HWMBO had an Xclef-HD-500 MP3 which he really enjoyed. It had a 20GB HDD and was very responsive with an FM tuner and good sound. However, about 6 months ago it died. No explanation. Last week I told him I’d investigate. I first tried a scandisk on the HDD, but that only got me about 25% of the way through the disk before it stalled. So, my diagnosis was a bad HDD. I opened the thing up and took out the old HDD. I was going to order a new one, but just today recalled that we had another 2-1/2″ drive kicking around. It’s only 14 GB, but that is probably enough for HWMBO. I installed it, put new firmware into the thing, and, by gum, it worked! I feel very accomplished.
HWMBO just called and said he was coming home. I told him “I have a surprise for you, sweetheart.” He asked whether it was a special dinner. I said, “No, but I will tell you that it didn’t cost anything.” He was very pleased. I hope it’ll keep playing for a long time.