RNS-510 HDD replacement/SSD swap DIY

[kamold]

Is anyone willing to test the firmware load to repartition with 276x firmware?
I will confirm that it works for me and have someone else validate before posting instructions in the interests of getting a working solution out there.

[johnc]

I'll give it a go. Problem is, i'm (regrettably) on the 3970 beta, so I'm not sure if I can get back to a 276x FW.

[johnc]

kamold, those instructions worked a treat mate. Easy to follow, and I didn't have any issues during any of it. Thank you so much for that. Really glad to be back on 2760 too.

I've updated the initial post with a link to your thread which explains how to do it.

Will post it in here for those initially subscribed http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/foru...510-62954.html

This is just the perfect compliment to this SSD upgrade.

[Ryan_R]

Excellent write-up. I'd have a go at this if I could be bothered pulling the radio out for the 50-millionth (read:4th) time

[gasb]

Hi,

May be someone can help me. I have done everything this post says about rplacing my HDD. However after putting it together my RNS510 won't start. It apears there is no power to it. Tried and reinstalled original hdd same problem. If anyone knows please help.

[johnc]

I don't want to state the obvious, but did you remove and check the 20 amp fuse at the rear of the unit?

[Ryan_R]

While we're not stating the obvious, did you firmly connect the power cable and all other cables? I presume you've since reconnected the car battery if you disconnected it earlier.

[gasb]

Hi Guys thank you for your replies. However i did everything you mention above and still no luck. No power to the unit. I even tried my friends RCD510 and that works ok. Looks like i will have to buy new one on ebay now.

[johnc]

Sorry to hear that gasb. So where do you think (if at all) you went wrong?

I made the DIY as simple as possible and did warn people of the (slight) risk. Unless you had static charge and/or somehow damaged a part of the circuit board, I have no idea where you could have gone wrong. I can only assume you checked and rechecked every single connection before you initially put power to it. I've pulled these things apart a good handful of times and not had any issues. And I'm not 'skilled' in this area in any way.

Where did the unit originally come from? is it an LED or an LCD version. Any additional info on it like a build date or HW version etc?

[gasb]

Hi The unit is made in Czech Republic SW2680 built date jan 2010 and its LED screen. I have done as per your explanation. There isn't anything that i could have done to damage motherboard or anything else. Im just puzzled that once removed and put together the unit won't power up. I just asked here if anyone experienced similar problem and may have fixed it. I am pulling it appart as we speak and rechecking all connections and it all looks good. Very strange.

[Stonemage]

gasb, did you ever get it fixed?

Quite interested to know.

[Ferni]

Has anyone tried just using an adapter like this with a (cheaper and faster) SATA SSD?

SATA 15+7 Pin Female to 44-Pin Male Adapter - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

[kamold]

I think that you would have trouble fitting an adapter in between the connector on the board and the hdd. It all fits together pretty snugly so you would maybe have to get a bit creative.

I doubt speed would make any difference as even an ssd doesn't appear to copy music much faster. It is faster when scrolling through music but my suspicion is that the onboard controller is only capable of pio mode rather than dma for hdd access.

And using a consumer grade sata hdd is a bit of an unknown quantity due to lower temperature and shock resistance. Hence use of an ssd.

[kamold]

Just an update, I installed a Kingspec 128GB PATA SSD yesterday and partitioned using the 90/5/5. This gave just over 100GB of usable space for music.

[Ryan_R]

I guess you'll be pressing the Skip > button a lot then