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Since nobody else is going to help out, I suppose I can.

The first thing you'll need to figure out is what generation you zune is. This will make a difference on how thick the HDD is, and possibly on how to take it apart. I've never worked with Zune 30GB, so I'm not sure, but it looks like they might all be 1st Gen. Which means you have a 8mm HDD thickness. Don't take my word for this here though, find out how thick your drive is before ordering anything.

This is the closest to OEM drive you will be able to find. It is 8mm thick, so should be plug and play.
But since you are willing to go bigger, this HDD is 120GB, but it's 5mm thick, so you'll need to create some kind of spacer to make it fit.

Now the next upgrade would be a SSD. The main difference you're going to see is in battery life, and probably longevity. Here is one that I have installed in my Zune, and it works great.

There are installation guides in the sidebar, and also on youtube. Once you've installed a drive, you'll need to work some computer magic to install the software. I have no experience with this, but there's a solid how-to in the sidebar.

Any other questions feel free to ask.

Edit: If you don't want to order anything off of rapidrepair, then just copy and paste those HDD part numbers into amazon, or ebay.

Purchased as a parts Zune but ended up getting it working with a battery replacement. It looked like the last person had opened it and gave up when they saw the bulging battery was soldered in with 4 wires, but it wasn't bad at all! Dropped in an SSD and now it's ready for the long haul, love this suave little guy. It has some wear and tear but it's growing on me because I'm not worried about keeping it in immaculate condition.

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Wallpaper - Resized and darkened for Zune menus

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Parts Links:

• 128GB SSD
  
• Replacement Battery(Requires soldering)
  
• Pry Tool
  
  

Receivers are pretty cheap, but the Zune needs a transmitter which is usually in the $20 to $35 range. I actually have this one as I like the compact nature of it : https://www.amazon.com/Alead-TxPro-Bluetooth-Multilink-Transmitter/dp/B076FLGQ7R

Keep in mind that YMMV on how well it works. I can get the above item, for example, to work with BT speakers and headphones but it refuses to work in my car. That's really not the fault of the device however as my car's BT is pretty finicky in what it will support.

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I'm not sure if you'll have any success with the MicroSD (as useful as that would be!) - This has been looked into by burkjavier previously here. It was also looked into here, but was never confirmed if it was working or not - it kinda went quiet without a definitive answer.


I would say try it, if you have ordered the adaptor already. I'm still investigating whether your "bad drive" has any chance or not - will investigate further when I get the case for my "bad" drive.


Failing all of this, if you are serious about keeping your Zune alive and kicking, it's an expensive upgrade but I recommend this SSD drive. For around £80, it's a big spend, but will make listening a little more enjoyable (due to speed improvements) and guarantees a healthy drive for a long time (hopefully). Even if you don't want to keep the Zune, it will increase the value of the Zune tenfold so you can re-sell it for more than the SSD cost. It's definitely the route I will be taking if my current "bad" drive is fully dead.

Zune's USB doesn't output audio, nor does it let you browse the file system. Or at least, it won't without the Zune software on PC, which means car stereos won't detect it.

Your best bet is maybe some kind of headphone jack to Bluetooth adapter like these

https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Receiver-Simultaneously/dp/B01EHSX28M/

https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Connected-Transmission/dp/B074QLB1Y7/

As much as I loved the Zune I suggest you move on to other platforms being the software and hardware are not really supported anymore. I suggest going with a Windows Phone and a MicroSD card for similar feel as the Zune and capacity. For ~$110 you can get a unlocked Nokia 530 from Amazon and get a cheap 64GB MicroSD card like this for ~$31 for a unit that is going to be updated for years to come at a cheaper price then what you can probably get a 64GB Zune HD for.

Selling a Kicker ZK150 Zune stereo/boom box. Works great, comes with remote and cable plug. The turning knob is a little sticky to the touch, I think it's just the rubber. $50 plus shipping.

Amazon link for reference

here is the transmitter and cord links from amazon. the pics are in the main zune thread. you'll see what it looks like.

transmitter link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EHSX28M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

cord link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R9WAYC6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Means the hdd has crashed...

This plus this, for science :)

I did it with mine that I got for $50. My old roommate and I put in this HDD with the help of this video.

something like this: https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Bluetooth-Receiver-Microphone-Streaming/dp/B013QJ0W8Q

or maybe this? doesnt have an reviews https://www.amazon.com/Swordfish-Tech-SBR-400-BK-Transmitter-Transmission/dp/B01BVKLCSG

Drive is up to you, I don't know of any "bad" ones. Just make sure it's a ZIF SSD. Also, I think 120GB is the highest we've tried. Some people have talked about putting a 250GB in their Zune, but no one has tried it to my knowledge and there was some talk about the file structure not supporting anything higher than 120GB. So I would stick with that size unless you're willing to get experimental (and return it if it doesn't work). A quick google search returned this which I think is what you want.

Incidentally I think /u/Jazzfan80 was going to attempt this but I can't remember if they said whether they went through with it or not, or what the result was. Could be useful for future reference.

Also note: RapidRepair now sells Zune SSD upgrades, but I wouldn't use them if you can. It's a lot more expensive than just doing it yourself, and I know some people have reported issues with them in the past. But know it's an option if you don't want to attempt it yourself.

I'm not exactly sure if mine are the kind he was talking about but the ones in my picture are $25 on Amazon

Symphonized NRG Premium Genuine Wood In-ear Noise-isolating Headphones with Microphone (Brown) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T56D9WQ/

This is what I am talking about
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-SDXC-40PIN-Reader-converter/dp/B01AP0WLGA

Here's what I used to replace my open hdd. KingSpec 128GB 1.8" 5mm ZIF SSD KSD-ZF18.6-128MS https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008NAI0YC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Hm9JzbG6H2EKD

Microsoft Zune 30GB 800mAh Extended Life Battery https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010RH59O2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_VY1WAbX2MVPD2

It's the dongle for Nvidia 3D Vision.

I use the TaoTronics Bluetooth transmitter. They offer a lot of different versions of it, but this is the one I went with.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B074QLB1Y7?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Did your research say if this was also compatible?