Topic: In A Recorder Bind

[DMBprez]

So, I went to charge my iRiver h300 for the show tomorrow (Phish), and I plugged the USB into the little slot, and the machine keeps telling me low battery, rebooting, doing the same, etc.  Then it eventually becomes unresponsive.  I have tried the reset button (has done nothing).  Sometimes the drive will show up in 'my computer,' and I can even access the files on it, but it just says "usb boot mode."

I do not have the original 5v charger that came with this, I bought it in the yard sale here.  It just keeps rebooting and shutting down, not looking good. 

Now, I went to radioshack tonight (originally looking to get a charger, only to find they are about $40), and at the point, I wonder if looking into a new recorder might be my only option.  Only problem is, I have about $65 worth of spending money, and the only recorders I've been finding record at WMA at the highest, which to my understanding is poor quality.

So, do I have any options?  Does anyone know of a recorder that I might be able to run line in>.wav format? 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Best,
Chris

[jbell]

Format the hard drive and put a fresh copy of Rockbox!  That might do the trick.

[sunjan]

How old is the battery?
If you haven't replaced it for many years, once it gets totally flat the recorder might become unresponsive, even with AC connected.

There used to be cheap $2 custom cables on ebay, USB>circular connector, that were good for charging. Are you using one of those, or are you charging USB>USB-mini?

Or for another cheapo solution, get an old retired nokia charger, chop off the cable, reverse the polarity and solder it back again.