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Wiki > Main > HardDriveReplacement

Hard Drive Replacement


Introduction

This page describes the characteristics of the hard drives in all Rockbox supported DAPs and lists suitable replacement drive models.

You can view the model name of your hard disk in Rockbox via System -> Debug (Keep Out!) -> View disk info

[This page is still in progress - please help by adding information]


Rockbox targets using 1.8" drives

Apple

Model Capacity Connector Thickness Original Drive
Ipod 1st Gen 5GB 50 Pins 5mm MK5002MAL
Ipod 1st Gen 10GB 50 Pins 5mm  
Ipod 2nd Gen 10GB 50 Pins 5mm MK1003GAL
Ipod 2nd Gen 20GB 50 Pins 8mm MK2003GAH
Ipod 3rd Gen 10GB 50 Pins 5mm MK1504GAL
Ipod 3rd Gen 15GB 50 Pins 5mm MK1504GAL
Ipod 3rd Gen 20GB 50 Pins 5mm MK2004GAL
Ipod 3rd Gen 30GB 50 Pins 8mm MK3004GAH
Ipod 3rd Gen 40GB 50 Pins 8mm MK4004GAH
Ipod 4th Gen 20GB 50 Pins 5mm MK2004GAL
Ipod 4th Gen 40GB 50 Pins 8mm MK4004GAH
Ipod Color/Photo 20GB 50 Pins 5mm  
Ipod Color/Photo 30GB 50 Pins 5mm MK3006GAL
Ipod Color/Photo 40GB 50 Pins 8mm  
Ipod Color/Photo 60GB 50 Pins 8mm MK6006GAH
Ipod Video 30GB ZIF 40 5mm MK3008GAL
Ipod Video 60GB ZIF 40 8mm MK6008GAH
Ipod Video 80GB ZIF 40 8mm MK8010GAH
Ipod Classic 160GB CEATA 8mm HS161JQ

Cowon

Model Capacity Connector Thickness Original Drive
Iaudio X5 20GB 50 Pins 5mm MK2006GAL
Iaudio X5 30GB 50 Pins 5mm MK3006GAL
Iaudio X5 40GB 50 Pins 8mm MK4004GAH
Iaudio X5 60GB 50 Pins 8mm MK6006GAH
Iaudio X5L 20GB 50 Pins 5mm MK2006GAL
Iaudio X5L 30GB 50 Pins 5mm MK3006GAL
Iaudio X5V 20GB 50 Pins 5mm MK3006GAL
Iaudio M5 20GB 50 Pins 5mm MK2006GAL
Iaudio M5 40GB 50 Pins 8mm  
Iaudio M5L 20GB 50 Pins 5mm MK2006GAL

Note:
  • The X5L and M5L models use the same casing as the dual platter models (X5 60GB and M5 40 GB) and the "bigger" battery is actually a combination of 2 batteries. It is possible to disconnect the second cell to make room for a dual platter drive.

Iriver

Model Capacity Connector Thickness Original Drive
H110 10GB 50 Pins 5mm  
H115 15GB 50 Pins 5mm  
H120 20GB 50 Pins 5mm MK2004GAL
H140 40GB 50 Pins 8mm MK4004GAH
H320 20GB 50 Pins 5mm MK2004GAL
H340 40GB 50 Pins 8mm MK4004GAH
H10 20GB ZIF 40 7mm(?) HTC426020G7CE00

Toshiba

Model Capacity Connector Thickness Original Drive firmware
Gigabeat F10 10GB 50 Pins 5mm MK2004GAL, MK2006GAL* JD100a
Gigabeat F20 20GB 50 Pins 5mm MK2004GAL, MK2006GAL* JD100a, BY301a
Gigabeat F41 40GB 50 Pins 5mm    
Gigabeat F40 40GB 50 Pins 8mm MK4004GAH, MK4006GAH* JD001a, BY201a
Gigabeat F60 60GB 50 Pins 8mm    
Gigabeat X20 20GB ZIF 40 5mm    
Gigabeat X30, S30, V30 30GB ZIF 40 5mm MK3008GAL  
Gigabeat X60, S60, V60 60GB ZIF 40 8mm MK6008GAH  

*The MK2004GAL and MK2006GAL exist in both 10 and 20 GB. On some internet site they call the 10gb : special edition.

Notes:

  • The difference between the size of the F10/F20/F41 and F40/F60 is in the back half of the case, which is interchangeable. So you can use an 8mm drive in an F10/F20/F41 if you can find a spare back half of the case from an F40/F60.
    the same apply to the X, S and V series.
  • Although the F10 and F20 ship with the MK2004GAL, the F10 drive is modified to only show 10GB (not sure if this is a firmware or hardware restriction).
    I tried all the software tools to find out if the 10gb is the 20gb with software limitations, but no luck. ChristopheNicolas. I've successfully put the MK2004GAL from a F10 into a external enclosure and used it as a 20GB drive after partitioning it so. I was then able to use the drive in a F10 as a 20GB disk. JasonStahls
  • Hard drive replacement in the S (and presumably the V as well) is as simple as dropping in the drive (the S will automatically boot into recovery mode if the drive is not formatted) and pushing firmware.
    An S60 has been successfully upgraded to 120gb by installing a MK1214GAH and using sendfirm to push NK.bin from the v1.1 OF when prompted by the recovery bootloader.
    Simply pushing the single or dual boot version of the rockbox bootloader for the S may or may not work - has not been tried yet.


1.8" Drive Comparison

The 1.8" drives come with various connectors:

  • PC-Card (68 pins)
  • 50-pin ATA (male connector for Hitachi, female connector for Toshiba)
  • 44-pin ATA (like 2.5" HDDs, long side)
  • 40-pin ZIF
  • 18-pin CE-ATA (serial connection based on the MMC standard)
Our supported targets all use the 50-pin ATA drives except for the iPod Video, iriver H10 20GB and Gigabeat X which use the ZIF 40 connector.

Toshiba

The following table compares Toshiba's range of 1.8" drives. Based on the table at http://www.command-tab.com/2007/03/11/upgrading-ipod-hard-drives/

Model # Capacity (GB) Connector Thickness (mm) Large Phys Sector?
MK1626GCB 160 CE-ATA 8  
MK2431GAH 240 ZIF 40 8 YES (firmware)
MK1231GAL* 120 ZIF 40 5 ?
MK1224GAH 120 ZIF 40 8 YES (not in firmware)
MK1214GAH 120 ZIF 40 8 no
MK1011GAH 100 ZIF 40 8 no
MK8010GAH 80 ZIF 40 8 YES (not in firmware)
MK8009GAH 80 ZIF 40 8 no
MK6008GAH 60 ZIF 40 8 no
MK4008GAH 40 ZIF 40 8  
MK8022GAA 80 ZIF 40 5  
MK4009GAL 40 ZIF 40 5  
MK3008GAL 30 ZIF 40 5 no
MK2008GAL 20 ZIF 40 5  
MK8007GAH 80 50 Pins 8  
MK6006GAH 60 50 Pins 8  
MK4006GAH 40 50 Pins 8  
MK4004GAH 40 50 Pins 8  
MK2003GAH 20 50 Pins 8  
MK4007GAL 40 50 Pins 5  
MK3006GAL 30 50 Pins 5  
MK2004GAL 20 50 Pins 5  
MK2006GAL 20 50 Pins 5  
MK1504GAL 15 50 Pins 5  
MK1003GAL 10 50 Pins 5  
MK5002MAL 5 50 Pins 5  
MK5004MAL 5 50 Pins 5  

  • MK1231GAL is not compatible with Gigabeat F40/F60 and the DealExtreme adapter. I suppose neither with F10/F20. In that case MK1214GAH is the alternative for F40/F60. JosePedro - 08 Dec 2008

  • MK1231GAL is also not compatible with the Gigabeat S30. This drive is rumored to be compatible only with the 80 and 120 gig iPod Classic 6th generation, Zune 80, and nothing else - including no usb enclosures or netbooks, etc. The reasons are unclear - Toshiba says this drive is normal PATA and has not responded to questions about what the differences might be. -- EricJorgensen - 17 May 2009
  • Drives with Large Physical Sectors that do not supported unaligned reads and unaligned writes transparently in the drive firmware may not work in certain devices. For example, MK1224GAH and MK8010GAH will NOT work in ipod video 5g ; whereas MK8010GAH WILL work in ipod video 5.5G. There's a table at http://www.rapidrepair.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=2672 which lists a number of these combinations (although not all drives).

Seagate

These are the drives from the Seagate Lyrion 1.8" series. They also come with CE-ATA interfaces. Information from seagate.com and span.com.

Model # Capacity (GB) Connector Thickness (mm)
ST7120221DE* 120 ZIF 40 8
ST760211DE 60 ZIF 40 5
ST730212DE 30 ZIF 40 5

* not yet for sale

Samsung

Samsung also makes 1.8" drives called the N series.

Model # Capacity (GB) Connector Thickness (mm) Cache RPM
HS161JQ 160 CEATA 8 2MB 4200
HS161JB 160 ZIF 40 8 8MB 4200
HS122JB 120 ZIF 40 8 8MB 4200
HS120JB 120 ZIF 40 8 2MB 4200
HS122JC 120 ZIF 40 8 8MB 5400
HS10TJB 100 ZIF 40 8 8MB 4200
HS10XJC/M 100 ZIF 40 8 8MB 5400
HS08XJC 80 ZIF 40 8 8MB 5400
HS082HB 80 ZIF 40 5 8MB 4200
HS080HB 80 ZIF 40 5 2MB 4200
HS081HA 80 ZIF 40 5 2MB 3600
HS080HA 80 ZIF 40 5 2MB 3600
HS06THB 60 ZIF 40 5 8MB 4200
HS060HB 60 ZIF 40 5 2MB 4200
HS061HA 60 ZIF 40 5 2MB 3600
HS04THB 40 ZIF 40 5 8MB 4200
HS040HB 40 ZIF 40 5 2MB 4200
HS041HA 40 ZIF 40 5 2MB 3600
HS030GB 30 ZIF 40 5 2MB 4200
HS031GA 30 ZIF 40 5 2MB 3600

Hitachi

Hitachi makes a couple series of 1.8" drives in their Travelstar series, though they are ZIF 40 only.

Model # Capacity (GB) Connector Thickness (mm) Cache RPM
HTC368030H5CE00 30 ZIF 40 5 128KB 3600
HTC368040H5CE00 40 ZIF 40 5 128KB 3600
HTC368060H8CE00 60 ZIF 40 8 128KB 3600
HTC368080H8CE00 80 ZIF 40 8 128KB 3600
HTC426020G5CE00 20 ZIF 40 5 2MB 4200
HTC426030G5CE00 30 ZIF 40 5 2MB 4200
HTC426040G8CE00 40 ZIF 40 8 2MB 4200
HTC426060G8CE00 60 ZIF 40 8 2MB 4200

PhotoFast

PhotoFast makes various 1.8" SSDs with different connector types under their GMonster brand which can be used in rockbox devices. Note that V3 and later version may have problems when used with rockbox while V1 and V2 seem to be ok. No guarantees, of course.

Model # Capacity (GB) Connector Thickness (mm)
GMonster-50 IDE 16 50 Pins 5
GMonster-50 IDE 32 50 Pins 5
GMonster-50 IDE 64 50 Pins 5
GMonster-50 IDE V2 16 50 Pins 5
GMonster-50 IDE V2 32 50 Pins 5
GMonster-50 IDE V2 64 50 Pins 5
GMonster-50 IDE V2 128 50 Pins 5
GMonster-ZIF 16 ZIF 40 5
GMonster-ZIF 32 ZIF 40 5
GMonster-ZIF 64 ZIF 40 5
GMonster-ZIF V2 16 ZIF 40 5
GMonster-ZIF V2 32 ZIF 40 5
GMonster-ZIF V2 64 ZIF 40 5
GMonster-ZIF V2 128 ZIF 40 5


Rockbox targets using 2.5" drives

Archos

See Steven Christall's guide to upgrading the hard drive in the Archos Jukebox. The supported Archos players work with any 2.5" PATA hard drive. When the drive is larger than 137GB, only the 137GB are seen. In order to access the rest of the drive these instructions need to be followed.


2.5" Drive Comparison

2.5" drives come in two basic varieties:

  • PATA (IDE)
  • SATA
Our supported targets (just Archos) all use PATA drives, thus SATA drives are not listed in the below tables.

Hitachi

The following table compares Hitachi's range of 2.5" drives. Based on the table at http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/en/menuitem.031985b34c718e352d4fed26eac4f0a0/

[To be completed]

Samsung

Samsung has several series of drive, listed at http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/type/type.do?group=computersperipherals&type=harddiskdrives

[To be completed]

Seagate

Seagate has several series of drives, listed at http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/laptops/

[To be completed]

Toshiba

The following table compares Toshiba's range of 2.5" drives. Based on the table at http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=HardDrivesOpticalDrives/2.5-inchHardDiskDrives

Model # Capacity (GB) Notes
MK1234GAX 120  
MK1032GAX 100  
MK8032GAX 80  
MK6034GAX 60  
MK3029GACE 30 Extended temperature range


Rockbox targets using 1" Microdrives

Apple

Model Capacity Connector Thickness (mm) Original Drive
iPod mini 1st Gen 4 GB CompactFlash Type II 5 Hitachi Microdrive (CF mode disabled)
iPod mini 2nd Gen 4 GB CompactFlash Type II 5 Hitachi HMS360604D5CF00
iPod mini 2nd Gen 6 GB CompactFlash Type II 5 Hitachi Microdrive (CF mode disabled)

iriver

Model Capacity Connector Thickness (mm) Original Drive
H10 5 GB F-FLEX 5 Seagate ST650211FX
H10 6 GB F-FLEX 5 Seagate ST660211FX
H10 pure 5 GB F-FLEX 5 Seagate ST650211FX

Olympus

Model Capacity Connector Thickness (mm) Original Drive
mr-100 5 GB F-FLEX 5 Seagate ST650211FX


1" Drive Comparison

[To be completed]


r67 - 02 Apr 2021 - 20:46:06 - UnknownUser

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