[SOLVED] iPod Video 5.5g Syncing Troubles

[Hero Kid]

Hello, I just got a iPod Video 5.5g 80gb. I installed Rockbox (Version 3.6) and tried to sync music to it using J River Media Center using Parallels. I have a problem. If I boot the iPod up in Rockbox then connect it my MacBook Pro using the appropriate cable, it displays the usb icon on the screen for approximately 3 seconds then boots up in the apple firmware.
This is really annoying as J River then syncs it as an iPod and not a MSC device.
 
I read some where that there is trouble with OSX and to fix it you have to turn USB HID off (no) to get it to work.
I tried this and it didn't make any difference.

Can anyone help me?

PS: As a separate issues is it normal for the main menu to take 10+ seconds to load when I boot the player up?

[saratoga]

I'm pretty sure USB is disabled in the 3.6 release for the Ipod Video.  You'll need to update if you want to use it.

[Hero Kid]

Oh ok that would explain it. I thought 3.6 was the latest version? So when you say update, to what exactly would you recommend?

[Chronon]

The "current  builds" are newer than the release.

[Hero Kid]

Thought as much. I'm having awful trouble setting this up and I'm now of the impression its my Mac.
When I attach my iPod and browse it I can't see the .rockbox folder and can't figure out how to show hidden folders.

I also can't get the current build to extract to the iPod. I think I'll go kick my brother off my PC and try and get it working there.

Thanks.

EDIT: Sure enough using my PC I fixed it. The newer build of Rockbox did the trick and I needed to use Windows to install it.

[torne]

PS: As a separate issues is it normal for the main menu to take 10+ seconds to load when I boot the player up?

Are you using the default theme? There is a bug on this player with fonts over a certain size, and the default theme uses a font which is too big. Try another theme, or just another font, and you may find it reduces boot time by ~6 seconds. (see http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/11168 for details).

[Hero Kid]

Strangely enough I get faster loading times with the default theme rather than photoSkins-vinyl which is what I was using.
Which is a bummer. I'll play around with the font files though, see if I get any improvements.

Also I get an error every time I try and play a song using the newest version, r27303-100706.

Sad to say it but it looks like I'll be going back to 3.6.

EDIT: I just installed 3.6 and tried to play a song which I located through the file-browser and I got the same error!
I also get the error when trying to play the song via the database.

Here's the error I get.

Unidentified Instruction
at 03E80E30 (0)

I thought a stable release was meant to be just that, a fully stable release?
Why on earth is it crashing?

EDIT #2: The error numbers change depending on the track I play. However it does it with both mp3 and FLAC files. Just then a mp3 file played for around 5 seconds before crashing while the FLAC files I try crash after ~2 seconds.

[AlexP]

This sounds like you have installed the 64MB version (actually labelled by disk size - 60/80 GB) when you have a 32 MB mainboard (labelled 30 GB).  If you are using the 60/80 GB version, could you try the 30?

[Hero Kid]

Thank you very much! That was indeed the problem! I bought it second hand and the original person who owned it must have bought a crappy refurb that used an 5g logic board.

[gevaerts]

I bought it second hand and the original person who owned it must have bought a crappy refurb that used an 5g logic board.

Just as a note, 32mb vs 64mb is not a question of 5g vs 5.5g. It's a question of 30gb vs 60/80gb. A 30gb 5.5g has 32mb of RAM, just like a 30gb 5g.

Apart from that, this is very common with refurbished ipods. I suspect that the refurbishers only have one pile of logic boards and just mix them all.

[torne]

Strangely enough I get faster loading times with the default theme rather than photoSkins-vinyl which is what I was using.
Which is a bummer. I'll play around with the font files though, see if I get any improvements.

Well, it depends what font they use. If you use a font which is less than 80000 bytes it will load *much* faster: it takes about 30 times longer to load a font that's 80001 bytes than one which is 79999 bytes on ipod video. The actual theme is irrelevant except inasmuch as it selects a font.

[Hero Kid]

Thanks for everyone's help. The issues is now solved.