After much procrastination I've finally gotten the basis for the iRiver H10 disassembly manual. So, without further ado, let us begin, shall we?
I would like to preface this by stating that this unit has many small screws and some very fragile parts in it. I take no responsibility for any damage that occurs due to lack of electronics knowledge or abuse of the unit. This guide is for educational purposes only, and I am in no way liable for broken parts or defective units.
THE TOOLS YOU WILL NEED (click the images for a larger view):
1 - iRiver H10 20gb MP3 player
1 - very small Phillip's head screwdriver (1.5mm works best)
1 - T5 Torx® screwdriver
1 - pry tool (check ebay for "iPod pry tool", they're cheap) (
http://search.ebay.com/search/search...=iPod+pry+tool)
1 - tweezers (optional, but ultra handy!!)
We begin by removing the 4 Torx® screws securing the case together. The pair on the top are longer than the pair on the bottom, so keep them separated and in a safe place. I use the caps off of discarded 1-liter Pepsi bottles since they are stable and have fairly tall sides.
Once the top screws are removed, the top plate will come off easily.
Using the pry tool, work your way down the side of the case from top to bottom using a sliding motion along with a light prying motion on one side. 3 (three) tabs on either side of the case hold it together. Once one side is free, the other side will come apart without much effort.
Now that the display half of the case is free, open it up like a clamshell from the bottom. DO THIS SLOWLY AND WITH CARE since there are 2 (two) fragile ribbon cables connecting the two case halves.
See what I meant by lots of screws? There are a total of 11 (eleven) Phillip's head screws holding the display board to the case, all highlighted with arrows for easy identification.
The pictures above are fairly critical. There are a couple screws that have a different "thread pitch" than the others (distance between the threads), so we want to keep them well organized. I have used a small square of corrugated cardboard with one of the sides removed for a parts tray. This is an old locksmithing trick my father showed me, but it works well here, too. There is also a small brass clip in the screw hole just to the right of the battery connector. Take a look at how it is installed before removing it, since it is used for grounding. You will need to put this back the same way during re-assembly, so make double sure you know where it goes before removing it.
Here is where we will unplug the hard drive connector cable from the drive. You will see a long, thin white band running across the connector. With your pry tool, get up under the edge of it and lift up
gently on it, as if you are prying a nail from a piece of wood with a hammer. The cable should slide out of the connector nice and easy. If it's still a little tight, wiggle it slightly from side to side while pulling on it.
Next is the smaller data cable. The colors are reversed on this one, so use the same procedure as before with the hard drive cable, but this time lift up on the black portion. Leave the other end connected so you don't lose the cable. At this time you can also unplug the battery cable from the socket, which is a simple pull-type socket. Try and use the sides of the connector and don't pull on the wires, since this could pop the wire out of the connector and cause a big headache later. From here, gently lift the circuit board out of the case and set the case half aside.
Okay! The board is out and ready for action. Flip it over to view the screen and scroll pad. The scroll pad is now only being held onto the board by a small data cable. Removing the scroll pad is a simple matter of pinching the cable between two fingers and pulling it out of the socket. Replacing it, on the other hand, could get a little frustrating since it is a tight compression fit. Here is where a good set of tweezers or a pair of very fine needle-nosed pliers come in handy.
SCREEN REPLACEMENT
If your screen is broken and you're installing a new one, you want to start by unplugging the ribbon cable just as you did with the other ribbon cables. Lift up on the black portion of the connector and slide the cable out. The display is held onto the circuit board by 3 (three) small plastic clips on the back, and are very fragile. Gently pop them out of their holes one by one until the whole display comes out and replace it with the new one. Since I didn't remove the display myself, there is the possibility that the display is also held onto the board by some type of double-sided adhesive. If that's the case, lift the corner SLOWLY with your plastic pry tool to dislodge it from the board.
Also, remember to wipe off any fingerprints from the new screen before re-assembling the unit. A lint-free cloth and some light pressure should work well.
Here's a couple pictures of the hard drive with the blue vibration reducing gaskets removed. The drive should come out without any problems now since it's just sitting in the other half of the case. If you're swapping out the old drive for a new one, remember how the gaskets went on the drive. It's a good fit in the case, and if you reverse them, it won't fit back in correctly.
Here we have the back half of the iRiver H10. It houses the battery and a smaller circuit board containing the button controls, headphone jack, remote control jack, lock switch, reset switch and microphone. This board is held in by 6 (six) small screws.
Once all the screws are removed, the board pops right out. From here, you can do any necessary repairs to the headphone jack. This is usually limited to re-soldering the jack to the board, which can be tricky in it's own right. If you are not confident enough with a soldering iron, have someone with a good electronics background do the soldering for you.
BATTERY REPLACEMENT
This is by far the most frustrating portion of the procedure. The back case of the H10 is not only held on with small clips, but also some very tough double-sided sticky tape. Using the pry tool, work your way around the edges of the case and slowly apply upward prying pressure to loosen the metal back from the internal plastic frame. After a good half-hour of careful prying I was finally able to get the battery free from it's cage. Install the new battery and snap the case back onto the plastic frame. Apply some good pressure around the edges and along the bottom to ensure that the tape has good adhesion.
Re-assembly of the iRiver H10 is a matter of reversing the steps as stated above. Sometimes it doesn't always go back together as easily as you think, but don't get frustrated. Slow down and work through it nice and easy. Once the unit is all back in one piece, you will need to hit the reset button and connect it to the power/transfer cable before turning the unit on. I won't assume WHY this is, but both times I have taken it apart, I had to connect it up to the charger before it would work.
Also, for those of you that would like some higher resolution images of this procedure, you can
grab them here. Hopefully this will help the many fans of this wonderful digital gizmo keep their favorite electronic toy up and running for a long time.