Thanks John for the thought. I can't determine if it is a broken trace or just a solder joint that has gone cold. In any case over the next couple of days I'll work it out.

Success
 

I received the ribbon cable, installed and everything seems to be working.

So for those of you that are interested:
Would I go through this procedure again – yes even with my frustrations.
What would I do different. Before I ordered the hard drive I would open up the FS-4 and see if it has a flex cable as mine did. IF so I would not proceed. I would automatically order a new ribbon cable with the hard drive. Once I received the hard drive with cable I would follow the procedure others have outlined here.

Final note ……. Remember if your unit is still under warranty, this will void the warranty.

End of saga………

fs-4 hard drive issue
 

Hello,

I'm in the process of upgrading my HD in the focus fs-4 to 100 gb. However, before doing so I did a test run removing the hard drive and then replacing it. The problem is that when I replaced the drive I was under the assumption that I would be able to see previous files that I had on the drive. unfortunately when I restarted the FS-4 I received the following message :

unknown volume type...

partition volume?

YES

I decided not to proceed until I totally understood what my options were.
My question is: Have I lost the previous files that were on disk? If not, how do I retrieve them. If I have lost the previous files that okay, but just wanted to know what was happening. I have ordered the 100 gb hitachi from newegg and will replace the current one anyway, so all of this is no big deal. I suspect that I will be prompted with the same message upon adding the new drive anyway?

Thanks,
Troy

Try connecting your FS-4 hard drive to a desktop computer. It should show up just like any other hard drive. You will need a 44 pin to 40 pin adaptor similar to the one’s pictured. Your files should still be there.
http://www.sonic.net/kd6hq/images/Firestore-019.jpg

As to why this would happen I’m not sure but I have to ask – what does the ribbon cable look like on the FS-4?

Retrieving files from FS-4 hard drive
 

Don,

It looks like the cable here: http://www.sonic.net/kd6hq/images/Firestore-06.jpg

I guess I will have to purchase the cable you mentioned in order to connect to my desktop?

Thanks,
Troy

Troy

I ended up having to replace the cable in the FS-4. I had the same type of cable that you have and once that I disconnected the hard drive from it the cable would no longer work correctly. Do a google search for “44 pin ide” or perhaps contact Newegg to see if they have one. Here is one of several sources.

http://www.mycableshop.com/sku/IDE44-1.htm

Once I replaced the cable the FS-4 worked correctly.

fyi:

I ended up purchasing a 2.5 usb 2.0 HD Enclosure from tigerdirect for $9.99 and was able to move my files successfully.

Don,

I received my hard drive. Formatted using mkdosfs and reconnected to fs-4. When I power up the drive not I get a DISK NOT DETECTED message. When connect the new drive to my PC running Xp the drive is recognized. Could this be the cable issue? Are these cables built to self distruct at first touch :-)
I say this because I was very delicate with the whole process. I guess I will see if I can fine a new cable in the mean time.

Thanks,
Troy

Troy

That’s exact ally the problem I ran into so I replaced the cable and it started working as soon as I plugged it in.

Don

Thanks Don. I ordered the new cable, so hopefully that will clear things up.

received new cable and all is well. Now I guess I need to get the battery.

Glad to here it Troy

You might try this site for a battery.

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.as...S&Category=894