Utility Says I have a MACPOD, formatted VFAT in Ubuntu 12.10

Installation / Removal > Rockbox Utility

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Greengoat:
Hey folks, after much consternation, I am having trouble convincing RB Utility and ipodpatcher that my Ipods storage areas are formatted VFAT. I have followed the steps very precisely in the guide:
http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/IpodConversionToFAT32

And after I mount and check the file systems with the linux "mount" command and Ubuntu's "Disk" app, they both declare the fs as VFAT. Both RB Utility and ipodpatcher tell me it is still a macpod.

I am using Ubuntu 12.10, and I have a 2nd gen mini with 4 GB.
I have even tried formatting the other smaller partitions on the ipod as vfat (fat32 conversion notes are unclear about what the "main" partition is), but that just gets RB Utility to tell me there is no Apple code on the thing when i try and install.

Thanks for your help and I am enjoying RB on my sansa clip for the last 2 years. :)

saratoga:
Your best bet is to find a PC with iTunes and just use that.

If you can't do that, check and see if the Apple firmware is able to boot.

Greengoat:

--- Quote from: saratoga on January 12, 2013, 07:57:18 PM ---Your best bet is to find a PC with iTunes and just use that.

If you can't do that, check and see if the Apple firmware is able to boot.

--- End quote ---

Sorry, I am Linux only right now with an Imac running the TV, so no convenient PC around.
The IPod boots into its standard firmware fine after I do the whole VFAT thing on it's large "storage" partition.

From mount:

--- Code: ---/dev/sdb3 on /media/goat/Green Ipod type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush,uhelper=udisks2)

--- End code ---

From ipodpatcher:

--- Code: ---[INFO] Scanning disk devices...
[INFO] Read XML info (2456 bytes)
[INFO] Ipod found - 2nd Generation Mini ("macpod") - /dev/sdb
[INFO] Reading partition table from /dev/sdb
[INFO] Sector size is 512 bytes
[INFO] Part Start Sector End Sector Size (MB) Type
[INFO] 0 63 65598 32.0 Empty (0x00)
[INFO] 1 65600 7999479 3874.0 HFS/HFS+ (0xffff)
[INFO] Read XML info (2456 bytes)
[INFO] Ipod model: 2nd Generation Mini ("macpod")
[INFO] ************************************************************************
[INFO] *** WARNING FOR ROCKBOX USERS
[INFO] *** You must convert this ipod to FAT32 format (aka a "winpod")
[INFO] *** if you want to run Rockbox. Rockbox WILL NOT work on this ipod.
[INFO] *** See http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodConversionToFAT32
[INFO] ************************************************************************
Enter i to install the Rockbox bootloader, u to uninstall
or c to cancel and do nothing (i/u/c) :

--- End code ---

torne:
The iPod's partition table is still in Mac format, by the look of it. Formatting the partition as FAT is not enough; you need a new partition table in DOS MBR format. The output from ipodpatcher shows that the second partition has type HFS (this refers to the partition type field in the partition table; it's nothing to do with what actual filesystem is on the partition).

Greengoat:
Okay, thanks folks. SO here is what I think I did wrong: :P

I had accidentally been copying the MBR into the large storage partition of the Ipod (/dev/sdb3) when I should have been copying it straight into the whole drive (/dev/sdb). The conversion to FAT32 instructions say to drop a number at the end if present but the naming structure of linux is different enough to be confusing from what the instruction specifically say.

While trying various stuff I HAD copied the MBR correctly to the whole IPod once , but then I formatted BOTH of the resulting partitions to FAT32, and then the RB Utility could not find the Apple code on the first little partition and said it wasn't an IPod.

So the moral of the story is to make sure you copy over the correct MBR into the whole "disk" of the Ipod, and then only format the large "storage" partition of the IPod to FAT32. Leave the small partition intact so the RB bootloader can install. Whew. I am sure it is obvious to most of you out there but I just don't know my partitioning and it was many lame hours figuring it out.

Thanks folks.

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