iRiver iHP-120: possible to replace disk with larger one?

2007-09-24 05:27:57

My main DAP is an iRiver iHP-120, one of my better purchases. When I bought it, 20GB was plenty of space, but you know how that goes.

Is it possible to replace the disk with a larger capacity one?

Are there any firmware limitations on maximum size of disk, and if so, would Rockbox overcome them?

What would be a good disk to use, if replacement is possible?

TIA for any help.

The alternative, of course, would be an iPod Classic with 160GB, which goes for a good price here in NZ, though none are in stock at the moment. But for my collection of often ill-tagged classical, I'd prefer a hierarchical directory structure to the iTunes database.

With further gratitude

Michael

iRiver iHP-120: possible to replace disk with larger one?

Reply #1 – 2007-09-24 05:47:01

It is very much possible.  In fact I myself have done it with an iHP-140.

The case of the player is held together by 10 T5 Torx screws.  Once those are removed everything comes apart very easily.

The iHP-120 has a Toshiba MK2004GAL as its HDD.  It can also accept both the MK3006GAL and MK4007GAL.  The former is 30GB and the latter is 40GB.  All of those drives are single platter which is important because the dual platter drives are 3mm thicker and will not fit in the smaller case of the iHP-120 (though do fit in the iHP-140).

The drives all work with both the original iRiver firmware and Rockbox so which one you use is up to you.  FAT32 formatting is mandatory for both firmwares to work so make sure when you format it you remember that.

iRiver iHP-120: possible to replace disk with larger one?

Reply #2 – 2007-09-24 10:38:43

Also, the original firmware by iRiver is limited to 10000 audio files maximum. If you need more than that, you should consider Rockbox.