iPod classic 5 will not mount in OSX

[sbcpunk]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a refurbished 5th gen iPod Classic. It has an upgraded SSD and new battery and had Rockbox pre-installed. Since the software was already installed, I am probably not as familiar with the software as I otherwise might be. I've used it for a week or so and have found my way around, but I have a problem that I just can not solve.

I received the iPod and had no problems. I connected it to my Macbook and it recognized it as an external drive. I loaded music on to it and used it as normal. I definitely connected it and loaded music on to it on at least one other occasion with no problems. But now when I connect the iPod to my Macbook, the drive won't mount. The computer does not recognize it at all. The battery charges, but the drive will not mount. I do not know what happened or why this is happening. The only other thing I did with it was I connected the iPod to my car's USB. The car read it as just an external USB drive. Later, I found the option in Rockbox for car adapter mode. I switched it to "yes" and tried it with my car again to see if the interface would be any different. I do not remember if I had successfully connected it to my computer after this or not or if this somehow caused the problem, but my car will also not recognize the iPod anymore.

Here is what I have done so far to try to diagnose/solve the problem.

-I tried a different iPod connector cable.
-I tried connecting to a different computer.
-I changed the USB HID setting, does not work whether "yes" or "no"
-I changed the car adapter mode back to "no"
-I reset all of the settings in Settings>Manage Settings.
-I connected the iPod to my computer with the hold button engaged to boot the Apple software, still not recognized.
-I reset holding menu and select and then menu and play as it started up to start up in Apple disk mode. The screen immediately goes to the "OK to disconnect" screen and does not mount.
-I Reset the PRAM on my Macbook.
-Thinking it must be a problem with the iPod's dock port I took it to a local store that fixes old iPods/iPhones/iPads, etc. The technician said there was nothing wrong with the dock connector as far as he could see. He connected it to his Windows computer with his own dock connector cable and his computer also would not recognize the iPod. He said his computer told him it gave "Error 43." He told me that I should shut down my computer for 5 minutes and unplug all other USB devices from it and that this would somehow reset something in the firmware (??) and that when I started the computer back up again it might connect. This did not work.

At this point I really don't know what else to try. I've got a 1TB iPod with about 9gb of music on it and I can't load any more. Do any of you know anything I haven't done that might work?

The version of Rockbox on my iPod is be96751M-140226

[saratoga]

If the Apple Emergency Disk mode doesn't work, that doesn't sound very good.  Did the guy who sold it to you mention if he ever got USB working with the new disk?

Edit:  Unclear to me if you tested Emergency Disk mode on another PC?  Might be worth checking that it doesn't work else where just in case you PC is being screwy.

[sbcpunk]

Yes, he had USB mode working before I bought it. He loaded the Rockbox software and even put 3 albums on it.

I just got back from a friend's house who uses a PC. I tried to connect it to his but it wouldn't recognize. I tried emergency disk mode but it didn't work. We tried to steps to resolve Error 43 on a PC but it did not work.

Is this a software problem or a hardware problem? If it's a hardware issue, what is causing the problem? The hard drive? Logic board?

[Frankenpod]

Don't know what the cause of the problem is - it doesn't sound good - but you could try getting an external msata-sata or msata-usb3 enclosure, put the ssd in it and sync tracks to it then put it back in the ipod?

(As long as its a 5th gen, rather than a "5.5" gen, it is possible to do that, and it's a lot quicker as well)

[sbcpunk]

Hmm well opening up the iPod would probably get annoying every time I want to load new music onto it...

But that leads me to more questions... if the drive isn't recognized when in the iPod, would it be recognized when in the mSata enclosure?

If it is recognized in the mSata enclosure, what does this tell us about what the problem could be? Could I reformat the drive and reinstall rockbox? Could that fix the issue?

[Frankenpod]

It would (get annoying) but with that size of storage and the slow speed of the 5th gen it will take a very, very long time to initially load up the normal way (maybe 24-48 hours?), so its worth doing it to start with even when the ipod is working properly.  Also SSD ipods freak out fairly often (whenever the battery gets too low, generally) and you need an external enclosure to fix them when they do.

If the ssd is fine in an external enclosure then it might be the logic board/port pins.  I suppose it might just possibly be a power-drain issue, as ssds are power-hungry when writing compared to ipod hard-drives, but it should at least recognise it to start with.  I guess if the SSD is good, you might have to just get a new 5th gen logic board.

All the SSD ipod problems I am aware of are about error messages on the ipod, rather than the computer not recognising it at all, so I haven't got a lot of other suggestions.

Edit - is it a Tarkan adaptor?  If so, try asking on Tarkan's site.

further edit - this is all assuming its an msata ssd not a native zif one.  I don't know if there actually is a native zif 1tb ssd though, so it probably is msata.

Maybe try asking on an appropriate thread here

https://www.iflash.xyz/

[sbcpunk]

This is what I'm working with here (pictured).

Of course, after my local computer store not having mSata enclosures, I call Best Buy who says they have them in stock. I drive there and this kid (of course, it's always some kid) shows me the Sata adapters and enclosures. I tell him I need an mSata and he says it's the same size. I tell him I already have a Sata adapter so I don't need to buy one from them. Get home and of course the mSata drive does not fit in the Sata adapter as expected. Now I have to order one from Amazon.

[Frankenpod]

This is what I'm working with here (pictured).

Of course, after my local computer store not having mSata enclosures, I call Best Buy who says they have them in stock. I drive there and this kid (of course, it's always some kid) shows me the Sata adapters and enclosures. I tell him I need an mSata and he says it's the same size. I tell him I already have a Sata adapter so I don't need to buy one from them. Get home and of course the mSata drive does not fit in the Sata adapter as expected. Now I have to order one from Amazon.

Just be sure its msata to sata (or possibly msata to usb3, not quite sure about that) and not msata to usb2 (which I don't think will work, due to power issues)
And as that's clearly a Tarkan adaptor, seek advice on his site in the link I gave.