Thanks for spending the time to document your work - i'll be using your pictures and those riovolution articles to attempt to bring my volume wheel back to life - it's been broken for a day and I don't know what to do with my life.  :D

There is no need to pry off the top. Remove the back of my Rio, with much much diffilculty, but the out surface still looks okay.

Also, you really do need to bend the hell out of most of those metal contacts. The tricky part is that the inner contacts you need to bend towards you whereas the outter ones, on the top and bottom, you can just press inward.

I found it much much easier to get the bottom up, and then one side (left) of the backplate up, then rotate the plate gently in one direction, this pops all the other tabs out, and the plate comes off like magic... nothing broke.

THANKS FOR YOUR DETAILED PHOTO, THE DIAL SUNK IN ON MY PLAYER AND I WANT TO FIX IT MYSELF. THE PHOTOS LOOK A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED THAN I HOPED IT WOULD BE; NOT SURE IF I REALLY WANT TO TRY IT. THANKS ANYWAY.W.T.

Wanda, did you fix your Rio? I would be willing to help for a nominal fee.email me,..Gary

Mine's been broken for 1 1/2 years now...it just lies around from house to house and gets beat up. I finally got sick of it and tried to fix it (never kept a charge and took forever to load) but I ended up really tearing it apart...oh well. Wish I would have had this a LONG time ago, gone through a few iPods now. I love them..

Is there anyway you can connect your mp3 hard drive to your computer? Ive given up on repairing mine and have been wondering if this option can relieve some stress.

Any help is appreciated...

or try the firmware option bypassing the scroll wheel (for the less tec people.  
http://www.content-type.com/1461305906/c...

This link takes you to a site which will allow you to download an upgrade to your carbon's software which includes a volume option in the settings menu. My wheel broke a while ago too, and I bought a new player before I found this link. I still think this is the most compact and portable 5gb player on the market. I'm back to using it now.

Link doesn't work Helen

Sorry -
Just go to http://forums-riovolution.com/ … opic=19016
and follow the link there - it must have been rediredted.

Had a broken wheel in my Rio Carbon.  Looked around at other mp3 players and was unhappy.  Followed the instructions and pictures on this site and my Rio Carbon was re-born.  Suggestions-used 5 minute epoxy and held wheel assembly together for 2 minutes till it was firm, then let it rest for about 20 minutes, used dentist picks to pull the side tabs out, and jeweler's screwdriver worked for bottom tabs.  One mishap.  The screen was dirty after the fix.  Reason is that I eat while I work and left crumbs on screen and transparent part of case.  Solution-got out the hair dryer, separated the case again, got a micro fibre cloth, damped it a little with water and carefully cleaned the screen and the transparent part of the case.  The Rio Carbon is now as good as new.  My thanks to all who have given advice on this site.  By the way, I'm clumsy and am old enough to remember when there was no television.  Point is-if I can do the fix, anyone can.

Thanks for taking the plunge in ripping your rio apart first and thanks again for spending the time in documenting your findings.

Been a great help, all posts & clips free & undamaged.

Thanks again.

is there a mac os x version of this firmware update that allows the volume to be controlled through the player?  unfortunately, my screen on my pc just died today.

I have a nice virtually new 6GB Pearl carbon that is pristine, totally unmarked and still with clear plastic film on chrome back. Trouble is the battery is totally duff and won't charge.  I really don't want to bin this lovely player and wondered whether it is easy to change the battery over from my slightly older but still fully working 5GB player.
I have chased the battery manufacturer in China and as the Carbon batteries were custom made for Rio there is no equivalent available.
Any advice on battery exchange welcome. Thanx

My wheel is fine - my problem is I have a broken power button. I have separated the case and when I push on the power button the on/off button on the circuit board moves and flexes. Has nyone epaired this problem?

Hi the links to the forum seem to be full of adverts now, is there any other guide to opening the rio carbon avaiable, or even some links to firmware to allow me to control the volume on my player using other buttons, I've had the thing for almost 5 years now and it's taken a fair amount of knocks, but it keeps on ticking and is still better than most new players out there.