240GB mSata in iRiver H320

[michaelbowe]

I have had success upgrading my iRiver H320 with a  Mushkin Atlas 240GB SSD mSATA SATA3 MKNSSDAT240GB-DX mini-SATA PCI-Express Mini (to give it its full name).

Unlike the Toshiba 128GB mSATA, I tried previously, this unit is SATA 3 not SATA 2. It shouldn't have made a difference because the Mushkin SSD is backwardly compatable with 3GB/s. I used a mSATA to ZIF card to mount the SSD and then connected it up with a ZIF to 1.8" Toshiba converter (these are again available  on eBay).

I initially had trouble booting Rockbox with the bootloader, a modded 1.30K, when I tried it so I started clean and loaded up Rockbox using the 1.29K original firmware. On initial start up, I kept getting ATA -42 errors. On reboot, these would become ATA -11 errors ("insert USB and press any button"). I reconfirmed everything was tight and secure in the case and tried again. Same ATA -11 problem.

After some thought, I came to the conclusion that there may be a problem with power draw on start up. The other issue that became apparent is that the error message will not clear unless the original firmware is booted into, then the battery needed a little charge time. After shutting down gracefully the H320 would boot up into Rockbox OK.

Rockbox was fairly unstable though and would hang, requiring reset, reboot into the OF and shutdown. The battery on this unit is pretty old and Rockbox was a lot more stable with the charger inserted. Interestingly, in USB mode, transfer is not very stable and the unit hangs after about the first GB or so. All of which I put down to power handling. So a new battery is my next step.

Peak current use on the Mushkin is 1.0 A, or a power use of 3.3W. Although not large, it is 83% greater than the Toshiba mSATA  I was using before, and it could be a possible problem for the iRiver H300 especially with an old battery. For future larger capacity upgrades, I will be keeping a close eye on peak power use.

The H320 is very nice with this upgrade. Database consolidation seems to be almost instant. USB transfer for a 10MB file is 24.6 MB/S (write) and 25.4 MB/S (read). Write speed drops to about 14 MB/S for a 1 GB file but read speed remains the same. And of course, there is plenty of storage capacity. There is  223GB usable storage.

All in all, the Toshiba 128 GB mSATA SSD upgrade was far more robust but this little Mushkin card should be good after the battery is replaced.

[michaelbowe]

Just an update: I think that there is more than a battery issue with this mSATA drive. I get consistent ATA -11 issues or the occasional ATA -42 error (what is that?). The drive and the associated card get quite warm even when there is no apparent activity. Rockbox remains very fragile when I get it to run, for instance, when it is playing a file, if I pause then the "playing now" screen remains on instead of reverting to the files view and I cannot resume play. Also it will hang sometimes while loading files.

I have changed over the adapter, the player (to an H340 with a good battery) and the boot loader to see if there is a any connection issue. The bootloader generated automatically by Rockbox (current release) is still the most problem free with this mod.

So, the problem seems to be the mSATA. Surprising when I consider how easily the conversion to the smaller Toshiba mSATA 128GB SSD went. I wonder if the problem is similar to the issues that Torne dealt with on the iPod recently.

Is there a plan to incorporate Torne's mods into Rockbox more generally (or for the iRiver H300/H100 more specifically)?

[wodz]

What do you mean by "The bootloader generated automatically by Rockbox (current release)" exactly? H300 bootloader from git HEAD is considered broken for quite some time.

Torne's work is strictly PortalPlayer based DAPs related so this does not apply here.

I suspect that power draw is the root of problems. HDD can take more then 1A but usually only for short period during spinup. DC/DC converters in DAPs of that era were usually rated around 1A. However without actual measurements this are only speculations.

[michaelbowe]

I didn't use an older bootloader (such as r17607m which works well on the Toshiba mSATA upgrade), instead I used Rockbox utility and pointed it to the iRiver 1.29K firmware.

Torne has been working on an mSATA modification to iPods http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,42523.0.html and I thought that there may be some relationship between the two problems - possibly PIO mode.

If the issue is around power consumption then I will need to select my next mSATA candidate very carefully. I'm curious that that the Toshiba should work so well and the Mushkin SSD not.

[wodz]

I am pretty much aware on what Torne is working. As I said his work is irrelevant here as H300 is based on MCF5249/50 and not PortalPlayer chip. Sure you can tweak IDE timing on H300 as well but since we have datasheet for the 5249/50 chip we are pretty sure to be within specs.

The thing about power consumption is ONLY my speculation. This should be confirmed with proper measurements to be sure.

[michaelbowe]

I stand corrected. Thanks for putting me straight.

Yes, the issue may well centre around the SandForce storage processor which features on the Mushkin SSD. The SSD is advertised (newegg.com) to consume  0.7W (idle) and 2W active. One set of test results gives 1.12W (idle) and 1.82W average. This should be fine if the power DC/DC converter is good for one amp, but my SSD is labeled 1.1A, rather than 0.8A I've seen in older reviews. Who knows? It may be the difference between average and peak power consumption.

The Toshiba THNSNB128GMCJ, which behaves very nicely, is rated at 0.055W idle, 1.5W read and 1.8W write. So read power use seems similar in both cards (+- 0.5W). The most notable difference is the idle power use figure.

Anyway, I've managed to find an mSATA SSD of the same storage capacity that uses a little under one Watt, whether idle or active. That should be the ticket.

[michaelbowe]

Good news. After buying the mSATA  installed it and it works flawlesly. Excellent. The issue may well be current draw with some of these units.

[carp]

Can you provide some information about the working mSATA?

[michaelbowe]

Hi Carp, The drive I used was a Toshiba THNSNH256GMCT. These seem to be available ex Europe only as well as the UK. Trying to find someone who will ship internationally may be a little tricky but I can tell you that these units work. Mine is still going strongly and I am still very pleased with it. Good luck with the upgrade.

[carp]

Thanks, Michael! The drive is available in Germany. It seems that the most difficult part is to get a ZIF converter which is small enough to fit into the iRiver.

BTW: Can you also show a picture of the "mSATA SSD to 40 Pin ZIF Adapter Card" you used?

[michaelbowe]

Hi Carp, These are two things that are easily fixed.

First the mSATA to ZIF converter. I bought this from a US supplier although I see they all seem to come out of China - here is the link to the eBay shop http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mSATA-SSD-40-Pin-ZIF-Adapter-Card-Toshiba-Hitachi-ZIF-HDD-/290933759001?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item43bd00dc19. Ive also attached a picture.

The mSata fixes on top of the converter using the two screws and the plugs into the female connector on the left hand side of the card (as pictured).

The ZIF converter I used is also attached. There is only one supplier of this and he is based in Korea. He makes these cards up in batches and I had to wait a few months to get mine. You can get one here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZIF-HDD-SSD-to-1-8-inch-TOSHIBA-type-converter-zender-/281099104230?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item4172cfefe6

They are a little expensive but do provide a very elegant solution to the problem of getting back to the 1.8" IDE female connector required by the iRiver. This converter is also ideal for anyone waning to upgrade to a larger 1.8" hard drive such as the Toshiba 256GB (but you will need a H340 case to do this).

Take care when pushing the converter into the ZIF connector. From the picture you can see that it is very thin and I think it is just circuit board material. I recommend that you lay both converters on a table and bring them together on a flat surface. You get much more control doing this and it reduces the risk of the thin material on the ZIF converter suddenly folding under compression. Once together it is a nice snug package which has plenty of room to fit into the iRiver.

I changed my battery as well. So for about $360 you get an iRiver that can store 250GB, has all of the qualities of the iRiver H300 in the thinner H320 case, weighs a lot less and is much more resistant to shock. Battery life is amazing.

Eventually a 512GB card will come out of Toshiba and I look forward to upgrading to that.

[[Saint]]

Eventually a 512GB card will come out of Toshiba and I look forward to upgrading to that.

No need for eventually. Eventualys? Eventualies...? Eventualities? Aha!

Eventually is the new now


[Saint]

[michaelbowe]

I wish it were so.

The Toshiba THNSNH line of SSDs does include 512GB models but not in mSATA format. The THNSNH512GBST  and THNSNH512GCST are both 2.5" SSDs and won't fit inside the iRiver - but it will happen soon. Both Mushkin and Samsung have mSATA drives of around 500GB already, which use a piggy back format to fit the required storage. Unfortunately, their power consumption requirements would probably be a problem for the iRiver H300.

[carp]

> The mSata fixes on top of the converter using the two screws and the plugs into the female connector on the left hand side of the card (as pictured).

I see! I already found this type of converter but I did not know that you can apply the mSATA on top of the board - I thought that they had to be assembled consecutively (and then that "package" would not fit into the iRiver).

It looks like this is the same adaptor:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/350866095274?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 (see also attached picture)

> The ZIF converter I used is also attached.

Yes, you provided this picture in another thread on this forum. I already ordered one - let's see when it arrives!

> (but you will need a H340 case to do this).

Happily I do have an H340 :-)

[michaelbowe]

A picture tells a thousand words .... So, the complete set up, with ZIF to IDE converter looks like this. This picture shows a Mushkin mSATA - I don't recommend using this card (refer above) but the Toshiba SSD is the same size.