Upgrading the Drive in your Tascam 2488

Step by Step Instructions

Parts

First things first: you'll need a hard drive.

The 2488 ships with an Seagate ST340014A Barracuda 7200.2 40gig hard drive. The Barracuda 7200 series drives are 7200 rpm, 8.5 ms seek Ultra ATA/100 drives which Seagate represents as having "Superior performance, quiet operation and outstanding reliability." They also have a three year warranty.

It seems that the 2488 will only support four partitions, with a max partition size of size of 32gig. Given this I suggest any of the following drives:

• ST380011A - 80 GB
• ST380013A - 80 GB
• ST3120022A - 120 GB
• ST3120026A - 120 GB
• ST3160023A - 160 GB
This is not to say that these are the only drives that will work - drives from other manufacturers with specs similar to the Barracuda 7200.7 drives should work as well. But as the Barracuda 7200.7 drives are readily available and relatively inexpensive, there isn't a compelling reason to choose another manufacturer.

Tools & Workspace

• A #1 philips head screwdriver
• A large flat surface (e.g. Table)
• A blanket or a couple of towels

Preparation

• Back up your songs! You will be removing the existing hard drive from your 2488. Once removed, you will not be able to access any of the data on the old drive. So, if you have any songs on your 2488, you will have to back them up.
• After backing up, Unplug your 2488! Opening up the 2488 will expose the power supply, making the potential to get shocked that much greater.
• Fold the blanket (or towels) and place them on the table. This will provide a nice soft 'bed' for the face of the 2488.

Disassembly

• Remove the two screws from the panel on the left side of the unit and set them aside.
• Flip the 2488 over, face down, with the I/O jacks at the top.
• Remove the top two screws located directly under the I/O jacks. Set them aside with the two screws from the side panel.
• Remove the Bottom three screws.
• Remove the left and right side center screws.
• Remove the top left, center and right screws.
• Set these eight screws aside, separate from the previous four. The two sets are different sizes and should not be mixed up.
• Grasp the metal base - lifting and folding back over the top of the unit - so that the feet on the base are on the table. You will now have the base with the power supply, CD drive and hard drive on the table above the 'top' of the 2488 with some cabled connecting the two. It should look like this:

  

Remove the Drive

• Locate the hard drive. It will be on the right with two cables attached: a grey ribbon cable and four wire power cable.
• Disconnect the power cable, grasping the sides of the white power connector.
• Disconnect the ribbon cable - you'll probable gave to grasp the cable, close to the connector and gently 'rock' it out of the socket.
• Press on the left side of the drive towards the right side of the case. The drive is mounted on a plate which, with a bit of force, will slide out of the side of the base.

Configure and Mount the New Drive

• Look at the back of the drive. You will see a small connector with eight pins - two of which are connected by a jumper. This sets the drive as the 'master' in the system. Unpack your new drive and make sure it is jumpered the same way (if you are not using one of the suggested drives, make sure your new drive is set as the master.)
• Flip over the 2488 drive and mounting plate (noting the orientation of the drive on the plate) and remove the four screws mounting the drive to the plate.
• Set aside the old drive and mount the new drive on the plate (same orientation as the old drive.)

Install the New Drive

• Slide the mounting plate back in the right side of the case until is pops into place.
• Reconnect the ribbon cable - Do not force it! It is keyed to go on only one way so, if it doesn't connect easily, try flipping it around.
• Reconnect the power cable - Do not force it! It is keyed to go on only one way so, if it doesn't connect easily, try flipping it around.
• Check that the cables are properly seated in their sockets and the drive bracket is properly seated in the base of the 2488.

Reassembly

• Lift up the base and flip it back over and seat it onto the top of the 2488.
• Replace the top left, center and right screws.
• Replace the left and right side center screws.
• Replace the bottom three screws.
• Replace the top two screws located directly under the I/O jacks.
• Flip the 2488 over, face up, with the I/O jacks at the top.
• Replace the two screws on the panel on the left side of the unit.

Power It Up

• Reconnect the power cord.
• Turn the 2488 on.
• If the planets are aligned correctly and gods of hardware are in a good mood, your 2488 should tell you it is finding the drive, creating partitions, creating a song and finally reading the song.
• If you've gotten this far, congrats! You can check the number and size of the partitions by pressing MENU, selecting the DISK menu and selecting REFORM. After viewing, press HOME to exit back to the main track display.
• If you backed up any songs, restore them.
• Reconnect all your cables and you're all set.

Enjoy your expanded Tascam 2488!

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