restore and then install? (ipodlinux already installed)

[webmonkey]

Greetings,
I'm new to Rockbox, although I do have iPodlinux installed.

I tried doing a search of the forums, but it came up an error.

I want to clear up a few things before starting on this, this may be answered elsewhere.

My current setup:
Mac B/W  G3 Firewire/USB, iPod Mini 2nd Generation 6GB,
with iPodlinux installed, windows format.

The crux of the biscuit:

Do I need to: (multiple choice)
1: Start Utterly over, as in reformat the iPod with OEM firmware, then do this?
2: Just remove iPodlinux before installing this
3: Just run the installer, it plays well with iPodlinux.

I'm not attached emotionally it the iPodlinux, especially since my version doesn't play music well. More of the 'Neat, I can play tetris' kind of thing.

Backup of the music files is a given, I suppose. Just in case.

Subcategories of nuances:
I prefer using my firewire connector, as it doesn't take up a USB port.
Okay for initial install, then I have to switch to USB? Is there plans for enabling firewire?

Again, I'm sorry if this is old topics, but I tried searching and I don't want to brick me iPod.
Answers or pointers to relevant discussion topic would be appreciated..

[GodEater]

Which bootloader are you using ?

[scorche]

What format is your iPod in?

Also, we have no "installer".  If you are referring to "Rockbox Installer X" or whatever they call it these days, keep in mind that it is unofficial and we will not support it here.

[Llorean]

Error: -1 means you did NOT follow the instructions exactly

It is a very specific error message. While most of us interpret it as "The user didn't read section 2.2.2 of the manual" it can mean several things, but one of the ones it absolutely does NOT mean, EVER, is "They followed the instructions exactly."

You don't have rockbox.ipod in the root of your fat32 partition.

[webmonkey]

sorry, hit the wrong button. 'delete instead of modify'

 the error was -1.

 The problem was in the extraction; the folder is preceded with a .rockbox, which made the folder invisible on my Mac, when I opened it..
there was only one file (visible) to copy to the root directory, the rockbox.ipod

Oopsie! thought that was a quite compact file. It starts now..

sorry for the confusion, but the manual seems quite PC-oriented and didn't take the invisibility factor into account in regards to the zip file.

[webmonkey]

 ???now it's dead. I will now have to yank the battery. And hope.

If it's so beta that this is required, access needs to be restricted to developers. Seriously.
Idiots like me are likely to brick their iPods with it.

Edit: It turns out I'm more dangerous than the software. Sorry for any misunderstanding..

[linuxstb]

The instructions don't say "unzip and then copy", they say "extract to".  There's a reason for that.

I'm not sure why you need to remove the battery - if you describe the problem, we can help.  

But the normal way to recover any kind of sad ipod is to turn the hold switch on, then off, and then hold MENU+SELECT for a few seconds until your ipod reboots,  followed immediately by SELECT+PLAY to force your ipod into disk mode.  You can then connect it to your computer and fix it.

Rockbox has been running on the ipods for over a year, and no-one has yet managed to "brick" (i.e. permanently break) an ipod by installing Rockbox.

[webmonkey]

sorry, it's been kind of stressful as it was being quite quirky. Things are alright now, it starts up. Basically I had plugged the usb cable in, the rockbox showed a usb icon and then it went away. No screen, no activity. just not there.  

No amount of external clicking, vulcan nerve pinches(um, reset) or burning incense in front of the 2Steves iTemple would get it going.  The cat was looking a bit worried, but after a battery cycle, it started up. I backed up everything beforehand, so I figure I'll put in a stock install without the iPodlinux as it's about 2 years old and may be contributing to the problem.

But instead of rushing ahead, I will await sage advice as I do have older versions of the OEM firmware available if the 7.02 doesn't play nice.
 
Sorry if I seemed a bit panicky earlier, it just was doing things that were freaking me out.
I've done this kind of thing to other varied computing systems, and I thought my luck had run out..

[scorche]

Also, to clear up what i meant by "unsupported"...  I said that because the installer is not our software.  It was created by someone else.  However, I was just saying that because you mentioned the installer and I wanted to make sure you were using our method (and ipodpatcher) and not Rockbox Installer X.

And as linuxstb alluded to, you would have to have some technical knowledge to brick an iPod, as we don't touch the part that could potentially be dangerous if modified.  The worst thing that could happen is that you would need to format the device.

[webmonkey]

Yah, it's not dangerous, except when I do it
I dug through enough things here to realize half of my problems
are not actual problems, but things just plain not supported.

Plugging USB in doesn't send it into disk mode, it just shuts down.
 I restart it, force disk mode onto it, and then update music.
Original firmware won't load, but will restore.

Lessons learned: how to change the battery, and read the FAQ.  
Files needed defragmenting anyway, it'd been awhile.

I'll probably crash Cingular's network if I get hold of an iPhone..