geektechnique.org — In this little proof-of-concept I was eager to try out if I could swap the Microdrive inside an iPod mini for a Compact Flash-card. These cards are getting bigger and cheaper by the day so my idea was, if this works out, we have a great way of extending the life of this little MP3-player.
Feb 27, 2007 View in Crawl 4
pak314Feb 28, 2007
This should work because CompactFlash and MicroDrives are basically based on ATA standard with 50-pin connectors for extra power and hot plug sequencing and a few extra operating modes and commands which are not too important.
kwulfFeb 28, 2007
ok not a hack, but still a great idea.
maxximusFeb 28, 2007
WOW! Resurrection of one DOA iPod is on the way tomorrow!Bless you, my son and/or daughter. Bless you...
dnotesFeb 28, 2007
maybe i can breathe some new life into my 4G ipod, add a 4Gb CF card? has anyone done that yet?
dnotesMar 1, 2007
FYI for a 4G b/w IPOD (not mini), SanDisk Ultra II 2.0Gb does not work.
tvarmyMar 1, 2007
So, 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?
bob73Jun 10, 2007
To 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.