Sony PRS600 hung (1fskin:/l/string…)
My new PRS600 reader from Sony was hung and I was getting pretty worried. I was using calibre on Linux and unplugged the device without unmounting. I would reset it and it would boot, but come to a blank version of the menu screen with 1fskin:/l/string… showing at the bottom. I tried a hard reset, but the device would not respond.
Here are the steps I did to resolve the issue.
- Push in the reset button in the bottom of the reader.
- Power on the device.
- Quickly plug the device into the computer (before it hangs again).
- Rename \database\cache\media.xml to media.xml.bak.
- Unmount and unplug the device to resume operation.
This may not solve every problem, but it worked for me.
Categories: ebook
something similar happened to me. thanks, it worked
Glad to be of assistance.
Thanks Dude,
Your instructions worked! and the eBook is back to normal
Thanks alot
Joey
I can’t thank you enough. The same thing exactly happened to me. Your fix worked
Thanks, after chatting with Sony, I was instructed to send they unit back. Had hammer and fire place ready to alleviate frustrations , your fix worked and I thank you!
My xml file was corrupt on a reader that was an hour out of the box!
Deleting the file worked (Windows wouldn’t let me do anything else).
This hack saved my life! Thank you for sharing.
T-H-A-N-K- Y-O-U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where is \database\cache\media.xml located?
It depends on what type of system you have. On windows the folders will show up under a drive letter. On Linux it will likely mount and icons will show up on your desktop for the device. I do not know about OS X
. Let me know if you need more detailed information.
I have the same problem. I use windows 7 and I tried to find \database\cache\media.xml under C:, F: I:, but I cannot. I am probably too green to find it. Can you help please.
By the way I sent your receipe to Sony help desk, because they cannot help …..
Make sure to connect the device to usb immediately after resetting it. The screen should show it as connected. If you wait until it is hung it will not connect correctly to the computer.
Do you see the database folder on any of your drives?
Eric, Thans a lot! Thans a lot! Thans a lot! Thans a lot! Thans a lot!
What if the device is not resetting when you press the button?
Make sure to slide the power button to power the device back on after you have reset it.
I had a very similar error message, but it was the file system that was corrupted.
Under Linux, I was able to fsck.vfat -a /dev/ the device, which found a bunch of errors and fixed them. I was then able to do a hardware reset, and reload all my books. Whew!
@Eric
I can’t open the file it says the website is unavailable
I can’t say how thankful i am! I tried hard reset and looked up a lot of threads about bricking the reader. None of the solutions work at all. Until i saw this post. Thanks for saving my reader.
@laurence
laurence,
Can you clarify what you are doing when you are getting the error? You should not need to open the xml file.
From SonyReaderBoards.com
Sony Reader hung (1fskin:/l/string…)
Solution
Unplugging the device without demounting will cause this error. Reseting sometime don’t work (when you try to reset it and it would boot, but come to a blank version of the menu screen with 1fskin:/l/string… showing at the bottom).
Here are the steps to resolve the issue.
1. Push in the reset button in the bottom of the reader.
2. Power on the device.
3. Quickly plug the device into the computer (before it hangs again).
4. Rename \database\cache\media.xml to media.xml.bak.
5. Demount and unplug the device to resume operation.
Note: Try charging your reader a couple of of hours with an AC adapter, then connecting it to the PC and renaming the \database\cache\media.xml to media.xml.bak if the above steps does not work for you.
Thanks, dude, you’r my saver!
What a piece of $#!^. I have had this thing crash more than it works. It freezes constantly and always says the battery is low. Can Sony not produce a better O/S for something like this?
The reset did work for me though, with one exception, I was unable to rename the file. Thanks for the good advice. Maybe Sony will get their stuff together and fix the numerous bugs.
Thank you. It worked.
It also has FORMATted internal memory. Thus one should remember to copy data from the book prior to applying these steps.
Ok, guess I was wrong. When I unmounted the PRS600 a second time it did the same thing and now it won’t allow me to bring it up at all. The filename won’t change because it says the file is corrupted. Anyone have any ideas?
thanks a lot… it worked!!!
It happened to me today when I unplugged my PRS600 without safely ejecting first.
Nothing could bring the damn thing out of its bricked status. I was about to give up hope when, frustrated and despaired, I started pushing the reset button and sliding the power switch in succession. Push-slide-push-slide-push-slide for about half a minute when suddenly the stupid thing resetted itself and everything went back to normal. My books were all there and everything seems to be working fine now.
So if all else fails…
Dude, you rule!!!!
it saved my ebook reader! was really freaked out because it’s just two-weeks old.
Thanks for posting this ^^
I have this problem, but cannot get the reader to unfreeze, and windows (vista) is not finding the device when it is plugged in… any ideas please?
Are you powering the device on after you do the reset? The nature of e-ink is that the screen can keep the info from its last refresh. It may be powered off with the “frozen” screen still showing.
This is happening to me and is driving me crazy.. \database\cache\media.xml is not showing up.. where did you find this? I found several things with database but it isn’t there. can you tell me where to find this?
I got it fixed! Thank Goodness, I had spent time with customer support and they only said I had charged it too much but what I did was after I got it to show up on my computer I right clicked on it and went to format and I formatted to default. It was fixed in 10 seconds!
(thanks a lot!)^1000000
I have to add….
I’ve calibre on linux too but, the system doesn’t allow me rename the file \database\cache\media.xml because, linux treat the reader as a read only file system to protect it.
So, I did the de job under Window$$$ XP (Aparently this is a case when the vulnerabilty issues of XP can save the day)
If windows treat the reader as another massive storage media…… if I erease something by mistake….. should I toast the reader by mistake?
Thank you so much! I think Sony owes you now too, considering how much hassle you saved them.
My problem is I can’t get the darn thing to shut off at all, ready to junk it and go buy a Kindle:(
It may be powered off and still display an image on the screen. That is the nature of e-ink. Power is used to change the screen, not to keep the image on it. Try sliding the power button after the reset to see if it powers up. If not, you may want to try charging it for a bit.