Experience purchasing a iPod 4g (Photo)

[popper]

Decided to post this, only because suspect what happened to me could happen to others.

Last weekend walking around a store a saw an iPod Photo 60 GB (it was in Akihabara, Tokyo) for just under $40. Was shocked because I personally LOVE the 4G (mono or photo) and feel it the best rockbox unit available, and yes I like it more than the iPod 5 and 5.5 --- only thing needed to make it perfect is to some way to fit an SSD ... oh well. Anyway, checked it. Wheel worked. Sound worked. Lock worked. Battery had a charge. Looked perfect. Salesman assured me it's fine, and has a one month guarantee. One month for a unit perhaps a decade old? Amazing! 

Took it home and plugged it in to my PC. My PC read it was there, but could not read the HD. I assumed that it was formatted as a MAC. Fine. Formatted the drive as a PC. To check it, copied a few files back and forth. Perfect. Ran portable Chrome and portable Firefox on the iPod and surfed to a few of my favorite Internet sites. Perfect. Then ran a sector check on the HD. After 90 minutes, all green. The unit was flawless. Unplugged it from my computer.

Instantly, error on the screen. Crap. Thought about it, and obviously since I formatted it, the boot and OS was missing. Duh. So, did something I hate: Downloaded and installed iTunes (I hate iTunes). Did the iTunes restore. Appeared OK.

Second error. Screen said that it needed to be charged. Fine. Plugged it into the usual USB power. Nothing. Did a quick Google search and apparently you need a firewire adapter and wire. Crap. I recall I bought an iPod 3 about three years ago which came with the firewire. Dug deep in my closet and viola. Plugged in the firewire and unit sprang to life instantly. Within the hour was completely charged and 100 percent operational. Successfully installed Rockbox with the dual boot.

All to report. I hope this helps others with problems in the future.



--Popper