Has anyone ever tried to hack an Ipod?

Classic

I just purchased a new Ipod, the 120 gig Classic, because my current Ipod's hard drive is dying ever so slowly. I'm wondering if anyone here has tried messing with the remains of an Ipod. Any idea's you can give me and such. I'd love to do something cool with it and not just throw it out because of a busted HD.

Cramit

Move it from a hard drive to Compact Flash?

Nuri

I dunno, but I have an old iPod Mini that refuses to complete a sync that I'd love to play with.

Sir_Xander

I've looked into trying some linux applications on my ipod, however the new ones are encrypted up the ass; so i wouldn't bother trying. I have heard stories about successfully loading linux on the minis. just Google ipod hacks

Apreche

I put Linux on my nano once, but I screwed it up and had to do some funky stuff to restore it. I say that people should hack away, probably starting with Rockbox, but only use an iPod you don't ever plan to restore to its original state. If it's the one you actually use every day, don't mess with it.

Omnutia

Since the Classic series onwards, Apple has encrypted the firmware, so no Rockboxing for you.

Pierre

I installed iPodLinux on my old iPod Mini once - it was fun, for a few minutes. To be honest, nothing really beats the Apple interface. Damn you Steve Jobs!

...

I say that people should hack away, probably starting with Rockbox, but only use an iPod you don't ever plan to restore to its original state. If it's the one you actually use every day, don't mess with it.

BAH! Rockbox is a perfectly fine replacement for the standard Apple firmware. Just as stable, seems to last longer on the same battery and looks a ton better (all personal experiences).

Apreche

BAH! Rockbox is a perfectly fine replacement for the standard Apple firmware. Just as stable, seems to last longer on the same battery and looks a ton better (all personal experiences).

Unless it doesn't work.

kumarhk

I've tried:

• iPod Linux
• iPod Wizard
• RockBox

Of those, iPodWizard is the most satisfying after hacking ...

...

BAH! Rockbox is a perfectly fine replacement for the standard Apple firmware. Just as stable, seems to last longer on the same battery and looks a ton better (all personal experiences).

Unless it doesn't work.

Then you're doing it wrong. Especially since now you only have to click 1 button to get it installed and working on your mp3 player.

iPod Wizard

Never heard about that one before. It seems to only be a skinning project though. I mean, I've seen nothing about them adding support for other audio formats.

Apreche

Then you're doing it wrong. Especially since now you only have to click 1 button to get it installed and working on your mp3 player.

That was't the case back when I did it. Even so, there's always a chance of screwiness.

Remember kids, the major disadvantage of open source software is that it never comes with a warranty or guarantee. On a PC that is usually AOK because you can just reformat and do whatever you want. However, on an embedded device, especially a closed device like an iPod, the risk of trouble is much greater. If you screw up, you've got nothing. Heck, even on the PC sometimes you can be screwed. There was a recent incident where a bad module in the Linux kernel was destroying some network cards. Granted, those network cards were poorly designed, but still.

I'm not trying to scare people away from open source, or hacking their stuff. I encourage. I just want to make sure people don't go taking unnecessary risks, and ending up with bricked devices they can't fix.

...

Then you're doing it wrong. Especially since now you only have to click 1 button to get it installed and working on your mp3 player.

That was't the case back when I did it. Even so, there's always a chance of screwiness.

Neither was that the case for me when I first used Rockbox.

However, on an embedded device, especially a closed device like an iPod, the risk of trouble is much greater.

This is true, except the iPod part (in case of Rockbox, don't know about iPodlinux or iPod Wizard), if you screw up during the Rockbox installation, you can just restore your iPod via iTunes. No harm done, and just try again. I do agree that people should think carefully about what they are doing if the option of restoring is very hard/impossible.

Tyashki

Unless it doesn't work.

Since the Classic series onwards, Apple has encrypted the firmware, so no Rockboxing for you.

Thats when it doesn't work. I wish I could use Rockbox on my Nano!

Lusankya

I've been trying to figure out how to hardware-hack an iPod Touch to increase the storage capacity. If I could get a 32GB iPod for the cost of an 8GB in return for some time with my soldering iron...

Pegu

You could turn it into a taser

CHOIS CHOIS CHOIS

I'm gonna have to do this for my 4th gen iPod. The Hard-drive in it can't hold anything above 6 gb( even though it's a 20gb) and it will cost at least $250 to get it fixed with Apple Care.