Nope, no news. Penbex is bankrupt and there is no data/info from them anymore.

I would say, remove all screws and open the thing to see the main PCB.

Any news about finding the official Penbex firmware that this radio originally came with?

If not, are there any instructions about how to take this radio apart in order to get to the PCB?

Sincerely,

In one of the forum posts there is a description of how to force the update process while triggering it from the main pcb.

My unit also stopped functioning after installing the new firmware.

When I turn it on, it makes a noise as if it tries to open the CD cabinet and then it stops and each time I am pressing a soft switch, it starts this noise again and then stops. I tried to open the CD cabinet but I didn't find any way to do it. So I decided to disassemble the radio and to see what is going on.

Can you tell me how did you disassemble the radio?

There are too many screws there and I am trying to avoid opening unnecessary screws.

thanks

By the way,

If ever a tentative solution comes to mind or is suggested by another member, please let me know. I have still not abandoned the project.

Thank you again.

Spyder

Forgot this:

Only joking of course...

Spyder

Yes, I had read the whole tread. Post # 6 mentions another make radio than mine but I did open up the radio only to realize than I could not see another USB possibility. My radio has 2 outside USB plug-in possibilities: one in the front and one in the back. The one in the back used to be used for the Wi-Fi Dongle. The one in the front had been used for updating or as a media player. I guess my CIR 2000 A will be going to radio heaven...

Thanks for all the help.

Spyder

Did you also see post 6 in that thread?
The first generation Penbex radios has a removable wifi stick attached to USB on the back side and a free usb slot on the front side.
Later generations do not have a visible/removable stick but just an empty usb slot, in this case the stick is inside the case.
The person in post 6 used the internal USB slot to connect the radio to a pc.

Also, the trigger (hold button while powered on) to get into USB storage mode has been changing.
At least what button to push has changed.

Furthermore, on some models the "hold the button and power on" method does only work when you insert the power cable. (eg. forcing a cold boot)
Using the "power on" button is not enough since that is a warm boot and does not get you into the USB storage mode.

As a last option you might check inside. Otherwise I have no idea what to do.

~William

Still no luck. It goes directly to "Checking for Network Device" then to "Select Network Device" when starting up with the UP or Left key held in.

Spyder

Still no luck. Tried UP, Left, Right and Down buttons with no luck.

Radio is getting closer to the garbage pail.

Anything else?

Spyder

You need to hold some buttons.

Read this  thread.

Not sure my last reply was posted. I have just gone wired with the Radio and it picks up a signal from the wire but not the Wi-Fi dongle. It still doesn't recognize a media (USB, SIM, or another computer) and an XP computer doesn't recognize the radio with a USB A/A cable.

I have tried to update while wired with no success.

I'm puzzled. Can anything be done?

Thanks.

Spyder

I am using an XP machine and it doesn't even generate a drive letter for the Pembex machine (radio). The XP computer doesn't see the radio so I can do nothing still.

Up to date I have reset my Wi-Fi, tried every trick in the instruction book and tried to transfer new firmware via USB, SIM Card, and a computer with no success.

I have just now taken the Wi-Fi dongle out of the machine and have gone wired (LAN) and it detects the wire and runs as per original settings but I still can not upgrade the firmware.

Can you think of anything else? The radio recognizes no media at all, not even the Wi-Fi dongle. Am I out of luck?

Spyder

Use windows XP and eject the "drive" (penbex machine) via the manager, do not just unplug and also do not eject via the taskbar icon

I've copied the firmware to a computer, connected the PC to the radio with a USB A/A cable but the PC doesn't pick up the radio. Does the radio need to be at a specific position? I've tried most of them.

Help please...

Check for the recovery method.
You will need a USB A-A cable (such a cable has the plug that goes in the PC on both ends of the cable.. costs 1 or 2 $)
The radio is then connected to the PC as a memory device. You then copy the firmware to it to do the update.
This should work even when the firmware is gone.

My radio stopped recognizing media... I can't see why. This fall it stopped working again, so I reset it to factory settings and tried to reinstall the new firmware. No dice. It doesn't recognize media (USB or other) nor doesn't see the wifi dongle.

Can something be done or is it officially dead?

Spyder