After years of disuse, I recently ordered a new power adapter for my M1000. But now I too am getting the "No net connection!" message. It happens with or without Ethernet plugged in. I never used Wi-Fi, only Ethernet with this device.
The Ethernet connection seems a little wonky. With no ethernet cord plugged in, there are 2 green LEDs. When I plug in Ethernet (connected to a switch), the 3rd orange LED briefly illuminates, then goes out.
Not sure what is wrong, but if anyone has a similar experience and gets it working I'd love to hear about it. I'd hate to have to recycle this beautiful and formerly-functional music player and bit of tech history.