Please help! DMS is F-ed!

[Veedubgli]

Ok......long story short, I followed the instructions from http://wiki.phathack.com/DMS_Hack_and_Repair_CD because it was recommended for me to do from someone after they read about my problem (which can be read at: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2106918) .

However, when I got to the part of trying to back up where it is "mounting partitions" and "backing up PHTSYS data...." it said "Read failed."  I went thru every option (reformat, repartition, etc).  Nothing seems to work.  When looking on the PHTSYS and PHTDTA drives, nothing is on them (because I reformatted).  But is that why it is stopping me?  What do I do......is there a site that I can download all the original files and copy them on the appropriate drives?

I can stand listening to one CD or the radio for much longer.

[Veedubgli]

After some more playing around......the message I get now is "Software Load Failed".

[todd1010]

You probably won't get much help from Phatnoise if you tried to hack your DMS!

[Genesis]

If you repartitioned the DMS using ANYTHING OTHER than the Phatnoise repair CD (e.g. Windows, etc) you have scribbled on the signature and you're screwed.

The reason is that the first cylinder on the DMS contains special signature data - if the first partition begins on the first cylinder, as it usually does, it scribbles on this signature data and that's that.  Phatnoise's repair CD specifically avoids this by starting the first partition on the SECOND cylinder.

IF you can find someone with a WORKING and ORIGINAL DMS, you can patch your box using that DMS.  Once you've done that, you can then use the "repair" CD to reinitialize your dead DMS cartridge.  It will then work, but ONLY in a hacked box (e.g. yours) - not in one which expects a "blessed" DMS.

Other than that, your only solution is to send the DMS back to Phatnoise and pay whatever they want to "bless" it again.

[Veedubgli]

If you repartitioned the DMS using ANYTHING OTHER than the Phatnoise repair CD (e.g. Windows, etc) you have scribbled on the signature and you're screwed.

I guess thats what happened, but why would this http://wiki.phathack.com/DMS_Hack_and_Repair_CD have that option if its just going to make your DMS junk?  I thought that was a repair!

Oh well, I'm just going to return it to the dealer I bought it from and they have to warranty it anyways......

[Veedubgli]

You probably won't get much help from Phatnoise if you tried to hack your DMS!

I turned to their support first and everything they told me to do did not work......

[A543]

http://wiki.phathack.com/DMS_Hack_and_Repair_CD  uses the Phatnoise Repair CD routines to safely repartition and format your drive.  They are both basically the same thing.  It's highly unlikely that the Hack and Repair CD caused your problems.

[Genesis]

I doubt the hack and repair CD did, but its not hard to hose the DMS if you use anything else (e.g. Windows) to repartition the disk.

If nothing other than the hack/repair CD was used on the disk's partition table, then that's not the cause.....

[Veedubgli]

I'm really confused at this point.....but just to clarify, my PN worked flawlessly since I got it in April and then a couple of weeks ago just stopped working.  It was then that I contacted PN support, which didn't fix it, so I turned to that hack & repair procedure.

[judb]

sounds like something hardware went bad and you need a new DMS maybe to get it working again.

That or your wiring harness vibrated loose..

Have you counted the number of times the green light flashes...?

[Veedubgli]

Well, now the green and red lights are both steady and just stay on.  

[Genesis]

The wiring harness may be loose.  To find out you have to open up the box and look.

If not, find someone who also has one and try their DMS.  If it works, then yours is bad (simple way).  However, given that you can see the disk in the cradle, my bet is on the hardware being bad - quite possibly the cable to the disk carrier being loose internally.

[Veedubgli]

Update:

I brought it to my local VW dealer and they replaced it at no charge.  (Didn't even buy it from them!)  

I  hope to get another few months out of this one!