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- mrfreeziexp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23So the ipod mini uses the same connector as a compact flash card? You don't need to mod the connector at all? Are all ipods like this?
Thanks for your help!
edit: yeah, I read the article, but I'm kind of freaked out if it really is that easy.. - CaptainEO, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18I wonder how this affects battery life....
- SpacemanSpiff01, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18Anyone tried this? I'm wondering if it feels weird in your hand because of not having proper weight distribution.
- TiMMY8765, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18I'll have to check this out when my drive finally dies
- Fordi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Dude. WTF was that all about?
It's nifty. Don't like it? Don't do it. But keep your trolling to yourself. - kingace, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Nice. Sweet hack.
Heheh... dead adjectives. - HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Podzilla is much better than the original firmware?
That makes me wonder if this guy is lying about other things too.
Anyway, if you try this, know that not all CF cards will work, as Minis access the CF card in "true IDE mode". It used to be rare that CF cards support this. It's a lot more common now, but it's not universal yet. Better have a backup plan of what to do with that card if it doesn't work for this purpose. - mrfreeziexp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Wikipedia to the rescue! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microdrive
Hmm, wow, it really is that easy.. I can't believe I haven't heard of this mod before. - Rayfound, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11In other news, prices of broken iPod Minis skyrocket on ebay!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7probably since he didn't put the case back on yet?
- dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Maybe so, but I have a broken iPod (harddrive died, not really worth buying a new drive to replace it), and a CF card that isn't compatible with my camera (Keeps random corrupting photos) - costs me nothing to try, and may revive my seemingly unkillable ~3rd gen iPod (Had the same one for years, it's occasionally stopped starting up, but a few weeks later it'll start up again - Recently the drive fully died, and now I find this)
Besides, buying a brand new iPod when you can fix a partically identical one is far more fun, and cheap.. - dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"That makes me wonder if this guy is lying about other things too."
Personal preference presented as fact is a little screwy, but not quite sure why it means he's lying.. - SpacemanSpiff01, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9What's with the digging down, I'm only asking a question.
- tuxuser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5most likely u will increse bat. life becuase there is no motor to spin up the hdd an no magnetic head justa chip with some memory, ala' solid state tech..no moving parts hence less power needed.
- agrahimi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Did this several months ago before the release of the iPod nano but only with a 2gb sandisk card. Works fantastically! I get around 30 hours of battery life with a 2nd gen iPod mini and 600mAh battery and 2gb flash card. The only thing to watch out for is that the iPod never quite fits back together properly after you do this. I accidentally snapped off a battery connector once but it wasn't too hard to fix with a soldering iron. Its a great and very practical hack, just make sure you have some mechanical skill before implementing. Also I'd be more than glad to offer up advice to anyone who is having trouble.
- theblindman2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3No, the mini was the only one to use the 1" drive.
- TravisS, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, I never thought it would be that easy, just pop in the card....
sweet. - Maxximus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2WOW! Resurrection of one DOA iPod is on the way tomorrow!
Bless you, my son and/or daughter. Bless you... - HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2diggitydale:
That's what I said. I said it was more common now, but not universal.
How is what you said different? - micahman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Warranty breakage complete! Ipod hacks rock..
- tagliare, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Nice mod. I always loved the form factor of the mini; a nano always feels like it's going to break inside a pocket. Should increase battery life too.
- BlinderBomber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I was most curious to see what kind of improvement in battery life there was. Any news?
- Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5My 20GB 4G iPod's harddrive bit the dust last fall unfortunatly. I dropped it after getting out of the car and I'm pretty sure nasty head crash ensued. While I now own a 30GB 5G iPod, this would be a great way to revive the old iPod without me having to fork out $100+ for a replacement harddrive and have a backup iPod for the car.
- cinder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm up for trying this. Does anyone know if it works with a CF card greater than 4GB on the 1st generation iPod mini?
The article says "I can’t think of a reason right now why that wouldn’t work," but there is a comment listing a possible reason. - diggitydale, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@happyscrappy
"It used to be rare that CF cards support this. It's a lot more common now, but it's not universal yet. Better have a backup plan of what to do with that card if it doesn't work for this purpose."
ATA-compliant CF cards are very common now, old timer. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Guess it won't be skipping...reason I got rid of my mini...I couldn't jog for more than 8-10 minutes without having to try to keep it steady
- vagarach, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2What, like re-attach the microdrive? If it really is broken, then, well, hitup ebay for parts!
- Fordi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yup. Hitachi Microdrives use a CF Type I/II connector - essentially a mod of an IDE cable. Why would Apple use this? Commodity parts are cheaper to come by.
As for other iPods... I know the U2 model uses a CF I/II connector, but on the 1.8" drive (means replacing it will leave empty space in your iPod), as do its friends in the original iPod collection. I don't know about the others, but I assume the flash-based iPods use soldered-on flash chips.
That said, I can't wait to try this out on my iPod when the disk dies (inevitable). Perhaps by then I can afford to double or triple my space (I've a 4Gig mini). - navvvv, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1am I the only one that thinks thi could be great for using as an external harddrive now.
the thing would fly compared to a standard hard disk surely? - DyDx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The author mentions one reason for doing this is that the HDs in the iPod minis will eventually break... however, flash memory will also fail after a certain number of reads/writes. I don't know what would happen first -- but you certainly would get a longer life if you jog with it a lot (which won't affect flash memory, but could damage a HD), and the battery life must be better...
just some thoughts.. - TVarmy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So, does it pay off to get a really fast CF drive for this? Or can I just go with one of the cheap commodity drives?
- davidrools, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1a 16GB mini would be sweet (http://www.flash-memory-store.com/samsung-compact-flash-16gb.html) but expensive. and i'm not a fan of the mini's monochrome low-res screen even compared to the smaller nanos.
- kwulf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ok not a hack, but still a great idea.
- lessthancory, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Anyone have suggestions for where to get the flash cards that would work for this hack?
- drummerjed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My hard drive in my 2nd gen 4GB mini died last wed. I've been using my psp to mp3's(it's winter and i have a big pocket in my jacket) but I've been using itunes to download podcasts. I just went to radio shack and got a 1GB sandisk compact flash card. it works fine so far. i usually just use my ipod mini for podcasts so i didn't really have more than a gig on there so i won't miss the extra 3. and now with the scratch on the ipod s back, it really is custom.
- arkowi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Funny, I actually tried this a while back with a 2 GB CF card one day after the drive in my mini died. I could never get it too work. Possibly because it was only a 2 GB CF card. Might have to give it another go.
- mryokai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Did anyone notice the really random comment for this blog? 5th one:
"I love to play with my iddie-biddie dinwiddie. I do it until I’m breathing heavy and turning colours I am. Lying about neath the tables at the back of the library near the carrels. Where no one is during the evening if’n ya know whut I mean. Wink, wink."
WTF mate? - nshop2, on 12/18/2008, -0/+0WOW!!! its a great hack...
thanks
nshop2
http://seo-knowledge.blogspot.com - bob73, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0To those who are trying this and getting stuck in the "iTunes has detected a corrupt iPod" loop. I had this problem and after trying a handful of compact flash cards, realized that my problem was an intermittent connection between the main board and the ribbon that goes to the CF or Microdrive. When this connection was pushed on, the thing would work fine and when I let up, it would go all to hell. I wound up placing three pieces of tape on the battery at the end that sits on top of this connection. This provided a snugger fit into the housing and now all is well. Obviously your mileage may vary.
- dnotes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0FYI for a 4G b/w IPOD (not mini), SanDisk Ultra II 2.0Gb does not work.
- bob73, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0 Zorogg the worlds dumbest phisher
- dnotes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0maybe i can breathe some new life into my 4G ipod, add a 4Gb CF card? has anyone done that yet?
- magicmarc, on 10/12/2007, -14/+12Hack. Sweet nice.
*waiting for someone to submit other ones*
*waiting for approximately 200 people to digg me down* -
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