Can't load rockbox.ipod error (iPod 5.5G)

[Toxikator]

Rather specific and strange error with Rockbox, not entirely sure how to fix it.

Specs:
iPod Video 5.5G (80GB version)
modified with MK2431GAH (240GB) HDD and new battery.

Rockbox ran absolutely FINE on this iPod configuration for a long time, and I didn't recently update any hardware or software components for at least 2 months before the crash itself; during that time I experienced no weird errors of any kind, except for the occasional (and predictable) crash which a reboot solved.

The error message:
Rockbox boot loader
Version 3.3
IPOD version: 0x000B0011
TOSHIBA MK2431GAH
Partition 1: 0x0B 468605084 sectors
Loading Rockbox...
Error!
Can't load rockbox.ipod:
File not found
Hold MENU+SELECT to reboot
then SELECT+PLAY for disk mode

Somehow, when I connected the iPod to my computer, it royally screwed up the MBR for the HDD; the computer told me that the disk needed to be formatted, and rockbox wouldn't load. iTunes was also opening, which it's set not to do with my iPod, meaning that it couldn't access the iTunes_Control folder on the main partition of the HDD (of course, iTunes was telling me the iPod needed to be restored). However, Rockbox did ATTEMPT to load before I put the iPod in disk mode, meaning at the very least the part of the HDD which contains the rockbox bootloader was functional (if I start the iPod without an HDD, I get the sad mac face, so I know the drive itself was working).

Ran the iPod through TestDisk, discovered that something was wrong with the boot record for the drive; copied the backup version of the MBR over the original and lo! the disk was recognized by windows again. All of my files were accessible, bar a few corrupt songs. Needless to say, I IMMEDIATELY backed up all of my music. This took about 48 hours (I've got like 160-something GB on there, a USB cable only works so fast).

Now, there was ONE issue, and that was the .rockbox folder was somehow royally corrupted. Almost all of the files inside it were undeletable/modifiable. Ran chkdsk on it, and windows fixed these issues and I deleted the leftovers. The system was clean.

I then took a backup of the entire .rockbox folder I had made before this happened and copied it to the HDD (so while I did delete the folder, it was replaced). I've checked, and yes, it did contain the rockbox.ipod file, as well as all other files that come with the usual installer (I have a custom install, however, that was patched to support 240GB HDDs, so I can't just rewrite the entire thing with the latest SVN).

So all of the necessary files should be there, yes?

But I'm STILL getting the black-screen-with-white-letters saying that Rockbox can't find the rockbox.ipod file.

at first, I thought it was still a partially corrupt HDD; windows could see it, but maybe the iPod's strange boot "partition" was messed up somehow? So I synced a few MP3s via iTunes, booted the iPod up with the factory firmware, and checked; they're there and they play fine. So both the boot section AND the main section were fine, and the stock iPod was working properly.

So if it's not the HDD, it must be rockbox, yeah? Rockbox should be able to see the primary HDD partition and find the folder (it's properly named), but it's acting like it can't. Just to be safe, I made a copy of the .rockbox folder on my desktop, deleted it from the iPod, and replaced it with the current SVN build, freshly downloaded. Yes, I made sure it was extracted from the .zip file and was a proper folder... but still, same error message!

So, any ideas? Rockbox can't seem to see the .rockbox folder (or at least the rockbox.ipod file inside it), even though windows explorer CAN (and iTunes and the iPod's OS can access the section of the HDD where that folder exists)... it happened right after a weird hard drive crash, true, but all other functions (including the native iPod functionality and disk mode) all function perfectly, and rockbox still TRIES to boot meaning that the bootloader part itself should be fine...?

I'd just do an iTunes factory restore and install Rockbox again, but I'd rather not deal with the hassle of making a new build that supports 240GB (I remember it taking forever), and besides I'd then have to spend another 48 hours transferring all of my content from the backup BACK to the iPod. I'll do it if it comes to that, but if anyone has another solution, I'm all ears... and besides, I just have no idea what on earth happened here.

EDIT:
I did some googling and found out this has happened to people using compact flash cards in their iPods if the CF had a messed up partition table; I should point out that Windows and iTunes (though perhaps they use the same system?) both report the size of the HDD correctly as 223GB max capacity with 80.7GB free, so it's doubtful that the partition table has mislabeled something. It may also be worth pointing out that the error TestDisk INITIALLY reported (before the disk was fixed) was the partition table or MBR or whatever was reporting an incorrect sector size of 2174 or something instead of 2048. Obviously this issue has since been resolved, but since TestDisk doesn't identify the iPod's first partition (it has a type of "none") I can't tell if it's only resolved for the main partition or for both... not sure if that could be a factor here, I would think as long as the iPod firmware is working and the rockbox bootloader is attempting to start the first little partition that contains the iPod's OS must still be functional.

[saratoga]

Format the disk and then reinstall.

[Toxikator]

Well, I didn't.

I was able to fix it by running ipodpatcher.exe on it again; this evidently overwrote whatever corrupted part of the rockbox bootloader was screwing everything up (maybe it was being told to look for rockbox.ipod in the wrong place, I dunno) and it now boots fine.

I had avoided this because of habit; when Jailbreaking, they tell you not to successively install jailbreaks without doing a restore as it eats up more and more HDD space each time. I re-read the Rockbox instructions and realized they told you to unzip the .rockbox folder to the HDD BEFORE running ipodpatcher.exe, meaning that ipodpatcher.exe doesn't need an empty disk to run properly.

Having done this, the iPod is working perfectly, using my Rockbox theme and everything. I don't know why it never occurred to me when the .rockbox folder got corrupted that even if the PARTITION where the bootloader was stored had been repaired, not all of the content might have made it.

Anyhoo, saratoga, I do appreciate the prompt reply and (frankly, sound) advice. All the same, I'm glad I didn't listen to you! Saved me 48 hours of tedious crap.

[bluebrother]

I was able to fix it by running ipodpatcher.exe on it again; this evidently overwrote whatever corrupted part of the rockbox bootloader was screwing everything up (maybe it was being told to look for rockbox.ipod in the wrong place, I dunno) and it now boots fine.

This is strange. Since you already get an error message from the bootloader the bootloader loads fine. Running ipodpatcher will only reinstall the bootloader, so I don't see why that should fix your problems. I'd rather guess that your problem are filesystem errors on the data partition, so checking that for errors is the first thing I'd try. In either case I'd do that anyway.

[torne]

I'd just do an iTunes factory restore and install Rockbox again, but I'd rather not deal with the hassle of making a new build that supports 240GB (I remember it taking forever)

Rockbox has supported any size of hard drive for some time now. You do not need a custom build.