Rio carbon player does not start it reads UPGRADER. I tried resetting needle in hole but still reads UPGRADER

At best, the hard drive will have come slightly disconnected or seek arm may have become stuck. Try giving it a sharp tap and re-try.

The hard drive may be permanently damaged however.

u have to upgrade the firmwxare of ur unit u can perform that while downloading the utilty from the main support page .

http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/support/rio/product.asp?prodID=215

Go here and download the firmware.

First Reset your player, Do not turn back on. Plug it into your usb cable. Download your updates then run them.

Do not touch your player till your done.

It worked for me. Right now it started to charge. I

I went here for a solution. Then ended up providing one. He he he. Good Luck.

The microdrive is probably broken. Some people have claimed that if you give the sides a sharp tap then it has worked again but if this doesn't work then you probably require a new player. I have managed to replace the microdrive with a CF card in my Rio carbon, this has worked for many people may not work for you (you can read this: Replace broken hard drive with CF card if you want to try)

Hope this helps,

Mowcius

Hi Allyson,
This is a problem which I have encountered alot with my Rio Carbon.
A solution which always works for me is to hold the player face down in my left hand and then slap the back of it with my right palm a little harder than I would if I was winding a baby.
Best wishes, I hope this works for you as it does for me.

Stuck in upgrader mode. Try resetting by inserting a small #1 paperclip in the player. Otherwise, go to the Rio website at realnetworks and download the firmware upgrade.

-Tha Mp3 Doctor

im not sure it'll help but something told me when mine said the same thing that the device needed a new driver. what ever that is.

UPGRADER is a mode that purges the firmware from the Rio player prior to flashing the unit. Firmware is basically the operating system for the player, so if it is corrupted any number of things can occur. You can enter UPGRADER mode to update the firmware on your player by holding down the MENU button when you power the Rio ON. Flashing the player in this mode erases all content. Try the following to get the unit out of UPGRADER mode, if powering OFF the unit will not correct it. ALL PLAYERS - If you accidentally entered UPGRADER mode, turn the unit OFF and then back ON again. - Download the latest version of the firmware for your player and upgrade the unit. Visit http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/support/rio - It may be necessary to run the firmware update more than once. - This process may erase content from your player. - If the player is detected by the computer, it is recommended that you format the player, which WILL erase content from the player. - Macintosh user's try flashing the player on a PC. FLASH MEMORY PLAYERS - Remove the battery and replace it, this will reset the unit. The Rio Forge, Rio se510, Rio Cali [Black Rio Stick], and Rio Chiba [Black Rio Stick] can lock up causing the player to be unresponsive. If this occurs there are two things that need to be performed to resolve the issue. First you want to remove power from the player this includes the battery and a USB connection for 20 minutes to reset the player. There is a capacitor on the player that stores a charge that holds the player in the locked state. By waiting the duration the capacitor will discharge and the player should function as normal. Second you will want to upgrade the firmware to the latest version and format the player to prevent future occurrences. HARD DISK DRIVE PLAYERS - If you have a Carbon, Nitrus, Eigen, or Karma, use a paper clip to reset the unit. Your Rio will power off automatically when it has been reset. It may be necessary to connect the player to AC power and then reset the player if it will not turn on. If you are still unable to have the player exit UPGRADER Mode, then try it on another computer. UPGRADE FIRMWARE - Connect to the internet - Go to http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/support/rio/ - Click on the appropriate player - Click on the FIRMWARE tab [showing by default] - Click on the latest firmware file [example: RioForge_firmware_133.exe] - Click SAVE when prompted - From the SA

You will have broken the hard drive,

Try replacing it with a CF card,

Everybody says that this does not work but it definitely does!

My Rio got dropped and I completely buggered the hard drive so after reading many forums saying that it didn't work I read one that said that someone had told them that sandisk ultra II ones worked (very vague!)

Because I had nothing to lose I went out and bought a 1GB sandisk Ultra II CF card. I then took apart my rio and replaced the hard drive with the CF card. Still not thinking it was going to work I plugged it into my computer and installed the latest firmware (from the rio website) and then HEY PRESTO!!!!!! it works.

I have yet to try an 8GB ultra II card but when I do i will keep you posted.

If you don't believe me then I don't blame you but If you send me a request then I can send you pictures and more details...

Rio will live on

Hope this helps

Mowcius

Sorry dude, with the hard drive clicking you are probably looking at a toasted drive or controller chip. When you get the 'upgrader' screen the device cannot get information from the drive. Your best bet is to remove the drive and try it in another device such as a digital camera or a PDA with a slot. The average life of these devices seems to be about 2 months, with a (very) few people eeking out a year or so. Most of the time the volume control breaks, or cycles, or the drive interface craps out ('upgrader' screen)