If you have an iRiver music player and you’re still using iRiver’s Music Manager software to copy files to your player, do yourself a favor and upgrade the firmware to one of the UMS versions. UMS stands for USB Mass Storage, and it will let you use any computer (and any operating system) to move files to and from your player. One of the artificial (DRM) limitations in the music manager is that it prevents you from moving music files from the player to a computer.
I’ve updated both of our iRiver iFP-899 players to version 1.28 UMS. For some reason I had to try out five different copies of the firmware upgrade before I found one that “took”, so here’s a copy of it in case I (or any of my three readers :-)) ever need it again: ifp890us-ums128.zip. Some sites also mentioned a newer firmware version (1.95 UMS), but I was only able to find a Japanese version of it, so I’m holding off on that version.
Update: Found it! iFP-800 Series Firmware V1.95 UMS for all the language versions. Grab them here at iRiver Global or grab the English language version for the iFP-89x models here from my site.
June 19, 2007 at 13:14
I’ve upgraded to v1.95 with varied success. My computer often doesn’t recognize the player (or my ipod either) when I unplug it and plug it back in. Anyway, windows media player recognizes it, but I can’t see it as a drive in “My Computer” and thus, I can’t transfer files. Any ideas? Thanks for any help you can offer.
Adam
July 20, 2015 at 18:33
I have not had your problem but I hear that the FM band is different in Japan to Europe. Could it be that you have installed the Japanese version of the firmware?
June 22, 2007 at 12:31
I have installed the v 1.28 and v 1.95 on my IFP-895 and IFP-899 and the firmware works perfect on both. I have noticed some changes in the settings options. You no longer have the option of recording anything above 96kbps. So for those hoping to record at 128kbps, 192kbps, and even 320kbps you will have to stick with the v 1.25 for awhile.
jake
May 15, 2012 at 15:21
How do you format the IFP-895 with Vista because there is no driver for Vista and thus you can’t use I’ve tried to contact support for info on how to upgrade the firmware because I’ve been told an seen several sites that the only way I can use it on Vista is to upgrade the Firmware but that’s not possible to so without an XP computer according to the iRiver Support but I was wondering if anyone else can give me an idea on what to do. I want to be able to access my 895 on my Vista PC so I can add music but also to access the stuff that I record via FM from Meetings….PS I can’t access IMM because the PC wants a driver that I can’t locate….
June 22, 2007 at 20:26
Good points, guys. I haven’t any problems with the puter recognizing the player as a USB drive, and I’ve never recorded anything where the sound quality was important (just meetings and notes for myself).
But I have actually had problems lately with files getting messed up on the player: 10 minutes into one podcast episode comes a minute of another podcast or song, and some .mp3’s won’t play at all. It seems to mostly happen if I copy/move more than one set of files to the player at a time. If I wait until the first copy/move operation is done, and then copy/move the next set of files, then I don’t get the problem. Annoying to have to use a work-around like that for a USB drive. It should just work like any other drive.
September 18, 2007 at 10:19
Hi there,
I have a 890T and would like to upload songs
that I no longer have back to my PC for storage.
I understand that upgrading to 1.28 or 1.95 will
allow me to transfer songs from player –> PC.
My question is what features will I lose doing so? I’ve seen above that you might have to
copy 1 file at a time for player to play correctly
(that’s ok). Another says you can’t record audio
above 96 or 128kbs…that’s ok.
What I don’t want to lose is the ability to
place songs in the order that I choose to thru
iRiver’s Music Manager.
Or at least be able to still place songs in the order I would like without having to create a bunch of playlists.
Does anyone know if updating to 1.28 or 1.95
ums software disables placing songs into a
particular order without playlists?
I had bought a new iRiver T30 but took it back.
While the T30 could transfer files from the
T30-to-Pc (which is good)…it only stores songs
in alphabetical order instead in the order I
attempt to place the songs into the iriver device.
I have to create playlist all the time.
With the Music Manager on the 890t I can
quickly just drag a song and place it where I
want!
Thanks, Blanton
September 18, 2007 at 16:30
First things first: Updating your player’s firmware will wipe it clean, so don’t do it in order to pull out songs that are already on there.
When you use the UMS firmwares, the play order gets set by the order in which you copy the files to the player.
If you copy over the files in this order to a blank player:
\AlbumA\Song1.wma
\AlbumA\Song3.wma
\AlbumB\Song14.wma
\AlbumA\Song2.wma
The songs will play in this order:
\AlbumA\Song1.wma
\AlbumA\Song3.wma
\AlbumA\Song2.wma
\AlbumB\Song14.wma
It will first play all of the songs in the first directory you created (playing them in the order they were copied over), and then it will play the songs in the second directory.
That’s all the control you have. There are no playlists anymore.
July 15, 2008 at 18:58
Thanks so much for the links for the ums firmware. I installed the v128 and it is working fine. Any reason to upgrade to the v195. BTW where are you from in DK? We lived in CPH for 8 years — what a beautiful city… Please reply by email at your convenience
July 16, 2008 at 0:07
@ Kimosabe:
Sorry, I forget what the new features were in the new firmware.
When I hit the link to iriver.com right now, my system freaked out, warning me that iriver.com has been reported as an “attack site”, etc. etc. Yikes. The new website’s section (iriverinc.com) about the iFP-800 series only links to the 1.25 firmware version, the one tethered to the iRiver Music Manager.
I’m from Aalborg in the North-West of Denmark. Born in a small town 20km South of there, and lived in that area most of my life before moving to Canada.
July 16, 2008 at 0:24
1) would there be a problem to import the v1.95 firmware and then if I don’t like it for some reason to reimport the v1.28?
2) I also had the same “attack site” experience but interestingly, if one types “iriver.com” into ones browser, that “attack” site warning doesn’t come up — it is a normal Iriver site. Maybe there is something embedded in the link?
July 16, 2008 at 0:35
@ Kimosabe:
1) Nope, there’s no problem downgrading to an older firmware version. The player is completely reformatted and reprogrammed when you do the firmware load (that’s why all firmware upgrade instructions for all devices include strong warnings to leave the device alone while it’s upgrading).
2) Yeah, could be the “download=…” bit in the URL. Anyway the link was obsolete, so I deleted it from the blog post now. I’m glad I snagged a local copy.
July 30, 2008 at 23:06
Hello Jan,
As I mentioned, I uploaded the v1.28, using the IRiver Music Manager program. Now that I want to try uploading the v1.95, of course the IRiver Music Manager isn’t “reading” my 899 because now it is a UMS and not an IRiver player!! So, now what can I do? Is there some sort of program that will let me upload the v1.95? Thanks Kimosabe
July 31, 2008 at 3:41
@ Kimosabe:
First backup any files from the player that you want to keep, because the upgrade will reformat the player. Also, put in a fresh battery so you don’t risk a power fail while upgrading (usually a disaster when messing with firmware on any device).
Then simply upload the .hex file to the root folder of the player (e.g. “E:\” if your player shows as the E: drive). Now disconnect the USB cable so the player starts up. If it doesn’t automatically start the firmware upgrade process (it’s been a while since I did it, so I’m not sure) follow the steps listed on this page: Menu > General > Upgrade Firmware > Answer “Yes” and choose “FAT” as the format option.
The player will now reformat and create the default directory structure and you’re done.
December 25, 2008 at 19:56
Hi
I have a iRiver IFP-890 mp3 player and I am looking for firmware or driver updates. I got the player 2nd hand and it works, but I don’t have the installation CD for it. I did try to download the zip file you have posted above but it when I go to install it I get an error message saying the file is corrupted. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks a bunch–I have been looking for a few hours for any information about this and have come up with nothing. Have a good night!
Marie
December 26, 2008 at 16:35
Hi Marie
I tried out the download link from another computer (without being logged in to the blog, etc.) and could download the file and unpack it using Windows Explorer’s built-in view of .zip files.
What’s the size of the file you’ve downloaded? The full file is 1.35MB. If your file is a lot smaller it probably just contains an error message (the HTML page you would have seen in the browser).
I’ll try to send the file to you in an email.
-Jan
January 7, 2009 at 10:19
Hi Jan
I have an IFP 890 and am locked out of the USB connection due to Mac os 10.5.6 upgrade. I have downloaded IFP-8XXT.HEX from you, thank you very much. Just one thing, will I lose the radio function if I install it? Thanks anyway for your helpful info.
January 7, 2009 at 11:50
Hi Berkeley
The radio function will still be there with the new firmware.
January 27, 2009 at 5:27
Hi Jan
Just an update, I finally finished listening to what i had on my IFP890 and followed your instructions which worked perfectly, the only thing I had to do was to make a new folder called MUSIC for my Mp3s. Now it works as a memory stick which is fine and seems faster than music manager. So, this is just to say thanks really.
Berkeley
February 2, 2009 at 16:59
Hi Jan
I have just changed over to Mac on OS 10.5.6 and can’t find my iRiver install dis (because I haven’t used my ifp-899 for a loooong time) but now want to start using it again. I tried copying music over to it from iTunes and it should have worked but I can’t seem to delete some old stuff I have on it?
I have UMS 1.85 on it from some time back – can you give me some pointers please?
thanks
Bea
February 2, 2009 at 21:10
Hmm… So the player is running UMS, and there are some files you can’t delete on it. Not from the device itself, not from the Mac (viewing the device as an external drive) and not from (brrrrrr) iTunes?
Can you format it (from the device or from the Mac)?
February 3, 2009 at 4:21
Jan – LOL, don’t shiver when you think of Macs – they are GREAT! It took me a long time to crossover and now I am so glad I did!
I managed to add files FROM my iMac (through iTunes) and some of the files on the IFP-899 could be deleted, others couldn’t, really puzzling.
I could see the IFP-899 as an external disk and read/write from iTunes.
I even installed the iRiver music manager but it did not ‘see’ the IFP-899 and I even restarted, unplugged and restarted everything from scratch several times. So I could not format it because that had to be done through the iRiver Music Manager……
🙁
February 3, 2009 at 17:55
My shiver was for iTunes, not for Macs.
The player has a function built-in to format itself, in the menu system (Menu > Tools > Format, if memory serves). If you run that, it will reset all the settings and delete all the content and just leave a few default folders.
February 7, 2009 at 2:57
Hi Jan
I can’t find my manual and installation disk which came with the player.
I have tried getting to the Menu but can’t remember how to get there and I have tried all 3 buttons!
🙁
February 7, 2009 at 21:47
No worries. To get the menu, you press and hold the joystick until the menu shows.
To format the player, open the General menu (short click on the joystick), move down to Format, answer Yes to the confirmation.
February 8, 2009 at 21:07
Hi Jan
That was brilliant – now I just have to copy music over to it again!
I just couldn’t even get a copy of the manual online!
Will let you know how it goes with the copying over.
cheers
Bea
February 13, 2009 at 3:41
Hi Jan
I finally got around to copying over from iTunes to the iRiver this afternoon. It worked and there were no unwanted files.
Many thanks for helping me out – it was such a waste not to use the iRiver anymore since I was given my iPod a couple of years ago and the iRiver is just such a good size and hardy as well!
Thank you!!!!
February 22, 2009 at 16:36
You’re welcome.
Yes, a hardy and handy design (I love that you can navigate it by feel). But the battery cover is one sorry bit of design. My wife and I both lost our battery covers in the first few weeks of using our devices. Luckily the battery stays in place just fine, but it sure ain’t pretty.
February 13, 2009 at 23:01
Hey Jan,
I am so stoked to have come across your blog/site. I finally have my perfect mp3 after getting your link to upgrade my firmware. I can’t believe what a drama it was trying to get it from iRiver. I spent hours trying to get the download to work before giving up and downloading from random internet sites only to find, like you said, it wouldn’t “take”. Yours worked and in 3 minutes I had it upgraded – awesome.
It has always annoyed me about iRiver that you needed their software to transfer music. I am planning a trip and bought a flash drive to take extra music with me. So I needed a way of getting files from the flash drive to the mp3 using public computers with no iRiver music manager software. I think it is all go now. Thanks again.
p.s. nothing wrong with having a few AA batteries handy – iPods are for losers. Good luck to you.
Peter
Eureka,
Australia
February 21, 2009 at 12:48
Hi,
I installed the 1.95 firmware. It worked great for about two months. Now, everytime I disconnect the device from my computer it starts flashing the startup screen on and off and the only way to get it working again is to reformat it from the computer – ereasing all the music on the player. Any idea how to uninstall the 1.95 firmware and try the 1.28? Thanks. Rob
rjrosenthal2@gmail.com
February 22, 2009 at 16:19
Yikes, what a pain. I think you should be able to downgrade the firmware just as easily as upgrading it, no?
February 22, 2009 at 4:14
Hi Jan, thanks for all the help you provide. My issue has not been discussed so I am hoping its not a hardware issue. When I plug the IFP-800 into my pc it still shows disconnected in the iriver music manager although it does show that it is connected to a usb drive on the player itself. It also does not show up in the drive list for My Computer. I can still listen to the radio but without a stable connection I have no way to switce to UMS or add any music. Thanks in advance.
February 22, 2009 at 16:32
Yeah, the player doesn’t know much about the nature of the USB connection: It’ll say “USB connected” as soon as there’s something on the other end of the USB wire.
If you haven’t already upgraded the firmware of the iRiver device to UMS, then the music manager is the only program that WILL recognize the drive. And I don’t know much about the music manager or how to troubleshoot connections there, sorry. :-/
If you have upgraded to UMS firmware, then the player should show up as a drive letter. I’ve sometimes had USB drives not show up on my drive list in Windows (on both XP and Vista, I think) because of drive letter confusion: Let’s say you have a harddrive C and a DVD drive D. And you’ve also mapped a network drive from another computer to use the drive letter F. If you now connect a camera or an external harddrive, it’ll take the drive letter E. And if you NOW also connect the iRiver player, it may not show up as a drive because Windows can’t give it the letter F (already used by the network drive), and it’s not clever enough to give it the letter G. 🙁
The fix of course is to make room in the list of drive letters, either by unplugging the device that takes up the E letter, or by using a letter much higher than F for the mapped network drive.
March 30, 2009 at 7:53
Thank you thank you thank you for the iRiver UMS firmware file for my iFP-890. iRiver seems to have pulled it from their web site, and all the driver download services link in a giant circle back to iRiver’s dead web site. Your file worked great the first time! Much appreciated.
April 12, 2009 at 12:20
Thanks for archiving the 1.28 update.. it took me ages to find- and iriver only stock the 1.25 version. I still use the ifp-899 as it’s small and easy to navigate – the radio’s good too and it’s a useful dictaphone.
cheers
John – Ireland
June 18, 2009 at 17:32
ok, embarrassed techie here… I’ve upgraded to a Vista x64 box and haven’t touched my IFP-895 in quite some time. I decided it would be nice to listen to some tunes while I mow tonight, but I can’t get Vista to recognize that I’ve plugged in my mp3 player. It’s got the v1.25 firmware, but the Music Manager I just downloaded (3.16) doesn’t see that the device is connected either. LOL I can’t upgrade the firmware if it can’t see the device… help! Vista asks me for a driver, but I’ve Googled for some time now and all I keep finding are .hex files, no Vista drivers.
July 5, 2009 at 14:33
I have an ifp-799 with the same problem. My new Windows Vista64 machine won’t recognize the hardware. I don’t *want* to flash the firmware to UMS because I use the bugger for recording my own audio podcasts. So pegging the recording bitrate at a tawdry 96kbps is unacceptable.
*Supposedly* you can install the Music Manager software by setting the properties to run in compatibility mode for Win XP SP2 when you install. I tried that and STILL when I plug it in I get the message to install the drivers… which don’t seem to exist anywhere.
July 5, 2009 at 18:01
If it’s the 64 bit Windows versions that cause the problem, I’d try running a virtual 32 bit Windows version and connect from there.
July 22, 2009 at 14:57
Hi, Jan. I have an ifp-895 that my iRiver Music Manager no longer recognizes (it says “disconnected” whenever I start up the program). I have downloaded the .hex file and ifp800.sys onto my computer’s desktop but how do I get Music Manager to now recognize the player? Windows XP immediately recognizes that it’s an iRiver 800-series player but it can’t find the driver for it, and it doesn’t show up as an E: drive like my USB key, so it doesn’t help.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
July 27, 2009 at 0:15
Hyim, when you connect the player, is there “room for it” in the drive letter sequence? I’ve sometimes experienced that Windows didn’t assign a drive letter to a USB drive. I think it was a situation like this:
C: internal harddrive
D: internal harddrive
F: internal DVD drive
Now I connect one USB drive (my camera, for example) and it gets E:. Then I connect another USB drive (my music player, for example), and it can’t get F: (already taken) and for some reason doesn’t get G: or any other drive letter. I can see the drive in Windows’ drive manager, but it never gets a letter assigned.
To prevent this situation as much as possible, I usually change the drive letters on my internal DVD drive(s) to something like V or W. That also gets them “out of the way” in Windows Explorer etc. as it puts these rarely-used drives at the end of the drive list.
August 13, 2009 at 22:06
Hey does anyone know a way to get the music off the the iriver player before doing the update of the firmware? I lost all the music several years back when I blew the HD on my computer. I dont want to lose the music on the player. IFP 895 is what I have
August 13, 2009 at 22:10
I forgot to ask this on last post. If I update to the 1.28 UMS what wont work anymore? I mean will the radio, Eq, 3D extreme Eq work still?
August 15, 2009 at 23:41
Diego, if your device is still in music manager mode, then that program’s your only option for interacting with the memory on the player. I don’t know if it will let you re-upload music from the player to the computer.
All the features that I’ve ever used still work when you upgrade/switch to the UMS firmware version.
August 23, 2009 at 2:05
Thx I tried it. Everything works. I like that u dont have to use the music manager.
August 21, 2009 at 14:35
Can you use the ifp-89X ums firmware with ifp-880?
December 17, 2009 at 6:47
For those who don’t know: Continually restart iRiver Music Manager. About 1 out of 10 times, it will let you copy the mp3s back to the computer. (!) (Thanks, iRiver, for building in this emergency back door.)
December 17, 2009 at 22:18
John Pinion » Hey, that’s a great tip!
December 27, 2009 at 12:27
None of the computers in our house will recognize my iriver ifp-899 mp3 player. I have dowloaded the drivers, and the iriver music manager with no success. Help!!! I’ve tried with both Vista and XP – no luck. I am sooo frustrated! Any help would be great! MP3 shows connected to USB – but the computer does not recognize it. Does not show up under the drives, WMP does not show it is connected and neither does iriver music manager… Any suggestions?
December 29, 2009 at 14:15
same here…. i am unable too. It always shows disconnected.
December 30, 2009 at 14:14
My now second PC is XP/SP3. I have an iFP-899 and an iFP-390T and have been using the Music Manager software. It all worked great. I just set up a new PC running Win7 Pro 64bit OS. I was able to install the Music Manager software OK but can’t get Win7 to install a driver for either iFP. Win7 device manager sees it, give it the yellow exclamation mark and labels it “Unknown Device”. I think it gives it a “not working code of 43”. I’ve tried XP drivers (can’t find Vista) but no deal. As far as I can see, iRiver doesn’t support 64 bit OS Vista or otherwise.
I also have an LPlayer (1LP 8GB) and have been using the iRiverPlus software for USM with it. I downloaded the new iRiverPlus3. It installed on Win7 x64 but gave me one of those flashing errors I could read. However, it still seems to work fine. BTW the Plus3 allows me to create playlists and you can change the play order of the items. Clunky but works.
I decided to convert my iFP-390T to the USM software to see it that would work with Win7/Plus3. It does and seems to be acceptable.
Is iRiver still in business? From their download site I was able to download the zip file for the iFP-390T USM system. I downloaded 2 versions, mp3 vs WMA. However, they were empty zips. I finally found working zips on a driver website and they worked OK. IRiver download site will not show any information on the iFP-899. Any request gets me “Sorry. Data will be registered”.
Bought the Lplayer when it first came out and it didn’t work well. The manual didn’t actually match the software version. Finally got another manual from the support at iriverinc.com (the US website) but the Lplayer needed lots of work and I just put it aside. When I downloaded the Plus3 software it told me there as a new system version for the Lplayer and installed it. Now it seems to work just as well as the other USM players.
I sent an email to support at the iriverinc.com. It bounced with unknown address. The site is still there but when I attempted to click on the webmaster or something, I got a 404 error. Has iRiver given up on Music manager?
January 17, 2010 at 21:17
hi Jan…
just my pennies worth.
We love our 895’s but hate music manager and went ballistic when it not only didn’t work but crashes os x 10.5.6…. arseburgers.
One reason folk have problems with irivers zip downloads is they leave a “,” after the .zip
just rename it.
Music manger 3.21 is still available from their silly flash based web page.
http://www.iriver.com/index.asp?code=0302 …put manager in the GO window.
Me and the “xyz” are now so blissfull with our UMS irivers on our macs.
As you know the iriver is so good it even allows one to set alkaline or rechargeable battery type. And yes the battery cover is naff. we use a tiny piece of duck tape.
But at least you don’t have to use a scalpel to change the battery like on an ipod.
peace and lsd 4all.
January 18, 2010 at 0:11
Hi iriver huggers
the iriver site is a pain as Jan says, I’ve downloaded the manager ver 3.21, some firmware files, and the 800 series manual in pdf from the site and but in on io.drop, a one year free hosting site. here…. http://drop.io/e8f594o enjoy…
peace and lsd 4all
January 22, 2010 at 9:26
Jan, thanks so much for this. I ‘ve been banging my head for 2 hours to get my IFP-899 to work on my Vista box. I had to find an XP machine, use the Music Manager to upgrade to the UMS firmware, and then it should be finally recognized as a USB device on my vista box. Unbelievable! I could care less about 96 kbps recording rate as I primarily use this for music playback. Again many thanks! Huge help!
April 11, 2010 at 9:03
THX for iriver UMS Firmware
most links are dead….feels searching for years 🙂
April 20, 2010 at 13:34
thank you for the firmware, I was looking for a way to upgrade from a Mac, but the 2004 software seem to be as useful a teacup for the upgrade..
Worked perfectly for me, the internal upgrade system is just fantastic, will keep this music engine as long as I can.
April 28, 2010 at 12:19
I’ve had my ifp890 for years and I want to upload my songs to my HP, Vista, but I have lost the install cd. Any recommendatons?
June 30, 2010 at 21:23
Just want to THANK YOU for v1.28 !! After a bad experience with v1.35 I went back to the MM v1.65 and it was just getting unbearable so on a whim I tried searching again and found you v1.28 which is working great as just a hard drive now… I did have to use Windows to reformat it after the firmware’s re-init. It would constantly turn on, turn off, turn on, etc. until I reformatted it for some reason… works great now, Thanks again!
June 30, 2010 at 21:37
Incidentally I’m going to preach to the choir here and declare the IFP-899 the best all-around mp3 player ever – I have iPod touch, shuffle, 2 other iRivers, and a Cowan, but I like the IFP-899 best because it’s small, great ergonomics, and controllable inside your pocket, and if the battery dies – no problem, just pop in a new or half-baked AA from whatever! No waiting for recharges! Why is everyone going away from AA/AAA battery mp3 players? The joystick is still going strong after years of use. My Cowan’s joystick broke after a few months. iRiver should reissue this classic player – none of the others I’ve tried has the charm of IFP-899.
April 4, 2013 at 0:51
Three years later and I still agree. If one listens to music everyday (as many music listeners do) then keeping a mp3 player with internal lithium battery charged up is probably not much problem but if like me you listen to music less frequently then the batter may not be charged and the ability to plop in a AA battery (which are almost free these days) is a great plus.
This player also accepts an external microphone making it an excellent voice and live music recorder in the palm of ones hand.
Very few mp3 players these days have either let alone both of these features.
August 5, 2010 at 1:00
After updating the firmware of my ifp-899
NOT TURN ON, AND THE IRIVER MUSIC MANAGER SOFTWARE DISCLAIMS the hardware.
HOW CAN I RETURN TO THE OLD FIRMWARE?
August 27, 2010 at 21:37
The device doesn’t turn on at all (even with a fresh battery)? I believe you have what’s called “a bricked device”, I’m sorry to say.
(Adding insult to injury, since the iFP-899 is so small, it isn’t really much use a brick or door stop, either.)
August 27, 2010 at 15:57
Hi Jan,
So glad to find your site. I have an iFP-899 which I don’t use much because it goes through batteries at an astounding rate: probably get no more than 2 hours from a fresh alkaline. I believe this happened years ago when I upgraded to firmware 1.25. Do you think using v1.28 or 1.95 might help. Elsewhere I saw mention that v1.95 helps with the problem during “hold” setting, but don’t know to what that refers.
e
I am very interested in retaining the FM function, and best FM and voice recording controls that I can find (I don’t care too much whether the quality is limited to 96kps.) I have two boxes available: one running Win7, one Win2000
Thanks for any help. I’m quite annoyed at this machine because of this problem (and at iRiver because of their shoddy support)
Cheers!
David
August 27, 2010 at 21:34
Hi David
You should always use rechargeable batteries with devices like this. They work like a charm, and it’s much cheaper (and more environmentally friendly, etc.). When I still used the iFP-899 I always had a couple of charged AA batteries in my bag ready to replace if the battery ran out.
Tip: Wrap a rubber band around your charged batteries (and don’t wrap one around your flat batteries :-)), then you’ll always know which ones are charged and which ones need charging.
I didn’t use the radio a lot on the iFP-899. I used to listen to radio all the time in Ye Olde Country (Denmark), but I find that North American FM sucks. 🙁
September 14, 2010 at 16:00
Jan — just wanted to drop you a line and let you know this post was a huge help. I’ve been working with this IFP-890 all day today, trying to get it to work in Debian as a UMS device. Anyhow, thanks to your posts and the others here, I got it working great! Thanks a bunch, mate.
October 16, 2010 at 19:38
I struggled to find the latest iRiver Music Manager software on the web or iRiver’s site. The iRiver support department sent me a current link to download it:
iriver music manager V3.21
http://www.iriver.com/support/download_view.asp?SelectPart=dTitleEn&FindWord=iriver%20music%20manager&product_name=&model_name=&category=&dNum=859&page=1
October 17, 2010 at 0:07
That link didn’t work directly for me. And when I looked through their downloads, the newest version I could find was V3.17.
iRiver makes great hardware, not software or websites 🙂
November 1, 2010 at 21:31
Nice site to run into Jan. Please allow me ask a few questions of you and/or other posters. I can’t find any real concise info anywhere on the web. If I go to UMS, from other web sites I understand you lose: bitrate higher than 96 (but only for recording, so I assume playback can go as high as previous), and also you lose ability to sort or reorganize mp3’s? Also, the UMS you have to choose your download for either wav or mp3? And some poster on here saying there’s some lost function (or is it total loss of?) in FM radio? Voice recording still works? Any other things you lose??? Also what are bricking odds? Can you revert to the original iRiver firmware if you don’t like it? (and if so, where do I get this firmware–iRiver site is not intuitive to navigate).
November 3, 2010 at 22:01
Thanks. I think I can answer your questions:
– The UMS bios doesn’t limit playback bitrate or formats (.wav, .mp3, .wma, etc.). In fact I believe it adds the .ogg format, but I’m not 100% sure about that.
– Organizing of music files: It will play the files in each folder in the order that they were written to the folder. I usually either copied over (dragged&dropped in Windows Explorer) each file in the order that I wanted it played, or I renamed the files in a folder on the hard drive so that their names started with 01, 02, 03, etc. and then I copied them over in one go.
– FM radio still works fine. Voice recording still works fine.
– Bricking odds? Don’t know, but do follow the recommendation of inserting a new, fully charged battery before you start so you don’t risk the player cutting out in the middle of the process.
– Yes, you can revert (if you can find the original BIOS file somewhere, I don’t have it).
December 14, 2010 at 18:23
Jan (and others): Well, I finally decided to take the dive and try the switch to UMS… No luck. I have Vista. I tried both Jan’s 1.28 and 1.95 file. I uploaded it via Music Manager to the root (/ or slash). I unplug it like Jan says, and the LCD goes blue (powers up) and says “No File”. I went to the link Jan provided, where it tells you that if that fails, you’re supposed to push Joystick (Navi), go to General, and apparently there’s supposed to be a Firmware Upgrade choice? but I don’t have it. My only 3 choices under General are Resume, Language, Load Default. My version (as it powers up) shows as 1.243 Is this too old of firmware which may be why I don’t have the “Firmware Upgrade” choice under General? I want to get out of Music Manager hell, and into UMS nirvana. MM doesn’t recognize the device as connected 80% or more of the time. (Tried XP SP2 compat mode, etc, but anyways I want to abandon it in favor of UMS).
November 15, 2010 at 15:01
Hi Jan,
do you have a copy of the old Manager-dependent 1.25 firmware for the ifp-895?
November 15, 2010 at 23:13
Nope, sorry.
November 19, 2010 at 18:21
I actually have this… if you’ll email me, i’ll make arrangements to get it to you. To figure my email address, take JFK’s first name (4 letters), add “pinion” and email me at google’s popular email service (5 letters) . com. (!)
November 19, 2010 at 16:40
I have an IRIVER MP3 iFP-890 and just got a new computer with Windows 7, 64 bit. When I insert the old IRiver cd, it does not launch. I installed the Music Manager ok. Your UMS file downloads as a hex file which Windows cannot deal with. I downloaded Hex Edidor Nero but when I open the file, it is lots of mumbo jumbo but no executable file to install the missing driver that every website wants to sell me and that cannot be found on the damned IRIVER site, global or otherwise. I am interviewing Cherokee elders for a preservation project and now cannot seem to use the old MPE. Should I just take the sledge hammer and flatten it or is there A WAY?
Lamar
November 19, 2010 at 17:58
Well, it certainly would be EASIER to replace it, since an mp3 player with 8x the memory go for $12.99 now.
However, if you want to continue to use it, just update the firmware to a UMS version – Window 7 should see it as a hard-drive just fine.
November 20, 2010 at 12:37
It’s actually not so complicated: You don’t have to do anything with the hex file on the Windows side. You “just” have to find a way to get the hex file onto the device and then turn it off and back on. Then it should start updating with the new OS.
If the music manager is running OK for you, it might have a device update function built in(?) If it’s not running OK for you (some old software doesn’t), then try setting it to run in compatibility mode, for example Windows XP SP3 (right-click the program shortcut to find the compatibility settings).
November 28, 2010 at 12:57
I have the iFP-899 with v1.95 UMS. When I recently discovered that the UMS version reduces line-in recording to 98kpbs, I tried to revert to IMM version. Of course, the IMM software (running on Windows 7) can’t see the device to allow for the firmware flash. I followed the instructions above (copy hex file to root of device) and, when I choose “F/W Upgrade,” it just refreshes back to the ‘General’ menu as `though there was nothing found to update to/from. This is true with different hex values. If I can’t flash the device firmware from within the device, and can’t flash it from IMM, then the device is essentially locked out from any additional firware changes without low-level driver access. Any advice?
November 28, 2010 at 15:58
Answer to my own question, above: Firmware needed is for iFP-890 series (not merely the 800 series), which firmware is IFP-8XXT.hex (not IFP-8XX.hex), and which I located at: http://www.iriverinc.com/download/downloadView.asp?sno=831&cateCode=
February 17, 2011 at 16:49
Sean – so were you able to reverse the format back so that you can record higher than 98kpbs?
February 19, 2011 at 12:05
iRiver will repair iFP899 units for a flat rate
of $70. It’s a repair, not a replacement.
You have to obtain an RMA#.
Here’s the email for initial contact:
support@irverinc.com
You can call 949 336-4540 or 4541 for more info.
It’s hard to get through but it happens eventually.
I sent a unit for repair on 8/28/2010
so the info will still be current hopefully.
Steve.
March 4, 2011 at 23:07
when i installed firmware v 1.95 UMS on my ifp-799 to be rid of the manager software everything went fine the 1st time i loaded files. they played, everything worked. the next week i loaded some other mp3s. when i disconnected the usb cable & tried playing a song, the screen started to slowly blink on & off, with these words: “SCAN MUSIC FILE…” none of the buttons did their business. i had to remove the batteries to shut it down.
after a lot of googling & fiddling, & not finding an answer, i connected the ifp-799 to the usb port & looked at the files i’d loaded. a few had pretty long file names. after shorting the names of those files, it now plays fine again.
this seems to be as good as any site around for help on the ifp series, so, thanks Jan. perhap my bit of info will get someones player producing sounds again, cheers
April 15, 2011 at 15:47
Thanks for the website & files, Jan.
I have a general question, how long does it take to install the UMS firmware? I had one botched attempt because I got impatient–it was over half an hour and I figured it must be done by then.
Just in case someone else might find it useful, I’ll describe what happened after my failed attempt–not sure why it started working again.
At first, I thought I had bricked it–it would only say “Formatting” when I tried to power it on and would shut down. Music Manager wouldn’t let me copy any files over, saying there was no room.
After letting it sit for a couple days with no battery, I stuck a fresh battery in and it booted, reformatted and now reports itself as an IFP-880 (the right model), firmware 1.10.
Similar to this user, it was reporting itself as and IFP-820 when I was having problems with it.
http://www.fixya.com/PostAnswer.aspx?thid=6057602&prdid=189121&ref=unslt
Thanks!
May 20, 2011 at 14:47
I am trying to find the Music Manager software for my IFP-899. I am happy to keep the older Version and not update that. I would use it on my Windows desktop.
I hope someone would have it and could email it to me????
Thank you so much,, I love that player,
June 3, 2011 at 4:49
Jerry,
iRiver still has the software for download here: http://local.iriver.com/usa/lounge/loungeView.asp?selectPart=&findWord=&sno=859&page=5 just be aware that it saves it with an extra comma at the end (iriver_Music_Manager_V321_sp.zip,) that you should remove. This is the version I currently use.
I never have success installed the UMS software on my iRiver but have gotten it to work on a consistent basis–apparently the rechargeable batteries I was using weren’t quite strong enough.
Good Luck!
June 4, 2011 at 7:53
Matt,
You are way too kind ! Thank you. It worked and I can now change songs on the player.
Thank you so much !!!!!!
Jerry
June 11, 2011 at 12:08
Hi Jan, I also wanted to thank you for all this great info, and everyone here for their experiences and tips. Since lowering the bitrate for recording is unacceptable (I record a lot of live music), I think I may have to use the ‘nuclear option’. When I got a new PC (Windows 7-64bit) recently, I intentionally partitioned my hard drive with an extra 10g of space in case I needed to go back and install XP. The XP would ONLY be to run the Iriver manager for my ifp-895. I have yet to be able to get the XP-simulator in Windows 7, or any other method of NOT flashing the player to work. I still can not get my new machine to see the player. And I was about to flash it when I found out about the lowered recording bitrate. Recording is the primary reason I maintain and (and worship) the ifp-895, and why they are continuously selling on ebay for higher and higher amounts and are rarer than dragon’s teeth now. They’re useful for an amateur bootlegger like me, plus I record all my band’s rehearsals. They are just so unique and jam-packed with cool features. Thanks again, hopefully I’ll get my ifp-895 up and running soon.
June 11, 2011 at 12:56
Wow, no sooner than a minute after I posted the last comment (under ‘anonymous’, sorry…), I got my player to finally work with my new machine! And I did NOT flash it. I was able to connect finally to the Manager, and transfer voice and mic recordings from the player to my computer.
For those who have Windows 7 (64bit) and want to maintain using the full 320 kbps recording rate, here is what I did…
First, I used a link someone posted above to the latest Manager
http://www.iriver.com/support/download_view.asp?SelectPart=dTitleEn&FindWord=iriver%20music%20manager&product_name=&model_name=&category=&dNum=859&page=1
which worked for me today, although Jan said it did not work for him previously. Maybe I got lucky.
Second, after downloading the Manager I opened Virtual XP mode, which is a program my brother hooked me up with when we were installing Windows 7. I don’t know if its available directly from Microsoft (I wasn’t paying 100% attention to what he was doing at that moment), but I think it is from Microsoft and I think its free.
I installed the Manager in Virtual XP Mode, and then connected the player, and after a minute it asked me for the drivers. I picked ‘do not’ connect to Windows Update, then ‘install drivers automatically’ and lo and behold the player showed up in the Manager, and I was able to transfer files.
I’m not sure what I was doing before, because I tried that exact same sequence a month ago. The only difference was probably the version of the Manager I downloaded today. I must have been using an older version of the Manager (possibly from the original CD-Rom). I saved the new Manager install .exe file, so if the link doesn’t work, I can e-mail it to Jan and he can maybe put it up for download, or something along those lines.
Thanks again Jan and everybody!
June 13, 2011 at 13:21
Hey, that’s great that it worked out for you. The link to the Manager program works for me now, too.
July 6, 2011 at 14:34
Windows 7 – Making iFP-899 (sometimes) work
iFP-899
Firmware: v1.75 (Manager version)
iRiver Music Manager version 3.21
Windows 7 Pro (32 bit) with SP1
The following procedure allows the iFP-899 to work on Windows 7 (32 bit) – sort of. The problem is that sometimes Microsoft updates disable the iRiver Music Manager which then necessitates uninstalling and then reinstalling it.
The alternative (which always works) is to install iRiver Music Manager on Windows Virtual PC (WVPC) on Windows 7. Although it is free, WVPC requires disk space and resources.
I installed Windows 7 Pro (32 bit) with SP1 on a Fujitsu N6410 Notebook laptop.
I installed iRiver Music Manager version 3.21
For the iriverMusicManager.exe in the Properties | Compatibility tab,
Check “Run the program in compatibility mode for”
Select “Windows XP (Service Pack 3)”
Check – “Run the program as an Administrator”
The trick to making it work is the following:
Cold reboot the system
Do not connect the iFP-899
Start the iRiver Music Manager
Now you can connect & turn on the iFP-899
It should work.
An error message occurs for the following:
If you do any of these, you need to cold reboot the system.
* Warm reboot instead of cold reboot.
* Connecting & turning on the iFP-899, and then starting the iRiver Music Manager.
* Disconnecting the iFP-899 and reconnecting.
* Restarting the iRiver Music Manager.
If you look at the Device Manager for the Universal Serial Bus Controllers,
you will see an entry for
“iriver Internet Audio Player IFP-800”
The properties say “This device is working properly”.
This occurs even if you get an error message.
The driver is at
C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ifp800.sys
I do not know if the anti-virus application matters, but I am using Microsoft Security Essentials. I normally use ZoneAlarm, but ZoneAlarm tends to have unexpected behavior. Trying to make the iRiver Music Manager work is difficult enough without having the anti-virus application complicating the issue.
August 4, 2011 at 10:52
Thanks for this webpage! I’m looking at upgrading to MacOS X Lion and iRiver Music Manager won’t run there, since it’s an old PowerPC program. I downloaded the new firmware from your site and (even though it threw an error when updating it) it reformatted and seems to work fine! Thanks a lot!
April 12, 2012 at 2:44
The fimware is working perfectly and there’s nothing wrong with anything, just that it shows up in ubuntu and not xandros.
July 2, 2012 at 14:43
Hi
Thanks for the possibility to convert my iRiver MP3 iFP-895 to a memorystick with all other function intact.
I am running the iRiver music managaer on a Windows XP version. I have downloaded the latest driver for XP and the the firmware: English language version for the iFP-89x models from your site.
I just wonder if I should use the option in Irivermanager under the menue TOOLS/UPGRADE FIRMWARE or should I run the hex-file with some other program?
Kindly
KaGu:-}
July 3, 2012 at 22:50
Thanks for the instruction how to uppgrade my iRiver IFP-895.
Reason for may untech question is:
On the computer I did use, the iRiver manager could not find the unzipped file as long as it resided in the same map as the zipped. After moving the unzipped version to an other map the upgrading function in iRriver manager worked OK. Hence no need for answer on my question above. Sorry to have bothered.
July 9, 2012 at 15:34
Thanks for all the info on your blog Jan.
I now have access to my ifp-899 from win7. Unfortunately I lost the main usage of the ifp-899 to me, line-in recording. It is still there, but very limited in quality.
I tried to downgrade the firmware, no luck. On the ifp, in the ‘general’ menu, there’s the ‘f/w upgrade” and the yes or no tab, and that’s it. It’s as far as it gets. (The hex file is in the root of the ifp.)
Would there be another way to revert this 1.95 firmware to an older version?
Tusind tak!
July 25, 2012 at 18:23
Jan, I have a problem – I bought an ifp-899 but it has the new firmware that won’t let you record at 128kbps or higher. How do I revert back to the correct firmware? I am running music manager 3.21 for my ifp-895 (with correct firmware) and it doesn’t recognize the ifp-899 (because it is UMS). There has to be a way, I hope??? I need both ifp’s to record at 320 kbps!! Thanks!
July 26, 2012 at 10:49
Jan – I’m sorry to bug you. I should have read all of your comments fully before making that post above. I believe you answered my question when you responded here:http://www.jankarlsbjerg.com/blog/archives/2007/03/26/ums-firmware-for-iriver-ifp-89x/#comment-95111
Howeverm lat me just run it by you…I want to downgrade the UMS firmware back to the older “music manager” firmware. You say that can be done by following the instructions (i.e. place the firmware in the root directory, etc)? My last question is, if this is possible, which firmware IS the old 320-kpbs recording firmware for the 899? There are so many posts about firmware here my head is starting to swim. I can just try them all, I guess, but if you can point me in the right direction, it would also help. Again I appreciate your research and this post. I wrote something here a year ago when I figured out how to connect my 895 in Windows 7 (with the music manager). I have to say, I am teetering on the edge of being a cult follower of the ifp-89x.
July 26, 2012 at 16:10
Jan…and others. I have had another success! I bought an ifp-899 with the newer UMS firmware, and I successfully flashed an older version of the firmware, to restore the 320 kbps recording quality. This was done by following this post:
http://www.jankarlsbjerg.com/blog/archives/2007/03/26/ums-firmware-for-iriver-ifp-89x/#comment-95111
AND I also had to drill a little deeper on this post:
http://www.opendrivers.com/download/driver-33087.html
I wonder if one of us should save a copy of that page for posterity. The firmware was a file I had on my computer from long ago. That is the only piece of the puzzle I can’t provide a link to find online, but I can e-mail it to you if you need it.
It really is as simple as copying the file (IFP-8XXT, the version I have dates from around 2006) into the root directory of the iriver, as seen by your machine as a removable usb drive. Not the “RECORD” or “VOICE” folder, etc., just the root (i.e. ‘E:’ etc.). Next, cycle power and use the onboard menu option “General” to choose “flash F/W”. The unit powered down afterwards. When I turned it back on, it said on the little screen “formatting”. After that, it was finished. I never even performed the step of formatting as FAT. Maybe I will have to do that later, but I confirmed by making a couple line-in and mic-in and voice recordings, that the recording system and the file transfer system (thru Music Manager v 3.21) works like a charm…and the option to record at 320 kbps was restored. Whew!
Thanks to you all for sharing all the very useful information and links.
July 28, 2012 at 11:42
Congrats John, looks like you found the missing puzzle piece for all those who wish the get back the 320 kbps recording capability. Nice!
I went around practically every steps you did, it stops at the “F/W upgrade” window of the Ifp with the “are you sure” “YES”! And then nothing, just come back to the general menu window.
Could you post the firmware file on a file sharing site?
Thanks, Cheers!
Olivier
July 30, 2012 at 8:48
Oliver – I’m not so great with understanding the ins and outs of filesharing sites, but I opened a mediafire account of recommendation from someone and I posted the file there. If this link doesn’t work, let me know.
http://www.mediafire.com/?tl3ut39en54c3py
I hope this works for you. – John
July 31, 2012 at 8:46
Yes! The downgrade works. Your firmware file was indeed the missing piece. I got the 320kbps recording capacities back.
Thank you very much John!
And also big thanks to Jan for your blog and all the very useful info on the iRiver iFP player.
Tusind tak!
Olivier
August 1, 2012 at 3:15
Hi Jan. I have IFP-895. I am looking for a Music manager that works with XP
August 1, 2012 at 3:21
Hallo Jan. I really need your help. I have an old i-FP895. I want to use but I have lost the CD with the Media Manager. The one I got on i-river website is suitable only for VISTA. I have XP.
Pls help me as I can not find anything else!
Thanks a lot
Enrico
August 12, 2012 at 5:38
Hi. Thank you for help. I install korean music manager on win 7, then somehow windows updater found update and without anything I have working manager and Iriver as USB mass storage.
October 10, 2012 at 21:57
This is a long shot for some, but on a Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium, I was able to load files by creating an Windows XP virtual machine and loading the Music Manager software. In the virtual machine, I had to go to Control Panel->settings->hardware->device manager->usb and load the drive (automatically). At the top of the virtual machine, it has a usb and you can attach or release drives…if you attach iriver 800 high speed, it is seen in the virtual machine
November 7, 2015 at 4:16
Worked perfectly for me. This will work for anyone (on any OS) stuck on a non-UMS firmware.
December 15, 2013 at 22:02
Hi Jan: Love this blog. I have installed Oracle’s VirtualBox and installed XP Pro sp3 (IE 6, etc)- it will not update and will not recognize the player (IFP-899). Need your help please.
June 22, 2014 at 5:58
The above comments appears to be comment spam.
I am still using my IFP 89xs because they are still one of the few purchasable-battery-powered mp3 players.
I don’t want to keep charging my mp3 player. I want to be able to slot in a battery and be ready to go.
June 26, 2014 at 2:06
Thanks for the comment SPAM alert. I’d missed that one.
June 24, 2014 at 16:23
Other than not being able to go over a total of 96K (which in mono is not that bad) this has helped a lot. I have fewer and fewer computers that can run the music manager and it’s kind of ridiculous that it would be necessary. I have several iFP 89x and 79x units and they are real work horses and I’d hate to loose them just to crappy software. This really helped. Thanx Jan!
June 19, 2015 at 7:05
Great tip.
all works fine now on Windows 7
Thanks
July 20, 2015 at 7:28
Hola!
Yo he adquirido el IFP-890 y he actualizado mi reproductor a la version de firmware 1.85, todo esta bien a excepcion de la radio FM, no puedo sintonizar ninguna emisora, solo estatica. Antes de actualizar el radio FM funcionaba bien. Alguien ha tenido el mismo problema con este modelo?
July 20, 2015 at 7:32
Hello everyone!
I acquired the IFP-890 and I updated my player to firmware version 1.85, everything is fine except for the FM radio, can not tune in a station, just static. Before updating the FM radio worked well. Has anyone had the same problem with this model?
Actualize my player because I had trouble adding music.
PS: Sorry for the comment in Spanish.
April 1, 2017 at 0:32
Two years late but as I wrote in reponse to an earlier pister, it coukd be because the Japanese public radio FM band is at a different frequency.
June 16, 2016 at 19:03
I have read your web site and downloaded the hex file, but I cannot figure out what to do with it. I have a T9 which works well, but I forget to pack it for my travels.
I would love to get my ifp800 working again.
Thank you very much
March 31, 2017 at 17:30
Hi, got the newest firmware, but my windows 10 computer states that I can’t install Iriver Media Manager due to lack of security/signatures. Any idea what to do? I don’t have any more hardware with xp/7 etc…
April 1, 2017 at 0:29
If you use the UMS version, with only a slight liss in recordind quality, you can access the memory like a USB stick memory with windos explorer and no need for Iriver Media Manager, which only works till XP I think. I tried a vurtual XP on Win7 but while it installed it did not access the player.