CamilliLarry
New member
The disk in my VF160 failed a few weeks ago. Because of the large number of bugs in this thing, I consider it expendible, and decided to experiment. The mixer had a 20G IDE/[P]ATA drive. I happened to have another one, removed from an old Windows PC.
Initially, the VF160 wouldn't format the "new" disk. I removed it, formatted it on a Linux system, and put it back in the VF160. This time, it formatted (for VF160 use) just fine.
[I've been using it continuously for the last month or so with no trouble. -In fact, the problem I've had with the VF160 dropping out of recording without warning happens less often with the "new" disk.]
But the rarity of 20G drives leads me to a question:
Has anybody experimented with replacing the disk drive with either
(1) a larger drive, or (2) a solid-state drive?
(1) the VF160 firmware is buggy, and some of the bugs are affected by disk formatting. I would expect there to be problems if the disk size changes. It's impossible to find new 20G IDE/[P]ATA drives these days. [I haven't seen anything
smaller than 160G lately.] Has anybody experimented? How big a drive "works"?
(2) There exist IDE/[P]ATA drives now that are actually solid state instead having a spinning disk inside. And, right now, they come in small sizes, including approximately 20G, which real disks are no longer available in. But, the solid state disks come in nominal sizes related to powers of 2, so the closest match for size is 16G. [I don't
know if they use G == 1024 x 1024 or G == 1000 x 1000.] Has anybody tried a solid state drive? Anybody? (Beuller?)
Initially, the VF160 wouldn't format the "new" disk. I removed it, formatted it on a Linux system, and put it back in the VF160. This time, it formatted (for VF160 use) just fine.
[I've been using it continuously for the last month or so with no trouble. -In fact, the problem I've had with the VF160 dropping out of recording without warning happens less often with the "new" disk.]
But the rarity of 20G drives leads me to a question:
Has anybody experimented with replacing the disk drive with either
(1) a larger drive, or (2) a solid-state drive?
(1) the VF160 firmware is buggy, and some of the bugs are affected by disk formatting. I would expect there to be problems if the disk size changes. It's impossible to find new 20G IDE/[P]ATA drives these days. [I haven't seen anything
smaller than 160G lately.] Has anybody experimented? How big a drive "works"?
(2) There exist IDE/[P]ATA drives now that are actually solid state instead having a spinning disk inside. And, right now, they come in small sizes, including approximately 20G, which real disks are no longer available in. But, the solid state disks come in nominal sizes related to powers of 2, so the closest match for size is 16G. [I don't
know if they use G == 1024 x 1024 or G == 1000 x 1000.] Has anybody tried a solid state drive? Anybody? (Beuller?)