iRiver ihp120 failed CF install

[Siar]

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.

Additional update:


So far so good. No hangs. Works without complaints. Battery lasts ~ 1.3 times longer. I did not try to record anything, though. I do not have an external mic, but I can test the internal one, if you want.

One more time, you have to have a rockbox loader before the hdd/CF swapping. Without it you cannot access the card from PC and you cannot read anything from the CF. It could be the case that the original firmware does not work only with a cards that have PIO only mode.  I did not find any information that my CF 512Mb Ultra || supports Ultra ATA mode. However, it could be also the case that the adapter does not support it.

I have to emphasize that I tested it with A-DATA 8Gb 120x and Ultra II 512 Mb cards only.

[bluebrother]

Regarding ata.c, it has loop for ipod nano, then ends with  "return 0; /* Always report success */", should I change it to "return(0);"?

Why? return 0; is absolutely correct.

[eumesmo]

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.

How do I disable the function in the latest source?

Question to Siar;
Does the adapter you bought have any ICs(chips), voltage regulators?

[Siar]

I did not pay much attention to it, but as far as I remember, there were no such things (voltage changers), but I can be wrong.

About the "removal"

Use these instructions to get the source and IDE
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/VMwareDevelopmentPlatform

then, in the file ata.c (relative path firmware/drivers/ata.c)
remove from the function I mentioned earlier everything but return(0).

Save the file, and continue to use instructions from
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/VMwareDevelopmentPlatform

Have fun

[eumesmo]

Even before modifying source, you were able to boot with the CF card, right?
Does it ever freeze on the 3rd line of the bootloader?

Could you please attach your ata.c?

[bluebrother]

Could you please attach your ata.c?

How about posting a patch to the tracker where such stuff belongs?

[Siar]

Even before modifying source, you were able to boot with the CF card, right?
Does it ever freeze on the 3rd line of the bootloader?

Could you please attach your ata.c?

The sequence (given that you patched your original iriver firmware with the Rockbox loader:)
1. Connect your player to PC while it is OFF using USB cable.
2. Turn on your player. If you can see your player from PC at this stage, you are lucky. Otherwise, I suspect something wrong with your adapter or CF.
Now, if you are lucky, you can use my previous post to compile the modified source and copy it to the player.

I do not think that this is a good idea - to attach the ata.c file here. If you can copy it to the right directory & compile it - you can modify it there & compile it as well. Plus, I suspect, that for different versions of the source this file can be different, too. I can send/post the compiled firmware, if it is not prohibited, instead.

P.S. I am a complete lame in all this stuff. That was the first time I have compiled something like that using linux image.

[Siar]

Could you please attach your ata.c?

How about posting a patch to the tracker where such stuff belongs?

Do you think it is worth to do it?

[Jeff]

Old Thread but need help...


Have a new ATA to CF adapter and a lovely 32GB Transcend CF card.  I can put it in the player, format the card and load content on the card but when trying to boot rockbox I get the first two lines and then the following:

ATA error:  -80

Can someone walk me through (baby steps) on how to change my ata.c file so i can overcome this issue?  I don't use Linux, have Vista and about as much knowledge about this stuff as would fit on the tip of a needle.

Thanks for any assistance.



Jeff

[Davide-NYC]

Since there are several threads about essentially the same subject I suggest we all post our findings at this brand new shiny wiki page! Just to get it all in one place.

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CFModGuide

 

[Jeff]

Success at last!

I can confirm that the A Data 32GB CF Card works fine.

Direct Link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211244

No alterations to the bootloader.  Just did a quick format under windows, loaded the latest Rockbox files and all is golden.

Two observations:

1.  Booting into stock iriver firmware gives the "check hdd connection" error but the player does eventually get there, however, you cannot access any files or navigate the player once there.

2.  With the player on, plugging into a USB cable gives you the USB icon on screen but the computer does not see the player.  Removing the cable does nothing and the player must be shut off.  So the only way to get into USB mode is to start with the player off, plug in the USB cable and turn the player on.

Transfer speeds are a bit slow.  It took approx. 15min to transfer 6GB of music onto the card.  Other than that and the above mentioned items, it is sweet to have 30GB of flash based music in my iHP-120!  



ps - i'm thinking that the Transcend and other cards that give an error are giving it due to the sleep command.  If someone could compile the bootloader altering that command, i'd test it.

[petur]

that card is the 'slow' version.... I have a speedier one but no go...

[Jeff]

that card is the 'slow' version.... I have a speedier one but no go...

Correct.... but....

Once I load 30GB's of music, i only change it, with rare occasion, so it doesn't matter to me whatsoever.  Access times and general player functions are much quicker than with the hard drive as expected since there is no hdd spin up issues, etc...

[Siar]

1.  Booting into stock iriver firmware gives the "check hdd connection" error but the player does eventually get there, however, you cannot access any files or navigate the player once there.

2.  With the player on, plugging into a USB cable gives you the USB icon on screen but the computer does not see the player.  Removing the cable does nothing and the player must be shut off.  So the only way to get into USB mode is to start with the player off, plug in the USB cable and turn the player on.

Transfer speeds are a bit slow.  It took approx. 15min to transfer 6GB of music onto the card.  Other than that and the above mentioned items, it is sweet to have 30GB of flash based music in my iHP-120!  

It sounds exactly what I had before changing ata.c file  . It will not change the speed (slooooooow), but it will fix the problem #2.

P.S. I do not have much experience with linux either. But following the steps from the link I posted is really easy. If you feel desperate, I can send you an archived .rockbox directory with fixed ata.c. It is compiled ~ in November 07.

[Davide-NYC]

Wait. Let me understand this correctly. If you modify ata.c and compile you will not be installing a new bootloader. Instead you will simply be installing a modified version of Rockbox, correct? This is not dangerous and I intend to try it as soon as I can hear confirmation in the IRC channel.

@Siar, please let me know if you could get to the bootloader stage *before* you modified the source code. What exact error messages did you get?

[update] I modified the ata.c file replacing the perform_soft_reset function at line 902 with the following:

Code: [Select]

static int perform_soft_reset(void)
{
    return 0; /* Always report success */
}

I compiled, made zip, deleted original .rockbox (for good measure) and extracted. Unfortunately, this did not change my situation at all. I am using an 2GB A-Data 266x Turbo card and I still get an ATA error -80 at boot.

I believe that those of us with ATA error -80 will not be helped by the sleep hack as it does not affect the bootloader.

Siar: Please confirm that you saw the "Rockbox Boot Loader" message before doing any code hacking.  Thanks.

@Jeff: Could you record a 15 minute stereo WAV file (or even 60 minutes) and let me know if the card can keep up with the write requests? Not being able to keep up with stereo WAV would be a deal breaker for me. Slow transfer speeds I can live with.