iRiver ihp120 failed CF install

[eumesmo]

Bought connectors and built adapter myself, standard instructions, test OK on PC IDE, 5v

On ihp120 3.3v, rockbox bootloader hangs on 3rd line Batt: 4.06V, no ATA errors; when connected to USB, "seems" to reset device.

Original firmware(1.66 holding record): check HDD connections, (wait), menu, can't format, file browser shows single line of random characters(unchanging after reset).

Using CF dane-elec red 4gb.

[AlexP]

Sorry, just to be clear as your post doesn't say entirely what you are asking.  You are replacing the hard drive in the H120 with a compact flash card and it doesn't work?

The H120 worked fine with the hard disk?

Have you seen http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/MiniCF?

As per that wiki page, are you sure the card you are using supports the full TrueIDE spec?

Edit:  Also a patch is required for the mini as on the wiki page, have you created a patched build?

[eumesmo]

Sorry for the lack for verbosity. Yes, it did not work, I am asking what is the issue, and more importantly if anyone has tried, succeeded, or tried to address the problem. As is, I cannot vouch for adapter, or CF card for that matter(possibility of being a fake), on top of lacking basic electronic understanding to diagnose. In regards to http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/MiniCF, logic suggests I would need to patch ihp120 bootloader, lacking basic programming skills, well, you get the point.

ihp120 with HDD, bootloader 6: works fine
CF card in camera: works fine
CF card with homebrew adapter(1.27x1.27) connected to second homebrew adapter(2.5x2.5) on PC IDE(Connected to 5v) running linux: works fine
CF card with homebrew adapter(1.27x1.27) in ihp120: fails( no ATA errors, bootloader freezes on 3rd(BATT) line, when connected to usb, logic seems to reset storage device)

[bluebrother]

In regards to http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/MiniCF, logic suggests I would need to patch ihp120 bootloader, lacking basic programming skills, well, you get the point.

That's the point -- you need to adjust Rockbox and the bootloader for this to work. There's a patch attached to that page. Resyncing is easy (just search for the comments that are displayed in the diff file). Beware that the svn bootloader might be unstable, so flashing it isn't recommended (unless you're aware of what you're doing of course). This is much easier for the Ipods as the bootloader isn't flashed and therefore there is no real risk of bricking your player with a broken bootloader.

[eumesmo]

But isn't the specific patch relevant only when building rockbox for ipod mini? (I love my ihp120 too much to blindly tweak code for bootloader).
I cannot believe no one tried this before...

[AlexP]

The patch disables the ATA sleep command, as with flash storage that causes rockbox to crash.  This is already done for the nano (flash storage).  I would take from that it needs to be done on any flash storage target, and in this case that includes the H1x0.

However, I would be VERY careful about building your own H1x0/H3x0 bootloader as if the flash goes wrong you risk bricking it, which can only be repaired by connecting a low-level interface to the player.

[eumesmo]

Yes, logic suggest as much, someone much have a dissected ihp120 somewhere so I don't risk bricking my beloved ihp120, no?

[Siar]

My 2 cents:

The whole story is here: http://www.misticriver.net/showpost.php?p=576714&postcount=3
Summary:

My HDD was dying. Some songs still were playing, but HDD heads where hitting the plates, trying to release the HDD soul...

I bought the adapter HDD-CF from ebay.
Installed 8Gb A-DATA Compact Flash 120x
Rechecked results with 512Mb Ultra II from Sandisk

Results:

1. H120 can be connected to the PC ONLY using Rockbox bootloader. Once it is powered on, there is no connection. In the player there is a picture of "USB connected", PC does not see the drive.

2. Standard Iriver firmware does not work (it writes something like "check your hdd").

3. From time to time, pretty randomly, the player hangs up. Sometimes it happened when I am listening music, sometimes - while trying to switch tracks, sometimes - at the specific tracks.

4. ape files plays with interruptions and delays. (flac work fine).

Do you  think that all these is a result of PIO mode?
Does it worth to compile and flash modified rockbox (given that I am not that experienced with this stuff)?

Thanks.

P.S. Copying process to the Ultra II is MUCH faster, especially for the small files, compared to the A-DATA.


UPD: Yes!!! It works (at least, the problem #1 is resolved). To make the story short, as it was mentioned before in this thread, you have to modify ata.c file. I left only return(0) in the function perform_soft_reset(void). Then, compiled source, created rockbox.zip and replace .rockbox folder in my player.

[bluebrother]

Please follow our posting guidelines. "smth" is not a real word and not wanted here. See the posting guidelines for details.

[Siar]

Corrected

[bluebrother]

Thank you.

[eumesmo]

Well, I'm glad flashing boot loader is not required, and that someone had more faith than I. Thank you very much for clearing that up. Wish someone could add that to wiki, and perhaps daily builds...

[AlexP]

Wish someone could add that to wiki

Feel free, it is a wiki.

 and perhaps daily builds...

If you mean removing the ATA sleep command, then that clearly isn't going to happen as it would bugger up normal H100s with hard drives.

[eupeptic]

Siar, I have an H320 I recently bought with the intention of using it as a recorder, and even before I bought it I've been contemplating replacing the hard drive with CF as that should eliminate the electrical noise that is picked up on the recordings when the hard drive is being accessed, and that way I also wouldn't have to worry about the possibility of a hard drive failure. And since you're the first person I've come across who has this working on an iRiver, I'm wondering if you're still getting the random hangs (which I would guess are related to the problem that you just fixed), and if so, does it also hang while recording (using the PCM Wave format)?

And if that patch has resolved the hangs then I'd also appreciate it if you could do a couple 3 minute test recordings (one without anything connected to the line input and 48 dB gain, and one with a -6 dB (or so), 3 KHz tone and 0 dB gain), but for now I just want to know if it still hangs or not as that's a make-or-break issue for me.

[eumesmo]

I don't mean main release, maybe special build, or as options when configuring source. Regarding ata.c, it has loop for ipod nano, then ends with  "return 0; /* Always report success */", should I change it to "return(0);"?

From what Siar said, he's still having serious problems, could support be improved? Should we expect such improvements?