Firestore FS100 - Deconstructed (Err, well, I took it apart)...

James H.

James H.

Active member
The technology geek within provoked me to remove the case from my new FS100 and have a peek inside. I was pretty surprised what I found.

A 100GB Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 - part number 13G1591... just like this one:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_techspecs_full.php/masterid=9822295

Now, my effort is to focus on improvement, not complain, so I won't comment any further on this choice of hard disk...

I'm exploring the possibility of replacing this drive with a more robust, more energy efficient, cooler spinning, and higher quality drive... such as a 160GB Seagate Momentus 5400.3.

Nonetheless... sharing information with you folks, welcome your feedback, and wondering if anyone else has either tried this or discovered a more thorough deconstruction anywhere on the web.

Cheers.
 
Hey cyphunk,

Sure thing - though I don't want to go the same extreme since this is brand new and I haven't used it for shooting yet. I'll take the back plate off again and at least get a shot of the hard drive label.

Cheers.

cyphunk said:
can you make pictures of the internals? Something on par with http://www.bunniestudios.com/wordpress/?p=131 would be great but otherwise anything would be fine. I imagine you could easily replace the disk.
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Looked like the chips were on the interface side, which is a second phase of removing the plate. I'll take a look and if it doesn't look like I can damage or otherwise void the warrenty by doing so, I'll go for it.

cyphunk said:
or perhaps just a list of chips if pictures are not possible. any chip with 8 or more legs on it ;)
Click to expand...
 
I for one would love to hear if you have success with swapping out drives. It could be a potential sweet spot when you are out in the field and can't offload. Instead, you could just swap out preformatted drives from the firestore as they fill up.

On that note, maybe one could "Organize P2" when the drive is full. then swap out the drive, and back at the studio connect the drive directy into the computer via appropriate connections...

Something to ponder anyway...
 
cyphunk said:
that would be cool, and yeah, you shouldnt have to void anything to get a simple peek
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Wish that were true, but it usually isn't.

To my knowledge, taking apart the FS-100 does indeed void the warranty.

How can the company be certain that you did it correctly or reassembled it correctly.
 
David S. said:
Wish that were true, but it usually isn't.

To my knowledge, taking apart the FS-100 does indeed void the warranty.

How can the company be certain that you did it correctly or reassembled it correctly.
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true, provided one can put it back together without it being noticed you might get away with it anyway. The scenerio here is he has already opened it for whatever reasons, would be nice to get a gander at it while it is open.
 
Yeah, you're right, you might get away with it.

However, you have still violated the warranty terms, which you agreed to.
 
James H. said:
I'm exploring the possibility of replacing this drive with a more robust, more energy efficient, cooler spinning, and higher quality drive... such as a 160GB Seagate Momentus 5400.3.
Click to expand...

Swapping hard drives would be awesome indeed... but if it's possible you would think that focus would market the fs-100 saying that? Swappable hard drives is a good selling point...

I for one am WAY too afraid and don't have enough know how to attempt somethign like that with mine... at least not until I get my 16GB p2 :)
 
I will, no doubt, but right now I have no alternative recording media so I'm waiting until I receive a 16GB P2. When that time comes, I'll replace the Hitachi 100GB OEM drive in the Firestore with a 160GB Seagate drive.

Just to note... after peaking into the Firestore, I would not reccommend that just anyone try this. My confidence comes from over 10 years of experience in working with such technology, and with the proper tools.

I think it's a shame they went with a FAT32 file system... they could have partitioned the drive and put a custom Linux o/s on here, using a more robust file system that doesn't fragment the files... Heck, they could have easily even made the Firestore more like a video iPod with a 2-3" color LCD for viewing playback, additional features, and the possibility of plugins.

Anyways... it serves it's purpose well. I'm just a gadget ho.
 
t-h-e-w-h-o has done it and a while back i was discussing with him about it and he said, "its quite simple, get the newest version of "acronis true image", install the software to your pc, plugin the firestore and in acronis select "make disc image". Back the disc image up to your pc's hard drive, buy a new hard drive, pop it in your firestore and in acronis select "restore"."

thats what he had to say about it, now that was with the fs4proHD
 
Hi,

is the harddrive seated in any shock-absorbing elements (rubber etc.)?

I am wondering if they took any preparations to make running / shooting safe...

(already thought of buying a FS100 and lead out the IDE cable to build my own "swap the drive"-chassis)

ULI
 
Swapping HDD's would be awesome - the only real issue that I could think of could be if you added a larger disk, the FS firmware may not recognize the capacity (or possibly even the drive)

I'd be SUPER keen to find out though!!
 
James H. said:
I will, no doubt, but right now I have no alternative recording media so I'm waiting until I receive a 16GB P2. When that time comes, I'll replace the Hitachi 100GB OEM drive in the Firestore with a 160GB Seagate drive.

Just to note... after peaking into the Firestore, I would not reccommend that just anyone try this. My confidence comes from over 10 years of experience in working with such technology, and with the proper tools.

I think it's a shame they went with a FAT32 file system... they could have partitioned the drive and put a custom Linux o/s on here, using a more robust file system that doesn't fragment the files... Heck, they could have easily even made the Firestore more like a video iPod with a 2-3" color LCD for viewing playback, additional features, and the possibility of plugins.

Anyways... it serves it's purpose well. I'm just a gadget ho.
Click to expand...


Those are ALL great ideas.

Screw 'em, you build something with all of those feature and I'LL buy it!
 
Hey Guys,

I didn't want to chime in and steal the thread, but it seems like its getting pretty far along the lines of what I'm working on already.

I will have a product coming out in a few weeks with similar options.

It will be an upgrade to the FS-100 that will allow you to swap drives. It will probably be similar to the Hydra, where you would send in your FS-100 and I would upgrade it for you. Then you would just be able to buy additional drives.

I will have more details soon for those who are interested.

Luis
 
please let me know when you´re done - I am looking forward for that product!

Here is my wishlist - perhaps you can use any of them:

- mounted on / powered by AB mount
- heavy chassis (protect the device)
- (however) reliable mounted Fiwi Cable
- removable Harddrive (did you see the 2,5" IDE hd tray from ICY ROCKS?)

Finally, I´d love to see a unit similar to the JVC DR5000 - a "one piece unit"...

Of course , this is my personal favourite type of design , because I´d like such a unit to be "road" ready...

Anyway, it would be a great companion for the new HPX500...

ULI
 
Luis, if you haven't picked a name for the modification yet, please consider calling it the "Frankenstore"! :)
 
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