E260 Firmware Update Issues

I have a Sansa E260 with a possible screen failure. But before I deep six it, I want to try to reinstall the firmware. Two issues. The first is which version do I have? I thought it was an R version, but the version.txt gives and version.sdk both indicate

01.02.24A, so I assume it is not an R version. Second issue is how to get the unit in msc mode without any screen guidance. I am guessing I am not in msc mode. When I look at the directory in windows there is one subdirectory labeled PPI NAND. If i try to drag the .mi4 file or .rom file to the root, I get a message that the file is not supported. And then a second pop up message indicates it is trying to copy to the subdirectory rather than the root (the copy does not take place).

Any help would be appreciated.

Found the solution for forcing msc mode. See http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/197. The root accepted the files and appeared the firmware updated (which is to say the files were no longer in the root directory with a look after completion. Alas, the screen still has random pixels so the failure appears to be hardware.

That’s too bad, but I’m not surprised that the firmware re-application did not solve the issue. The e200 series player is built like the proverbial Sherman tank but alas, is not without a limited life-span.

Maybe it’s just one of those tough luck. I rarely see this issue. I think this is the first time I’ve heard of it though.