iPod iPod Classic 4th Gen SSD Upgrade Adventure

[togruber]

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

Hello,
I had to load the firmware via a Windows PC, because my Mac always said that I have to connect the iPod via FireWire, that doesn't work with flashdrives. Try it with a PC and it should work.

Regards
Torsten

 

[R32syd]

Hello,
I had to load the firmware via a Windows PC, because my Mac always said that I have to connect the iPod via FireWire, that doesn't work with flashdrives. Try it with a PC and it should work.

Regards
Torsten

Hello

Thanks for the reply and the useful bit of information. I will give that a try and report back

Thanks

Andy

 

[R32syd]

Hello

Thanks for the reply and the useful bit of information. I will give that a try and report back

Thanks

Andy

Hello,
I had to load the firmware via a Windows PC, because my Mac always said that I have to connect the iPod via FireWire, that doesn't work with flashdrives. Try it with a PC and it should work.

Regards
Torsten

Hello

Just reporting back after your useful info. After using a Windows PC to restore the iPod it now works perfectly. Thanks for your excellent advice

Regards

Andy

 

[saxofunk]

This is the kind of reason I've saved so many iPods and old Macs. Someday I'll be hacking them into cool new things, or my daughter will...
[doublepost=1537476272][/doublepost]

Try restoring the iPod without a battery

FYI: The iPod won't do anything without a battery installed. The battery has to complete the power circuit for the iPod to function.

 

[jantoman]

I used a Tarkan adapter for an iPod Classic Gen 7.

I could be wrong, but after reading this whole thread looks like you're the only one that managed to upgrade one of these newer iPods. Can you please confirm that just the adapter and the SD card will do the trick? I'm really tempted to buy one... as soon as I get at least one of my iPod motherboards working. I've got four of them, all with different issues... darn

 

[togruber]

I could be wrong, but after reading this whole thread looks like you're the only one that managed to upgrade one of these newer iPods. Can you please confirm that just the adapter and the SD card will do the trick? I'm really tempted to buy one... as soon as I get at least one of my iPod motherboards working. I've got four of them, all with different issues... darn

What iPod to you want to upgrade?

Regards
Torsten

 

[jantoman]

Classic 80 Gb, aluminium housing (one silver and one black). Built around 2007-2008, I guess it's called 7th gen.

 

[togruber]

Classic 80 Gb, aluminium housing (one silver and one black). Built around 2007-2008, I guess it's called 7th gen.

You are right. More is not needed. But the iPod classic is the hardest one to open. Maybe you need a new rear. You can buy these via ebay or much cheaper via aliexpress.

Regards
Torsten

 

[jantoman]

Maybe you need a new rear.

Why? I don't get it.
My iPods are already disassembled (except for one that works fine) and stored in a cardboard box in separate plastic bags. waiting for a strike of luck: a cheap working motherboard, a service manual, anything. But it doesn't seem very likely, at the moment.

 

[PM_Electronics]

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

Followed to the letter Pete's suggestion and voila! 4th gen with 500GB SSD formatted Fat32 and restored iTunes Windows 7!

 

[lukechip]

Hello,
i had the same issue for a while and found a solution.

1. Setup your CF adapter with SD card arrangement you would like to use. If you want to only use one MicroSD make sure you put the SD card in the correct slot. If you are unsure check the size/capacity of the CF card. If its 30MB then move the SD card to the other slot in the adapter and you should have the same capacity of the single card. Dual card set-ups need to be matching (I am using 2x 64GB) and when mounted should show the combined total size.
2. Download Easeus Partition Master - and plug in the iPod with installed CF adapter and CF card in to your PC.
3. Drive should now pop up and use the above partition tool to format the drive to FAT32. Remember to apply the settings or the drive wont format.
4. Now this may sound weird but right click on the iPod drive in the Partition Manager software and hit rebuild MBR. Do not hit apply yet.
5. By this point iTunes has most probably complained about the iPod and wants to restore the iPod. This is the tricky part. We want iTunes to restore the iPod and when the restore progress on the PC hits 100% we want to hit the apply button in the partition management software before the iPod reboots.
6. If it worked then you should be greeted with "plug iPod in to wall" icon and doing this allows the iPod to finish restoring and you will have a iPod you can now install Rockbox on.

I have no idea why the adapter needs this process and normal CF cards do not need this process.

source: https://www.reddit.com/r/rockbox/comments/3o9kry

Another way:
After restoring the iPod and connecting the iPod with the wall charger the flashing process fails.
Eject the SD-card and connect it to the pc/mac.
Install and open "AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition".
There are listet 2 partitions on your SD-card, one little and a big one called "IPOD".
Click with the right mouse button on "Disk x"(x for your card) (windows down right) and click "Create new MBR" or something like this (I use the german version).
Click execute (or something like this) in the upper left.
Insert your SD-card in your iPod.
Connect your iPod with your wall charger.
It should work!

BUT: Don't restore your iPod, because you have to repeat the whole operation.

Regards from Germany

Thanks so much for this help. I can confirm the method above worked for me with getting my 4th Gen Classic iPod (820-1535-A logic board) to work with the following parts:

CF to Toshiba 1.8-inch IDE Hard Drive Converter - Blue

I like this from DX. Find the cool gadgets at a incredibly low price with worldwide free shipping here.

www.dx.com

A1 Dual Micro SD / TF to CF High Speed SDXC Adapting Card - Red + Black (2TB)

I like this from DX. Find the cool gadgets at a incredibly low price with worldwide free shipping here.

www.dx.com

SanDisk Ultra 64GB Micro SD Card

I was having all sorts of problems prior to this solution. While I was successful getting my iPod working with a 1GB SanDisk Ultra II CF Card, I could not get it working with any other CF Card, nor with the CF -> Micro SD adapter and two different Micro SD cards.

Starting with a FAT32 fomat, the restore from iTunes would leave the storage appearing unformatted and the iPod wouldn't boot cleanly. I'd virtually given up hope of getting it to work, however since I managed to get one CF card working (super easily too....) I felt that I had to keep looking. I suspect that the CF card which worked is possibly more ATA compliant than the other storage I was using, hence why it just worked as it should.

I actually used AOMEI to perform the MBR rebuild when iTunes restore hit 100%, and everything worked as described by togruber. I've now got a 64GB 4th Gen iPod classic and I'm super happy.

 

[saintruggler]

Followed to the letter Pete's suggestion and voila! 4th gen with 500GB SSD formatted Fat32 and restored iTunes Windows 7!

PM_Electronics:

Can you send me more details on your build? I would love to add a 500Gb SSD to my iPod 4th Gen clickwheel (originally 20Gb).

-saintruggler

 

[togruber]

PM_Electronics:

Can you send me more details on your build? I would love to add a 500Gb SSD to my iPod 4th Gen clickwheel (originally 20Gb).

-saintruggler

Hello,
I don’t know if there are any 500GB 50Pin PATA SSD to buy. I recommend a 50 Pin to CF-Adapter, a CF to SD (not microSD)-Adapter and a 512GB SD card or microSD with microSD to SD-Adapter. Although 400GB Cards are much cheaper.

Regards from Germany

 

[saintruggler]

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!

Resurrecting this ancient thread to ask for more details on your Transcend 256gb card specs (model, etc.). PM sent!

 

[Nekomichi]

At this point I'm half-expecting iTunes to drop support long before they stop functioning.

Time traveller from the year 2021 here, not only did iTunes keep support for iPods, MacOS dropped support for iTunes while maintaining iPod compatibility. iPods have outlasted iTunes itself!

 

[DriftyBoi86]

Hey guys, I'm in 2022 now and I have decided to keep my ipod alive, I believe I have the same gear as Lukechip did but for some reason my ipod won't turn on. I have tried unplugging the battery as well.

 

[DriftyBoi86]

I've had a look at everything above. And... I've done it!!! 128GB SSD 4TH Gen Ipod!!!!!