I just bought a 1GB mp3 player, commercialized under the name Zipy Panda TR.

Here's a link: http://www.ciao.es/E_Zipy_Panda_TR__1176027
and a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHx2nKuJ2Fo

I can't figure out which firmware it uses (Actions, SigmaTel, etc). The "about" menu entry only shows total and available space, and then simply "ver: 031000"

Zipy apparently is a trademark used in Spain and Portugal, and I can't seem to find any other country selling this player under this name. However, the language selection allows for several languages: english
german, french, spanish, italian, portuguese, czech, russian, slovak and japanese, so I suppose it is another of these s1mp3s, or something (also because it was rather cheap, compared to players from more famous brands with the same capacity and functionality).

So, can anyone help me? I'd appreciate a lot!

Waldir

Looks like a SigmaTel to me.

Hi Th3_uN1Qu3, thanks for the reply!

Well, the How to modify your firmware (reskinning) post apparently is just for ACTIONS firmware, is there a similar page for Sigmatel? And if there is, I must assume I have a what, Sigmatel firmware v. 031000? The Sigmatel download page shows some examples with the numbers grouped into 3, so perhaps 0.031.000?

I just tried SigmaTel Firmware Extractor, but it gives me this output:

Code: › SigmaTel Firmware Extractor         JimC on Meizu.com/bbs WARNING: Cannot retrieve device capabilities. (50) O pedido nÒo Ú suportado. Found 1 removable SCSI storage device(s): 1. F:\                    Audio Player      v WARNING: This device is not recognized as a SigmaTel device, continuing might re sult in severe consequences. To continue please enter capital 'Y':

Severe consequences? That's scary at least. I'm not sure if I can continue...

btw, the tool download page could use a little more categorization (by player type, that is: actions, sigmatel...)

Unfortunately SigmaTel players can't be reskinned.

But if the firmware extraction tool says it's not a SigmaTel, it may be an Actions chip.

Try using s1fwx to extract your firmware and see what you get.

I don't think so... I had tried s1fwx first, it said

Code: › no device found

Should I try extractors for all the firmware that is listed in the firmware download section? lol

Namely: Anyka, Rockchip, Sunplus, Teclast. Btw are there any others? just in case.

So, what do I do?

Don't tell me the only solution is to disassemble it!!

I can only see two screws both on the same side of the player (under the USB cap)

(some minutes later)

...wait, there's a kind of a "secret compartment" on the side lol

I wish I had my camera here. Uncovered (the cover is a bit hard to remove), it is a rectangular hole, with approximately the same width as a usb plug, but with about 1/3 of its height. I can see lots of pins inside, maybe it's a way to access the chip inside without dismantling it? It could be, since I see no way to open the think without breaking it apart...

I was reading the manual, and the example they use for the about menu is "ver: 10.02.01", So I thought mine could be "03.10.00". I googled this, and (ironically enough) the two entries I found that might be relevant are from this site =P

It's all here (this is the second post, which quoted the first one integrally, so there's no need for the two links )

Do you think mine can have something to do with these?

Well, i doubt it could be an Ankya or a Rockchip, as i've only seen those used in players with a color screen. Teclast is a brand name manufacturer of Rockchip players.

Could be a Sunplus. It was unlikely to be an Actions chip as it has a built-in FM transmitter.

If it is a Sunplus, it can't be themed anyway. But i find the default look of MP3 players with monochrome screens pretty nice, the only things i ever changed on mine were the boot and shutdown logos.

Actually, I'm not interested in looks, but rather functionality. First of all I want to correct some menu entries in portuguese.

But I don't know what are the limits, What can be done with the firmware? I had several improvements in mind but don't know if it's possible. Namely, changing functions attributed to buttons; changing menu entries order; changing the delay we have to keep the menu button pressed for the menu to appear; and several other things like this. Are you saying I can't do any of this?

Since I can't open my mp3, I opened my "old" mp4, which is also from Zipy (the brand was called e-zipy by then)

I found the following in the green board:

0638 MD660IFOD-PCB-V1.2A BW

The MD660IFOD part was the only thing I could find on a google search.

There was also this written in one of the two black chips (or whatever they are):

ALi DRE
M5661R B1
0634 TG05
Y615211000GA

It had a round green sticker saying ROHS. Don't know whether this is useful.

I couldn't read the other chip since I couldn't remove the sticker it had.

So, what does this tell me?

lg wrote (View Post): › Since I can't open my mp3, I opened my "old" mp4, which is also from Zipy (the brand was called e-zipy by then) I found the following in the green board: 0638 MD660IFOD-PCB-V1.2A BW The MD660IFOD part was the only thing I could find on a google search. There was also this written in one of the two black chips (or whatever they are): ALi DRE M5661R B1 0634 TG05 Y615211000GA It had a round green sticker saying ROHS. Don't know whether this is useful. I couldn't read the other chip since I couldn't remove the sticker it had. So, what does this tell me?

ROHS is just a certification. That sticker was probably on the memory chip or something.

ALi... Acer Laboratories inc., well known for their shitty laptops, slow mobo chipsets and poorly-sounding soundcard chips. Their driver division is even worse than the hardware they manufacture. Since when did they enter the cheap MPx player business?

If it's an ALi chip there's really not much to do with it, as i know of no utilities to extract or edit firmware from those.

1) Are you sure it's Acer? I think I read somewhere (aha! it was here) that the ID would be in the green board. Perhaps that is just the device ID, not the firmware chip? By the way, with the info I provided (0638 MD660IFOD-PCB-V1.2A BW), what can you tell me regarding the device's manufacturer? Maybe if I can find other brand names under which this player is commercialised, I will be able to find some reference to the firmware... (well, the data I have is still from the old mp4, but it's better than nothing, I guess...)

2) I suppose my mp3 might have different firmware, since it's not an mp4. It doen't even have a color screen, it's BlackLine, or something. Do you think its firmware is also from Acer, or is it possible that it's from another company?

3) Even if it's Acer too... is it too hard to program a tool to extract data from it? I read about this guy, Dancemammal, who made a tool for Rockchip/Actions. Maybe I'll contact him and see what he says...

4) btw, apparently it is possible to hack the button configuration... I just have to find in what line of code it is, for my firmware! lol

Some links regarding the ALi chip:

• from mympxplayer.org:
  
  
  
  • problem with Mp3 (chipset Ali) (he mentions Bellwood)
    
  • ALI M566/Hynix HY27 Firmware NEEDED PLEASE mympx is dying (he writes "0643 TG05", It might be a coincidence, or it might be the same as mine: "0634 TG05"...)
    
  • Re: Links to firmware for MPx players
    
  
  
  
• elsewhere:
  
  
  
  • prosba do serwisujących sprzęt audio DK-Digital (in polish - I din't even try to read it)
    
  • MP3 Grundig MP600 FM (chinszczyzna)po wgraniu firmware PADŁ (in polish - same thing, no clue what they say)
    
  • ((quien revive mi MP4 )) ? :- ( (in spanish - probably refers to one of these: Duo, Razor or NB/NW)
    
  • #rockbox log for 2007-07-20 (this one refers a Coby MP-C7085 - their website has a LOT of other players, I'lll check if any of these look similar to my mp3)
    
  
  
  

Note: the Axxis webpage I referred to, in the spanish link, has this one, which is very similar to mine (shape, button configuration, etc.) I'll try to see if I can find its firmware. But I don't think it's the same, the screen doesn't look like mine at all:



Is it possible that it is the same device as my Zipy, with a different chipset?

On the other hand, the screen looks pretty unnatural, perhaps it was added digitally, or is just a sticker...

Note 2: the Belwood website has a player that has a firmware exaclty like mine. Exactly the same icons, altgough my screen is black on color and not the contrary -- I guess LED instead of OLED/BlackLine as the casing said xD. Some icons are not in the same place as mine, but overall it's very much alike. Not sure if this really means anything, but here is an image:

I found out what the mistery hole was!

It's a Micro SD socket!!!

check this out: http://emea.apacer.com/en/products/Audio_Steno_AU524.htm

I bet the guys at Zipy don't even know about this, as it isn't mentioned anywhere in the box, or the manual. LOL!

PS - thanks to pawgal for the link in his post (the Bellwood one i listed in my previous post)