Manual installation ipod mini 2nd gen using linux

[npeters8]

Wondering if anyone could help me out with this one, using dell latitude d
610 laptop, ubuntu 10.10 and Ipod mini 2nd gen. Trying to install rockbox and NOT use Itunes so please dont just say use itunes. (worst UI/program in general ever!)

http://download.rockbox.org/manual/rockbox-ipodvideo/rockbox-buildch2.html#x4-70002.1 (directions I was following)


Download ipodpatcher from http://download.rockbox.org/bootloader/ipod/ipodpatcher/linux32x86/ipodpatcher (32-bit x86 binary) or http://download.rockbox.org/bootloader/ipod/ipodpatcher/linux64amd64/ipodpatcher (64-bit amd64 binary). You can save this anywhere you wish, but the next steps will assume you have saved it in your home directory.
2.
Attach your player to your computer.
3.
Open up a terminal window and type the following commands:
  cd $HOME
  chmod +x ipodpatcher
  ./ipodpatcher
Note: You need to be the root user in order for ipodpatcher to have sufficient permission to perform raw disk access to your player.
4.
If all has gone well, you should see some information displayed about your player and a message asking you if you wish to install the Rockbox bootloader. Press i followed by ENTER, and ipodpatcher will now install the bootloader. After a short time you should see the message “[INFO] Bootloader installed successfully.” Press ENTER again to exit ipodpatcher.



Terminal

nicholas@Latitude-D610:~$ sudo su

[sudo] password for nicholas:

root@Latitude-D610:/home/nicholas# cd $HOME

root@Latitude-D610:~# shmod =x ipodpatcher

No command 'shmod' found, did you mean:

 Command 'chmod' from package 'coreutils' (main)

shmod: command not found

root@Latitude-D610:~# chmod +x ipodpatcher

chmod: cannot access `ipodpatcher': No such file or directory


Ipodpatcher is definetly in my home folder, am I missing something?
Post Merge: December 11, 2010, 03:56:24 AM
Terminal

nicholas@Latitude-D610:~$ sudo su

[sudo] password for nicholas:

root@Latitude-D610:/home/nicholas# cd $HOME

root@Latitude-D610:~# shmod =x ipodpatcher

No command 'shmod' found, did you mean:

 Command 'chmod' from package 'coreutils' (main)

shmod: command not found

root@Latitude-D610:~# chmod +x ipodpatcher

chmod: cannot access `ipodpatcher': No such file or directory


Ipodpatcher is definetly in my home folder, am I missing something?

[bluebrother]

Trying to install rockbox and NOT use Itunes so please dont just say use itunes. (worst UI/program in general ever!)

Installing Rockbox in no way requires the use of Itunes. The Rockbox installer is called "Rockbox Utility". Itunes is only useful in the case you need to restore your Ipod. This is usually only the case if you need to change your Ipod from HFS+ to FAT filesystem (aka convert from MacPod to WinPod).

Ipodpatcher is definetly in my home folder, am I missing something?

Yes: the difference between "home folder" and "home folder". You switched users. If you use su to become root $HOME points to the home folder of the *new* user, i.e. root. If you downloaded it as user nicolas it's in the home folder of user nicolas (which usually is /home/nicolas, even though the shell for user nicolas usually will display it as ~). However, $HOME for user root is *not* /home/nicolas, and changing to $HOME puts you actually in a different (and thus wrong) directory.

That means that nicholas@Latitude-D610:~$ and root@Latitude-D610:/home/nicholas# is actually the prompt in the same folder.

But regardless of this, why aren't you using Rockbox Utility? It makes things much easier.

[npeters8]

have had a few drinks but will download rockbox utility and start over, didnt even know that I needed that, thanks for the very very helpful reply. Ill give this a shot in the morning. still very new to linux and ubuntu alike. thanks man. Wow of course I didnt notice which installation/removal thread I was posting in or read the sticky, lol its been a long day.

"Itunes is only useful in the case you need to restore your Ipod. This is usually only the case if you need to change your Ipod from HFS+ to FAT". What if the ipod is displaying a ! and a folder icon, Ive read elsewhere that it means the files on the hard drive (of the ipod) are somehow corrupted I have already formatted the device to FAT. Will installing rockbox allow me to bypass that? rockbox is an entirely different OS for the ipod correct? This (to me) could also mean my poor ipod mini's little 4gb HD is broken therefore have to replace it? I could be barking up the wrong tree in the wrong forum but any advice would help. Thanks again for the support!

[bluebrother]

have had a few drinks but will download rockbox utility and start over, didnt even know that I needed that

You don't *need* to use Rockbox Utility. You can always install manually, but Rockbox Utility automates this and therefore makes it much easier. You also don't need to download anything else, as Rockbox Utility will download the correct files for you.

What if the ipod is displaying a ! and a folder icon, Ive read elsewhere that it means the files on the hard drive (of the ipod) are somehow corrupted I have already formatted the device to FAT.

Then you need to restore the Ipod. The Ipod has a separate, normally unvisible partition holding the firmware. Rockbox and all its installation methods requires this to be intact, so you need to restore first regardless if you install Rockbox manually or not. As said, the easiest way to restore the Ipod is by using Itunes. If you don't want to or can't use Itunes for restoring you can follow the manual instructions in the IpodManualRestore wiki page. Just formatting the Ipod with FAT32 isn't sufficient, and if you want to convert a MacPod to a WinPod it's also not sufficient because the Mac uses a different partitioning scheme.

Will installing rockbox allow me to bypass that?

No.

rockbox is an entirely different OS for the ipod correct?

Yes.

This (to me) could also mean my poor ipod mini's little 4gb HD is broken therefore have to replace it?

Possible but not necessarily. If the hard disk is broken you might want to consider replacing it with a CF card. There's information about this in the wiki, and it's not hard at all if you're a bit familiar with modifying devices.