HDD upgrade Toshiba MK3006GAL doesn't mount. At all.

[Serenity]

Hey guys, not specifically a Rockbox problem, but I don't know where else to turn.  Google has failed me, and I need someone tech-savvy to help.

I bought a Toshiba MK3006GAL off eBay (used, but "tested working") and when I install it in my H320, I get nothing.  The drive doesn't even show up under Windows Vista, XP, Ubuntu NR or Puppy Linux 4.0, and I've tried both the Rockbox bootloader USB mode and iRiver's OF (1.29K, where it charges and nothing else).  It won't mount and none of the operating systems even blink when I plug it in.  Tried formatting in the OF, but it gives me the "Can't Format!" error and locks up.

The old (dying) drive still mounts with no trouble, the drive from my H340 works just fine in the H320.  This replacement drive sounds the same as the old one when it starts and powers down.

I can't run Swissknife or anything, since the drive doesn't appear--I don't even get a generic "USB device".  If it makes a difference, it's an original Korean H320.  That's why I'd like to hang on to it.

Help!

[Multiplex]

I had exactly the same issue upgrading my H320 with the same 30G drive - fortunately for me I was doing my wife's H120 at the same time and it was happy to see the drives and format them (or maybe I used Windows XP, but it was all OK in the H120).

Unfortunately I didn't delve into why it was a problem but once formatted in the H120 it was fine in the H320. Also I don't remember if the drives I got were unformatted or iPod formatted.

Not much help expect maybe a bit if reassurance that you're not alone. If you are in Hertfordshire (UK) I can offer the services of an enclosure that I put the old 20G drive in to - I didn't have it at the time so can't guarantee that it will do the trick.

[Serenity]

Thanks for the information, Multiplex--at least now I have some hope!  Alas, I'm in central Wisconsin, USA at the moment and can't take advantage of your generous offer.

Guess I'll just have to buy myself an H120! 

[robin0800]

I would guess it has no partion table until you have nothing will format it.There are a few  programs that should allow you to partion the drive google is your friend. 

[Serenity]

I have tried Swissknife in Windows XP and GParted under Puppy Linux; nothing will work until the drive can be mounted.  When I plug in the USB cable, it's like I've done nothing at all.  The OS just sits there.  In Puppy, you have to manually mount a drive, and it can't detect anything for me to mount.

Am I going about this the wrong way?

Edit: The only thing I can use to connect the drive to a computer is the H320 or H340 (tried both).  I have ordered a 1.8" Toshiba enclosure....we'll see if that give me any joy.

[linuxstb]

After you plug your player into Linux, what does the "dmesg" command display?  (type "dmesg" in a terminal - you may need to do this as the root user, or with "sudo dmesg")

There should be some references to a new USB mass storage device.

[Serenity]

Wow.  "dmesg" displays a metric ton of info about my machine.  After it finds the USB ports, it moves on.  No reference to anything plugged in.  Let me know if you'd like a quote (and how I can get around retyping everything).

Pinning my hopes now on the external enclosure, whenever that gets here.

Thanks for the help and info; I'll keep you updated on my (possible) success.

[Multiplex]

No reference to anything plugged in. 

That sounds like my experience with XP (I'm now fairly sure that I used the XP Disk Manager) - with the H300 nothing showed up, but it did with the H100. Can't be sure - it was a good while ago.

[peteswensson]

I have run into various roadblocks when trying to install new hard drives in my iriver h300 players, so I will share some thoughts on things you might try. 

First, if it is a used drive, it may be formatted in NTFS, the native format used by Windows XP  (I ran into that once).  You would need to reformat it into FAT32, using Swissknife or another freeware program for formatting drives.  Also, if it is in NTFS, you may need to reformat it outside of the iriver, since connecting with it via the iriver's USB runs into the NTFS incompatibility problem built into the iriver.  I found a 3.5" IDE 44 pin to 1.8" IDE 50 pin adaptor from an eBay store (very cheap, but a weeklong delay for delivery) that allowed me to directly connect the Toshiba drive to my desktop's motherboard, see the drive, and reformat it.

Another time it turned out that the drive I had bought was defective.  I was able to determine this using some Seagate hard drive diagnosis software that came with a 3.5" hard drive I had bought for the desktop.  That software could be used as a boot drive from the CD it was on, and also could do a FAT32 reformat of the 1.8" Toshiba drive plugged into the above-mentioned adaptor.

Good luck!

[Serenity]

Thanks for the info!  It probably is NTFS--that would explain its behavior.  Still waiting on my enclosure (holiday mail...sigh), but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to format it once it's in a different enclosure from the iRiver.  I've Swissknife installed and ready to go as soon as my new toy arrives.

Status update at that time.   

Edit: Status update!
The enclosure arrived today.  Plugged in the original replacement drive; it was not at all formatted.  So I formatted it in Windows Vista as FAT32.  Plugged it in to the H320 and (for kicks) tried formatting it in the OF.  "Can't Format!"

Back in the enclosure, I unzipped the current build of Rockbox and booted; Rockbox runs nicely.  I'm back in business!

Interesting note: for some reason, the Rockbox Bootloader USB Mode doesn't seem to connect to my windows machine, but once I boot into Rockbox, it connects and transfers fine.  I don't know if this is an issue, but I don't care--it works just fine for me.

Thank you everybody for your help!!

[Multiplex]

Interesting note: for some reason, the Rockbox Bootloader USB Mode doesn't seem to connect to my windows machine, but once I boot into Rockbox, it connects and transfers fine.

Interesting... must check mine when I'm back at work - don't remember it being an issue

Good to hear that you're working

[Multiplex]

Yup - same thing here with Windows XP - not really a surprise as it is the same model drive.

I wonder if that drive needs some initialisation message that the Cyprus bridge chip doesn't send, but once the full Rockbox has sent it then it is OK - this doesn't really explain the inability of the OF to see/format it though because once formatted it is OK (I just checked - I hadn't seen the OF for years! ;-)

[Serenity]

It boots quickly enough that I'm fine just starting Rockbox before I connect.

Hey, off my own topic, but--I'm using the FrostBoxAA theme and noticed the topmost line in the WPS is glitchy.  Not the theme's fault, I know--I just didn't notice it happened anywhere but the menu until I started using this theme.  Any word on what causes that?

[Multiplex]

In the early days (especially the H100) bootloader USB was seen as a way of recovering from a bad build of code - you could get in there quick and put a fixed build without having to go the OF route - pretty irrelevant these days of super stable Rockbox for these players.

Sorry I just use the CabbieV2 theme and then rarely look at the screen - maybe you should start a new thread under WPS and Appearance topic.