IPOD (ALL MODELS) iFlash Adapter Issues

[Bilgus]

Rockbox has problems when using the iFlash adapters

Questions:
Is this a known issue? - Yes.
Will I have this issue - If you are using anything other than the original harddrive- YES.
Is there a fix? - NO, Not at the moment.
Is there a workaround? - Several

• Join the project and fix the shortcoming
• Transfer Files in disk mode
• Use the Apple firmware
• Complain to the maker of iFlash
• Give a Dev an iFlash iPod

[Bilgus]

http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,52505.0.html

[Bilgus]

GREAT ADVICE!!

Speaking from personal experience here: I also tried one of those iFlash mSATA adapters out in an iPod Video, with a 128GB SSD. While installation isn't so bad, I've had nothing but pain and suffering trying to get Rockbox working on this combination. Some of the issues I've experienced include:

• Restoring the device in iTunes wasn't an issue, but the device never showed up afterwards as a proper FAT32 volume on my Linux desktop. If I tried formatting the partition as FAT32, the iPod's firmware would complain and ask me to restore it again, even if I backup its folders beforehand.
• Related to the first point above, I could install Rockbox on the iPod, but then on startup, the bootloader would scream about not being able to find a FAT32 volume.
• Removing the mSATA drive from the adapter and putting it into an enclosure to examine in GParted revealed that the drive had an "Unknown" filesystem on its primary partition. Evoking "fdisk -l" in the terminal showed me that the drive (let's call it /dev/sdi for convenience's sake) had two partitions: "/dev/sdi1" and "/dev/sdi2". /dev/sdi1 was approximately 100MB big, which is correct, and is an unknown filesystem, which is also correct; this is the iPod firmware partition. /dev/sdi2, on the other hand, was also an unknown filesystem, and was the rest of the volume's capacity. This isn't correct; the larger partition should be either FAT32 or HFS+, depending on if it was restored in Windows or a Mac.
  

I finally gave up on getting the iFlash to work after a while and decided to pick up a 128GB SSD I found on Amazon for pretty cheap: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TPLKQLS/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_10?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

I went with this SSD for two reasons: one, it's the correct size and connector for the iPod Video (and the Classic, in turn!), and two, since it's a proper PATA device, it'll function just as a hard drive should. And sure enough, it hasn't given me one lick of trouble at all since it's been in my iPod Video. I do get improved battery life and the peace of mind that my iPod has no moving parts in it anymore, and I also get expanded capacity for music, and Rockbox happily functions with it in place. If anything, an SSD like this is a far more viable option for those wanting to make their iPods solid state, since you're ensured better compatibility and it's good for those on a budget.

[Festivus]

I don't have an iPod but I was planning on using the iFlash SD adapter in my iAudio X5. I don't know if I would have the same issues as iPod users but I'd rather keep my current setup rather than risk it.

I can confirm that the 128 GB PATA SSD drive works--I have the exact same one in my X5 right now. Additionally I, like older generation iPod users, needed to make use of a 50-to-40 pin adapter. I the iFlash website sells one but so does Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009BG1ETA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The adapter has little plastic notches on the side that I clipped off with a nail clipper. If you don't clip off the notches you may have trouble fully inserting the cable into the female end of the adapter.

[TeslaMark]

I solved the issue yesterday.   Here are the steps to follow.

starting with a working iPod

1) Open Aomei Partition tool and clear all the partitions

2) Format as Fat 32 if it lets you.

3) Restore with iTunes for Windows

4) iTunes will leave the partition in 2 parts, a small partition with the bootloader inside and the large partition of the remainder of the drive labeled Ipod.

5) Open Rockbox installer and only install the Bootloader

6) Reopen Aomei Partition Tool and Format iPod Partition as Fat 32

7) Go back to Rockbox installer and install the main program and all optional additions but exclude the Bootloader (as you already have it)

8 )Once its done eject the Ipod and hold down the centre button and the Menu button until the apple logo appears, then immediately hold down the centre button and play/pause until the iPod boots up in target disk mode.

9) Create a Folder called Music and copy all music folders inside.

10) Eject the drive and it works without skips and without crashing with errors. 

[speachy]

I just committed a potential fix for at least some of the iFlash issues.  Initial reports on an ipodcolor are encouraging.

So if you have an iFlash or some other sort of ATA->CF/SD/etc adapter with your rockbox'd player (not just iPods!), please grab the most recent build from https://build.rockbox.org/ and let us know how things go.

[MikeyDee]

I have a similar issue with my 1Tb iPod 6 classic, iFlash adapter .

I install firmware  no issues, I install Rockbox no issues,
Load up my Ipod ( over 600Gb ).

some time ( weeks ) later i want o add more songs, so plugged in my iPod, and Boom,
Screen flashes, and said " No Partitions Found.

I can fix by using a partition amnager ( AOMEI ) remove all partitions, create new partition ( fat32 ) .
Reinstall rockbox, reload my tunes.

This has now happened 3 times,

am now testing latest build , as per advise here.
Will report back.

[Vegbenz]

I've been having some issues, tried to follow the steps listed above, formated my iFlash dual drive,  then restored the ipod in itunes, installed the bootloader then tried to format the first partition to Fat32 as noted.  I now have a single FAT32 partition, but just get a message on the ipod to connect ot Itunes and restore, and I cant get Rockbox to load.  Have I lost it? 


this is a 5.5g Ipod with 256gb SDXC card installed.

[speachy]

I've been having some issues, tried to follow the steps listed above, formated my iFlash dual drive,  then restored the ipod in itunes, installed the bootloader then tried to format the first partition to Fat32 as noted.  I now have a single FAT32 partition, but just get a message on the ipod to connect ot Itunes and restore, and I cant get Rockbox to load.  Have I lost it? 

"restoring the ipod in itunes" reformats the drive as FAT32 already.  You then install the bootloader and the rockbox binaries (via rbutil) and you're ready to go.  When you reformatted the first partition, you actually blew away the ipod firmware -- the data is actually on teh second partition.

[lisu]

I have a similar issue with my 1Tb iPod 6 classic, iFlash adapter .

I install firmware  no issues, I install Rockbox no issues,
Load up my Ipod ( over 600Gb ).

some time ( weeks ) later i want o add more songs, so plugged in my iPod, and Boom,
Screen flashes, and said " No Partitions Found.

I can fix by using a partition amnager ( AOMEI ) remove all partitions, create new partition ( fat32 ) .
Reinstall rockbox, reload my tunes.

This has now happened 3 times,

am now testing latest build , as per advise here.
Will report back.

I have similar problem. I have  also managed to reproduce it.
The 'no partition' bug strikes exactly when you plug turned off ipod with hold switch to on into computer.
I also have ipod 6gen with quad iflash adapter.

Does anyone know how to fix this issue?
Beside that rockbox works like a charm. But I\m bit scared to use my ipod since one day i can forget myself and lose music collection (or hours on restoring it) just by plugin ipod to my laptop

[saratoga]

I have a similar issue with my 1Tb iPod 6 classic, iFlash adapter .

I install firmware  no issues, I install Rockbox no issues,
Load up my Ipod ( over 600Gb ).

some time ( weeks ) later i want o add more songs, so plugged in my iPod, and Boom,
Screen flashes, and said " No Partitions Found.

I can fix by using a partition amnager ( AOMEI ) remove all partitions, create new partition ( fat32 ) .
Reinstall rockbox, reload my tunes.

This has now happened 3 times,

am now testing latest build , as per advise here.
Will report back.

I have similar problem. I have  also managed to reproduce it.
The 'no partition' bug strikes exactly when you plug turned off ipod with hold switch to on into computer.
I also have ipod 6gen with quad iflash adapter.

Does anyone know how to fix this issue?
Beside that rockbox works like a charm. But I\m bit scared to use my ipod since one day i can forget myself and lose music collection (or hours on restoring it) just by plugin ipod to my laptop

You mean you accidentally booted the Apple firmware and it corrupted your flash storage? One simple solution would be to use mks5lboot to install rockbox without dual boot. Since it sounds like the apple firmware doesn't work for you anyway, no real loss.

[lisu]

Thanks for Your reply.
I thought so, but i only managed to run 1TB using rockboxUtility.
I mean, since 6gen only allows to have 127GB after bl installation I need to repartition the device and reinstall rockbox.
But when i try to do the same manually

Code: [Select]

./mks5lboot.x86_64 --single --bl-inst ./bootloader-ipod6g.ipodrockbox won't boot cause of 'no partition found' error.

Is there a way to set single boot installation on RockboxUtility?
I really know nothing about the project code but maybe i can recompile it if You show me where to set the proper flag or something.

EDIT:

I looks like manual bootloader installation changed my partitions back to apple defaults 64MB/127GB/(930GB Unallocated)

EDIT #2:

OK. It works.
I have deleted partitions created by single boot installation and created 1 big partition. After rockbox reinstallation
all runs great. When ipod  with hold switch is plugged i'm getting red message on screen what denotes that single bootloader is installed

Thank You again.

[saintruggler]

For the benefit of posterity, I tried everything in this thread on my iPod 4th gen (monochrome) with iFlash ATA1, to no avail.

The culprit turned out to be the SD card. I first tried a 128gb PNY UHS-I and then a 32gb Sandisk Extreme Plus U3. The winning combo, which is fully functional in Rockbox and original firmware, is the following:

iPod 4th Generation ClickWheel (20gb version, model A1059)
iFlash ATA1
256gb Samsung EVO Plus + Adapter MB-MC256KA

Hopefully this will help someone else make an informed decision in the future.

[Breakfastberry]

Had my iPod modded with an 128GB ssd, and the Rockbox daily build (20240715) has SSD working OOB, while stable release 3.15 still shows the no partition error.

[LambdaCalculus]

At this point, don't even bother using the current stable release (which is 3.15 as of this post); keep with the daily builds as they tend to have tons of new features and fixes. Besides, it looks like a 4.0 release may be happening soon enough, which means you can have a stable release with all those fixes soon enough.