iPOD manual restore question - need help

[tng2000]

I'm trying to get a 3.5" IDE drive working on my iPOD. I have a bi-directional adapter that can read the original drive or add the 3.5" IDE drive to the ipod.

Under Ubuntu I see the original drive has 2 FAT partitions ( FYI: I use the ipod with a windows machine only) I followed the instructions in "ipod manual restore" and partitioned my 30GB 3.5" IDE drive and copied over the FW.
Hooked it up, but the ipod does not boot up, just get the sad face, can't put it into "disk mode" either and itunes does not pick it up.
Now the partitions are the same size but the 1st partition is not FAT like the original working drive. Ubuntu says that partition label is "empty"

So is Ubuntu giving me the wrong info ?
At this point I'm not sure how to get the correct format and put the firmware on it, since dd will overwrite the FAT formatting.

[torne]

Er, if you have access to iTunes, just connect the hard drive to the iPod and ask iTunes to restore it. You don't need to do the manual restore.

[tng2000]

Itunes does not pickup the ipod.
Just connecting a raw 3.5" IDE or SATA drive does not work and that is why I investigated the partitioning scheme and tried to duplicate it.
There might some other differences between the small ZIF drives and 3.5" IDE or SATA preventing this from working. If you search the internet you will have difficulty finding anyone who has done this. Should be easy, but I have not been able to get it work, yet.
I'm sure if I get this working it will be a popular mod for a super high capacity player. I will be mounting this in my car and the main reason I want it is because my Pioneer Head unit can control the iPOD thru it's touch screen and it displays album art which the Pioneer MP3 player cant do.

[torne]

iTunes should be able to restore it whatever is on the drive currently; it doesn't matter if it's partitioned correctly or not. Try just zeroing the beginning of the drive completely.

[gmaslin]

If the drive is RAW, where does the firmware to go into "disk mode" and recognize the drive parameters to format the drive come from? I ask this because I recently had an iPod v5.5 go sad on me and the formatting software I tried to use to make FAT32 gave me about 3-4 errors per second before I aborted. I don't even know if Rockbox will work on it in its current state.

[torne]

The emergency disk mode is stored in flash ROM, along with the Apple bootloader and the diagnostic mode. It always works.

The drive parameters come from the drive itself; the host just asks for the standard disk identity data over USB and the disk mode code gets it from the disk via ATA IDENTIFY.

[gmaslin]

torne
Thanks for the info, that was a nice Christmas present 
I finally got a new 120GB drive (Tosh 1231) to replace the flaky 30GB original. Now i can't even get windows to see the iPod. Tells me it's an unrecognized USB device. I have the 5.5G mobo so the drive size shouldn't be an issue. I'm starting to lose my patience. Any hints or advice before I uninstall iTunes?

[Chronon]

Maybe a bad cable or flaky USB port?

[gmaslin]

Chronon
I was hoping not to hear that. The mobo side drive port has a broken lock bar. It was loose before and it broke off entirely when seating the new drive. The cable and connection seem secure. There are no signs of distress on the cable and it sits flush and snugly. If it is a bad port, is the only solution here to get a new mobo?

[Chronon]

You could maybe try applying some pressure to try to simulate the presence of the lock bar and see if it helps.  I was just tossing out some other factors that could prevent iTunes/Windows from recognizing the iPod properly.  A flaky connection between the HD and the iPod motherboard could certainly explain some of the symptoms you described.  However, the fact that it now shows up as an unrecognized USB device suggests there may be connectivity issues in the USB chain (partly why I suggested the possibility of a bad cable or USB port).

Basically, you should try to eliminate each factor as a cause of these symptoms: 

• Does the cable work with other devices?
• Do other devices work with the same USB port?
• Does the original drive work in the iPod?

and so forth. . .

[gmaslin]

Chronon
Thanks for your attention. I checked the individual components and they work so I did the diagnostic tests and discovered fwpwr=0 (firmware power?). The test screen freezes at that point. I seem to recall my problems starting after an update. My best guess now is that a wonky connection screwed a firmware update. What is the best way to apply pressure on the internal cable connection? I don't see a way to boot the device while it's apart.

[Chronon]

gmaslin, I have booted a 5g iPod I used to have while open.  Do the buttons not respond when the case is opened?

Anyway, I don't recall in great detail what the ZIF connector looks like.  Maybe a piece of folded paper could apply some pressure at the right spot.  Sorry, but I don't have any surefire answer for you. 

The fact that diagnostic mode freezes suggests to me that your iPod has suffered some kind of hardware failure.

[gmaslin]

Chronon
The buttons aren't the problem. This is a 5.5G iPod and I can't connect the power from the battery without prying off some parts or straining the ribbon cable. The cable routing is otherwise fixed and at close range so if there is a way to run it open, it isn't apparent to me. I'll try to fashion some flexing stint that will keep pressure on the connection when the unit is sealed and let you know how it turns out.
Thanks for the hints. What should I pay for a working iPod 5.5?