Best/Simplest Uprgrades for iRiver IHP-140

[dfunk]

Howdy folks! I recently ran across my venerable old IHP-140 and I'd like to try to spruce it up for use in the modern day. (I've seen past posts like this here, but the most recent was from like 6 years ago...) I just charged it up and it currently works with the stock firmware, though given the noise and slow file transfer speed of the HDD, as well as the relatively small charge the battery holds, those parts will likely need replacing soon. I remember how I always meant to try to install Rockbox on it but it never seemed stable enough. Then smartphone technology caught up and my iRiver sat collecting dust for all these years. But I'm hoping I can breathe new life into it! I'm reasonably tech savvy but not super advanced. But in short, I want to:

1. Massively upgrade the storage. What sort of media should I use? CF, SD/microSD, SSD, something else? How high can I take it? What kind of adapters do I need to make it all work?
2. Figure out a way to speed up file transfer. Is there a way to somehow upgrade the mini USB port to something faster? (This sounds challenging/impossible, but I am not tech savvy enough to know for sure.) Or is it possible to cut a slot in the case and install an SD/microSD reader, allowing cards to be swapped into a PC for quick file transfer? Something else? I'd prefer not to have to use a screwdriver to open the case every time I want to transfer files.
3. Replace the aging battery.
4. Install Rockbox.

What parts should I use? Where should I get them? Parts don't have to be super cheap. Happy to pay a little extra if it means not having to tear the thing apart to troubleshoot constantly. Are there tutorials/videos out there? I have a couple friends who have done professional electronics repair who can help me with the actual work once I figure out what's possible and with what parts.

And yeah, I know I can probably just buy a device off the shelf that does all of this for way cheaper, but this is a nostalgia/sentimental value project. The iRiver devices were some of the only "affordable" higher quality stereo digital recorders from the time and I really loved it for that, along with the cyberpunky-aesthetics. I still think the inline LCD remote is super cool.

Thanks in advance!

[speachy]

The battery ie easy enough to swap; IIRC it's the same size and connetor as the 3rd gen ipod but with the pins reversed.

AFAIK rockbox on the iHP-140 is quite stable, but you'll need the latest bootloader that fixes several issues with non-HDD.  And you can go up to 2TB in theory.  That said, the stock firmware has some pretty major problems with non-HDDs -- I don't recall if it's due to sheer capacity or an outright incompatibility with SSDs.

As for the actual storage, with a passive HDD->CF adapter you can use any CF card, and with an iFlash adapter you can use SD cards too.  I know some folks made some "SSDs" that plugged directly in but those just use the CF->SD adapter chipset with permenantly soldered storage.

There's no way to upgrade the USB transfer speed; it's slow USB 1.1 only.  Well, it's theoretically possible to replace the chips responsible for the USB mode, but that's a pretty serious undertaking.  Depending on the exact CF->SD adapter you choose you may be able to cut a hole in the case to make the card swappable, but I wouldn't count on it.

[bluebrother]

The battery ie easy enough to swap; IIRC it's the same size and connetor as the 3rd gen ipod but with the pins reversed.

It is. I did that replacement years ago.

AFAIK rockbox on the iHP-140 is quite stable, but you'll need the latest bootloader that fixes several issues with non-HDD.

It's stable since 15ish or so years -- been using it long on mine (though with HDD, the SSD mod is another story)

There's no way to upgrade the USB transfer speed; it's slow USB 1.1 only.  Well, it's theoretically possible to replace the chips responsible for the USB mode, but that's a pretty serious undertaking.  Depending on the exact CF->SD adapter you choose you may be able to cut a hole in the case to make the card swappable, but I wouldn't count on it.

It uses a hardware chip for USB, and it's USB 2.0. Unless you transfer lots of data frequently that's not too bad -- the limiting factor for me was always the HDD.

[JDuncs]

I know some folks made some "SSDs" that plugged directly in but those just use the CF->SD adapter chipset with permenantly soldered storage.

Do you remember if that was described in more detail somewhere on this forum or was that back in the days of mistic river? I had a search on here but couldn't find anything about soldering storage or custom made SSDs.

After years of it being dormant, I've thought it would be a nice project to revive my H340 and upgrade the storage. Currently still using the original 40GB HDD, but a while it ago it has started making a loud whirring noise while it's spinning... so suspect death is imminent.

[mr_2022]

Hey, welcome to the Club.

I also recently refreshed hardware / software / firmware and even look of a few players (h120/140 and H320/340).

Generally speaking a have had a few issues with some adapters that I recently ruled out with less cheap adapter options (just what you asked for).

There are many good posts for the upgrades. I use micro sd-cards up to 400 GB at the moment. Long term experience however, I have only with 128 GB µ-sd-cards. Here two of my players run since 10 years without troubles. At some point I just replaced the µ-sd-card with a higher capacity card. Of course it is wise to transfer most music via card-reader. Every now and then when I rip a CD to the player it is fine to transfer it via USB 2.0.

Since I don't exactly know where you stand with your project I am not sure where to start. Actually I would love to write down kind of a manual for my modifications, that will help you going from a stock player to a Rockboxed µ-sd-card player with new battery.

What do you think, how can I help you in an efficient way, that might also be helpful for others in the future? I mean, we could create a documentation in the process of you're player upgrade?

[Jeff]

It's definitely one of the best of the 'older' generation of players to mod.  The internal DAC on the iHP Series is really good, so sound quality has always been there. 
I've been out of the game for a while, but in terms of upgrading storage, i'd probably still go with a CF card.  My iHP-120 is still rocking it's 30gb card from 2008 with no signs of slowing down. Couple the increased storage with a nice portable headphone amp and you're on cloud 9!

[dfunk]

What do you think, how can I help you in an efficient way, that might also be helpful for others in the future? I mean, we could create a documentation in the process of you're player upgrade?

I haven't done anything to start this project other than a little bit of research and window shopping. If you are interested in writing a tutorial, that would be amazing! I would be starting from the very beginning.

[JDuncs]

Generally speaking a have had a few issues with some adapters that I recently ruled out with less cheap adapter options (just what you asked for).

This is where I'm stuck - I'm not sure which adapters to trust. Some older posts on here used a uSD to 1.8" IDE adapter, but it seems like no one makes this anymore. I have been looking at uSD to 2.5" IDE adapters on AlieExpress but it's not always clear what exact chipset is being used. It seems like the only cheap SD to IDE options use either the FC1306, FC1307 or FC1309 chipsets. From what I can tell the FC1307 or FC1306 are only designed for up to 128GB, although I have heard of people running higher than that. I've read that people have had trouble with the iFlash adapters, not to mention they're quite a bit more expensive.