Ipod troubles

[ghostface24]

I have an ipod that won't turn on at all. This ipod has been rockbox'ed first time I received it and I never had any type of trouble at all. But now it seems that I have a brick.

A few days before I was getting data aborts which prompted me to switch to another build. I had no trouble after that until today when I received a data abort and I couldn't even shut it off or reset it. My only choice was to let the battery die out and charge later.

The last thing I saw from my ipod's display was the grayscale recharging battery icon when it's really drained. I plugged it in so that it can charge.

Afterwards, there's nothing. I tried every combination of Menu+Select and nothing is working. All I'm getting is a blank screen even when it's plugged into the computer.

My Ipod is a 60 gig video (5g I believe it's called). Please, someone help me.

Since my hard drives crashed on my computer recently, my whole music collection is on the ipod. I'm thinking about taking out the hard drive, backing up the data, and maybe using the HD on another player (I see some nice gigabeat's on ebay, not sure if it will work).

Thank you. 

[LambdaCalculus]

To answer your questions (in no particular order):

1) A data abort error can be resolved by resetting the iPod with MENU+SELECT. Hold those buttons down until your iPod reboots.

2) Your battery is flat and needs a good, long charge. Get a wall adapter and plug in your iPod. Leave it charging for a nice long time (12-24 hours will do).

3) You can enter Disk Mode by pressing MENU+SELECT until the iPod reboots, then immediately pressing SELECT+PLAY until you see an "OK to disconnect" screen; this is Disk Mode.

4) The hard drive in the iPod videos uses a ZIF connector (a ribbon connector, basically). The only Gigabeat models with ZIF drives are the X, S, and V. And of those three, only the X is supported, but the S is very close behind. You can also get a cheap portable hard drive and just copy your files onto that.

[ghostface24]

Thank you, I'll try the wall adapter.

I've been trying to reset the ipod but no response since I plugged it in the computer so that it can charge.

I didn't know that about the HD, thank you. I was going to bid on a F40 thinking I could just replace the drive. I'll focus on looking for an X series. My main focus was looking for a player that Rockbox supports because I use various codecs and am familiar with the interface.

Thank you for your help.

[LambdaCalculus]

I didn't know that about the HD, thank you. I was going to bid on a F40 thinking I could just replace the drive. I'll focus on looking for an X series.

Oops, nearly forgot... the X series is next to impossible to find in the U.S.; it was mostly available in Asia and Australia. Buy an F series, then look for a 1.8" ZIF hard drive enclosure. Then you can open your iPod, remove the drive, and insert it into the enclosure... presto! Instant external hard drive!

[ghostface24]

I'm also thinking about returning to my Iriver roots with buying an H10 20 gig. I might be able to replace the drive from the ipod to the H10. I'm not sure though because I believe I recall the moment where I heard Hitachi is used in the H10 series.

Right now, it seems like I need to find an alternative and the HD DAP market seems almost dead because of solid state.

[LambdaCalculus]

That's correct. The H10 20GB uses a horizontally-oriented 1.8" hard drive (44-pin connector a la 2.5" hard drives). iPod hard drives won't work with the H10.

Want some info on which Rockbox-compatible DAP to buy? Try our Buyer's Guide.

[ghostface24]

Ok, a little update.

I have received a response, but it was a very creepy one. I now believe my wall charger does not work but leaving my ipod to charge on the computer was a bad idea. What I realized is that the ipod is going into it's original firmware, and since I haven't been in the original firmware, there is simply nothing there. I guess that the original firmware is screwed up or something because as the ipod was connected to the wall charger, it was on! It was in the original firmware with a blank screen and eventually the battery died.

So, my strategy is to leave the ipod running (I can hear it's on because it kind of hisses), killing the battery. The battery would result in a stage where the original firmware would not be able to use the battery but rockbox can for a limited time and connect it to the usb charger while holding the menu button to make it charge in rockbox because if I were to connect it to the ipod directly, it would just lead to usb mode and eventually the original firmware.

Ok, sorry for the long post, but has this ever happen to people? It's an awkward theory, but today I got my second response from rockbox, but unfortunately, the battery is too low for rockbox to use therefore I have to charge it up a little and leave it idle. It works, but I have to make it work, and I probably need to leave it charged in rockbox mode all the time.

Any insight might help this situation, it is still a problem. Thank you, and sorry about the long post.


EDIT: The most beautiful thing just happened, it bloody worked! I knew the ipod is fickle with the amount of battery power it uses, and that rockbox doesn't mind up to a point. Anyways, the ipod is charging in rockbox mode as I type. To think I was going to actually buy another player when mine perfectly works now. I guess my theory works, but I still need to fix the problem. For now, I'll just charge my ipod in rockbox mode any chance I get. Thank you for the support.
 
EDIT #2: Great, another Data Abort. I replace my old build with a new build and now I'm getting the message, "Data abort at 03F07E08 (0)" and the ipod won't respond to the menu+select combination. Please somebody help me!

EDIT #3: Ok, I tried updating the bootloader, and the installation was successful, but I still get "Data abort at 03F07E" the rest is cut out. I'm starting to lose hope here. Please can somebody tell me what this means.

[Hubird]

You said that your hard drive crashed on your PC and your music is only on your iPod. It is possible to copy all the music off your iPod and use a program like mp3tag http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ to fix the file names (if you used iTunes to transfer it to your iPod).

[ghostface24]

Thanks for the suggestion, I backed up my ipod last night, the problem now is that the ipod still gets data aborts in the same range when playing music. And these data aborts don't respond to the hard reset for some reason, so every time I get an abort, I eventually get the same problem explained earlier where the ipod doesn't respond. So this must mean that there is something wrong with the ipod or something. I have no idea how to overcome this.

I have the new bootloader, and a new build, but now, ipod still data aborts when playing music.

[soap]

I smell multiple issues.
1 - Your iPod will respond to the Menu+Select reset combo unless you are either A-doing it wrong, B-Have the hold switch in the on (red) position, or C-Have a damaged scrollwheel or other such hardware failure.
2 - Either your iPod's HDD is corrupt or dying.  You need to run

Code: [Select]

chkdisk /f /r

on it.
3 - Possibly your Rockbox install is corrupt.  You should delete the entire .rockbox directory and install a fresh "current build".
4 - Do you get data aborts randomly or is it repeatable?  Is there a song or two which always triggers an abort?

[ghostface24]

OK, so I gave up on fixing the ipod, it's running a chkdsk, but right now I really think it is a hardware problem that might have an impossibility to fix.

I am wondering about buying an Archos Recorder Jukebox 20 gig and just replacing the drive with a 120 laptop drive.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290249343540&fromMakeTrack=true

^I don't know whether it is compatible with Rockbox, but if it is, then I'm willing to buy it.

Is it compatible, because I just read somewhere about some of these players not working with rockbox.

Thanks

[LambdaCalculus]

The day that an Archos Jukebox Recorder is not compatible with Rockbox is the day the heat death of the universe has come.

While there are DAPs with more features out there, I don't think we should stop anyone from buying what they want. Just remember that the Archos devices are MP3-only, and don't have any capabilities of playing any other codecs.

You may want to also look at the Gigabeat F.

[AlexP]

Just remember that the Archos devices are MP3-only, and don't have any capabilities of playing any other codecs.

Rockbox also allows wav playback via a plugin.  It isn't nicely integrated into the playback system, but it is possible.

[ghostface24]

Thanks for the insight, didn't know about the mp3-only playback, and I have a lot of vorbis and musepack files in my collection.

Thank you very much, Toshiba Gigabeat it is. 

Update: I have just purchased a Toshiba Gigabeat F10, is it possible to upgrade the drive to a higher capacity? Maybe a CF upgrade? I'm considering many options.