Hey,
I'm looking to bring my old iPod 3G back to life and I'd like to get a 120 gig drive installed in the sucker, if it's at all possible. As of now I've already installed a new battery (an iPod Mini battery, but a working battery none the less) and all that's left is to replace the pewny 15 gig drive that the iPod came with.
( If you want to skip my iPod 3G hard drive research and you really know what you're talking about, scroll to the bottom of this post and read the two questions in bold. )
After doing some research I figured out that the iPod 3G uses a 1.8" Toshiba drive and I've found websites [ such as www.rapidrepair.com ] that offer hard drive replacements for the 3G with drives up to 40 gigs in size, but I was hoping to go higher.
So, I looked at Toshiba's website [ www.toshibastorage.com/main.aspx?Path=StorageSolutions/1.8-inchHardDiskDrives ] and their most current line of 1.8" PATA drives (I'm pretty sure all iPod's use Parallel ATA drives) range from 40 gigs to 240 gigs.
But one thing I came across during the research process and while looking at the Command-Tab.com website [ www.command-tab.com/2007/03/11/upgrading-ipod-hard-drives/ ] is that since the iPod 3G had been discontinued, the hard drive connectors that Toshiba has been putting on its 1.8" drives changed from a set of female pin slots to a ZIF/LIF (zero insertion force/low insertion force) connector. This means the hard drives with the new connectors wont be able to connect to the iPod 3G's logic board unless there's some sort of third party converter sold for this that would fit inside an iPod.
So, at that point in my researching process, I went back to the Command-Tab article that lays out which iPods can be upgraded using their provided list of compatible hard drives and the largest hard drive listed that still uses pins is Toshiba's 80 gig MK8007GAH. But, although I'd like to just believe the Command-Tab article and assume that the listed drives are the only ones I can use, I don't know if I should because the article's publication date is listed as March 11th, 2007 and a lot could have changed since then...
Now, if I was sure that there was not any type of iPod friendly converter solder for going from ZIF/LIF to pins and if I was also sure that the highest size of compatible drive with pins was 80 gigs, I'd go ahead and start looking for one of those drives, but alas, I'm not sure of the previous which is what brought me here...
So yeah, basically there are two questions I'm looking to get an answer to in this thread:
1. Are there 1.8" hard drives (Toshiba or possibly others) made above 80 gigs in size that are compatible with the iPod 3G and use the same pin connectors the original iPod 3G drives use instead of the newer ZIF/LIF connectors (used by Toshiba on their newer 1.8" drives)?.
and if you don't know the answer to the first question or if the answer is "no"
2. Is there some sort of converter sold that will convert the ZIF/LIF connection format on Toshiba's newer 1.8" drives to the older pin connection format AND if there is such a converter, will it fit into an iPod 3G (originally 15gig)?
Hope someone can help and thanks for any advice you might have to offer!
I'm looking to bring my old iPod 3G back to life and I'd like to get a 120 gig drive installed in the sucker, if it's at all possible. As of now I've already installed a new battery (an iPod Mini battery, but a working battery none the less) and all that's left is to replace the pewny 15 gig drive that the iPod came with.
( If you want to skip my iPod 3G hard drive research and you really know what you're talking about, scroll to the bottom of this post and read the two questions in bold. )
After doing some research I figured out that the iPod 3G uses a 1.8" Toshiba drive and I've found websites [ such as www.rapidrepair.com ] that offer hard drive replacements for the 3G with drives up to 40 gigs in size, but I was hoping to go higher.
So, I looked at Toshiba's website [ www.toshibastorage.com/main.aspx?Path=StorageSolutions/1.8-inchHardDiskDrives ] and their most current line of 1.8" PATA drives (I'm pretty sure all iPod's use Parallel ATA drives) range from 40 gigs to 240 gigs.
But one thing I came across during the research process and while looking at the Command-Tab.com website [ www.command-tab.com/2007/03/11/upgrading-ipod-hard-drives/ ] is that since the iPod 3G had been discontinued, the hard drive connectors that Toshiba has been putting on its 1.8" drives changed from a set of female pin slots to a ZIF/LIF (zero insertion force/low insertion force) connector. This means the hard drives with the new connectors wont be able to connect to the iPod 3G's logic board unless there's some sort of third party converter sold for this that would fit inside an iPod.
So, at that point in my researching process, I went back to the Command-Tab article that lays out which iPods can be upgraded using their provided list of compatible hard drives and the largest hard drive listed that still uses pins is Toshiba's 80 gig MK8007GAH. But, although I'd like to just believe the Command-Tab article and assume that the listed drives are the only ones I can use, I don't know if I should because the article's publication date is listed as March 11th, 2007 and a lot could have changed since then...
Now, if I was sure that there was not any type of iPod friendly converter solder for going from ZIF/LIF to pins and if I was also sure that the highest size of compatible drive with pins was 80 gigs, I'd go ahead and start looking for one of those drives, but alas, I'm not sure of the previous which is what brought me here...
So yeah, basically there are two questions I'm looking to get an answer to in this thread:
1. Are there 1.8" hard drives (Toshiba or possibly others) made above 80 gigs in size that are compatible with the iPod 3G and use the same pin connectors the original iPod 3G drives use instead of the newer ZIF/LIF connectors (used by Toshiba on their newer 1.8" drives)?.
and if you don't know the answer to the first question or if the answer is "no"
2. Is there some sort of converter sold that will convert the ZIF/LIF connection format on Toshiba's newer 1.8" drives to the older pin connection format AND if there is such a converter, will it fit into an iPod 3G (originally 15gig)?
Hope someone can help and thanks for any advice you might have to offer!