Alesis HD24 SSD Drive Upgrade

Upgrading my Alesis HD24XR by installing a 120GB SSD drive in place of an original nonfunctioning IDE drive. The use of a SATA to IDE converter was employed in the drive caddy.
Kindly visit: www.StickNYC.com
#Alesis #HD24 #SSD

[@Ponomars]

Two years ago I already conducted this experiment - it didn't work. The other day I decided to replace the fan in HD24 with a quieter one and at the same time try to install the SSD again. Not only did it not work, but an unexpected (almost tragic) problem popped up - I almost lost all the data on my native hard disk. I tell you in order: 1. Inserted through the SSD adapter. 2. HD24 saw it. I formatted it and created a new project. 3. When trying to record a signal to one of the tracks, HD24 stops, giving the message "Hard disc write timeout". With a project with 24 tracks, he writes (or rather, pretends to write) for 4 seconds and stops. For a project with 2 tracks, it depicts a recording attempt a little longer - for about 10 seconds. After suffering a little, I abandoned this idea and inserted my native hard disk. But what was my surprise when HD24 did not find a single project on its own old hard disk. No dancing with tambourines corrected the situation - the disk was empty. At some point I decided to insert a box with this disk into the second slot - and, lo and behold, !!! - HD24 saw everything that was on the disk. Praying, I inserted the box into the first slot and to my great joy, the first box also saw everything. That's the story. Now I think I won't play with fire anymore until I've lost all the data and killed a gorgeous device. And to those who believe that HD24 is currently an "out of the game" device and to those who cannot transfer information from HD24 to a computer, I inform you: buy RME DIGIFACE USB and rewrite any project in real time in DAW using optics without loss of quality. Having an RME DIGIFACE USB, I can use (and use) HD24 both as an external 24-channel tape recorder and as a 24/48 computer audio interface with 24 audio inputs and 24 audio outputs. And at the moment I don't see the need to experiment on the verge of a tragedy with data loss, and possibly the device itself. P.S. I apologize for my English - it's machine translation.

[@Ricuvi]

Me ocurrió lo mismo con una prueba de adapatador SSD, no me arriesgaré de nuevo

[@MrLewis-lk8us]

Thanks for making this super simple and to the point!

[@mathiase.7096]

Today i got the items and these minutes i'm performing a recording test @ 24 Tracks. Just 10 Min. without any problem. This seems to be the absolute game-changer for the HD 24. Thank you v.m., Tony!! 120GB give you 9,5 hours @ 24 Track 24/48k. That's more than enough, even today! And with HD24-Tools working on Windows 10 over standard usb-adaptors, you transfer the audio at very high speed. GREAT!

[@pontram]

Hi, do you have any problems with playback ? I can record how long I want on a 500 GB crucial SSD, but playback causes the HD 24 (non-XR) sometimes to freeze. I have the same IDE-SATA interface. Also it can freeze while ftp-transfer.

[@mathiase.7096]

@@pontram Did not test it with playback (overdubbing) yet. But i made good expieriences in erlier sessions with normal harddrives though i did not use more than 8 tracks playback simultaneously. For transfer i use hd24-tools.

[@pontram]

@@mathiase.7096 Hm yeah, thanks for the answer. I am always using 24 tracks. I don't overdub, just playback. Normal IDE HDDs always work, and it also seems that it is more stable when such a drive is present and running on tray 2. I am also using HD24 tools, but I want to avoid the process of taking out the ssd and plugging it onto sata-usb etc. Havent't found a decent priced Fireport until now, and I'm wondering if that even works with the IDE/SATA interface and the ssd....

[@theprogrammerrolandmc3039]

@@pontram Give the video a thumbs down adapters bottle neck you will never get 24 tracks working with any adapter and i am surprised anyone would try this as IDE is not compatible with SATA HD'S i have wasted money on IDE to CF adapters. Trying ri get tascam 2488 to run on anything but IDE nothing works it's down to the firmware in the machine not the adapters

[@pontram]

@@theprogrammerrolandmc3039 I am not sure if the adapter is the bottleneck. At least, recording does work without hassle. Maybe it's a buffer thing, and it's better to have a cheap SSD that isn't that fast. At least that Startech Adapter is the only available one that works (i've tested a few others after I bought it, even CF, which is basically IDE, with no success). I have now got a used ViPower SuperRack, and with that and a cheap IDE2USB interface I can quickly put the caddy from the HD24 into this SuperRack and start transferring just like in the old days. So I don't need a Fireport anymore :) Postscriptum: Once there was an adapter that fully worked, by a private person I think, but it isn't produced anymore. And those who have it, keep it like the rare gem it is...

[@MikeBaas]

What firmware version are you running? Go to the last page of the Utility section and press 'Up'. Thanks!

[@MikeRP3147]

What other brands of ssd work with the hd24 and what's the max capacity that can be used ? Thank you

[@mowrer09]

Is transferring files via Alesis 1394 fire port to computer still same procedure ? Have you tested this, and does it work? I currently use the 1394 port and use hd24tools to transfer files

[@wildphilgaming]

Kind of a last minute effort...as I've tried everything. Just did this, was able to format the drive..then every time I boot the machine it says the drive was removed abruptly and says no drive found. I haven't even taken the drive out. I only recently did to check that cables were seated fine still..and they were. I'm at a loss. Haven't been able to record even 1 second with my machine due to it coming with bad old HDD's and now the new SSD doesn't work either...any advice would be amazing.

[@mathiase.7096]

I tried a similar thing with an m2 to ide adaptor: Got the message "Hard Disc Write Timeout", while stopping work after some seconds of recording :-( - i will give it another try with exactly the same items you were using. Using SSD's would bring the HD 24 back in the game!

[@doxdubsox]

Does anyone know if this can be done with the previous HD24 model (not XR)? thanks

[@mathiase.7096]

i did it this day. works perfect.

[@digitaladdiction8612]

Nice video, I upgraded mine a while back. But sometimes when a track is several hours long my HD24 locks up and becomes completely unresponsive. Have you had any issues?

[@ryancrawford9894]

Same. I came to the conclusion that it has to do with the PDIAG pin on the IDE interface. It’s not connected on any of the adapters I tested (including the Startech). This normally indicates to the HD24 that a drive is has completed diagnostics (normally, though could serve a proprietary function in the HD24 disk state machine). I think, given enough time, the HD24 will trip over its own feet when it doesn’t know the state of the drive. Need to get a logic analyzer on there one of these days. I’d really like to get an FPGA solution together for this, but I have enough IDEs to get me by and not enough time to dig in at the moment.

[@balochlawassociates]

I need it plz explain

[@ronedwards8239]

I just want to transfer my tracks from the HD24 to the computer as WAV files. But can’t find anything that works.

[@motophiliac]

I use a small application that I run as admin. It allows me to transfer projects as multitask wav files back and forth between the drive and the PC via a USB-IDE convertor. I'm at the studio today so I'll grab photos and find out what the software is called, too.

[@MikeRP3147]

​@@motophiliac information about this when you get some time.. thanks

[@motophiliac]

@@MikeRP3147 The application is called HD24Tools. I run it as admin with a hard drive connected using an IDE to USB convertor. I've yet to figure out how to transfer audio back onto the hard drive, but I'm able to import takes from the recorder into Reaper to mix.

[@Swanlord05]

Use the enternet port on the back ....into your home network

[@pontram]

By chance, I also bought the Star Tech converter for my HD24 (non XR). I installed a Crucial BX500 SSD which I had bought 3 years ago but not used until now. HD-24 records fine with it (as opposed to other currently available converters, which will cause it to stop after 4 seconds), but playing a song can lead to a complete freeze of the Alesis, also FTP-transfer. Maybe this SSD is too fast or has a cache too big ? Does the cheap PNY better ? It's the same if I use an old Toshiba 2.5 120GB SATA HDD. Btw, I switched for the second drive to a 2.5 IDE HDD using a cheap 40-44 Pin converter, and that did not work with a 130 GB Seagate Momentus (dismount b/c of Jumper) at first, but then with an older Samsung 30 GB drive. That is strange, I didn't expect that. I have the latest OS 1.21.

[@markadams9032]

Hi pontram. Have you found any solutions with the playback issue? I’m running into the same error. I can record for as long as I want, but playback freezes with this error “failed to send engine command” after less than a minute. Thanks

[@pontram]

@@markadams9032 Hi markadams, sadly, no. I have tried several cheap adapters and some variations, like SD to IDE and CF to IDE (CF is basically IDE), to no avail. They all work great on my old Duron 1700 System. But not with the Alesis. It could depend on the SSD model. Maybe I'll try this PNY SSD from the video, it's only 15 Euros, as a last resort. Btw, I have no error message. It just freezes. But at least, I know that there is another poor soul with such a problem...

[@christopherdunn317]

I hate these guys ! always showing that they upgrade too something ? you don't even know for sure if its working in the end properly ! and they don't even tell you what parts you would need to buy or where ? its almost like see i did it ! and i wont tell you how ? like showing off ! good job !