Comments on: Modding : Apple Video Ipod (5g & 5.5g) – The Compact Flash Version

By: Tarkan

Tarkan — Sat, 29 May 2010 21:30:20 +0000

Hi,

Are you able to read and write to the card when the iPod is in diskmode? This will show you if the iFlash is installed ok and the iPod is able to access the card ok.

Generally Topram 32Gb cards work have been reported to work.

By: Papaz Büyüsü

Papaz Büyüsü — Sat, 29 May 2010 13:48:30 +0000

so i bought the flash adaptor, and a cf card but my ipod wont start up. i got the topram 32 card. any ideas that could help? thanks

By: jrock

jrock — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:39:49 +0000

so i bought the flash adaptor, and a cf card but my ipod wont start up. i got the topram 32 card. any ideas that could help? thanks

By: Tarkan

Tarkan — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:03:08 +0000

No I only used my iFlash adaptor.
I don’t support them other generic Cf to Zif adaptors as they are generally very poor quality and the Zif connector used is not designed for the iPod ribbon – which causes all sorts of problems. Not to mention the fact they don’t fit in the iPod very well, so cause straining on the ribbon.

By: khikho

khikho — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:40:41 +0000

Tarkan, I notice you used StarTech ZIF2CF Compact Flash (CF) to ZIF / LIF Adapter from NewEgg in one article and in another about using 32gb CF you used iFlash Video iPod Compact Flash Adapter (mk2). Can you use either? Great article BTW.

By: go to work bog

go to work bog — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:27:37 +0000

[...] [...]

By: Tarkan

Tarkan — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:42:59 +0000

Yes it should work, the Zune has the same ZIF connection as the iPod.

By: Bidoux

Bidoux — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:17:46 +0000

I would like to try the same thing with a zune 30gb.
I thing the hardrives are the same (MK3008GAL).
Would it work ?

By: Frank

Frank — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 00:36:18 +0000

can you tell me how to buy the adaptor via money order i live on the usa thanks

By: barcj

barcj — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:57:11 +0000

Great news.With CF card,I can put all my music on computer to the ipod.The last question left is the price of CF card.:(

By: Tarkan

Tarkan — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:15:27 +0000

I’ve seen that before, I did contemplate fitting 2 CF cards in to the 5th Gen ipods. The cards will fit plus the connectors but you needs lots of circuitry to emulate 2 cards in to 1. I do have a design for a 2 CF card circuit but wired in a master/slave config, not sure if the iPod can do that and most certainly would need a firmware hack – maybe Rockbox.

I cannot find any size specs for them 1g batteries, but it just maybe possible to use one of them with the deeper back case from a 80/60Gb ipod – also the connection has to be altered.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:04:09 +0000

hello!
thanks for your reply.

just an additional comment…
theres an adaptor to combine 2 cf cards.
here you can find something that might work together with standard IDE communication the ipod is using:

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/33190/139/

also on the sonnet batteries homepage you can find slim and nice batteries used for the 1st generation ipod. there could be a chance that this one could fit inside later ipods… 2000 mAh would be plenty of juice.
who thinks it could work that way?

cioa alex

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 07:50:20 +0000

cool, i just found out youre selling the stuff..
looks good.

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:31:36 +0000

Hi Tarkan!
Really nice and structured job you did…
I like the idea to improve an ipod with a lesser probability of failure and optimized power consumption. I am using my old 3g ipod, have only 2 hours batterie capacity with the same habits to use the device you have and now i would like to do this project with a better 5g ipod.

could you deliver more information how to print the pcb and where you made it? also i have now idea which pins to connect on the pcb.. i checked the hirose page and think you used the FH12- 40 S-0.5SH connector, right?

another thing: do you have suggestions to install a bigger batterie? after the adjustment to CF drive theres plenty of space to carry many ampere hours.. is the smart batterie necessary or can you simply use any pack with the right cell voltage?

thanks for a short reply!

ciao
alex

By: Tarkan

Tarkan — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 17:40:40 +0000

Hi Chris,

The Li-Ion batteries that are used in the iPod are hard to measure capacity and condition from terminal voltage.

I would say the best way to determine if it is worth changing the battery or not is to connect the battery to the iPod leave it on charge till the iPod reports that it is full (about 4 hours).

Then remove the battery from the iPod and leave it alone for an hour or so, then measure the terminal voltage.

If the battery is very good I would expect the voltage to be very close to 4.0v or even higher, anything below 3.8v would make me suspect the battery’s condition.

Terminal voltage at full charge is 4.2v, with no load a freshly charged battery should show 4.2v – however the iPod battery is smart, i.e. it has builtin battery monitoring and charging circuits, which does draw a very small amount of current which will bring that voltage down.

regards, Tarkan