Zen Vision M 80GB hard drive replacement gone wrong...firmware update "not connected"

[Neeney]

Okay, so I bought a hard drive replacement from thegadgetdoctor.com,
/Zen-Vision-M-or-W-80GB-SLIM-Hard-Drive-p/zvm-80gb-hd-new.htm, which is an 80GB Samsung HS082HB drive. I've installed the new 80GB hard drive to my 30GB Creative Zen Vision M. Initially, I thought the ZIF connector to the hard drive might not be inserted fully because it was tough to insert in the first place, but it seems to be in fully, or seems to be as far as I can push it in.

When I connect it to the usb port (on the back of the computer), I get the message "Firmware Problem" on the player, at which point it goes into Recovery Mode. When I try to reload the firmware, it says that "the player is not connected," even though the computer seems to understand that it is in fact connected every time I plug in the usb. It comes up in my Device Manager under Windows Portable Devices as Creative Zen Vision:M, and I tried updating the driver there, but it didn't help. When I try to load the firmware, the player flashes "Docked" a few times but doesn't stay connected. If I go into the Media Explorer (and also in Windows Media Player), it stays Docked, but under the settings and information, it says that the drive is only 50MB.

I've submitted my question to the above mentioned site where I purchased the drive from, but waiting for a response could take a bit, considering that it's a long weekend. Any insight on this would be extremely helpful.

Additional Info:
Computer Specs:
Windows XP Media Center Edition Version 2002, SP3. AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5800+. 3.01GHz, 3.25GB of RAM. Windows Media Player version 10.00.00.4074.

Player Specs in Recovery Mode: Creative Zen Vision:M v1.62.02_0.0.23

[jamganz]

Make sure the Zif connector is on correctly. If it's on backwards you may get error message.
Assuming you did put in on correctly, did you format the hard drive first and then choose reload firmware from the recovery menu?

[Neeney]

Which way does the Zif connector go? I have it so that the circle in the middle is facing the part where it connects to the motherboard.

I formatted the drive, hit clean up (cuz that's what the site I bought it from told me to do), then hit reload firmware. It told me that I'd have to reload it via usb. So I open the firmware, ZENVisionM_60GB_PCFW_L21_1_21_02.exe which was the only firmware on the Creative site, and it says that the player is not connected.

[jamganz]

Even though you are upgradeing h/d size, you still need to load the 30g firmware (the firmware you are referring to is for the 60g player).

[jamganz]

Try this link for the 30g firmware:

http://support.creative.com/download...wnloadId=10113

[Neeney]

Cool, thanks. I'll try it either tonight or tomorrow night and let you know the results. I dunno why the creative site didn't offer the 30GB firmware at all in it's support page, but thanks for finding for me.

[ZenChick]

Originally Posted by jamganz

Even though you are upgradeing h/d size, you still need to load the 30g firmware (the firmware you are referring to is for the 60g player).

*facepalms*

Nice catch! I didn't even see that!

[Neeney]

Hey, thanks. That actually worked! Now I have an 80GB Creative Zen Vision:M!!!! >8)

[jamganz]

Great...Enjoy!