Ok I have a question for all you techies out there. My hard drives crashed an i lost all my music. It really sucks but the damn thing wont even boot up , i can hear it spinning but it wont get past the logo. I am going to just purchase 2 new 40GB drives but i want to know which one you think is better.

• IBM (Hitachi) Travelstar 80GN 40GB ATA6 2.5in 4200RPM Mobile Hard Drive
• IBM (Hitachi) Travelstar 40GN 40GB ATA/100 2.5in 4200RPM Mobile Hard Drive

It really boils down to the difference between an ATA100 and an ATA6 drive I think. Oh and when i do actually start the upgrade I am going to use the disk builder program to format the drives and just follow the upgrade procedure in the FAQ right? Or how do I install 2 new drives from scratch? is there a different process?

Be sure to read this before getting a new drive.

-Zeke

Sorry this post is in reference to this previous post

I don't believe ATA66/ATA100 will make any difference to the empeg. I remember reading (but cannot find the post) that the empeg uses an ATA/33 controller. Since the HD cable is a 40 wire not an 80 wire, the controller must be 66 or 33. An ATA/100 drive will work at the slower speeds. Since the price is the same, I don't think it matters which one you get.

-Zeke

well since the one i originally wanted was sold out i will get an 80GB drive instead of 2 seperate 40GB drives since i will have room to upgrade later. Glad i have my iPod in the mean time.

Sorry this post is in reference to this previous post

And in that previous post it sounded like a bad solder joint on the IDE header, not a bad disk drive. The thread ended without an update as to what the problem turned out to be. If it's not the disk drive, then buying a new drive won't solve the problem.

Ok this is weird. I looked at the cable and it appeared to not be completely crimped like the above suggestion says so i crimped it further. plug the cables back into both drives, screw the screws in mounting position and then plug the empeg into the wall with the supplied ac adapter, and it works. i am extatic so i go down to my car and try it. it works there too. i turn off the car, turn it back on, everything boots fine. i remove the empeg and insert it back into the bay with the car still running, it works fine. so i am greatly over joyed and trot back to my house to upload some new tunes. i plug the unit in with the ac adapter and attach the usb cable, my computer detects the rio empeg, but no hard disk found contact support. GRRR i go back down to my car and i get the same message. What could the problem be? i mean i tried it like 4 times in the house and like 4 times in the car. everytime it worked perfectly, now it isnt working. only other thing i could think of would be the IDE header but i mean the recrimped cables seemed to have fixed the problem. how do i contact Rob Schofield, i assume he would be the best one to make this baby purr.......AGAIN!

Yeah, that's the problem with things like cabling problems and bad solder joints. Frustrating intermittency.

how do i contact Rob Schofield, i assume he would be the best one to make this baby purr

Right here.

so Tony do you think i should send it off to Rob? i dont see any other alternative. i dont want to buy that drive if i dont have to.

i dont see any other alternative.

if you aren't able to determine which of these problems is the culprit, then Rob is your man.

i dont want to buy that drive if i dont have to.

Especially if the problem turns out to be something other than the drive, in which case you'd have spent the money but the player still wouldn't work.

I'm not saying the drive's good, I'm just saying that until you've ruled out everything else then you can't know.

will Rob add a new drive and charge me? that would be great if he could test out a different drive on the unit and tell me, "you need to buy a new drive". or should i be asking him that? haha

The details of what the service involves, and exactly what the charges will be, need to be worked out between you and Rob directly.

how long does it take for a response? i sent an email to that address a while back.