installation problem

[GodEater]

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

Sorry to butt in here, but this is definitely wrong.

Diskutility allows the creation of three different disk layouts, GUID partition tables which are the standard on Intel based Macs, Apple Partition maps, which are the standard on PPC based Macs, and finally Master Boot Records, which is what Windows / Linux and Rockbox expect.

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)

Only if you want to playback music in the original firmware too.

It's very possible to manually put it onto your iPod once you've done the conversion to FAT32 - so if you're really interested in having both (I suspect so since you're asking about iTunes purchases), then we can guide you through that too.

[MoMo]

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

Sorry to butt in here, but this is definitely wrong.

Diskutility allows the creation of three different disk layouts, GUID partition tables which are the standard on Intel based Macs, Apple Partition maps, which are the standard on PPC based Macs, and finally Master Boot Records, which is what Windows / Linux and Rockbox expect.

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)

Only if you want to playback music in the original firmware too.

It's very possible to manually put it onto your iPod once you've done the conversion to FAT32 - so if you're really interested in having both (I suspect so since you're asking about iTunes purchases), then we can guide you through that too.

Cheers, I would preferably like a partitioned ipod because I want to install iPod Linux - and it seems I need a Mac (HFS+) formatted iPod to do so. 

[Chronon]

GodEater, pardon my mistake.  So why can't Mac users simply set up the MBR properly using Disk Utility itself?  If it can properly write a standard MBR then why the need to dd in a partition table from a "winpod"?

[bluebrother]

Cheers, I would preferably like a partitioned ipod because I want to install iPod Linux - and it seems I need a Mac (HFS+) formatted iPod to do so. 

No. While IPL is not supported here you don't need a HFS+ partition for IPL to work. You can simply create an additional ext2 partition to put the IPL userland and keep your music on the FAT partition. I did that a while back and it works fine (though I never really used IPL, just wanted to check how to boot IPL using Rockbox' bootloader )

[GodEater]

GodEater, pardon my mistake. 

Pardoned

So why can't Mac users simply set up the MBR properly using Disk Utility itself?  If it can properly write a standard MBR then why the need to dd in a partition table from a "winpod"?

Well although Disk Utility can create an MBR, it can't create the "empty" partition that the ipod's use to hold their firmware, it can only create partitions that Macs know about, which is a very small subset of all possible partition types. So you could create the MBR with partitions in it, but they'd end up being HFS+ partitions, so you'd still need to do something to change their type to what Rockbox requires.

Secondly, we think it's a good idea to keep the partitions to the same sizes as they would be on a "real" winpod, rather than letting users create them at arbitrary sizes.

[Chronon]

I'm still a bit confused, I think.  To create an MBR entry Disk Utility only needs to write the following data, right?

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

0x00|	(1 byte)	|Status[3] (0x80 = bootable, 0x00 = non-bootable, other = malformed)
0x01|	(3 bytes)	|Cylinder-head-sector address of the first sector in the partition
0x04|	(1 byte)	|Partition type
0x05|	(3 bytes)	|Cylinder-head-sector address of the last sector in the partition
0x08|	(4 bytes)	|Logical block address of the first sector in the partition
0x0C|	(4 bytes)	|Length of the partition, in sectors

   
Isn't formatting with a given filesystem a different process altogether?  It seems like Disk Utility only needs to record the correct byte to specify the "empty" partition type.    Is that just something that Disk Utility will not do, or am I missing something here?

[GodEater]

Isn't formatting with a given filesystem a different process altogether?  It seems like Disk Utility only needs to record the correct byte to specify the "empty" partition type.    Is that just something that Disk Utility will not do, or am I missing something here?

Correct, Disk Utility can only mark partitions with the identifiers for a limited number of filesystem types. It can't mark a parititon with the type 0x00 that is required for the ipod firmware partition.

[Chronon]

Thanks for clearing that up.