Comments on: Cowon Q5W Teardown & Hard Drive Upgrade

By: derel keith

derel keith — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:37:41 +0000

Can u upgrade and fix my cowon a3.It is not regonized when plugged in usb port

By: Suminona

Suminona — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:28:54 +0000

Can someone confirm if this SSD is good for Cowon q5 ? http://www.activemp.com/SSD/18-IDE-PATA-ZIF-SSD-ZF.htm
Thankyou

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.

By: rcgrabbag

rcgrabbag — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:26:18 +0000

You can replace the HD. Then you can download the necessary firmware and application software from Cowon’s website.

By: nik

nik — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 01:18:32 +0000

Hi,great article,wondering if you can replace the hardive if your original is dead,do you need the old one functioning to copy over the files or can you just do a recovery?thanks nik

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.

By: rcgrabbag

rcgrabbag — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 03:36:54 +0000

This is a common problem with USB storage devices when it comes to transferring large amounts of data. Unfortunately the usual way to get around the problem is transfer smaller amounts of data. As far as the number of files in a folder, FAT32 max number of files is around 64K and NTFS is around 4 billion, so it doesn’t look like you’re even close to those limits. What error are you getting? For a new battery, you’ll have to get your Q5 serviced at Cowon.

By: empeethreeman

empeethreeman — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:56:25 +0000

Hi and Happy 2011 to y’ll!
Excellent site for us Q fivers! Thanks.
Here’s a question that’s been taxing me for 2 years plus.Why is it that when I transfer (in one transfer) a large amount of mp3′s around 12,370,approx 62G, I always get some kinda error problem.I have tried several different devices including an early (and excellent) Creative JB3,Archos 605 the Q5 and now the new X7.In the Creative’s case I could successfully transfer around 9000 but at approx 10,000 the player would error when attempting playback of a track.In this case a 120g drive retro fitted by me and deemed OK by others out there.. I tried this several times and the results were the same.A similar problem occurred with Archos.In the new Cowon X7′s case I have successfully transferred 12370 files in one folder but now I cannot transfer any further mp3′s into that same folder.I can create a new folder and transfer mp3′s OK. In a nutshell there seems to be an issue with the quantity of files-not a particular device or HDD size.Now..Is this a FAT32 or NTFS issue or an XP o/s issue? Sorry I forgot, I am using and have used XP in all these cases.Does anyone out there recognise this phenomena? I can’t find anything on web regarding this issue.Apologies for firing this at you when it’s nothing to do with replacing your Q5 HDD!! Actually I do in fact want to attempt this soon with my Q5.Also where can I acquire correct replacement batteries for my Q5?
Thanks from the UK

By: rcgrabbag

rcgrabbag — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:27:51 +0000

I haven’t used my Q5 in quite a while so I won’t be upgrading it.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:40:19 +0000

Any luck with that 240GB HDD mate? Really really keen to give this a try. The 32GB of ym S9 just isn’t enough.

By: Hli

Hli — Thu, 06 May 2010 00:55:53 +0000

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it!

By: rcgrabbag

rcgrabbag — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:14:16 +0000

Yes, you need to drop the firmware into a specific folder, but I think I see where your going with your question, so a few things first. In your case, the player might have a defective hard drive, so let’s assume that’s true. Then this would be what you need to do once you got the device and replaced and formatted the hard drive (see instructions above). The firmware actually lives on the Q5 hardware outside of the hard drive (in “ROM”), so we’re not going to concern ourselves with the file/folder structures yet, it’s not necessary. First, download the Apps from the Cowon website. It’s a zip file, so you’ll need to expand it on your PC. The zip file will expand with the appropriate file/folder structure in place. Now, boot your Q5 in recovery mode (hold down + volume key while powering up) and connect your Q5 to your PC via USB. The normal boot-up process will be bypassed and the firmware already on the device will allow your PC to see the Q5 as an external drive. Now copy the unzipped Apps files to the root of the Q5′s hard drive so that the proper folder/file structure is maintained once copied. Power off the device and power it back on normally. Now, you can go and get the latest firmware from the Cowon website and update it following the normal instructions.

If it’s not the hard drive, and it won’t boot, then I’m afraid Cowon would have to service it.