Building a Zif to IDE adaptor

[talking_walnut]

I'm considering building a Zif to IDE converter for my h140 based on stolltech.ch's work in this thread. If all goes well I'll put together a step-by-step guide so everyone else can build their own

Need a bit of advice before I get started though. I want to build the adaptor before getting a Zif drive to make sure it's possible and that it'll fit (it's getting tight in there with the RTC mod and a slightly botched battery replacement ). Span.com have a zif cable I could hack up here. Now I just need to find an IDE adaptor for the other end. Anybody got any advice on what to use for this?

Edit: Just looked at the picture of spans adaptor. Might be worth getting it and hacking it up. If I get rid of everything not needed it might be small enough. Anybody any thoughts on this?

[shadesbass]

The span adaptor you linked to converts ZIF to a 2.5" female connector, so that's no good. You're probably best off hacking up a CF card to get the 1.8" female IDE connector.
By the looks of things, the only thing on the adaptor board besides the connectors is a linear voltage regulator (5V -> 3.3V) and a couple of capacitors for stability. The rest is just blank board to rest the drive on. It's difficult to tell from that picture though...

[talking_walnut]

By the looks of things, the only thing on the adaptor board besides the connectors is a linear voltage regulator (5V -> 3.3V) and a couple of capacitors for stability. The rest is just blank board to rest the drive on. It's difficult to tell from that picture though...

That's what I'm thinking too. I emailed asking for higher quality pictures to have a better look.

The span adaptor you linked to converts ZIF to a 2.5" female connector, so that's no good.

Didn't realise that. So are 1.8" drives 40 pin? Hacking up a CF card is a good idea. Will any CF card do? I haven't had much dealings with them so don't know much about them.

[shadesbass]

I don't have one handy to count, but I think 1.8" IDE drives are 44 pin too.

I guess any CF card will do. The only difference between type I and II CF cards is their thickness. Maybe a Type II would be better as it would be the same thickness as the hard drive then...?

You may have to chop off the two plastic pins either side of the male IDE connector on the iRiver mainboard as they might impede the fitting of a CF female connector. Again, I don't have one handy to have a look at, so I'm afraid I can't say for sure.

[talking_walnut]

You may have to chop off the two plastic pins either side of the male IDE connector on the iRiver mainboard as they might impede the fitting of a CF female connector.

Luckily I had the for sight to accidentally break one of these off already so that doesn't bother me

I'm going to try to get my hands on a CF card over the weekend to see what can be done. I'm holding off buying the Zif cable from Span because it's going to cost almost €20. I know that if I bought a drive that 1 would come with it but I want to check to see if this will actually work first.

Man I hope this works. I want to keep my H140 going as long as I possibly can. I haven't seen any other mp3 player I'd consider instead.

[vik]

I'm nearing the point of doing this myself; anyone had any luck? I think stolltech's approach involved no electronics at all - he just used a straight ZIF cable (as linked at www.span.com - IA18Z-Z - Spare ZIF cable for IA18Z - 30mm - ATA Accessories - IDE Adapter Spare ZIF cable for IA18Z - 30mm ) and soldered the wires to where the ide cable wires would have gone on the circuit board. AFAIK ZIF is pin compatible with 40-pin ide, they're just different physically (I'd be checking the toshiba hard drive tech specs before going ahead tho)

vik

[shadesbass]

It's been a while since I looked at Stolltech's info, but IIRC you are correct in saying that the Stolltech mod is purely mechanical. 1.8" IDE and ZIF interfaces are pin compatible and use the same 3.3V supply voltage, so no voltage regulator is required.

I keep meaning to do this mod myself, but while my current drive is still working, I have little motivation to mess about with my H120.