We've had no issues since upgrading to a flash drive and an IDE-to-CompactFlash adapter. Since we used "dd" to copy the binary information of the drive directly, the system basically thinks it's still running the same IDE drive. That said, we did not expand the partition or change any sizes. So, the disk has the same sizing as the original disk (160GB even though the drive itself could store 256GB).
I can't guarantee it will work for anyone else and need to point out that you would certainly void any warranty if you do what we did. However, through one day, it's working for us. For the more conservative operators, you may want to wait a few days to hear if our good fortune continues. That said, I've done this a few times before on old manufacturing hardware and have never had a problem.
We used this adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026OYEEQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and this CF disk:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MNB3W2J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Then, we did a block-by-block copy of the source image:
sudo dd if=[DISK_OR_IMAGE_TO COPY] of=[/dev/THE_DISK_OR_IMAGE_TO_WRITE_TO] bs=1m conv=noerror,sync
If you are unfamiliar with 'dd' on Linux or Mac, there is a lot of documentation out there, but I am happy to help if needed. The key is to know which direction you are copying and arranging 'of' and 'if' correctly ('of' = output file, 'if' = input file).
For us we used an IDE-to-USB adapter to clone the original 160GB disk and then we wrote the image out to the 256GB disk using the above command.
We have a working image, so please send a private message if you'd like the link to download a copy. I'd rather not post a link openly to such a large file.
Good luck.
Here's a photo of our super-hacky yet awesome repair:
View attachment 152297
