MP3 NOT Connected

[Katrina]

Gee, where to begin?
MP3 player worked with LORs SD card at Halloween, but when we went to put the Christmas show on it Sunday, we had all sorts of problems, mainly being we couldn't run the show through the MP3 player.
So we put the show on a laptop, but the laptop wouldn't play through the speakers from the jack on the MP3 player. Well, we worked around that, too.
So now I'm back to trying to get the SD card/MP3 combination working, and I notice the Hardware Utility, on the LOR MP3 tab, says (in the clock setting section) that in the lower right-hand corner it should say MP3 connected -- and it doesn't, it says MP3 player NOT connected.
So, is that a problem or is there a setting somewhere I need to change?

Now, if it makes a difference, one of the other (multitudinous) problems we fought last weekend was with a 4 gb SDHC card, which I suspected and finally decided was a firmware issue with the high capacity card.
The website says (sort of) "come on, download the latest firmware!" and the Hardware Utility says "don't do this before a show or you'll screw the works" but I didn't listen well and I STARTED the firmware download … and waited a long time (well, it seemed like a long time to a hurried person). Nothing happened except the status said something like "waiting" and the Activity said something like "grabbing unit" -- (no, I don't remember what they said and I didn't write it down and the volunteers were next door ruining my Molex connectors with a torch and too much solder and the mayor demanded I use more than a thousand more feet of wire that I had to pay for because he won't spread out the controllers and he TAPED my pretty wire-nut pigtails!)
Deep breath.
Short story, I canceled the firmware install.

Any thoughts?

Oh, I forgot to say -- with the show on the (original LOR) SD card the MUSIC plays, but the LIGHTS don't light!
With the show (or just the straight sequence) on the computer, the lights LIGHT but the music DOESN'T play.
(I gave up on the 4 gig card)

Also, we used a different computer at Halloween and I had to manually change to COM4 on this computer.

[George Cotton]

The DC MP3 will recognize up to a 2gb SD card.

[wallleyes]

The new firmware you want to download as it has support to make more sd cards work.Make sure you do not have the sd card in the mp3 director when your hooking up your ethernet cable to the mp3 director.It will cause the mp3 director to not be recognized.Also 2 gb cards are the biggest cards that are supported.Hope this helps you solve your problem.

[Katrina]

with the show on the (original LOR) SD card the MUSIC plays, but the LIGHTS don't light!
With the show (or just the straight sequence) on the computer, the lights LIGHT but the music DOESN'T play.
(I gave up on the 4 gig card)

Also, we used a different computer at Halloween and I had to manually change to COM4 on this computer.

I still need a solution to the main problem -- I can't run a show with the Lexar 512mb card purchased from LOR with the system, and I can't run a show WITH MUSIC from the computer.

[Katrina]

I tried again to do the firmware upgrade, and again, nothing happened. Activity said "grabbing unit" but no change, no status bar for 15 minutes. Gave it up again. I think if the hardware utility can't communicate with the MP3 player, it can't do the firmware upgrade, either.
But I can't find anything in the manuals or forum or on the web to solve the problem.

[Katrina]

The good folks at LOR resolved this issue.

[wallleyes]

Thats good to hear.What did the problem end up being?

[Katrina]

They said since the light on the 1602W never stopped flashing, the (and I may not get this exactly right) communications chip on the mp3 board is bad. Not a problem that happens very often, I'd guess, from the dearth of information I found online about it.
They are sending out a new 1602mp3.
Glad to know, though, that it's not something stupid I did or didn't do.