Ok, I got my hands on a 1gb USB memory stick, with a 3.5 audio output, kinda looks like a cheap old shuffle. Trouble is, it plays what is inside, but when I hook it up to the usb ports, it only charges, no sign of it as a usb stick anywhere on windows. I assume it was programmed somewhere to just do this, like a proprietary player or something, but is there any way to make this thing act as a regular usb stick?
What exactly is this, an MP3 player, or a USB sound card? If it's an MP3 player (which it does look like), it is very unusual for them not to be usable as a standard mass storage device. This allows manufactures to avoid the whole issue of writing drivers. If it is not showing up as a removable drive, it could be that it is not formatted, it has gone bad, or needs a driver. You should be able to see the stick under disk management in a Windows OS, you can tell if it just needs to be formatted there, or if the storage area has gone bad (you will get a no media error or message if it's bad). If it needs a diver, there is probally nothing you can do unless you can reprogram the firmware on the stick. But you need some serious software skills to dump the binary, disassemble it, reverse engineer it, then flash the new binary onto the stick.
Windows does not see it at all, as anything, even in device manager, its not hidden or anything, tried to find it with a couple of programs, no success. It is a mp3 player, and it is playing what there is inside, like a lecture or something.
usb sticks are so cheap now days you can but a 4gb for around 8 dollars (US), personally i dont think it would be worth messing with.
Well, the one last thing you can try is to view devices by connection in the device manager, go to ACPI (or something like that) PC, then PCI bus, then look under your USB controllers for a mass storage device. IF you don't see it, then the stick is 'broken', and there isn't really anything you can do. Seeing as the stick does not have a case, I'm betting this is a freebe you got from someone, which might explain its missing functionality. Otherwise, a users manual might help, like there might be a magic button combination you need to press to change modes, or other such thing.
oh btw what ever you do with it DONT DAMAGE THAT BATTERY! its a lithium polymer batter from its looks, they are pretty fragile and if punctured they will basically explode (more like flames shooting 2-3 feet on all sides.
Sounds like a freebie, one that is not re-writable. They use similar things to promote new audio releases, you can give them out safe in the knowledge that they can't be re-used for anything else. So unless you can hack the hardware, you won't be able to get it working for anything much. Plus, what will the capacity be? 8 meg? 16meg? Maybe even a whole 32 meg!
or not so much... the worst the ones of that size to are puff up and get hot, Ive shorted one out and it puffed up slowly, and that was it. The skin on them is decently tough, youre not gonna accidentally puncture it. If you are being neglegent maybe, but not accidentally. Treat it nice, by all means, dont abuse them because the risk of damage is there, but its not a bomb waiting to go off. Plus replacements can be a PITA to find.
You may need it's software to be able to get it into 'write' mode, I've seen other cheap players that do.
