12/20 iPod 4g bootloader bugged?

[jmsq]

Hi, I've been using rockbox for a while and I love it. Recently I went to upgrade rockbox, but I didn't have a backup and noticed there was a new install method, so I restored the iPod and started from scratch. Now I've installed this bootloader multiple times now (clean restore before each one) and it boots into rockbox fine, but whenever I hold the menu to go into original firmware, it says it's doing it, but then immediately resets, and it does it every time. I couldn't find an answer in these forums from searching. Is it a bug in the bootloader, or am I doing something wrong with the new process?

Thanks,
JM

[linuxstb]

Sorry for taking so long to reply.

Yes, a few others have reported similar problems with the new bootloaders on the older ipods, and I haven't been able to find the problem.

Could you try the following and post the output of the two ipodpatcher --list commands?  The extra "-v" option provides more debugging information for me.

1) Restore your firmware partition to its original state (i.e. no Rockbox bootloader).

2) Run "ipodpatcher [device] -v --list"

3) Install the bootloader using "ipodpatcher [device] -a bootloader-ipod4g.ipod"

4) Run "ipodpatcher [device] -v --list"


There is an alternative (currently undocumented) method of starting the Apple firmware, which could also be useful for you to try:

1) Restore your firmware partition to its original state (i.e. no Rockbox bootloader)

2) Extract the Apple firmware to a file using "ipodpatcher [device] -rf apple_os.ipod"

3) Copy that apple_os.ipod to the root of your ipod - i.e. the same place as the rockbox.ipod file lives.

4) Install the Rockbox bootloader using the -wf command - "ipodpatcher [device] -wf bootloader-ipod4g.ipod"

This method completely replaces the Apple firmware in the firmware partition with the Rockbox bootloader (you should notice much faster boot times), and loads it from the apple_os.ipod file on your FAT32 when requested.

I hope that you will soon also be able to select the "apple_os.ipod" file from within Rockbox to start the original firmware, but that isn't working yet.

[chrisneedscoffee]

I'm having the same problem on the 2nd Gen. Mini.
I tried the alternative method, and continue to have the same problem, except that instead of saying "loading original firmware," then shutting down and restarting, it says "loading apple_os.ipod." I can't get back into the original firmware at all. Rockbox really does boot faster though.

I know it's not the same ipod as the original poster, but I went ahead and saved the "--list" results anyway.



BEFORE:

[INFO] Reading partition table from /dev/disk2
[INFO] Sector size is 512 bytes
[INFO] Part    Start Sector    End Sector   Size (MB)   Type
[INFO]    0              63         80324        39.2   Empty (0x00)
[INFO]    1           80325       7984304      3859.4   W95 FAT32 (0x0b)
[INFO] Ipod model: 2nd Generation Mini
    Type         id  devOffset        len       addr entryOffset    chksum       vers   loadAddr   devOffset+len
0 - OSOS 0x00000000 0x00004400 0x0033ec40 0x10000000 0x00000000 0x11d5a3f5 0x0000700b 0xffffffff 0x00343400
1 - AUPD 0x00000001 0x00343400 0x00109448 0x10000000 0x00000000 0x0c13d674 0x0000700b 0x10000000 0x0044cc00

Listing firmware partition contents:

Image 1:
    Main firmware - 3402816 bytes
Image 2:
    AUPD - 1086536 bytes


AFTER:

INFO] Reading partition table from /dev/disk2
[INFO] Sector size is 512 bytes
[INFO] Part    Start Sector    End Sector   Size (MB)   Type
[INFO]    0              63         80324        39.2   Empty (0x00)
[INFO]    1           80325       7984304      3859.4   W95 FAT32 (0x0b)
[INFO] Ipod model: 2nd Generation Mini
    Type         id  devOffset        len       addr entryOffset    chksum       vers   loadAddr   devOffset+len
0 - OSOS 0x00000000 0x00004400 0x0034d748 0x10000000 0x0033ee00 0x1235cd5f 0x0000700b 0xffffffff 0x00351e00
1 - AUPD 0x00000001 0x00351c00 0x00109448 0x10000000 0x00000000 0x0c13d674 0x0000700b 0x10000000 0x0045b400

Listing firmware partition contents:

Image 1:
    Main firmware - 3403264 bytes
    Third-party bootloader - 59720 bytes
Image 2:
    AUPD - 1086536 bytes



 

[linuxstb]

Thanks for the info.  I'll post here if I discover anything.