Ipod 4G(b/w) With CF for harddrive

[levi47]

Recently the HDD in my 4G Ipod finally died. I was wondering if it would be possible to replace the HDD with a CF card. I would be happy using either rockbox or ipodlinux on it as it is a secondary player, mostly for simple games. Is this possible with the ipod hardware?

[saratoga]

Provided your flash memory had an IDE interface, I don't see why not.

[levi47]

Is the 1.8" ide interface the same as CF? Also, would i need to pre-image the CF card with rockbox/ipl or would I be able to do a restore with itunes and then install as per usual? Was thinking of just a small 2-4gb CF card, can't really afford a nice SSD for it.

[saratoga]

Is the 1.8" ide interface the same as CF?

No, but I believe its close enough that adapters exist.  I don't know anything about how well they work though.  Ideally you would buy a flash part that already had the 1.8 IDE interface, since that would be compatible.  

Also, would i need to pre-image the CF card with rockbox/ipl or would I be able to do a restore with itunes and then install as per usual? Was thinking of just a small 2-4gb CF card, can't really afford a nice SSD for it.

You could put it in blank, mount it on your PC and then install Apple, Rockbox or linux firmwares as normal.

[levi47]

Any chance you have a link to such an adaptor? i have been searching for a while but all i get is 2.5" or 3.5" ide adaptors. Many sites say that a CF to 3.5" ide adaptor works for both CF and 1.8" HDD's, that is why i was thinking they might be pin compatible.

[saratoga]

I thought they looked different, but I could be wrong.  Might be worth doing some reading on the 1.8" ATA spec.

[levi47]

This is the adaptor i was talking about:
http://tekgems.com/Products/la-idsc03.htm

Here is the Pinout for CF cards:
http://www.goblack.de/desy/digitalt/speicher/compact-flash/cf-pinout.gif
Here is the 1.8" ata pinout:
http://www.unitechelectronics.com/ide44pinout.gif

The do not look compatible without some sort of adapter, but i can't seem to find and such adapter. There do seem to be a lot of adapters that work with both CF2 and 1.8" ATA. I am going to see if anyone i know has a CF  card i can try out.