Found cheap 80G 1.8" HDD (ZIF connector)

[shoora]

Hello!

Please, do not consider this a s advertisement. I just could not resist from sharing this deal with community.
I found really(?) cheap 80G Toshiba HDD here http://www.nowdirect.com/exec/partInfo/part_detail.tsb?prcpart=TOSHDD1764%20RPL.
(Don't think they can ship outside of the US - sorry guys )
It is refurbished Toshiba MK8009GAH hard drive with ZIF connector, but it cost just $30! Ok, ok - plus S/H and tax.
For my Gigabeat F I also had to buy ZIF to CF adapter.
I've used guide from wiki http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/ZIFToATAAdapter.
Later I had a little problem fomatting it for Gigabeat - Windows FORMAT said this drive is too big for FAT32. I had to use GBformat from Toshiba Gigabeat installation CD.
Not too bad upgrade for about 40 bucks

Please, note - be prepared for major problems fitting this hard drive inside of 10 or 20 gig Gigabeat F.

[Febs]

I ordered one of these and received the drive today.  I'm still waiting for the adapter, but I'm looking forward to seeing if I can get my F40 working again.

[LambdaCalculus]

I'm going to order two... one for my Gigabeat S, and one for my iPod video.

[Old Schooler]

Hello,

I purchased one of these drives from that place as well. However, when I install it in one of my Iriver H10s, and I have tried all 3 that I have, I get an error message when trying to format stating "Media is Write-Protected. Cannot Format Drive". It needs to be FAT32 format, but I get the same message regardless of how I try to format it.

I have tried Iriver's upgrading utility (name escapes me) and it of course tells me the drive is not formatted and so on.

I have tried this drive in all of my H10s and on all of my PCs ranging from Win98SE, Win XP and Vista and they all return the same message.

I can readily format to 20gb Hitachi drives but the Toshiba 80gb returns the error.

I ordered but have not yet received, 2 Ext HD enclosures with LIF/ZIF connectors (Toshiba calls theirs "LIF" and Hitachi calls theirs "ZIF") though I don't know if these will solve anything.

I have contacted both NowDirect and Toshiba and neither have any real answers. Has anyone else had a similar problem such as this, or did I get a bad drive?

How are you formatting these drives when you install them in your GigaBeats?

Thanks

[woodensoul]

I guess I saw this thread a little too late.  They're all out which sucks because I was going to buy 3!  I called and they said they don't know if they'll get more in or not.  They refurb them in house.  If anyone picked up extras and doesn't mind parting with them, PM me.

[Febs]

How are you formatting these drives when you install them in your GigaBeats?

I used Swiss Knife and formatted mine without problem.

I never did get it working in the Gigabeat.  It would work while the case was open, but the player would power off whenever I tried to close the case.  I suspect that when I dropped the Gigabeat and damaged the original hard drive, I damaged something else in the unit, though it is also possible that because the drive plus adapter is such a tight squeeze in the case, something was shorting out when I tried to press the case closed.

In any event, I installed the drive in my iPod and it is working perfectly.

[Old Schooler]

Were you able to actually format the 80g hard drive in your GigaBeat or Ipod itself, or did you install it in an enclosure to format it?
Thanks

[forumreader]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I was able to complete my "upgrade" today.  Thanks to shoora for the heads up!  Finally got my package from deal extreme (they seem to be taking longer these days.....) and put everything into my F40.  The nice thing about the f40/60 is that they have much more room in the back, things really didn't get tight ever. 

I used Swiss Knife to format the drive, I've used that program with great success in the past, formated my drive in no time.  I did format it in the gigabeat.  I copied all of my folders (system and rockbox folders) to my desktop before the operation and dropped them back to the new hard drive after I finished.  Everything works just like it was before, just have more room now!  Time for more flac files!

[Febs]

Were you able to actually format the 80g hard drive in your GigaBeat or Ipod itself, or did you install it in an enclosure to format it?
Thanks

I formatted it in the Gigabeat using Swiss Knife.  Then when I installed it in the iPod, I used iTunes to restore the drive to format it as required for the iPod.

[Old Schooler]

OK, Thanks for the info on formatting. I keep getting an error, "Media is Write-Protected.  Cannot Format Drive", so it is looking like the drive itself is bad even though it is new. I can't feature there being too much difference between the GigaBeat and the H10 as far as interfacing with a PC goes. Especially if I can readily re-format any of the original 20gb drives while installed in them.

If anyone has any other ideas,,,,,,

UpDate:

Finally got my ext drive enclosure from Ebay and installed the Toshiba drive in it and was able to format it using Swiss Knife. The drive just wouldn't communicate through the H10 apparently - reason unknown.  Installed the drive back into the H10, but the iriver updater STILL would not function.

Realizing the drive was just formatted, I copied all of the iriver items directly from another unit (could have used the old HD, too) on to the 80gb drive in the H10 and this worked just fine. Reason still unknown but don't care.

Battery life seems to be comparable to what it was but I was playing with it all day.

Thanks for the response,
Old Schooler