Third Party > Repairing and Upgrading Rockbox Capable Players

H120 - Successful 120GB SSD and 2200mAh Battery Upgrade

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chisox:
Hi all.  Thanks to information found on this wonderful forum, I was able to successfully upgrade my beloved iRiver H120.  I now have a 128GB SSD drive, as well as a 2200mAh battery.  I bought my H120 brand new in 2003, so I am extremely happy to be able to give it a "face lift" after all these years of almost daily use.  I had no issues with the H120 walking into this project, so I was extremly nervous about breaking it.  Like I said, I have used it probably almost daily for nearly 10 years.  Since it took me a bit of time to research the site before moving forward with my project, I thought I would post my steps and lessons learned in an effort to help the next person. 

Before I continue, most of the credit goes to member "monoid".  Most of what I did was follow his instructions from the following thread:
http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,41487.0.html

Steps for HD to SSD only (no battery):
Step 1) Upgrade bootloader from 6 to 7pre4

* Upgraded/flashed only the bootloader to 7pre4. Do not flash ROM and/or RAM afterwards
* Follow instructions here - http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/IriverFlashingStep 2) Copy the .rockbox folder from your old/current HD to your PC. 

* Now is probably also a good time to copy all your music, and anything else on the old HD.  This may be the last time you access the old HD.Step 3) Install new SSD into new USB enclosure

Step 4) Format new SSD to FAT32 using PC. 

* You'll probably need to use a 3rd party program to format a drive this large to FAT32.
* I used guiformat.exe from Rodgecrop Consultants on my Windows 8 machine.Step 5) Copy the .rockbox folder on your PC from Step 2 into the new SSD. 

* I would also copy one MP3 to the new SSD, but not in the .rockbox folder.  You'll use this to quickly test success. 
* You can copy all your MP3s from your PC later.
6) Take apart the H120 and remove the old HD.  The site has a good visual step by step.
http://www.pdainternalbattery.com/iriverinstall.html

Step 7) Install new SSD and put your H120 back together.

Step 8: Turn H120 back on, play your test MP3 with success!  Now you're ready to copy the rest of your music from your PC.

Steps for Battery:
Step 1) The site has a good visual step-by-step of the entire Battery process.  Consider splicing wires (see lessons learned).
http://www.pdainternalbattery.com/iriverinstall.html

Parts/Tools I Used (I bought everything from Amazon in the US.):
1. KingSpec Mobile Disk SSD Adapter 1.8" CF 50-Pin To USB Enclosure/Converter Model KMB-CF18.1
2. KingSpec 128GB 1.8" CF MLC IDE 50-Pin SSD Solid State Disk Model KSD-CF18.6-128MS
3. T5 Torx Screwdriver (the KingSpec adapter came with a piece of junk tiny T5).
4. 2200mAh Li-pl Battery For iRiver Model CS-H110XL Part No DA2WB18D2

Lessons Learned:
1. Upgrade your bootloader to 7pre4 before buying your new SSD.  This will save you the headache of returning anything in the unlikely event you cannot follow instructions and brick your H120.
2. When taking the H120 apart, you must be extremely careful at all times.  There are a lot of little plastic pieces that can easly break.  When upgrading the battery, I broke one of the little tiny black plastic corner posts that holds the mother board in place and is used to secure it with a screw
3. Be very careful after removing the 2 black screws from the sides of the H120.  Those two black side pieces are flimsy and could break easily.
4. I found that upgrading the old HD to a new SSD was very simple.  There was less to take apart compared to the battery replacement.
5. To upgrade to SSD, you will need to purchase not only an SSD, but also a some type of 50-pin to USB connector (see parts list above).  This is necessary to prepare the new SSD using your laptop/computer prior to installing it in your H120.
6. Swapping out the battery was very difficult for me.  The white power connector from the battery does not easily remove from the socket on the motherboard.  There is something in the way on the motherboard which makes it nearly impossible to remove.  Getting the white power connecter from the new battery to fit back into the socket was even worse.  It took me over 20 minutes of fiddling around to get this back in.  If you are up to it, consider cutting and splicing the wires from the old power connector to the new battery.  I retrospect I wish I would have done that.
7. Given that the battery is more work to replace, I suggest upgrading the hard drive first.  Once you've done the HD/SSD upgrade and have everthing working again, revisit the battery upgrade a few days or a week later.  This will give you the confidence to successfully take apart and reasamble the H120.
8. If you have not really had issue with the battery (like me), consider doing only the SSD upgrade.  The SSD alone will improve daily battery life compared to the HD, for obvious reasons.

Closing Comments:
That is it for me.  Hopefully someone else finds this useful.  Don't bother asking me questions, because I won't be around to answer them.  My plan is to use my upgraded H120 for another 10 years with no issues, so I won't be visiting this forum anytime soon!

Serenity:
Congratulations on your successful upgrade!  I just installed a 128GB KingSpec in my H320 and it's like having a new machine. I love it.

Thanks for posting the instructions. I don't remember seeing a step-by-step like this elsewhere on the forum, so it's a welcome addition--especially the warning about the battery!

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