[mikhael]

1gb will fit only one full length audiobook. It won't even fit some of my audiobooks. I can't live without the audiobooks. Period.

[Sandwich]

Yes, but flash drives are a different mentality. You're not supposed to store everything on one, you're supposed to toss on whatever you'll be wanting to use that day/week. Granted I don't like working like that myself, but that's the idea.

[mikhael]

Too much management. I tend to toss on at least four or five audibooks (usually more like ten or fifteen) so that when I finish one, I have options. I'm not usually at  home when I finish a book.

[deep_eyes]

ship looks like the new doom BFG lol! drop ship!

[mikhael]

So I email iRiver about this thing on Saturday and got nothing in response. Today I tried to call them and got "all circuits are busy".

Off I went to the Misticriver.net forums to ask if anyone else was having trouble contacting them. Therein I found a thread titled, "E-mail to IriverAmerica". I thought, "Hey, this might be just the thing!"

I'll quote some relevant bits:

Originally posted by Carlosantana:
Dear staff at IriverAmerica,

Recently, I purchased the Iriver H10 20GB model from my local Futureshop.  ...  Here is just a list of things that I would love to do with my player, but cannot:

1.  Play music directly from the player through my PC
2.  Edit File Names/Tags on the player through my PC
3.  Be able to see how much of the total 18.69 GB Harddrive I have used up at any given time (through my PC or on the player itself).
4.  Be able to use my iRiver h10 as a pure External Harddrive for storing any and all file types.

I have to use WMP to load files? I can't use it as a hard drive? They turned it into an iPod.

I still need some options.

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by mikhael
I have to use WMP to load files? I can't use it as a hard drive? They turned it into an iPod.

Oh yeah, I was pissed about that. I was about to decide on the H10 a couple of times before I remembered that little point (which puts it completely out of the question as I run Windows 2k, which WMP 10 doesn't work on)... :-/

EDIT: Apparently, the limitation can be worked around - very cool: http://www.misticriver.net/boards/showthread.php?t=27694

[Deepblue]

You can find loads of open firmware to put on the Irivers if you don't like the WMP 10 only thing. Luckily, I get along fine with WMP 10 and use it for my PC music purposes anyway.

@Vyper: Sorta like a BFG... It was actually concept art from Halo that never got used. But now the model is mine... all mine!!!

[mikhael]

I can't use WMP on FreeBSD. I don't use media management software. I have my own system that I like (called copying stuff to the right place in the first place). All I want is a fat hard drive, a standard interface, and no extraneous crap.

You'd think that would make it easier to find, not harder.

[Deepblue]

The H10 retains the drag and drop functionality.

[mikhael]

Maybe I didn't make that part clear: drag and drop is not enough. It must identify itself to Windows as a hard drive. Not a "Mobile Device" or a "Music Player". Anything else, and it won't play nice with non-MS/Mac OSes.

[Deepblue]

I see.

[Sandwich]

Mik, did you click my link? Read the thread - there's apparently a way to get the H10 series to work as an external HDD:

[q]For H10 5GB and 6GB models:

   1. Power off your H10 player
   2. Remove the battery and put it back
   3. Connect the player and your PC with USB cable
   4. Click and hold the Select key of the H10 ("o" button) and then the Power button until the "UMS Connect..." message appears on the H10's LCD screen.
   5. The player will work in UMS mode

For H10 20GB model:

   1. Power on your H10 player
   2. Turn it off using the reset botton
   3. Connect the player and your PC with USB cable
   4. Click and hold the Select key of the H10 ("o" button) and then the Power button until the "UMS Connect..." message appears on the H10's LCD screen.
   5. The player will work in UMS mode
[/q]

[Shrike]

Originally posted by mikhael
Let me say, I'm an idiot. An IDIOT.

So I went to plug in my Iriver H120 and it started acting funny. I tried to turn it off, no dice. I unplug it, nothing. In fact, the battery is getting super hot--and the battery isn't removable.

So I trace the cable back to the wall--its the power unit for a network switch. 9v DC, instead of the 5v DC that the iRiver uses.

So, I'm about to replace this thing and I'd like some input from you lot. iPods (any sort) are not an option (me and iTunes are not a well made match), nor is any other player that requires any software to manage the unit. I want to copy my files onto it as if it were a hard drive and have it read the directory structure and do the right thing. I don't need photos. I definately do not want movies. I want at least 20gb of HARD DRIVE BASED storage. USB2.0 is a must.

Any recommendations?

Break it in two, put it in a sock and beat people with it, then steal their money?

[mikhael]

Shrike, little things like that are why I haven't dispatched the robot ninja assassin dwarves to kill you yet. That and they're busy in Venezuela right now, not taking my phone calls because some guy name Robertson sent his deposit first.

Sandwich: do files put on the drive in that mode show up as valid music files when not in that mode? IE: if I drag and drop my Dune Audiobooks onto the thing in UMS mode, will i then be able to switch to player mode and listen? If not, its just the same as an iPod, and completely unacceptable.

[Shrike]

Originally posted by mikhael
Shrike, little things like that are why I haven't dispatched the robot ninja assassin dwarves to kill you yet. That and they're busy in Venezuela right now, not taking my phone calls because some guy name Robertson sent his deposit first.

Heh.  That made me laugh.

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by mikhael
Sandwich: do files put on the drive in that mode show up as valid music files when not in that mode? IE: if I drag and drop my Dune Audiobooks onto the thing in UMS mode, will i then be able to switch to player mode and listen? If not, its just the same as an iPod, and completely unacceptable.

RTM, dude. Or RTL, in this case. I know just what it says there. It would seem to indicate that the UMS mode is the same thing as the H120/140's regular USB connection as external HDD.

[mikhael]

The acronym thing is neat.

That looks interesting. I'm not fond of having to add extra software to make my unit work the way it is supposed to work out of the box though. (Believe it or not, I don't like to use hackish software on my portable devices, especially not to correct an intentional deficiency).  It took me until I decided to open my Archos up and upgrade it to a 20gb HD before I even ran Rockbox.