Decision: Get Ipod Classic or stick with rockbox'd 5.5g

[Pileot]

My iPod is currently a 5.5g 30 gig, and im considering getting a classic.

My question is is it worth it? what would some of the benifits of the classic be to the 5.5g? I really dispize itunes, and i really enjoy the drag-drop ability of rockbox to add music.

What is your opinion? Should i stick with the 5.5g or go with the classic?

[AlexP]

This is obvious - no rockbox no classic.  The only benefit of the classic I can see is 160Gb.

[mnhnhyouh]

Given my 60 is full, and there isnt much I would be happy deleting, and I will be wanting more room soon, a classic sans RB is looking better as time goes by.

Just wish I had the skills to help sort the 160 for RB.

h

[scharkalvin]

If you are a hardware hacker type and the warranty on your iPod is over anyway, you might try finding a replacement 160gb drive and upgrade your iPod.  IIRC, both of these use the same kind of hard disk (IE: both have the same connector and interface) so a swap should be possible, assuming the larger drive will fit in. (need to check the thickness).  

[Walrus]

I'd sell my firstborn for a 160 GB....if it would effing play .ogg files.  God, I hate Apple.  

I'm just hoping someone will wake up and decide to bother competing with Apple and make a 160 gig player that supports formats like .ogg (or make a 160 player that's compatible with rockbox)

[yapper]

If you are tempted to swap the drive for a larger one, take a look at the Wiki here http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/HardDriveReplacement

[cool_walking_]

If you are tempted to swap the drive for a larger one, take a look at the Wiki here http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/HardDriveReplacement

Has anyone ever done this with a 5.5G iPod and lived to tell the tale? Is there any possibility of bricking the iPod, or is the worst that can happen that the drive just doesn't work?

What side effects are there? I'm guessing there will be some loss of battery life, but how much?

Does it have to be a certain type of drive (other than the connector)? Wasn't the complication in supporting the 80GB 5.5G due to a different hard drive?*

If I take the 60GB drive out, try the new one, and it doesn't work, so go back to the 60GB drive, will the iPod bootloader/firmware notice something's up and do something stupid like format the drive?

Will Rockbox/the PC be able to access the whole volume of the disk?

Anything else?

I ran out of space on my 60GB about a month ago, and have been furiously swapping out files. It's very annoying.

EDIT:
*No it wasn't, it was due to a different ATA controller.

[Chronon]

I have not done this, but as long as you get the pin assignment correct then everything should be fine as far as Rockbox is concerned.  One subtle question is whether or not iTunes will agree to install Apple firmware to such a drive.  However, I'm sure there are ways around that if iTunes decides it doesn't want to play ball (for example, something similar to the old fwpatcher method of installing Rockbox to the iPods)

I don't see a way that swapping the drive would brick it.  Apple's bootloader and emergency disk mode are stored in flash so changing the hard drive out can't get rid of your ability to connect via USB.  

There are issues with using all of the capacity of large disks.  See this wiki page for more info:
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/BigDisk

[cool_walking_]

Thanks for the info.

as long as you get the pin assignment correct

Do you just mean "not plugging the connector in upside-down", or is there something more to this? Do the Toshiba/Seagate/Samsung drives use different pins for different things?

[Chronon]

Well, some drives use a 50 pin connection while others use a ZIF 40 pin connector.  It looks like the new 1.8" 160GB drives use CE-ATA.

[cool_walking_]

I knew about the different connectors, so your post confused me  

So I'll compare price/size/power consumption of the MK1011GAH, ST7120221DE, and HS122JB, and give it a bash!

EDIT: Okay.. not the ST7120221DE. I assumed the Wiki was a little out of date and it would be released by now.

[scharkalvin]

One subtle question is whether or not iTunes will agree to install Apple firmware to such a drive.

The odds are it will.  iPod mini's have been upgraded to 16gb flash cards and they were designed to work with 4 or 6gb 1" hard disks.

[Pileot]

I dont know a lot about iPods, but from what i know about computers.... Most of the time as long as you fit the same connections together, and the harddrive you replace has the same pin configuration as the one you swap out, it should work.

If things dont look like they will fit, dont force it.

On a completely different train of thought... Is there work being done on the classic to make it work? What can the average no-skills layman do to help?

[pondlife]

On a completely different train of thought... Is there work being done on the classic to make it work? What can the average no-skills layman do to help?

Break into Apple HQ and retrieve the data sheets for the mystery chipset, along with the firmware encryption details.  

Seriously, an iPod Classic port is very unlikely to happen.

pondlife

[melancholydm]

well it looks like theres a 100+ gb hds from those charts that has a zif 40 connection so why bother with a ipod classic port when it will be less of a hassle to go with a hd upgrade? only thing I see that is problematic is compiling your own rockbox even that is easily solved