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MP3 Flash Module as External HD Interface?

Posted by Cliff on from the now-this-would-be-a-cool-hack dept.

otter42 asks: "Has anyone thought about using a portable MP3 player's flash module port to interface with an external hard drive? I think the major obstacles are: how to find the protocols and write the interface, how to build a interface port to IDE card, and how to power the external drive. Having a 10 GB HD for $100 sure beats the heck out of 32 MB for $90! I'd be willing to pay an extra $100 so that my Rio could carry a worthwile amount of music." I'm sure someone has looked into something like this...if so, please share your experiences!

2 of 7 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It is possible... by Bryan+Andersen · · Score: 2

    You missed one of the most important features of CompactFLASH. You set one of the pines on it's interface, and it now behaves as an IDE disk drive. Can you say solid state HD. FLASH memory based Type I CompactFLASH cards are available up to 192MB and Type IIs go up to 300MB (from SanDisk). IBM HD version dosen't have much on them except higher power draw and slightly faster write speed.

  2. Ack. by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 2
    The whole point of an MP3 player is portability. Do you _really_ want to carry around an MP3 player, a hard drive, _and_ a power supply for that hard drive? For the money and time invested (assuming your time is worth money, like mine is), you could buy yourself a hard disk-based MP3 player.

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