Matsui Muggins' Page

A page for the thousands of people who own broken Matsui MP3 players

Duncan - please get in touch again!

Overview

A while ago I blogged about a Matsui 110MR mp3 player and the annoyance it caused me. Soon afterwards I followed it up with a description of how I fixed it together with an offer of help for others in a similar position. The response was considerable and so this page is an attempt to impart the little I've learned about fixing them. Things you need to know:

• If your firmware is corrupted, you can always recover the device!
• To recover the device you need a copy of the firmware which is supposed to be included on the supplied CD.
• None of the CDs I have encountered contain the firmware, nor do they install properly.
• Despite the firmware issue, these little players are pretty nice. A 1GB memory stick that plays your MP3 and acts as a voice recorder for 15 quid! Come on, you can see why I like it.
• Sadly you're going to need a Winblows box (real or virtual) to run this. Blame Sigmatel. I may work on a linux version if anyone's interested.

Quick fix

You just want to fix it and don't care about any of this other junk

Before we start, allow me to point out the obvious: I don't take any responsibility for damage you may do to your device should you choose to follow these instructions. You almost certainly don't know me; I could be a complete psycho. If you follow these instructions and make things worse then take it like a man.

First, if you have the receipt, take it back to which ever DSGi pit (eg Dixons, Currys, PC-World) you bought it from and complain that they sold you faulty goods. Don't stop arguing until the manager gives you a refund. By all means give them my contact details.

If it's too old and you still have the CD, try to install it. If it installs then you're probably in the clear. Run stupdaterapp.exe, plug in the device and let it work its magic.

If none of these things is possible, then you can try my firmware. I only have versions for the 110MR/120MR (1GB/2GB) models. I'm pretty convinced that it will fix any 110MR/120MR out there. As for the 512MB model I don't know, but I have been told, by someone who seems like a very nice man, that the 110 firmware will fix it - so have a go and let me know. Again, try at your own risk. If you have a working 105MR and feel like helping people then get in touch.
Simply:

• Download the zip file for your device:
  • For the 110MR (1GB) and possibly the 105MR (512MB): http://rapidshare.com/files/43505869/110mr-recover.zip.html.
  • For the 120MR (2GB): http://rapidshare.com/files/47672273/120MR_firmware.zip.html.
  I know it's an ugly site and tries to get you to sign up to stuff but just click 'free' and download the zip.
• Virus scan the zip if you have any sense. There aren't any viruses or nasty things in there but you really shouldn't take my word for that should you ? Get in the habit of scanning everything you download.
• Unzip the file
• Run 'stupdaterapp.exe'
• Plug in your mp3 player
• If the software finds it, then click 'start' and let it have its wicked way. I also advise checking the "Format drive" box too - obviously you will loose any files you have on it if you do so. If all goes well, you should have your your player back to life!
• On some occasions it may be necessary to put the mp3 player into 'recovery mode'. To do this, press and hold the play button before plugging it in. Then, whilst continuing to hold the play button, plug it in to the USB, and keep holding play for 10 seconds. Even if the thing seems completely dead, you may be surprised to see that doing this causes windows to recognise it as a new type of device. Despite treating my players very badly over the years I have been unable to brick them and recovery mode always seems to work.
• If it still doesn't work, try it again! I'm convinced it will eventually work for you. Keep trying.

Thanks to Teemu Parkkunen for kindly pointing out a location for 105MR firmware: http://www.ipt.ntnu.no/~knutb/mp3-player/mp3-player.html

Good luck. Let me know how you get on, but don't mail me if you want a response...

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