question about firmware destroyed mp3 player

[jimdagys]

I posted this on another site and didn't get any response. I wondering if anyone here has any experience with flashing mp3 players and can comment on the following:
I had an mp3 player that I determined to be in the S1 category. (When I connected the mp3 player to the firmware updater, the window said:
Device name: S1 mp3 player
Productor: Wilson Co.Ltd.
Version:3.0.43
The mp3 player was made and sold in China with AT J2085 and Hynix HY27UF082G2M chips.
The mp3 player started acting strangely, ie, 1)the display was difficult to read 2)when I tried to delete folders (using mp3 player, not computer), the folder (with original name) would stay on the mp3 player and would have 0 bits. (If I deleted the folder using the computer, there was no problem deleting the folder) 3) very often, when connected to the usb port, shortly after connecting, I would get a connection error. This made it a lot of trouble to upload files, especially large, to the mp3 player because if I got the connection error, I would have to start over. After fiddling with the usb cable, I made the determination that loose wires/bad connections were not causing the error. I went to a firmware download page on a website and couldn't find any match for circuit board numbers to determine the correct firmware. Because this mp3 player is sold in China, the circuit board shape doesn't look anything like the American players. The players in China always have a square rechargeable battery inside the player. The circuit board is built around this square battery instead of the long thin AAA battery in American players. I made a stab in the dark guess and choose the firmware grandin-ip839ar-256-fm.7z. After a successful upload, the mp3 was dead. Two music files remained on the player. They could not be deleted (got protected write message), nor could any new files be added. The display was completely dead and nothing could be heard from the earphones. The usb connection worked consistently and I could see the 2 files and could play the files on the computer. At this point, I threw the mp3 player away. My question is, as a newby, is there anything I could have done differently to avoid this problem? I read a bit about this topic, but I don't understand a lot of things. For example, if the mp3 player firmware was corrupted, I don't see how there would be any way to "repair" the firmware, except for flashing in a new working firmware. However, the firmware updater would no longer allow me to flash in another file.

[Bjs]

There's actually a complete package for those things which includes audio / video conversion , and tools involving ... backing up your original firmware , before upgrading it ... a must .

http://forum.s1mp3.org/index.php?sid=b87e2a261750b08bcd236e0119624a85

You may find a suitable firmware for it or even the original , which might return it back to operation , but you must use the update tool from the package ... not moronic windows method , which wont work , and will stuff it up .

As for issues with files ... should problems appear in any form ... or you start seeing files with gibberish names , that tell's you that its using hacked firmware to indicate it has more memory than it actual dose ... you got ripped off .

You'll find all you need to know about these players at the above forum link .