It's just a steady green light on the cradle.

The good news is that my phatbox is now hacked. The drive I had was a 120 GB Fujitsu Drive. What is the best new drive to drop into my cartridge now that I'm starting over? What kind of specs should it have? 5400 rpm, serial-ata? Has there been any major problems I should scan on this forum for with creating new DMS drives?

[VorTechS]

The only problems seen with New DMS disks, is that with 250GB drives that PMM gives the 'invalid drive ID' message for.  A workaround looks available for this. 

The specs. are a drive that is a 2.5", 5400RPM or less, PATA (IDE) disk.

There's no issues creating a new DMS, even with v2.10 of the tools (except you lose a tiny amount of disk space).  There are new tools that we're coming to the end of the beta with, you are more than welcome to try those with your new drive if I haven't released it by then anyway.

[markbowen]

Actually, the Western Digital 250GB drives have other issues, and for the moment can only be used successfully with Phathack Media Manager, or the older Phatnoise Music Manager, not Phatnoise Media Manager.  Some other drives will give the invalid ID message, but as VorTechS wrote, there is a workaround for that.

I have a 160GB Samsung ATA drive, and it's worked flawlessly for more than a year.  They are also dirt cheap now.

[VorTechS]

...and for the moment can only be used successfully with Phathack Media Manager...

Just to correct this a little, can only be successfully used when libraries don't have > 127000 tracks or whatever it was   Sorry to jump off-topic

[doowop]

Been working on recreating my DMS and getting PMM to work on my new Vista box this holiday weekend ... spent a lot of time, read a lot of posts, downloaded and used DMS Tools to some success (was able to upgrade my Kenwood Music Keg - KHD-CX910 to firmware 13.01, and add aac plug-in), used Vista's Disc Management Tools to chk DMS for bad sectors ... all clean, but am having the same problem receiving "No Disc".  I've tried the many suggestions on this forum from checking the cable within the music keg to see that it is not loose, to unplugging the keg to reset, and to finally reformatting my 20gb DMS (recreated the PHTSYS & PHTDTA partitions, and then using DMS Tools again to reinstall firmware, aac plug-in, etc).

PMM is working well on my Vista box, I've had success with AT&T Voice on Tap through the many fine posts in the forum.  I have had to revert from my USB 2.0 cradle to my original USB 1.1 cradle so things are slow, but couldn't find a post with USB 2.0 cradle drivers that would work ... also of note I have had several MS Blue Screens of death, but have been able to correct with a reinstall of the USB 1.1 cradle ISD driver.

I'm not sure how to do - "If you are using v2.10 of the tools, make sure you have created a playlist in PMM containing some music as this version of the tools doesn't create a default playlist.
Failing that, Drop the level 10 RC pairs onto PHTSYS, stick the DMS in the box till it shows No Disc and post the resulting logfile.txt." as been posted early in this stream.

I didn't want to start a new 'DMS is detected as "No Disc" post, so I thought I might get some additional info/help from the person who originally posted this stream and from VorTechS.  I've had my music keg for many years, and really enjoy having my tunes and Audible books on the road with me.

Newbie to this forum so thanks for any help and let me know if I need to move off this stream and onto a stream of my own with this topic ...

[markbowen]

Your original problem might be simple.  With Kenwoods, it can sometimes be necessary to just reset the head unit to get it to recognize the Music Keg.  I had to do this the first time I installed, with a 2004 Kenwood HU.

However, you wrote that you recreated partitions and reformatted on your 20GB DMS.  Did you use the Phathack DMS Tools to create and format the partitions, or did you just do it in Vista?  If you deleted and created partitions in Vista, you might have a real problem (assuming your Keg has never been hacked).

Also, the USB 2.0 cradle works in Vista or XP without any drivers.  Did you try it and it didn't work?

Depending on the situation, you might want to start a new thread.

[doowop]

Thanks for your comments ...

I tried to use DMS Tools to 'Create a new DMS', but at the initial step where the tool is creating the partition it failed.  So, I decided to create the partitions (PHTSYS & PHTDTA) myself in Vista.

I'll try the USB 2.0 cradle again.  When I first was trying to use it I could not get the DMS to display within Vista or PMM and so that's when I reverted back to the original USB 1.1 (this seems to be working ok, but slow).

Is your Phatbox/Keg hacked?  I've been thinking that I might give that a try, but have read a few threads where folks have had problems installing the hacks (guess there are several ... like 11) onto their Phatbox/Keg.  I did try the option in DMS Tools, but can't get past Step 4 - the backup step.  Step 4 seems to hang ... I know I need to create my own backup with Vista, but do I need to be more patient with step 4?  Will it actually continue on to the other Steps?

Thanks again ...

[VorTechS]

The No Disc message, especially if you have created the partitions yourself, relate to the partitions not being created in the correct place.  They must start at 1MB into the disc (1024 KB).  The PhatBox won't be able to recognise partitions that don't start in the right place, and therefore reports this back to the headunit as no disc being available.

If the tools fail to create the partitions for you, take a look in the log files...see if there is any more information.
I tested the partition creation with a USB 1.1 cradle and 2.0.   If the partitions are created but not formatted, then you may have a problem with the disc as the DMS tools uses mkdosfs to format the partitions with bad block checks (this can't be overridden).  You could try formatting the existing partitions yourself and then using the tools to 'Update firmware' to get your DMS to working order.