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I just bought a Karma and...
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jourdy288 2008-11-22, 18:12 #1
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Subject: I just bought a Karma and...
I just bought a Karma for 3$ (Good deal!) but I don't know if it works...I'm brand new to these, it has all components, and the screen is glowing slightly, a slight blue, and that's it, one of the buttons also, it's bright red, on the upper right, it seems that even though it moves around a bit it gets stuck, can anyone please help?
jourdy288 2008-11-22, 18:30 #2
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Oi, and the scroll wheels broken too...
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Peregrine 2008-11-24, 07:44 #3
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No text on the screen?
[Image: http://pfalcon.org/sigs/Siggy.jpg]
jourdy288 2008-11-24, 09:31 #4
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No text, no nothing.
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M0tah 2008-11-24, 10:07 #5
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Can you get into recovery mode?  Hold down the menu button (to the left of the red stick) and press the power button.  If you can, there should be a model after the "hdd:", but if there isn't the hard drive is likely dead.  If you can't get into recovery mode, I think the mainboard is likely dead.

One more thing: can you hear sounds of a hard drive spinning up when you try to turn it on?  If so, the hard drive might be okay.
peter 2008-11-24, 11:10 #6
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In reply to post #1
If the backlight comes on but there's no text, my first suspicion would be that the screen, or the data connection to the screen, is broken. The backlight coming on probably means that the firmware is OK. What do you get when you connect it to a PC? Even without installing all the drivers, you should at least get a question-mark icon among your USB devices in Device Manager.

Peter
jourdy288 2008-11-24, 14:27 #7
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I get nothing, I tried to go into recovery mode, nothing. The screen just stays blank. I connected it to my PC, nothing at all.
jourdy288 2008-11-25, 11:05 #8
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Subject: Please help!
I can't hear a hard drive spinning, I don't see anything but a blank blue screen. Any idea what's going on? I really would like to have a Karma (I like to be different) so is there anyone who could help?
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Peregrine 2008-11-25, 12:07 #9
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I'm thinking it's dead and you'd be better off looking for another one. There are 3 on Ebay right now.
[Image: http://pfalcon.org/sigs/Siggy.jpg]
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obscure co-star 2008-11-25, 12:21 #10
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It sounds like you probably have a good hard drive, at least. 

(My busted drive just makes a terrible clicking noise...   <_< )

Sorry to hear it's not all working for you, though.  There really are quite a few broken ones around, which can be harvested to get a full working unit.
Dude!  There's no WAY that's your daughter's favorite song!
oh, uh-oh --wait, wait... Is she in a coma???
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M0tah 2008-11-25, 13:29 #11
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Based on the fact that it isn't working at all (aside from the backlight lighting up), I think the mainboard is dead.  You might be able to fix it by replacing the mainboard, but there's no way to tell beforehand what the condition of all the other components are, so you might replace the mainboard only to find out that the HDD is dead and the battery is shot.

Quote by obscure co-star:
It sounds like you probably have a good hard drive, at least. 
Not necessarily.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but if it isn't spinning up, you can't really tell if it's working, can you?
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obscure co-star 2008-11-25, 21:22 #12
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Ahh!  Sorry, I mis-read. 

First time through, I thought he'd said "I can hear the hard drive spinning..."  :rolleyes:

(I really need a head-smacking emoticon)


So then, unless you are really committed, or happen to find a Karma that's an easy fix, you may be better off going with another player...

The guys who've got the TrekStor seem to like it & it's based on the same hardware designs.
Dude!  There's no WAY that's your daughter's favorite song!
oh, uh-oh --wait, wait... Is she in a coma???
jourdy288 2008-11-25, 21:26 #13
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Subject: What about the other option...
I heard about KarmaLimbo, do you think it's a good try? The reason I ask is because I got mine for so cheap, it may be worth finding someone who repairs them. Also, I don't quite know how to open mine if I can find parts...
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M0tah 2008-11-26, 00:40 #14
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Actually, the guy who ran Karma Limbo isn't repairing Karmas anymore (see here).  The site's a great resource though - it has excellent guides on taking apart and repairing them yourself.
John30_06 2008-11-26, 08:24 #15
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In reply to post #13
Quote by jourdy288:
I heard about KarmaLimbo, do you think it's a good try? The reason I ask is because I got mine for so cheap, it may be worth finding someone who repairs them. Also, I don't quite know how to open mine if I can find parts...

I have to agree with M0tah that it sounds like your mainboard, although I've seen defective daughter-boards also cause it to not power up. John Briggs does repairs and refurbs on them. Or you could sell it on ebay as is and pick up a different one there.
 Or you could pick up a mainboard on ebay, but there's no guarantee that that's the only issue.
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