Downgrade 5.5G FW / Install Rockbox - NTFS Brick (Help?)

[idiq]

Alright this originally started with an attempt to downgrade my 5.5G ipod's firmware and eventually ended with massive frustration as my ipod now seems to be a brick. Below is what I did to try and achieve this...

Firstly, I did a restore of my ipod through iTunes7. I uninstalled iTunes7, and then tried to use the iPod Wizard, which wouldn't load without giving me a windows error, and from what I can tell the other method of editing the iPod firmware through a disk drive is now defunct with the newest firmware update through iTunes7.

I also downloaded all of the updaters from 2005-11-17 to the most recent, 2006-06-28. None of them worked, consequently all except the 2006-06-28 would immediately crash like the iPod Wizard. 2006-06-28 told me to update through iTunes7. I tried the /CRC extension, which failed.

I called my local iPod store and told the guy I wanted to downgrade to earlier firmware, he told me to simply right-click on the drive and do a quick format - unfortunately, when I tried this in Windows it did nothing. I would click start and it would just idle there. Apparently, if this did work though, the subsequent updaters were supposed to work as well.

Loaded up Partition Magic 8, which didn't even recognize the iPod drive. Since I'm running WinXP Professional, I went into Administrator Tools and Computer Management. You can get Administrator Tools to display by going through Start Menu properties.

Once in Computer Management, I was able to format my iPod drive but only to NTFS. It did not work at first because it claimed the drive was in use, but on my second attempt it did.

At the time of writing this, I have been able to build and configure today's daily build of Rockbox (11/28). Earlier attempts with the iTunes7 firmware resulted in step 6 of the instructions being truncated. Now however, (under the NTFS format) I was able to fully build the Rockbox firmware and install it to the iPod...

My iPod showed the following upon restart:


But now just sits and idles there. I can feel the hard drives spinning, but I just let the battery run out. When I plugged it back into my box, it doesn't even display it as a connected device, and the Rockbox alternate charging animation (I presume this is it) displays instead of the standard iPod FW one - however this lasts under 5 seconds and then I get the same screen as above.

Although I did not 'reinstall' firmware after the NTFS format, this was because the iPod seemed to function normally - it displayed the Language Selection menu and everything else fine... However, would this affect the building of the bootloader?

Nevertheless, is there anyway I can 'restore' my iPod or at least get Windows to recognize it as a device again?

[Febs]

1.  Rockbox does not yet support the 5.5g.

2.  Rockbox does not support NTFS.

3.  You can reboot the ipod by holding Menu + Select rather than by letting the battery run down.

4.  As it reboots, hold Select + Play to put it into disk mode and then hook up to your computer.  You should then be able to use iTunes to restore it.

[idiq]

Thanks, I knew it did not support the 5.5 FW, so that's why I tried to get it to 2006-06-28 or earlier firmware...

Did not know about the NTFS. Thanks for the help, I'll try that tonight when I get home.

[Febs]

Thanks, I knew it did not support the 5.5 FW, so that's why I tried to get it to 2006-06-28 or earlier firmware...

It's the 5.5 hardware that is the issue, not the firmware.

[saratoga]

I strongly recommned you check to see if your hardware is supported before you try something like this.  While Apple has made it nearly impossible to brick the Ipod, that doesn't mean its a good idea to try and see if you can manage it anyway.

[idiq]

It's the 5.5 hardware that is the issue, not the firmware.

Thanks, I had assumed, incorrectly, that 5.5 referred to the iTunes7 firmware (due to its integration), and not that 5.5G meant the 80GB ipod (if that is even correct).

This would mean, previous 5G models, (e.g. M# - A1136) [mine] should work fine with Rockbox if one can figure out how to go to earlier firmware? I say this because under the iTunes7 firmware it would not build correctly through command prompt.

I strongly recommned you check to see if your hardware is supported before you try something like this.  While Apple has made it nearly impossible to brick the Ipod, that doesn't mean its a good idea to try and see if you can manage it anyway.

Thanks, I definitely should have seen if it supports NTFS before attempting to port it on my iPod, as for 5.5G - you can see in my previous reply that I had thought it to reference iTunes7 firmware and not the new models (80GB), thus, my 60GB 5G Model (A1136) should have accepted it fine... however, iTunes7 firmware prevented the successful build.. etc..

[alfred]

if i understand you correctly you did not consider that 5.5gs have different firmwares than 5gs and that you can't upgrade/downgrade your pod with a firmware for the other type. in other words: they look the same, but they are different models as far as the firmwares are concerned.

regards,
alfred

[Llorean]

There's also two categories of 5G, the ones that come preloaded with 5.5G firmware, and the ones that have been upgraded. The ones that are preloaded seem to suffer the same disk-sector problem as the full 5.5Gs, despite technically being 5Gs.

[idiq]

Thanks for the help on how to put it in disk mode, from that I was able to use a friend's computer which has not been upgraded to iTunes7 to restore to a previous updater (2006-06-28).

I had confused 5.5G referring to FIRMWARE and not hardware. The 5.5G model numbers are the following (since they kept the 30gb):

White:
30GB - MA444LLA
80GB - MA448LLA
Black:
30GB - MA446LLA
80GB - MA450LLA

Your iPod may also be 5.5G if you purchased it AFTER 09/2006...

I suspect that iTunes7 writes great registry values to the computer, even though I ran Registry Mechanic after uninstalling it, it would still 1) crash iPod Wizard and 2) crash all updaters EXCEPT 2006-06-28, which told me to use iTunes7 to update.

On my friend's computer, I installed the 2006-06-28 updater and after throwing my sucker into disk mode was able to downgrade the firmware that way. The problem was that the current methods would not work... that is, use iPod Wizard (crashed on me) or edit an iPod file through notepad, replacing values to those of earlier firmware then running that - this failed for me because iTunes7 firmware removes that editable section.

Essentially, I am unsure if this part is necessary, but I used the NTFS format, plugged it into a comp that has never seen iTunes7 and ran an earlier updater sucessfully. If someone can find the right registry keys to delete, this would probably negate the problem of having to use another computer... Another tidbit is that iPod Wizard 1.2 did NOT crash on his computer, although it gave me that great critical error and crashed on mine.

Thanks a ton for your help guys, I really appreciate it!

[idiq]

Alright, here's the final...

If you have upgraded to iTunes7 and the bundled firmware, this is how you can go about downgrading it...

1) Uninstall iTunes 7 (Run a registry cleaner if possible)
2) Start > Run > Cmd > Regedit
3) Local Machine > Software > Apple Computer > iPod > Delete ALL Keys
4) Current User > Software > Apple Computer > iPod > Delete ALL Keys
5) Restart

Bear in mind:
1) Prior to removing registry keys, but after uninstalling iTunes7, iPod Wizard would crash as soon as it was opened.
2)Prior to removing registry keys, but after uninstalling iTunes7, the 2006-06-28 Updater would indicate that it was obsolete and I needed to update through iTunes7.
3) The second method of editing the 'SysInfo' in notepad does NOT work if you have upgraded to iTunes7, it WILL work if you follow these steps and go back to an earlier firmware (the last working firmware is 2006-06-28).