My player has been behaving oddly (even erratically) for a long time. So it came as little surprise today when its hard drive stopped functioning today. I could tell the drive was gone because when I booted it up it made a loud, repetitive click which I knew signalled the end. Now, I haven't backed up my data in a while, but I haven't exactly added anything new either, so that's really not a problem.
Guts of my busted MK2004GAL:
Anyway, to fix my player, I've ordered both a new hard drive and a new battery. I was able to order an MK3006GAL 30GB drive from ewiz.com (
linky) for $105.06 shipped via UPS ground ($9.59) making it $114.65. A good price, considering they normally sell it for $112 before S&H. I also ordered an 1800mAh Newertech 1G/2G iPod battery (
linky) on the offchance that my battery was going and possibly causing HD troubles as well. It cost $7.99 with $4.50 shipping, making it $12.49.
Overall I spent $127.14, which isn't too bad (especially since I just got paid). When I get the drive and battery, I'll post again (with more pictures). I'll also add my long overdue photographic contributions to the HDD Upgrade FAQ and add a section to the wiki.
In the meantime, I'm preparing to re-download all my music, and I'm re-ripping a bunch of CDs with EAC (which I just set up with DT's guide).