installation problem

[eons]

using the tabs: manual installation

@bluebrother:

OS: MAC OS X Leopard
IPOD: Video Ipod 30gb
No, autodetection did not find the ipod itself

so do i continue with the manual installation itself...and are there any specific suggestions for the manual one...or ...how do i go about it?

[MoMo]

having the same problem 

[robin0800]

To install Rockbox the Ipods need to have Fat32 file system as your both using Mac's is this the case?

[eons]

whats a FAT32 file system and how do we get it onto the MAC?

[LambdaCalculus]

There's a page on how to convert your iPod to FAT32 here.

[MoMo]

There's a page on how to convert your iPod to FAT32 here.

Yes I'm on MAC.

I have did it manually and by connecting it to a windows-based pc - everything works fine when installing it via the rockbox utility - rockbox even loaded on my ipod, but itunes still recognized it as a windows formatted ipod (even after I deleted the FAT32 partition via disk utility).

 

[Chronon]

Why would you delete the FAT32 partition?  It should show up as a Windows formatted iPod.  Why is that problematic?

[MoMo]

Why would you delete the FAT32 partition?  It should show up as a Windows formatted iPod.  Why is that problematic?

Because a windows formatted ipod is useless on mac? I was under the impression that rockbox for mac was usable on both windows and mac's by partitioning the ipod into mac-format and windows-format - like i said i've did this via the mac os x terminal and disk utility.

Still not working...

[Chronon]

No.  A windows formatted iPod will mount on a Mac.  Unfortunately, OSX has rather poor support for FAT32.  But it should work okay. 

The instructions do not tell you to use Disk Utility.  Disk Utility will write an Apple Partition Map and this is the reason you have to follow the instructions on the linked page in order to get a GUID partition table.

---
Edit:

The two things you need to do to prepare your iPod for a Rockbox installation are:

1) Replace the HFS+ partition with a FAT32 partition.

2) Replace the Apple Partition Map with a MBR.

[Fix some confusion]

[MoMo]

No.  A windows formatted iPod will mount on a Mac.  Unfortunately, OSX has rather poor support for FAT32.  But it should work okay.

Yeah, I never had trouble mounting it or even installing rockbox to some degree, it was itunes recognizing a windows formatted ipod.  

The instructions do not tell you to use Disk Utility.  Disk Utility will write an Apple Partition Map and this is the reason you have to follow the instructions on the linked page in order to get a GUID partition table.

*ahem*  

From manual:

Apply the correct partition table

Open a terminal and navigate to the directory where you saved the partition table in step b). Then run the below command to write the partition table to your iPod:

dd if=mbr-xxxx.bin of=/dev/diskN

Replace mbr-xxxx.bin with the name of the MBR file you downloaded in step b).

To find out the disk device name for your iPod, mount it in Disk Utility, click on it to select it, and open the Details screen. Alternatively, you can mount the iPod and then on the command line type "mount" to see a list of mounted disks with their device names, including the iPod. For this step you want the disk device name of the whole disk, which should be in the form of "diskN", where N is a simple number. If you see something like "disk1s2", leave off the "s2" part, which specifically identifies the iPod's main data partition. Remember to unmount the iPod again in Disk Utility after you have its disk device name.

CAUTION You must replace "diskN" with the correct name of the disk device assigned to your iPod. Using an incorrect device name in this command may result in the partition table for another hard disk in your system being changed. Which is very bad news.

Writing over the MBR is risky; if it fails, it may cause your iPod to continually attempt reboots, which makes it difficult to access again from your computer. Should this happen, you need to put your iPod into "disk mode", as described here.

...

e) Format the main partition with FAT32 file system

Note - there is a problem with mkfs.vfat on disks over 30GB in size. We recommend mtools format utility instead. See below.

For 5G and below iPods


The easiest method is to use 'Disk Utility'. Select the iPod partition disk on the left side, click the Erase tab, select 'MS-DOS File System' and at last click the 'Erase' button.

...

"Once this process finishes running, you can confirm that your iPod is now formatted as FAT32 by mounting it in Disk Utility (if it doesn't remount automatically), clicking it to select it, and looking at the formatting information at the bottom of the Disk Utility window. It should now say FAT32 instead of Macintosh Extended (Journaled)."

---
Edit:

The two things you need to do to prepare your iPod for a Rockbox installation are:

1) Replace the HFS+ partition with a FAT32 partition.

2) Replace the Apple Partition Map with a GUID Partition Table.

Ah ok thank you, problem is - why does the manual explain step one but not step two (unless I have completely overlooked it?) OK so I've got my ipod in FAT32 format, how do I replace the apple partition, furthermore ensure it will coincide with the installation of rockbox?

heh, rockbox has been a hassle to install, it better be worth it

[Chronon]

I guess I "misspoke."  The important point is that you do not do the partitioning in Disk Utility as it will write changes to the Apple Partition Map.  You apply a new partition table with the dd command.


Now, I'm still having a hard time understanding why you have a problem with the iPod being recognized by iTunes as a Windows formatted iPod.  It is.  Why is that problematic?

[MoMo]

I guess I "misspoke."  The important point is that you do not do the partitioning in Disk Utility as it will write changes to the Apple Partition Map.  You apply a new partition table with the dd command.


Now, I'm still having a hard time understanding why you have a problem with the iPod being recognized by iTunes as a Windows formatted iPod.  It is.  Why is that problematic?

Because I still want to be able to transfer my songs from itunes onto my ipod:

[Chronon]

All that screen tells me is that you can't update the firmware for a Windows iPod from a Mac.  Have you actually tried transferring music and it denied you?

[MoMo]

All that screen tells me is that you can't update the firmware for a Windows iPod from a Mac.  Have you actually tried transferring music and it denied you?

 

*head desk*

Doh'! Although, isn't the ipod software vital? (oh well, even if it is there is probably a mac application to update its software as it would within itunes on windows)

Correct me if I'm wrong, another query here - songs that are purchased from itunes (legally) wont be playable in rockbox, but they will still be transferred successfully as normal on the original iPod OS?

Anyway, thanks for all the help, I'm quite sure there is a way for an ipod to be both mac and windows formatted - but this is irrelevant to rockbox, I guess i'll google around a bit.

[Chronon]

Updating the firmware isn't really vital at all.  An update is as vital as you consider the changes that it offers. 

Maybe some other Mac owners will have some advice for you.

If the files have DRM then Rockbox will not play them.  Itunes also has some DRM-free (iTunes Plus) offerings and those will play fine.