Ok time for some german engineering in da house.
Ive recently had the problem that my PCG-TR1MP’s HD started making clacking noises and I ended up looking for a 1.8” Hitachi drive on ebay.
As probably most people on this forum know, finding a 1.8” Drive with a 44-Pin Connector for a reasonable price nowadays is nearly impossible, so i started looking for alternate options.
I found this http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290178611226&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=019 Adapter ZIF->44Pin and as soon as it arrived, i had to encounter the simple problem that it would work properly with my 44-Pin -> USB adapter but not with my Sony PCG-TR1MP that i bought it for.
Luckily google helped me find this website: http://www.riovolution.org/post/12086 which is actually an instruction on how to install a 1.8” harddisk into some mp3 player ive never heard of.
Anyways, the solution of removing the voltage regulator was just it.
this is the relevant thing:
Modifying the ZIF adapter
Because the ZIF adapter has a 3.3v regulator to step down the 5v it expects to receive to 3.3v, you will need to bypass it. Otherwise the voltage delivered to the ZIF drive will be less than 3.3v and the drive will not work. The regulator is located on the left of the adapter and has “AMS1117” printed on it.
Remove the regulator by desoldiering it or by simply cutting the leads.
Bridge the two pads on the bottom middle/right of where the regulator used to be (looking at the board in the same direction as the writing on the regulator). This will directly connect the output from the Karma to the HDD.
Make sure that the third pad on the left is not bridged; this is negative and the other two are positive.
Hook the ZIF drive up to the adapter, plug it into the mainboard, and boot up your Karma in recovery mode (hold the menu button and then press the power button). You should see a screen like that below, with the model of the HDD you are using in place of “toshiba mk8009gah.â€
(optional) Also desoldier the LED (located diagonally up and right of the regulator), which lights up when it receives power. Doing this will increase the battery life of the Karma, but probably not by much. (Note: I have not tested doing this.)
After desoldering the voltage regulator, the Adapter worked nicely, and my PCG-TR1Mp was showing me that my 1.8” Toshiba ZIF drive has been properly installed.
Ok, now thats the great news, where are the bad news?
the problem is that the toshiba hard disk and the adapter do not fit in exactly as the hitachi drive does, so a bit of improvising has to be done.
I just put some plastic foam under the hard disk and the adapter, so that none of them would touch the motherboard, the greatest problem here is that the Toshiba drives do not have the screwing holes that the hitachis come with.
I will add some photos of the installation process, but i think its great news for all people who are stuck up with a sony laptop and a broken 1.8” 44-Pin hitachi drive, and considering the fact that with ZIF, capacities far larger than 60 gb are possible, this probably is also great news for people who want to upgrade their 30 gb laptop drive
if you have questions just post right away :D
EDIT:
ive added a picture with the ZIF adapter i have with the spots marked that you have to bridge:
And some pictures from the hard disk installation
