Drivers for Iriver 790-890?

[Jim Snow]

If I'm not mistaken, the XP mode in Windows 7 is limited to the Ultimate edition. With it, a version is XP is downloaded and can be run from Windows 7. I haven't tried it myself; I haven't needed to but that's how I understand it to work.

[Troy Davis]

I have Vista 64 and had the same problem. I found a link that allowed me to update the firmware which basically allows the iriver when usb attached to act as a drive. Works great! I can send you the file that I downloaded if you need it. Just send me a email. I don't think the site I downloaded from is available (strange).

[Dave Blackhurst]

Actually I've got all the "latest" firmware for the 700 and 800 series, v.795 IIRC. But as noted earlier in the thread, when using the Mass storage (USB) firmware, you lose some audio quality from what I could tell...

[Vito DeFilippo]

I can confirm that in Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, the iriver ifp series will work using Windows XP Mode.

I installed Windows XP mode, then installed the iriver Music Manager in the virtual machine. Hook up the iriver to your USB port, then choose the USB menu at the top of the window and select "Attach". The drivers will be installed and you can transfer and convert to mp3 as usual. Works great.

You need to choose "Attach" every time or the virtual machine doesn't see the iriver.

[Tomasz Kalinowski]

I have Win7 64bit home premium. I use VMware player.
VMware Player: Run Windows 7, Chrome OS - Free Download for a Virtual PC

Install the app , then install windows xp as virtual system.

Works flawlessly .

Tom

[Greg Miller]

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

Remember that flashing these models with the UMS firmware limits max recording bitrate to 96Kbps. Not very good compared to the usual 160Kbps

According to my manual, Voice goes up to 160kbps. Line In goes up to 320kbps. I'm not sure whether an external mic falls under the 160 limit or the 320 limit. But no, you certainly don't want to lose that.

There's a slim chance you might find some info on the rockbox.org website, but I don't know how much they tell you about the native firmware.

[Vito DeFilippo]

Originally Posted by Greg Miller

According to my manual, Voice goes up to 160kbps.

Not with the UMS firmware. Flashing that drops the voice limit to 96. You can confirm this on Google. For example:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/all-thin...-bit-rate.html

[Greg Miller]

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

Not with the UMS firmware. Flashing that drops the voice limit to 96.

I'm not questioning that. I'm simply saying that with the native firmware, the top bitrate for Voice is indeed 160kbps, but the top bitrate for Line In is 320kbps.

And, as I said, you wouldn't want to lose that (if a UMS "upgrade" limits you to 96).

It seems a shame that there isn't some FW version that lets you have UMS and also the original bitrates. I wonder whether this is just a USA issue, and some non-US firmware gives you the best of both worlds.

Also, I'm trying to recall whether Rockbox worked on the iFP 7xx and 8xx series... if so, the Rockbox developers surely would not have limited the upper bitrate.

Oh well... I have a stack of boxed XP machines. I'll just discard them them as they die, open a new box, and continue with XP. With luck, my supply of XP machines will outlive me.

[Greg Miller]

BTW, thanks for posting those old Mistic River links! But, unfortunately, those links now seem to be dead.

I would like to get more info about the various FW versions, as I have some iFP-7xx and also some iFP-800 machines. (I haven't looked at them too recently, but would gladly convert them to UMS if I could keep the original bitrates.)

[Vito DeFilippo]

Originally Posted by Greg Miller

I'm not questioning that. I'm simply saying that with the native firmware, the top bitrate for Voice is indeed 160kbps, but the top bitrate for Line In is 320kbps.

Sorry, misunderstood your previous post.

I remember looking into the Rockbox firmware. They were developing something for the ifp series, but I think it was abandoned.

But I'm happy now with using XP mode on my Windows 7 machine. Works fine to let my irivers continue to limp along a bit longer.

[Timothy Takemoto]

May your supply of XP boxes outlive you though you live for almost ever.

Hard disk cloning with Acronis migrate easy can make PCs last a very long time.

Linux may be another option
iRiver iFP open-source driver

And Vista works too with newer versions of Music Manager
http://local.iriver.com/usa/lounge/l...ge=5&cateCode=

I can confirm that even with the Japanese versions of the software (MM, firmware) there is no way around the bit rate vs UMS (external disk) viewable issue. I guess that accepting data as an external disk uses processor power that can not then be used on bit rate.

These old ifps are great for (always ready-to-go off the shelf) AA battery compatibility and external microphones. Not rocket science but newer players do not provide these basic features.

[Greg Miller]

Originally Posted by Timothy Takemoto

These old ifps are great for (always ready-to-go off the shelf) AA battery compatibility and external microphones. Not rocket science but newer players do not provide these basic features.

I guess that depends on what you mean by "players." If you really mean "recorders" then there are several that run on AA or AAA cells, accept external mics, and have various form factors... with prices ranging from $150 downward.

Smallest (flatter but longer than the iFP family) is the Sony ICD-SX700 (internal RAM only). Next up is the Tascam DR-03 (micro SDHC).

Stepping up further are the Tascam DR-07 and Alesis PalmTrack (SDHC machines). The Tascam is a bit longer than the Alesis; the Alesis is a bit wider than the Tascam. (I just bought a PalmTrack last week for $38... much less than the iRivers have ever cost.)

All the above are intended primarily as recorders (which I suspect is what you're looking for, since you are concerned about external mics). And all will play MP3 files, some also play WAVs. And all have recording level metering, an important feature missing from the iFP series.

[Renton Maclachlan]

Any update on this thread?

I haven't used my Iriver IFP 890's for ages (so long that I had even forgotten how to turn them on!!!), but thought again tonight that I should see if I could get to install them, in case some recording needing them comes up. They are unusable if not installed!!!

I'm on Win7 32 bit on one computer, and Win7 64 bit on another.

It seems that to upgrade firmware you need Iriver Music Manager, which I have on disk but apparently that doesn't work in Win 7.

I found upgrades of firmware (v 1.95 as opposed to 1.25 on my irivers) at:

Iriver iFP-880/890/895/899 Firmware v 1.95 Drivers Download - Download Iriver iFP-880/890/895/899 Firmware v 1.95

and

Iriver iFP-880 890 895 899 Firmware 1.95 - free Iriver iFP-880 890 895 899 Firmware download

And upgrade to Music Manager at:

iRiver Music Manager for iFP Series and N10/T10 Drivers Download - Download iRiver Music Manager for iFP Series and N10/T10

Anyone who has had experience of this care to comment about the above links, and what one is required to do to get the 890's going on Win 7?

[Dave Blackhurst]

I've found NO Win7 support for these, I flashed them over to UMS (Universal Mass Storage) firmware versions on an old XP box I can't seem to get out of my network... I've got archived versions for everything, MM and drivers for the various 7xx and 8xx series...

Haven't tested the audio quality in UMS mode, but somehow I seem to recall I had some issues when I tried it ages ago. I'm getting ready to sell off mine, so I'll probably run some tests and see if/how they work for this function.

I would think that someone somewhere would have "hacked" the drivers to make these work as originally designed, but I guess there just wasn't enough interest, and the company moved on, apparently without "open sourcing" their original code to allow users to keep these relevant. I picked up some Olympus digital recorders cheap to cover the intended uses, but would have rather stuck with the iRivers! As much as I love to "hack" equipment and software, my mojo is limited, and sometimes you just can't keep cool things working after they reach the end of their market life!

[Greg Miller]

Dave,

If you're really that attached to the iFP machines, wouldn't it be reasonable to keep an old XP laptop around, just as a downloading station? You could find something small and reliable (Dell C400 comes to mind) for around $100, which is about what a single iRiver cost when they were new.

I enjoyed the iRivers in their day, but was always scared that I had set the recording gain incorrectly... you don't know until you get back home, download the file, and look at the waveform. And then it's too late! That's why I was happy to make the transition to some of the newer machines I listed above.

Out of curiosity, did you ever check the RockBox site? My recollection is that it's a very big site, a bit hard to navigate, and the moderators are a bit intolerant of users who ask questions before doing a lot of searching. Given all that, they just might have something useful. I haven't looked there recently, because of the above, and because I still have lots of XP machines. But I'm curious as to whether you tried looking there.