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Has any one removed the HDD and used Flash Memory? on the karma?
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M0tah 2008-09-09, 17:26 #106
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In reply to post ID 14081
What mocelet said.  For clarity, here's a diagram detailing the three main adapter types.
ChronoReverse 2008-09-16, 14:26 #107
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I'm looking to do this for my Karma but I want to know if the various eBay parts are the right ones.

This battery should be fine right?
http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-Battery-For-RIO-Karma-20GB-2200Mah_…

This adapter should work (with minor modifications) right?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI…?ViewItem&rd=1&…:MEWN:IT&ih=001

Thanks
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M0tah 2008-09-16, 20:41 #108
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The battery and adapter look fine to me.
ChronoReverse 2008-09-17, 10:07 #109
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Thanks.  BTW, what's the mAH rating for the original Karma battery?
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obscure co-star 2008-09-17, 12:12 #110
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I'm just repeating what other people have said, but a site search lists it at 1600 mAH.
Dude!  There's no WAY that's your daughter's favorite song!
oh, uh-oh --wait, wait... Is she in a coma???
ihabelnaccash 2008-09-23, 18:25 #111
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http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/09/pretecs_stumps_up_64gb_c…

woo hoo ! I've been running a 32GB CF card in my main karma for a while now, I can't wait for the price on these to drop some, then I'll go about modding my backup one :)
shish 2008-09-24, 12:18 #112
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have just done the cf mod after seeing this thread, items bought from ebay. Player is currently running now with a new battery and an 8gb sandisk extreme iii, but this will swap for a transcend 16gb when it arrives!

Just wanted to point a couple of things out to those who are about to do the same mod. Looking at M0tah's image of the adaptors i picked the middle one. This works very well but i did need to make a couple of mods.

Firstly as the pin header and master/slave jumper is through-hole the solder joints on the bottom of the pcb protrude too far down and means the pcb does not sit flat againest the main pcb. I filed mine down slightly to help it fit. I also chopped the master/slave jumper down and soldered it to be a master.

Secondly i found this adaptor and a cf card was about 1.5mm too long to sit next to the volume buttons, thankfully i have a small milling machine so did i nice job of milling off a small ammount from the end of the cf card. You could use a file to do this.

Some off-the-shelf M2.5 nuts+threadlock were used on the screen/hdd mounting screws.

Overall it's a great mod, battery life is increased even with just the cf mod and is faster to load/playback though writing is slightly slower
ducky 2008-10-17, 10:27 #113
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Hi,

So I finally received today my 16GB Transcend CF card but I've got one problem. When I start in recovery mode, it doesn't detect any HDD. It also doesn't asks me to plug usb and run the firmware.

After a few tries, it detects the HDD (weird characters) and asks to plug usb and such but the .exe still doesn't detect my Rio Karma.

I don't know what to do :(


I've messed up a little with the adapter (bought type 2) and I think one of the master/slave soldering has gone because I melted it too much. I'm not sure this is dramatic?!
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obscure co-star 2008-10-17, 18:57 #114
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I've never done what you're trying, but if you'd don't mind a quick & dirty shot in the dark:

It goes without saying that you should have tested the adapter first with a wire or something as a jumper. 

I can tell you from buying an adapter, so I could connect my Karma HD to my desktop computer for maintainence; some of the adapters are just really poorly made. 

I bought 2 adapters, only 1 worked and that took some trial, error and wiggling.

Hope this helps some.  Don't give up.  Even if you have to get another adapter, it's better than frying your CF or your Karma.

(Crap!  I just remembered I had changed my "quote" and avatar)   :rolleyes:
Dude!  There's no WAY that's your daughter's favorite song!
oh, uh-oh --wait, wait... Is she in a coma???
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M0tah 2008-10-18, 00:04 #115
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In reply to post #113
Quote by ducky:
I've messed up a little with the adapter (bought type 2) and I think one of the master/slave soldering has gone because I melted it too much. I'm not sure this is dramatic?!
I'm pretty sure the adapter has to be set to the master position for it to function correctly in the karma, since it's going to be the only drive connected.  If those pins aren't being bridged anymore I'm guessing that's the problem.
ducky 2008-10-18, 00:32 #116
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Thanks guys. Of course, I tried first with the jumper but got no light from the disk activity.
The missing soldering is a master one so I believe this is the problem. And also I'm going to borrow someone CF to be sure...

[Image: http://thumbnails11.imagebam.com/1609/1ee1a916082802.gif]

I'm going to by a new one (I can mess up with $3.19 adapters :D)
mocelet 2008-11-09, 13:48 #117
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Also, if the adapter has a 5V/3.3V selector, you need to set the adapter to the 5V position because although the CF card is a 3.3V item, the Karma is also 3.3V, so you don't want the adapter to lop 1.7V off the supply to the card.

If it doesn't have a selector, there might still be a voltage regulator on the board which will need the input and output pins shorting together to effectively remove the regulator from the circuit.
westies 2008-11-10, 13:45 #118
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Subject: The definitive manual on Karma CF upgrade?
Greetings!

I'm a bit new to the forum, but not to Karmas (I have four of them in working order). Awesome players.

I'd like to experiment with building a CF-based Karma. I have enough leftover parts from swap-outs (mobo, cases, batteries, displays) that I can build two more working Karmas if I want to. But I don't feel like spending any more money on hard drives if I can get a CF to work.

I followed this (and other threads) and have seen a lot of different ideas. However, since the thread is now over a year and a half old, things have changed a bit. And I have seen different strategies. I suck at soldiering and really don't have the tools to do it, anyways.

The best ideas I've seen refer to the LinITX CF PACF18H adapter. I also saw the comment about setting the voltage to 5v (if there is a selector) for the CF card, and being sure to set the adapter as IDE primary.

I assume that the firmware needs to be done. Are there any other caveats?

Has anyone posted the definitive guide to the upgrade?

I'll post my successes when (if) they occur.

Thanks!!!!!

....k
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obscure co-star 2008-11-10, 17:36 #119
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Welcome! 

I can give you some quick-and-dirty answers, having not done the mod, but followed the various threads on replacing the HD with interest.

The thread is old, but it's probably the most active relevant thread we've got.  The whole forum is not super active.  There are a lot of old friends who post here, (I'm a relative newb, too), and basically maintain this forum for the benefit of the rest of the Rio World.  There's even a former Rio Engineer, who post every now and then.

---We own the above supporters of the forum more than we can ever hope to repay---

You seem to have hit most of the points of interest in doing the replacement.  You'll want to make sure you have a card/adapter combination that fits in the available space satisfactorily & realize you need a CF card that someone else has tested --or take your chances with another one.

You might find something helpful or of interest in one of the stickies at the top of the Rio Players section of the forum.  This is about as close as we get to a how-to on the CF card, though.

I'd suggest you use a small bit of wire to test that you have the correct placement for jumpers, before you try soldering.  You can probably use a finger to hold them in place, while you test [I don't think 5V has maimed anyone yet.]  If you are as bad at soldering as you say, you might want to find a friend who's better.  It's really not that hard, ever with a $10 iron.  [But don't expect one of those ridiculous "heatless" jobs to melt the solder.]

I've got a Karma waiting for me to do this mod, but I've also got one that's working fine --so I'm happy to wait & let CF card prices drop, so I can get a massive card for the same money a 16-20 GB one (or a new HD) would cost now.

Don't forget to use search, just in case you've missed something older or an off-hand mention in a odd thread.

Good luck with your ideas.  We'd love to read about your results here.   :-)
Dude!  There's no WAY that's your daughter's favorite song!
oh, uh-oh --wait, wait... Is she in a coma???
spece30 2008-11-11, 20:39 #120
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In reply to post #118
I have converted 3 players to flash using an adapter from ebay, a new battery from ebay and 16g Transend flash card from Newegg in the last few weeks. The adapter and battery come from Hong Kong and took 2 weeks to get. The flash card is slower than the hd and so it takes a lot longer to fill it up. But it works great. The CF adapter uses jumpers for the voltage selector and HD master/slave mode (must be in master position to work). The CF card is slightly too wide to fit at the volume buttons so I used a file to take off about 1/16th of an inch or about 1mm right there by the buttons.

Search ebay for item #220286103327  for the CF adapter.
ebay #360099307031  for a brand new battery.
or ebay #130246828830 for a tested battery and battery board.
 
Good Luck.
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