I have already decided that as soon as affordable 64GB CF cards become available my empegs will be going solid state.

While reading about someone facing syncing two units a thought occurred to me. When I move to solid state I will be using only a single card as 64GB will be enough for now and for the future. I also won't really need a drive tray to support a single CF card and reader.

I was therefore wondering whether it might be possible to cut a CF sized slot in the back panel above the power connector and make the CF card removable. Then syncing two empegs and getting new music on would become much faster.

Does this sound at all feasible ?

The main issue that occurs to me is that I might also have to cut a slot in the cage to make room for the couple of mm of CF card sticking out.

I guess there is also the possibility of the CF card shaking loose.

I guess fastening the CF reader to the back panel without adding bolts/screws on the outside of the back panel might also be problematic. Given that there are already screws sticking out on the side panels, maybe I would be better off mounting it on one of the side walls. Without the drive tray I've even got a couple of pre-existing screw holes to use.

I have thought about this in the past, and agree that easier access becomes more important as drive capacity gets larger and goes solid state.

My own tentative solution, is to install a hinge for the top plate, attached at the rear. And modify the tabs to permit pivoting it up without having to remove the front bezel.

Oooh.. or perhaps even better: rework or replace the lid, with the new configuration using four rare-earth magnets for attachment. Then it could just lift out (with a bit of oomph!).

The original empeg/rio metalwork is stainless steel, which is not terribly attractive to magnets. But some tiny ferrous plates could be attached where needed to counter that issue.

The drive tray metal is very attracted to magnets, though.

Cheers

Mmm.. or perhaps just rely upon the existing rear metal tabs to act as the hinge. (some initial adjustment may be required).

Then it could be as simple as replacing the two front tabs with a catch of some sort, possibly magnets.

Or bend/cut away the two front tabs of the lid, and install tiny, flush-mounted screws into the secondary tabs, one on each side of the lid, just behind the handle catches. Or magnets in that same place.

Yeah, I like that second idea.

"Flat head" screws (the kind with inverted cone shaped heads) can be let into the metalwork pretty much anywhere for a flush / smooth exterior finish.

Cheers

Didn't somebody already do this? They wanted FAT support in the kernel so they could dump their camera CF card when travelling and they fitted an plastic lid with a little door in the top.

Thread about it here. Can't find the pictures now tho.

Bolts sticking out of the empeg's back panel would not be a problem. They could even be pretty large bolts.

There's a pretty big gap back there when the player is fully docked. Think of how deep that docking connector is.

You can get them here but you might need to hit refresh a few times to get the page to load.

I think I'll stick with a slot in the side/back or Mark's hinged lid idea.

just found this after reading another thread in the general section asking about cf drives, now, this has my attention!

not only did i buy a 10gig player last week (which needs upgrading to hold around 30gig) but only yesterday i bought another which is only 6gig, and again, will want upgrading (if it works!),

I don't wanna run before i can walk but, with two drives requiring an upgrade, how feasable is the above?
what would need to be done with regards firmware, if anything,

has anyone actually done this yet? oh, and of course, are they affordable yet?

cheers.
Hugh

I haven't done it yet, still waiting for affordable 64GB CF cards.

cheers Andy, just had a nose about on ebay, plenty of adaptors but a distinct lck of drives, particularly big ones!

oh well, nice thought,

thanks.
HUgh

I have converted my player to CF, though not "easily removable". Others have done the same. It's quite easy with the right adapters.

Hi,

i'm not overly concerned with making it 'easily removable', what is the approximate gb size and cost of the mod?

easy to do?

cheers.
Hugh

The most recent thread on this topic is titled "CF Empeg" and I was wrong about which forum it was in. The thread in question is here.

thanks Tony,

just read about 15 pages before skipping to the last few posts, most of it made as much sense to me as Prof Stephen hawkins books! while i'm plenty capable of the practical stuff --1st job when i left school was building / soldering surface mount components /pcb's etc, which went in anything from dialisis machines to huge pa systems--, but the technical computery wizardry stuff baffles me!

Hugh

There's no wizardry required.

Just purchase the recommended CF-IDE adapters (for 44-pin notebook form factors), plus a suitably large CF card (or two), plug them in, screw the adapters in place (or use industrial double-stick foam tape), and then just treat them like hard drives.

Cheers

The coolest CF empeg mod I've seen is shown in the attached photo. Trick is, it's from over 4 years ago; 10/6/04. Someone's been at this CF mod for quite a while now. Image credits go to kildal.dk.

Yup, it's a plexiglass top with a hinged door that has the CF slot mounted to it. The slot is mounted with the pins facing backward so it's easy to pull the card straight out.

Hm, CF could be a convenient way to get podcasts onto the empeg, if only there were the appropriate tools for Windows.