no .rockbox directory error (rockbox loads however)

[ground_sniper]

Hello, I've been working on this for about 3 hours now.  I'm running a 5gen Video iPod 30gb model, I used to run Rockbox but my hard drive failed so I've been trying to reinstall it all night. I have a bootloader up and running but rockbox keeps giving me a 'no .rockbox directory; installation incomplete' I've tried manual installations as well as the rockbox utility.  

I've also tried several different builds of rockbox and I keep getting the same error.  the .rockbox directory is in the root of my iPod's hard drive and hell, rockbox even loads (it won't load the database or anything) so I'm assuming something else is to blame here.  Can anyone help me out with this?  At the moment I am using a rockbox build from

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http://home.centurytel.net/tdtooke/rockbox32.zip

I followed a tutorial posted a while back for my old iPod hard drive and it worked flawlessly however, I can't follow the tutorial exactly anymore (I switched from Fedora back to Windows) here's a link to the tutorial

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http://mikesubuntu.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-install-rockbox-and-extras-on.html

Oh, and for the flamers, I've been googling this all night, and nothing has helped me so far.    Thanks for taking time to read this long post guys!

[saratoga]

We don't support anything but the official rockbox build and the instructions in the manual.  If you want to use something else, you'll need to ask whoever made it for support.

[ground_sniper]

We don't support anything but the official rockbox build and the instructions in the manual.  If you want to use something else, you'll need to ask whoever made it for support.

Well, as my post said, I've tried several of the rockbox builds including the ones found on this site, both current and old builds for the iPod video.  Along with your sites rockbox utility.  I've also tried several of the bootloaders.  The rockbox bootloader doesn't even load rockbox up it just says that the file rockbox.ipod can't be found (even though it's in the right place) the ipodloader2 boots rockbox however (boots into a non-usable state as stated)

[pixelma]

The rockbox bootloader doesn't even load rockbox up it just says that the file rockbox.ipod can't be found (even though it's in the right place) the ipodloader2 boots rockbox however (boots into a non-usable state as stated)

If you followed the tutorial you linked to, you don't have the rockbox.ipod in the right place.

I just had a quick look (and already had the suspicion) and found that "Step 3" is wrong. The correct place for the rockbox.ipod file is in the .rockbox folder for a while now. This is how it comes in the build zip, you are not supposed to move anything. Why should it be offered in a different way?

P.S: This is how it is needed for the official rockbox bootloader. I have no idea how the ipolinux one works so if you have questions regarding this you really need to ask over there... I don't need to know something about it since I don't even have an Ipod...

[ground_sniper]

The rockbox bootloader doesn't even load rockbox up it just says that the file rockbox.ipod can't be found (even though it's in the right place) the ipodloader2 boots rockbox however (boots into a non-usable state as stated)

If you followed the tutorial you linked to, you don't have the rockbox.ipod in the right place.

I just had a quick look (and already had the suspicion) and found that "Step 3" is wrong. The correct place for the rockbox.ipod file is in the .rockbox folder for a while now. This is how it comes in the build zip, you are not supposed to move anything. Why should it be offered in a different way?

P.S: This is how it is needed for the official rockbox bootloader. I have no idea how the ipolinux one works so if you have questions regarding this you really need to ask over there... I don't need to know something about it since I don't even have an Ipod...

I've used the official bootloader as well, but when I use it (with rockbox.ipod in the right place) it won't even boot rockbox at all, just displays that rockbox.ipod cannot start and that it cannot be found even though it is in the correct spot.  Thanks for your help though.  Hopefully I can get this resolved!

[AlexP]

What is the partition structure of your iPod?

[soap]

... rockbox even loads (it won't load the database or anything) so I'm assuming something else is to blame here.

Regarding this point, and only this specific aspect of your problems.  Rockbox loading but "things" not working right suggests a mismatched .rockbox directory and rockbox.ipod file.
This would be as the result of having extracted two builds, one which placed an old .ipod file in root, and a newer one which placed an .ipod file in the .rockbox directory.

Let us start by removing all traces of rockbox, removing the IpodLinux loader, restoring back to stock Apple bootloader, and following the manual install instructions from the manual - no RBUtil for now.
In that order, no skipping step.
 
ASSuming your partition layout is stock, FAT32.

[ground_sniper]

Regarding this point, and only this specific aspect of your problems.  Rockbox loading but "things" not working right suggests a mismatched .rockbox directory and rockbox.ipod file.
This would be as the result of having extracted two builds, one which placed an old .ipod file in root, and a newer one which placed an .ipod file in the .rockbox directory.

Let us start by removing all traces of rockbox, removing the IpodLinux loader, restoring back to stock Apple bootloader, and following the manual install instructions from the manual - no RBUtil for now.
In that order, no skipping step.
 
ASSuming your partition layout is stock, FAT32.

Alright, I did all that, still no dice.  (I also have a freshly formatted FAT32)
Here's the bootloaders output

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Rockbox boot loader
Version:2.0 
IPOD version: 0xFFFFFFFF
TOSHIBA MK3008GAL
Partition 1: 0x0B 7130 MB
Loading Rockbox...
Error!
Can't load rockbox.ipod:
File not found
Hold Menu+Select to reboot
than Select+Play for disk mode

the .rockbox directory is in the root of the drive so I know it's in the right place.  I also made sure I used the video iPod 30 gb rockbox build

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http://build.rockbox.org/dist/build-ipodvideo/rockbox.zip

[bluebrother]

something is really strange with your partitioning -- the bootloader shows the data partition with 7130MB size, but on a 30GB Ipod this should be somewhat bigger ... also, I'm wondering why the Ipod version is reported as 0xffffffff.

How did you install the bootloader? Using ipodpatcher as the manual installation instructions in the manual tell? Was there anything strange in the output when running ipodpatcher?

[AlexP]

I repeat:

What is the partition structure of your iPod?

[ground_sniper]

What is the partition structure of your iPod?

As I Stated in my last post it's a FAT32 freshly formatted.

something is really strange with your partitioning -- the bootloader shows the data partition with 7130MB size, but on a 30GB Ipod this should be somewhat bigger ... also, I'm wondering why the Ipod version is reported as 0xffffffff.

How did you install the bootloader? Using ipodpatcher as the manual installation instructions in the manual tell? Was there anything strange in the output when running ipodpatcher?

I Was thinking something was way off on the data partition output as well.  I installed the bootloader with the ipodpatcher and there was no strange output. What firmware do you guys recommend for using on the iPod video?  I'm using one about a year and a half old...

[AlexP]

What is the partition structure of your iPod?

As I Stated in my last post it's a FAT32 freshly formatted.

No, I don't mean the file system type, I mean the partition structure - the layout of the partition table.  Could you post that for us?

What OS are you on?

[ground_sniper]

No, I don't mean the file system type, I mean the partition structure - the layout of the partition table.  Could you post that for us?

What OS are you on?

Ah, I don't exactly know how to do that on Windows.  I just switched from Fedora linux to Windows XP last month so I could run CS3 without lagging it down under Wine.

[bluebrother]

Ah, I don't exactly know how to do that on Windows.  I just switched from Fedora linux to Windows XP last month

use a live CD.

Alternatively, you could restore the Ipod from Itunes. That will give you a correct layout.

[ground_sniper]

Ah, I don't exactly know how to do that on Windows.  I just switched from Fedora linux to Windows XP last month

use a live CD.

Alternatively, you could restore the Ipod from Itunes. That will give you a correct layout.

Ok, I did a restore from iTunes.  I'm still getting the same output from the bootloader as before.  Also, iTunes updated my iPod... could that be a bad thing?