Thanks! So with a 10w or 12W charger you use the USB cable for the iPod? I'll see if I've got a more powerful USB Charger around.
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iPod iPod Classic 4th Gen SSD Upgrade Adventure
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Yes, for clarification, I used a normal 30-pin to USB cable with what is normally an iPad charger to charge a 4th gen. iPod during initial setup after a restore without issue.
You may know more than you think! And more than me for sure... A couple things I am trying to figure out... I'm assuming that you did one of these conversions to CF card to Microsd ? Anyway, Though I keep formatting the Card to FAT32, after the Incomplete restore process, my card goes to "unallocated" (As seen in a Partition Manager like AOMEI). Do you know if your player shows as unallocated, or still retains being FAT32 ? It seems "strange" to me that everything I've read calls for the card to be formatted FAT32, but then to be changed to unallocated during the restore process...
Also, I only have 1 partition. Not a second smaller one. Can you confirm whether you have 2 partitions or one on your 4th Gen IPOD?
Thanks for much. Pete
I just upgraded my 4th gen last week. When it asked me to plug into the wall, I used a 30-pin USB charger and plugged it into the tiny brick that comes with iPhones. I don't have the firewire charger so I just used the USB. There, I was able to complete the restore process easily. I think it's at least worth trying your USB charger to see if it makes a difference.
SUCCESS !!! Actually unsure exactly what I did different.
But now have a functioning 4th gen Classic upgraded from 20gb to 60GB!
1) With the ipod connected to the computer with it's usb cable:
2) Deleted all partitions with AOMEI Partition manager.
3) Rebuilt MBR with AOMEI.
4) Created a Partition as Fat32, with "SSD" Checked, and Optimized.
5) Rebuilt MBR with AOMEI.
6) Started restore in Itunes.
7) While Restoring, I went back to AOMEI and set up the MBR Rebuild with 1 button left to confirm actual start.
8) As soon as Itunes restore stopped, I started the MBR Rebuild.
9) Got the "Plug into wall charger: Icon ON the iPOD !
10) Plugged into Wall Charger (the one with the firewire type cable)
11) Immediately saw the iPod screen showing a restore progress.
12) Under 30 seconds later, I have a working 60GB iPod !
I do NOT guarantee that every step above is needed. But it worked for me.
A BIG thank-you to everyone who offered ideas and advice !
Pete
But now have a functioning 4th gen Classic upgraded from 20gb to 60GB!
1) With the ipod connected to the computer with it's usb cable:
2) Deleted all partitions with AOMEI Partition manager.
3) Rebuilt MBR with AOMEI.
4) Created a Partition as Fat32, with "SSD" Checked, and Optimized.
5) Rebuilt MBR with AOMEI.
6) Started restore in Itunes.
7) While Restoring, I went back to AOMEI and set up the MBR Rebuild with 1 button left to confirm actual start.
8) As soon as Itunes restore stopped, I started the MBR Rebuild.
9) Got the "Plug into wall charger: Icon ON the iPOD !
10) Plugged into Wall Charger (the one with the firewire type cable)
11) Immediately saw the iPod screen showing a restore progress.
12) Under 30 seconds later, I have a working 60GB iPod !
I do NOT guarantee that every step above is needed. But it worked for me.
A BIG thank-you to everyone who offered ideas and advice !
Pete
Glad you got it working! Tbh I haven't even upgraded mine yet as I'm still waiting for my iFlash adapter to arrive (just microSD, no CF), but when it does, it'll be formatted for a Mac anyway.
Not strictly what you were talking about, but there are some pictures of people who have successfully done similar mods at the iFlash website here: https://www.iflash.xyz/store/4th-gen-converter/
thanks, that's helpful! Of course, after seeing this, I'm now seriously tempted to try my luck at putting a 512GB SD card in there for a bit of "future-proofing" ... seems too good to be true for that to work. Now if only the old iPod software understood album artists and I'd be in heaven ...
Happy to help. I really see no reason why that wouldn't work. It seems like you can pretty much have as much storage as you can afford, it's only the track limits you would have to watch out for. I actually just finished installing a 128GB microSD in mine. It's so nice to finally have an iPod (and a thin 4th gen. at that) which can hold my entire library.thanks, that's helpful! Of course, after seeing this, I'm now seriously tempted to try my luck at putting a 512GB SD card in there for a bit of "future-proofing" ... seems too good to be true for that to work. Now if only the old iPod software understood album artists and I'd be in heaven ...
Very nice! That's my exact model. I just ordered a 400GB SD card and all of the necessary adapter paraphernalia, plus replacement battery while I'm at it. Happily, I also just discovered the wonders of Rockbox which finally lets me select albums by album artist and have gapless playback on my iPod. We'll see how everything goes. I'll be sure to report back here in any case.
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Hey guys,
I maybe know what causes the MBR-failure! What kind of CF-to-SD-adptors do you use? I found out that the build with my CF-to-SD-adaptor works great, no MBR issues. But when I'm using my CF-to-microSD-adptor, I get all these reported problems. What do you say?
I maybe know what causes the MBR-failure! What kind of CF-to-SD-adptors do you use? I found out that the build with my CF-to-SD-adaptor works great, no MBR issues. But when I'm using my CF-to-microSD-adptor, I get all these reported problems. What do you say?
As I was cleaning out a drawer I found my beloved White 4th Generation/Grey Screen 20GB....Would someone that has had easy success with conversion to SSD, and uses a PC versus Mac- Please list the exact parts you used for me? I have mechanical skills, but limited software/computer skills, so would love to hear from someone that was able to simple remove/upgrade/plug back in, and have success.. Thanks!
While I did use a Mac and microSD card, my upgrade went very well and was extremely easy. I used an opening pick (little plastic triangle) to pop the case open, installed the card in an iFlash solo with 4th gen. adapter (per their instructions), and closed it back up. The only stuff I did on the computer was format the SD card (which may not even be necessary if you use Windows) and click Restore in iTunes. Whole process only took about 15 minutes once I had the parts, no issues. Btw, the instructions are here under the installation tab: https://www.iflash.xyz/store/4th-gen-converter/
Thanks! I have the ipod successfully apart...I will hope a fresh new card will not need to be formatted. What size/brand SD card did you use and speed?
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I used a Sandisk 128GB Ultra Plus microSD that gets about 80MB/s read. It was basically the same thing as this one: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandis...dxc-uhs-i-memory-card/4471009.p?skuId=4471009 (Though I got it price matched to Amazon for $40. Still amazes me that I can get something the size of a fingernail with 128GB of storage for $40.)
Small update: Wasn't able to get any of the CF/SD-adapters I've tried to work with Rockbox, so I'm using a 128GB CF card for the time being which works great but costs about twice as much per GB as a comparable SD card. So I now have an iFlash-Solo adapter on order and depending on how well that pairs with Rockbox, I'll either switch back to a 400GB SD card or stick to CF but may upgrade to 256GB now or sometime in the near future (512GB CF cards appear to be unavailable or prohibitively expensive at the moment but hopefully that will change sometime in the future).
In any case, I'm loving the solid state iPod/Rockbox experience – so awesome! Who knew this little thing would not only remain useful and enjoyable 14 years into the future but provide much greater functionality even.
Shame on Apple, by the way, for never upgrading the original firmware to support gapless playback, sorting by album artist or horizontally scrollable list entries. Rockbox certainly isn't quite as intuitive to use or visually polished in comparison but provides all the features I would have wanted Apple to provide.
Honestly. I never understood that one. Even though I prefer the monochrome 4th gen., I look forward to upgrading my 5.5 with an iFlash at some point, partially so I can enjoy gapless when I want it.
I don't think you have to be much of a cynic to suspect that this was to entice existing users to buy new devices.
We appear to be on the same wavelength here. The 5.5 would be my third-favorite iPod after the fourth generation one which is my second-favorite. The first-generation iPod remains my all-time favorite mostly for nostalgic and aesthetic reasons but is impractical to use nowadays due to its technical limitations. It also felt like a bit of a brick in your hand and had somewhat sharp edges on the front. In comparison, I don't remember any other current or past Apple device that feels as nice in my hands as the fourth-gen does – like a perfectly smooth but not slippery pebble in exactly the right size.
What I love about the grayscale screen is that it doesn't require a backlight in bright environments and even becomes easier to read in direct sunlight. For some reason, it also has a soothing effect on me in comparison to modern color screens.
I would say the 5.5 sounds the best, although it is nice to have the slightly "duller" sound of the 4 at times. And yes, I agree the 4th gen. feels wonderful to hold...it's so smooth. I also really appreciate the slightly larger clickwheel which fits my hand better. It'd be really cool if it were possible to combine the 4th gen. with just the logic board of the 5.5.
I can understand that. I don't really even like the 3rd gen. iPod touch, but it'll always be special to me because it was my first iPod/Apple device.
Having never owned or really even used a 'classic' iPod prior to this past December, I got to learn this firsthand after just randomly deciding to buy a 4th gen. off eBay because those ones were cheaper. I later got a 5.5 and realized how hard it is to see anything with the backlight off in almost any lighting. Since it's strictly for music, there's something just so simple and comforting about having a grayscale display (in addition to it being super useful).
Turns out the iFlash Solo is just as incompatible with Rockbox as the other CF/SD-adapters I had tried, at least in combination with my SD cards and the fourth-generation iPod I'm using. So I finally settled on a Transcend 256GB CF card which is enough to store all of my (complete) albums, including every lossless track I own. All in all, I now have about 16k songs on my iPod. Works great, and I can't believe the huge amount of joy this device is still able to bring me. Highly recommended upgrade!
Hello all
I too am having problems with getting the cf card conversion to work.
I am trying to do this on a 3rd gen iPod.
I am using a Mac to do this with fire wire plug. I know the restore process works on the Mac as I have tried and tested it with a working un modified iPod.
However when trying the conversion with another iPod it cannot for the life of me get it to restore. It communicates great when connected to usb etc but when trying to connect/communicate over fire wire I can’t get anything to work. This is where I get stuck as it won’t upload the restore over usb.
I even went as far as to buy a 3rd gen iPod that had the same conversion I was trying and was working. I tried to copy the set up but I had no success.
If anyone has any progress on this problem I would appreciate the help.
Thanks.
I too am having problems with getting the cf card conversion to work.
I am trying to do this on a 3rd gen iPod.
I am using a Mac to do this with fire wire plug. I know the restore process works on the Mac as I have tried and tested it with a working un modified iPod.
However when trying the conversion with another iPod it cannot for the life of me get it to restore. It communicates great when connected to usb etc but when trying to connect/communicate over fire wire I can’t get anything to work. This is where I get stuck as it won’t upload the restore over usb.
I even went as far as to buy a 3rd gen iPod that had the same conversion I was trying and was working. I tried to copy the set up but I had no success.
If anyone has any progress on this problem I would appreciate the help.
Thanks.
Hi,
the connection to a Computer with a Flash drive is only possible with USB. After the restore via USB you have to connect your iPod to the FireWire power adapter via FireWire. After flashing the firmware to the iPod everything should work. A connection to your Computer is now only possible via USB!
If this won't work, which adapters did you use?
Regards
Torsten
the connection to a Computer with a Flash drive is only possible with USB. After the restore via USB you have to connect your iPod to the FireWire power adapter via FireWire. After flashing the firmware to the iPod everything should work. A connection to your Computer is now only possible via USB!
If this won't work, which adapters did you use?
Regards
Torsten
Hello
Thanks for your reply I rally appreciate it.
I am currently using the exact same adapter as the very begging of this page. I am using a micro sd card to sd converter then an sd card to cf card converter into the adaptor.
My current set up is 2003 MacBook.
Apple Y connector cable with usb and fire wire to iPod dock.
FireWire charger.
Can this only be done with a Windows pc?
Or can it still be done using a Mac?
Thanks
Andy