Sunday, March 13th, 2005 at 12:17 AM
What is this about?
Ultimately, I’d like to get a regular 3.5″ hard drive working with the iPod and explore what capacities it can make use of. The fact that it would be a huge unit will simply be a novelty.
Why do this?
This project came about after I dropped my 40 GB 3rd generation iPod and killed the hard drive in it. I decided to open up the iPod and see what I could do with it. I could do so without fear of breaking it, since I’d already broken the most expensive part in it.
Disassembling the iPod
Note: disassembling a perfectly good iPod is not recommended and will most likely void your warranty.
Furthermore, I take no responsibility for what you do to your iPod. If you totally ruin it, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Now for the fun part.
It’s not terribly hard to open the iPod if you know how. Since I had owned my iPod for some time, it had a little wear, and the seam where plastic and metal meet was open just enough to push my fingernail into. Sliding it down, I was able to stick in a nylon pry tool like the ones from RadTech. After getting the tool in there, you can pop the plastic catches and the top comes loose. OWC suggests squeezing the two halves of the iPod together at the side edge until it clicks. It looks a little scary to me, but I’ve never tried their method. I’m sure it’s perfectly valid, too. After that, detach the small white connector opposite the hold switch, and the two iPod halves separate. After moving all the loose items like the hard drive out of the way, they all disconnect without much of a problem — just be careful with those thin ribbon cables. Work slowly and don’t force things to come apart. If something’s resisting, it’s most likely because there’s a catch or screw that you overlooked.
Hard Drive Connections
After opening the iPod, I took a look at the hard drive that no longer worked. I had a 40GB Toshiba MK4004GAH. I looked up the drive on Toshiba’s site and found a pin diagram of the connector. (FYI, the top right pin in this image is 1, below it is 2, etc.) I remembered reading somewhere that the 1.8″ hard drives used the ATA interface, but I wanted to confirm this. Another search yielded a diagram of a standard ATA (aka IDE) connector. Except for four pins dedicated to logic and power, the two diagrams had the same connections.
Building the Adapter
Now that I knew the hardware would match (at least most of the way), I needed a way for the iPod to connect to a 3.5″ drive. A post on the ipodhacks.com forums revealed a foreign company that sold an adapter similar to what I needed, but I couldn’t read German to figure out the site, much less order from them. Examinging the ribbon cable that connects the 1.8″ hard drive to the iPod, I saw that there was an open area at each pin where it connected to the actual pins that went into the hard drive. I spent the next several minutes cutting and stripping rather thin 30awg wrapping wire. I was going to simply solder wires onto each of those points and run them to a regular IDE connector. With the wire cut, I decided I should look into finding the other end of the connector before I began the tedious soldering task ahead of me. It didn’t take long to dig up an old dead hard drive whose S.M.A.R.T. status indicated it was ready to die.
Perfect! Thanks Maxtor. I unscrewed the Torx screws on the drive’s circuit board and separated it from the bottom. Desoldering all 44 pins would be a chore, so I took the easy route and just ripped through the PCB with a Dremel cutting wheel. I also considered using an IDC connector from an IDE ribbon cable, but I figured that a female IDE connector would allow me more options when it came time to attach the iPod to other devices — I could use an IDE cable and run it to a hard drive instead of the two having to work so closely together. The next step was to spend an hour or three soldering all 44 tiny wires and testing the connections with a continuity tester. A little hot glue to hold the wires more securely, and it was finished. Though not part of my plan, this adapter can also connect an iPod hard drive to an IDE bus if necessary.
Preparing the Hard Drive
At this point I read up on how the iPod’s hard drive is formatted. There are basically three partitions: the partition map, a 32 MB firmware partition, and the rest of the disk is where your stuff is kept. However, the first two aren’t normally visible. Even Disk Utility will only show you the third partition. I found a lot of good info on this page, including this explanation of the partitions:
1: The first partition of the hard drive (partition no. 1 above) is necessary to make the hard drive mountable, it contains the partition map for the disk. It’s size is 63-1 = 62 in blocks which equals 32 KB. This partition is known as ‘master boot record’.
2: The second partition ‘firmware’ from block 63 to 65599, 65536 blocks in total (equals exactly 32 MB), holds the firmware of your iPod. The type is ‘Apple_MDFW’.
3: Finally, the partition ‘disk’ is of type ‘Apple_HFS’ and is keeping the data on your iPod. The size of the last partition is [number of blocks] – [base of partition 'disk'] which is 4.74 GB of the iPod used in this example.
Formatting the New Disk
Using the information about pdisk and dd on the page mentioned above, I was able to format a 6 GB 3.5″ drive as the iPod would expect to see it, save for the correct folders on the user partition (for storing your settings and music and such).
3/14/2005 Update Handy iPod Links
- iPod only shows an Apple logo and doesn’t start up
- Restoring iPod to factory settings
- iPod doesn’t appear in iTunes or on my Mac desktop
- Resetting iPod if it appears frozen or doesn’t respond
- iPod Updater download
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iPod Super
Very cool hack :)
Thats sweet. You should put it in a diskmin case or something to make it look like one piece.
You should put a 2.5 hd in it. It will be better due to several reasons. First they are quieter and more flexible (more sturdy). Also evyerthing will fit nicely inside ipod. So anyone else thinking about doing this mod should consider a 2.5 hd unless you wanna keep your ipod stationary and not move it.
Hey,
Compusa sells the connector that you made for about 5 bucks. Cool though.
I went and looked for “hard drive adapter” on CompUSA’s site, and it came up with a 2.5″/3.5″ adapter which is not what I made. The iPod hard drive is quite a bit smaller than a normal 2.5″ laptop hard drive. I tried using one of these adapters before I got started, and the pins are simply too far apart for it to even plug in. In fact, the laptop IDE connector is about twice the width of the iPod 1.8″ hard drive connector.
I wish it were that easy :-P
Very cool. Do you think if I were to send you a 3rd gen iPod and a harddrive you’d put it together for me? I’d pay you $50.
I really don’t have any plans to put it inside a case, unless perhaps I can find one that is similar to an iPod case (a bigger LCD would be cool, too). Power will be also an issue… A larger hard drive draws more power, and the battery won’t last nearly as long, and may not provide enough current to power up a big drive at all. It would be kinda neat to have a self-contained device, though.
i find it amusing how everyone is all of a sudden an expert.
Its a good experiment for the sake of “can i do it’. Though its practical use is about as handy as a laptop as an mp3 player.
Unless of course you want to keep it in your car :)
The 2.5in drive would be a lot more portable for this, but more expensive to risk screwing up when modding the Ipod.
couldn’t you just boot the ipod into disk mode and restore it from ipod updater?
[...] , 2005 iPod Super Filed under: Tech Is your 3G iPod getting to small for you? This guy will show you how to add a 300 GB 3.5″ hard drive. Obviously this won’t fit [...]
I sold the parts anyway…needed the cash. I still have the adapter I made, though, if anyone wants to make an offer – it took quite a few hours of work to make.
I tried that, and it works halfway..and I’m not sure what’s stopping it. When I run the updater, it does see the iPod and will restore (I need to make the partitions first, or else the iPod Updater ignores it). For some reason, though, it takes quite a long time to restore. Once restored, the iPod reboots and flashes itself and boots again. After that, it works, but runs rather slow…I can even see the “Do not disconnect” image draw one half at a time. I suspect having an Apple-branded drive might help it all work better, but I have no way to confirm that. I’m really not sure what the holdup is. It simply works much better without doing the resore at all.
Hey, this hack is a very good idea. I actually have thought about somthing like this , great job.
[...] f only because it shows sheer love of the Pod. It ain’t a Make hack, rather one from Command – Tab, where dropping an iPod turns into a plan to strap on a 3.5″ [...]
Wow! What a killer hack!. With a little imagination you could create an interconnect cable running under/into your dash where the remote hard drive is stored. The actual iPod would function as a wired remote, or better yet hide both the iPod and hard drive and use an Alpin head unit which displayes the iPod’s playlists etc. on the face of the head unit. Thanks for an excellent starting point!
Excellent hack.. don’t think I’ll risk it any time soon though :-o
MdSalih
[...] n 300 Gt kovalevy rikkoontuneen iPodin kovalevyn tilalle? Vastaus: varsin käyttökelvoton iPod Super. Mutta miksi ihmeessä? This project came about after I dropped my 40 GB 3rd gene [...]
[...] ‘ Podcast Supersize Me: iPod Collin at Command-Tab creates the iPod Supersized – A great hack to add an external hard drive to the iPod. This is insane, of cour [...]
Can you please post a link to the pinout for the 1.8″ drive? I’ve looked everywhere!
Dead 1G iPod user :(
[...] uper
0 minutes ago
asides
iPod Super: The Best Just Got Bigger. 300GB? Cool, but not for the faint-hearted.
[...]
[...] have a play with it and found out you could hook it up to a normal 3.5″ hard drive. Tutorial [...]
[...] ma novitàdei pazzi di Hack a Day: un iPod da 300G!In realtàsono solo le istruzioni per collegare un hard disk normale all’iPod, quindi l’iPod diventa super anche come dimensioni, non s [...]
Be ready for Steve Jobs lawyers to be knicking down your doors and suing your ass. I hope you win. Protecting your company is one thing but your iPod, COOL as it is, is too butt ugly for them to be able to sue you on. Good luck!
Nice job … congratulations
Brilliant hack, congratulations!
I don’t think Steve Jobs wants to sue this one guy, you’re not making money off of this. It doesn’t negatively affect the iPod’s sales, either, if anything it is only going to help. Nice hack.
haha, thats insane! Imma look for a broke ipod on ebay rite now. hehe.
[...] n baut einfach ne 300 GB platte ein, na ja einbau wäre übertrieben. aber dann hat man den iPod Super. via engadget This entry was posted on Tuesd [...]
Total unrelated:
What’s that keyboard in the last picture?
@30: What the hell do you mean what’s that keyboard. It’s a keyboard.
@Collin: Nice hack. I’m going to give this a shot as soon as my 3G iPod breaks down or as soon as the iPod Movie comes out, whichever comes first.
[...] erfectly good iPod is not recommended and will most likely void your warranty. more here: Command-Tab » Blog Archive » iPod Super This entry was posted [...]
The pinout is essentially the same as an IDE drive, with a few extra lines for the logic and motor power. Here’s a link to the pinout table (from Toshiba’s site): MK4004GAH pinout
It’s a Mac Ally IceKey keyboard. If you like the low profile keys on a laptop, but like the spacing of the keys on a full size keyboard, this one is perfect. I highly recommend it.
Very cool man, if you still have the connector I am very interested in buying it from you. If you do not do you think I could commision you to make one?
The problem is that a 3.5″ HDD eats 5V + 12V, therefore a portable power adapter is pretty hard to made. A 2.5″ HDD eats only 5V but is much more expensive.
Sweet!
[...] adgets” rel=”tag”> Hack-a-day is showing another cool hack basically – a how to “instructions for using a standard 3.5â€? hard disk with your ipod. after making the adapter, the [...]
Hey does this mean that you could format drives you buy direct from toshiba to repair ipods with broken hard drives????
I think so, however the price for one of them would likely be as much as an iPod itself. I would bet Apple gets a volume discount from Toshiba :-P
[...] Gadgets The Real World Geek Music Do It Yourself Hacking Lifehacks [Command-Tab] 20 GB ain’t good enough for ya? Why not add 150 [...]
厲害厲害…. æ‹?æ‹?手∼∼∼ï¼?
[...] in category General.
iPod w/ a 3.5″ HDD
This guy dropped his 40gb iPod and decided to tinker with it using a 6gb 3.5″ drive. Prett [...]
[...] se and a little hard work, but I’m sure everyone could do it. Go check out the link here. And don’t burn yourself while soldering!
Posted: Mar 14, 2 [...]
Hey, I was able to find a toshiba 2004GAL for just 110…
I am thinking of undertaking a repair mission.
why not do a pin out for compact flash. Size looks the same and i am sure it will fit in the case, it should be less power and now they have 8gb and 16gb, good enough for me.
Anyone thought of this? seems like a nice option. ipod mini uses microdrive still or compact flash?
Seems like compact flash has more potential than a toshiba HD.
How much would you be willing to sell that adapter for?
email me at spaceout(at)telcosource.net.
cool hack!
how abouut a hack that can attach a hard-drive to your existing car MP3/CD player and play the stuff stored on it..
You should send this to http://www.hackaday.com dude !
:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Someone already sent it in. So cool.
Good stuff. I am also on the long road of building such a beast. Right now, I have the iPod, the drive, a cable and the pinouts. Would you care to tell us the address of that german site that offers a sort of suitable adaptor?
Cheers, Nils :)
[...] alsoftware) bin ich nicht unbedingt ein Freund des Apple iPod, aber dieser Umbau ist cool: iPod Super. Nicht gerade formschön, aber doch beeindruckend… via: Hack A Day
[...]
I just wrote an article on your very cool project and used your “ad” as an appetizer. Hope that’s okay. Otherwise just let me know and I’ll delete it.
[...] « Duct Tape Wallet? 300 GB Ipods 300 Gorrilla Bytes on your IPod, If you dont mind carrying around a bulky hard drive duct tape [...]
Very cool. I am deeply impressed!
So funny, but the big size and the power supply is big big problem. ^_^
[...] it sparkles « Robot Dance iPod Super 120GB (or larger) iPod This entry was posted on Tuesday, [...]
Will iTunes recognize the iPod this way and update it properly?
is there a limit to how big the HDD can be. u said u used a 6 GB 3.5″. isnt that smaller than what came on the ipod? i want to know will this work with a 120GB? 250GB? 500GB?
I’m not sure yet…I only own a 6 GB drive I could spare to lose. The rest of my drives are either Serial ATA and/or in use. My guess it that if there is a limit, it’s the same as a regular ATA/66 bus (around 137 GB). If not, then who knows how big it could go. Care to comment Apple? :-P
[...] Pierced Eyeglasses iPod Super Pas assez de place dans votre iPod ? Passez àl’iPod Super ! (via) Posté par Mr Peer le 15.03.2005 à 19 [...]
hey guys if anyone is interested in trying this mod but doesnt want to ruin their ipod i have a 3rd gen i am looking to get rid of.(the audio cable ripped) thats it. shoot me a messege if your interested in either the ipod or some of its parts.
Thanks
AIM: Geoffrey71987
Nice. What was the german site where you found the preconfigured cable? I’d like to test it with a 1G pod.
[...] Home « Pale Male and Lola iPod Super [Quote:] What is this about? Ultimately, I’d like to get a regular 3.5″ hard drive w [...]
Hi Collin,
nice hack – one of the first iPod “open-source-project” on
the net. GREAT!
Hey, just an idea – what about adding a XServe to it via a digital connection? Then you can add the whole music in the world to your iPod.
:-)
I see only a tiny little problem – weight and power! cl
I’ve been looking for it again since I didn’t save it when I found it. No luck yet. Also, if anyone’s interested, I have two used but fully functional iPod 3G batteries that I have no need for, and would be willing to let go cheap.
thats really super!!!
cool. Maybe you try another storage ,ex : CF, SD..
I wonder if the HD controller hardware on the iPod can handle a second drive (ATA “slave”, or whatever the politically correct expression is nowadays).
If it can, I think it would be interesting to see how the iPod firmware handles another partition, or partition set, on the said second drive. I would expect that someone would have to hack the firmware to deal with the second drive. That might be an insane amount of grief, but then again 32 megabytes is a lot of room for firmware hacks.
The existence of Griffin’s kewl FM transmitter indicates that aftermarket SW can also accomplish nifty UI things.
Then, one could create a “Y” cable and fix a connector to the exterior of the iPod, put one’s honking-big fractional-terabyte drive someplace (e.g. home, car), run fixed +5 and +12 to it, and DOCK the iPod to it.
Kreegah!
/s/
Nortius Maximus
[...] next startup? iPod Super? It’s a cool hack anyway… http://www.command-tab.com/index.php/ipod-super/ This entry was posted [...]
This is just awesome. Too bad that I need to wait for my iPod to die before I can try it.
[...] Have you put on weight? This might be the ultimate Mt. Everest hack. That is, because it’s there. This entry was posted on Thursd [...]
[...] laquo; Google for OS X Is your iPod too small? Then go check out Command – Tab’s instructions on adding a 300GB drive to your iPod. Have a large [...]
[...] wet dream, and I don’t need a pillow to slobber on for this lovely thing. No no no. Command-Tab: Ipod Super
March 17, 2005 | In Music |
[...]
Collin,
Could you clarify something for me regarding the partitioning? All I need to do is partition/format the drive into the three partitions as directed. Then run the iPod update utility to reset the iPod firmware, etc onto the drive. At that point, I can start using it as needed. Correct? I just make the partitions and the update utility takes care of everything else – or do I need to copy firmware from another ipod over first?
Thanks and awesome hack!
You can do it one of two ways. You can partition the disk using pdisk, then run the updater, or if necessary, do that and then copy the firmware over manually using dd. The firmware files are inside the iPod Updater application bundle (for OS X at least. For Windows, I think it’s more complicated). If you do that, make sure you dd the right firmware to your generation iPod. I have no idea what will happen if you, for example, dd the iPod mini firmware onto a 3G iPod. It might work, or it might die a slow, horrible death.
But, to finish answering your question, partition first, then run the iPod Updater. If it doesn’t see anything, try dumping the firmware onto the Apple_MDFW partition (something like dd if=ipod_fw_201 of=/dev/diskxs2, substituting the correct filename for the firmware and the proper dev entry for the iPod’s 32 MB firmware partition).
Yay, if anyone comes across the german or whereever-it-may-be-site that sells an adaptor like the one built, *plz* post the link here!
I tried lots of companys yesterday, but they all sell just adaptors vice-versa (to use an 1,8″ HD on a desktop computer’s IDE bus).
I will try to integrate my wrecked pod with my car audio system, but am lacking the patience to solder that 44 wires…
hey collin — i’ve successfully transplanted a 40 GB ( MK4004GAH toshiba that i purchased from clubmac.com for $150) into my 3rd gen ipod to replace the 30 GB drive which broke when i dropped my beloved ipod. when i purchased the drive, i naively thought it would be as simple as plugging it in and using ‘restore’ from within the ipod updater utility. from reading this and other discussions it is clear that my problem is that the updater needs to see the drive in a particular ‘ipod’ format. can you explain in a stepwise fashion how to do this partitioning? your post #78 eludes to some terminal stuff, which i’m not quite up on, but am willing to try anything at this point. thanks and nice work on the 6 GB goliath.
[...] va du plus loufoque au plus pratique, avec souvent de très bonnes idées comme par exemple remplacer le disque dur de son iPod qui vient de mourir par un disque IDE ou encore créer un lect [...]
I’m sorry about my multibyte trackback.
You’re cool!!
Have you considered adding an FM broadcast attatchmeht? If you modded the firmware on the recording function to do live broadcasts on command and attached your Superpod to a power socket you have a portable radio station for you and your friends.
[...] « Halló og South-Park iPod Super Þessi færsla var skrifuð þann Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005 [...]
“Note: disassembling a perfectly good iPod is not recommended and will most likely void your warranty.”
Ya reckon??? LOL … Excellent except for the fact it won’t fit in my LV handbag… but oh well guess it ain’t aimed at a girl like me, although a 300gb iPod is simply covet-worthy.
Ya reckon??? LOL … Excellent except for the fact it won’t fit in my LV handbag… but oh well guess it ain’t aimed at a girl like me, although a 300gb iPod is simply covet-worthy.
It might not void your warranty if you open it carefully enough. If it’s not marked up, I think it might pass for an unopened iPod. Don’t hold me to that, though :-P
Strapping this thing to my Kano HardBox with its internal power supply looks like the trick. Hell, making it run the Linux hack to give me 96kHz line-in recording would be hella sweet.
Great work! But since you can’t remember the link to the prefabricated adaptor, couldn’t you post a complete schematic so we can figure out where to connect the necessary 5V/12V for the drive and the rest of the signal lines? Thanks!
You just run power to the drive like normal – it doesn’t have to go into the iPod first. The hard drive motor and logic power lines that the iPod normally uses to run the drive were left unconnected. All you do is run the IDE/ATA lines together on the two devices, then power both using the appropriate supply: the iPod via battery or FireWire/USB, and the hard drive through it’s normal Molex connector.
Can you post the details regarding how you created the adapter ( the pin layout etc). Does this mean that I would have to connect the drive to an external power supply ? I have a 1st Gen iPod which I’m interested in turning into a MP3 jukebox so that I can use with in my car and at home.
I would really appreciate if you can post more pics and detailed pin/wire layout as it would really help my project.
Thanks and great hack!
-Wilson
The layout is straight through; I didn’t perform any craziness other than the tedious soldering. You match the standard IDE pinout to the Toshiba hard drive pinout. As shown in the picture of my completed adapter, the wires are connected 1:1 between the two. The only thing to leave out are the 4 wires on the end of the iPod connector which normally power the iPod hard drive motor and logic.
Most definitely. If the iPod can power a 3.5″ drive at all, it wouldn’t be for more than a few seconds.
Does anyone here actually have 300Gb of music… ?!
especially 300GB of LEGAL music!
Hi Folks!
Seems that thre is LOT of demand for prefabricated
1.8 to 2,5 or bigger interfaces.
In Germany i found a small company which sells them
for around 35 Bucks.
They also got special solutions for compact flash….
Shipping may be horrible and expensive. though.
i will post the adress later…
APN
well, well, what do we have here? GOD-ZILL-IPOD?
” if anything it is only going to help ”
People try the hack, they break their iPod, they buy a new one. Apple makes more money. Steve Jobs wouldn’t sue.
Anyway, excellent hack for anyone who has the know-how. Once my iPod dies I’ll be trying this out for a car audio system. :D Next step: Integrate the iPod’s face into the dashboard.
That would be impressive. You could run the LCD into a custom bezel, and either use the built-in buttons or create your own using the iPod remote. There’s a great info page about the iPod remote specs here, if you’re interested. Using that (or just wiring the switches to the front of the enclosure), you could control your car iPod.
Can you use the iPod as a external drive for a pocket pc. If so what do i need to do?
Hey… could we just buy the 1.8 hard drive from the market? so… we could rescue our ipod again.
cool – but you could just get an Archos Jukebox for half the cost and add rockbox to it
do you still have that pin adapter up for grabs? I would very much like to buy it off of you! My ipod hard drive burned out a month or so ago, and I want to try this out, since I have a spare 3.5″ hard drive, I think I’ll give it a shot. Not sure how you can contact me, you can check the website I help manage (ipodwizard.net) or just reply here!
@APN: which company is selling that adapter? I tried several, but all I got was one selling an 1,8″ to CF and another one selling an CF-3,5″ adapter :-P
Perhaps one of them startet building one after I mailed them a link to this site ;-)
hi, i really interest in this!!!! i don’t have money to buy one , and god(he es so god!) help me and a friend tolde that she can give me her ipod but the ipod drown in the sea :( i connected to the firewire of my friend and i heard sound of the hard drive , the lcd dosen’t work and is a ipod of 2 generation can you plzzz help me some one!
I noticed in my Google search keywords (which people used and ran across my site) someone looking to find out if the iPod can run on a power supply only with no battery attached. Yes it can. Just thought I’d add that to the list for someone looking for that information in the future.
Hi, I would like to change to a 2.5″ HDD instead of 3.5″, can you tell me if power is still required or the iPod can power it like 1.8″ HDD?
Thanks.
Any hard drive larger than the original will draw more power and either be unable to run at all, or run for a significantly shorter period of time.
hello,
had anyone maked that with a windowsformated i-pod?
Ive got a broken 10GB 2G IPOD and a windows-pc
i buy a thoshiba 20GB and a adapter to ide from
http://www.adapter-king.de
now iam not shure what to make exactly.
i make the 2 partitions (win) on the i-pod
but the ipodupdater cant find him
and i realy dont know how to put the firmware on the i-pod
could anyone help me?
To me, the biggest implication of your (oustanding) work is: I believe you’ve now made it possible to go out and buy any “non-apple” formated 1.8″ HD, and plug it into your Ipod, and make it work.
As I understand it, previously, the only option was to buy an “apple-formated” 1.8″ HD that used to ‘live’ in another Ipod.
I have an older 3rd Gen 10Gig Ipod, and would like to upgrade to a larger HD. Can anyone post their experiences in upgrading their HDs? If you do, can you post your experiences, and HD models that work?
Even better, step-by-step instructions for the masses would be absolutely excellent.
You might have spawned an industry of DIY Ipod HD Upgraders!
[...] raquo;
P1mp Your iPod
Someone has written a guide on how to connect an external hard disk to your iPod. Excerpt: What is this about? Ultimately, I’d like [...]
I need a 3.5hd connection cable and powersupply for my ipod, where can i get it?I did the same thing as this guy last night. I got pissed at my ipod and punched, though Collin dropped his, i broke the hd. I have or lets say had a 3g 40gb ipod as well. I was wanting to do this exact same project and i was browsing for a harddrive conncetion cable to a 3.5hd and i stubbled upon this site. So what im getting out, where can i get a premade cable for my ipod to 3.5hd, is there a limitation w/ space?(120,200,300gb??) and where can i obtain a reliable powersupply? Do i have to make this, or can i buy this somewhere? thanks.
Hey so after some trial and error i got the cable working with my Gen 1 iPod, and the ipod updater worked, and i got some tunes on the hard drive, but when i try and play the song, the ipod just konks out! And when i unplug all the power from the ipod , it still does this trying to reset thing, flashes the screen with a black screen or a battery alert…. so it looks like its getting powered from the hard drive :/ anyone got some suggestion?
Will it work with iPod minis?
i built a 3rd gen ipod external hdd connector… and it works a charm ^^ i just need a usb dongle for it (or firewire) and a mac to partition the hdd.. but im gonna turn this once 15gb ipod into a 30gb ipod via laptop hdd ^^ and power it off of a RC car Racing battery pack (7.2volt NiCd 1200mAh) maybe even power the ipod of of it too and im gonna keep it portible ^^
i have pictures of my sucess well two of the final cable project but i need a good place to host them with the bandwidth. collin of you could host the images here Email me ill send them along ^^
um….BATTERY LIFE?? Yeah, this is a cool hack…but it doesn’t seem so neat when the battery lasts only 30 minutes.
Hi Collin,
I’m planning to keep my iPod portable after upgrading using 2.5″ HD, powered by a car adaptor to the iPod.
But my question is how do I power the 2.5″ HD? Can you tell me which pin (HD) to which pin (iPod)?
Thanks!
hey, mine works and last longer than 30 mins. alright, it lasts 1hr 40 mins but id dropped mine too before. it makes it bloody heavy though and not portable.but i have the fattest iPod around. so im happy. thanks :-)
Will it work on a mini?
Hi Collin,
It is amazing with what you did with your broken ipod.
My case is actaully very similar, but I am not sure whether my hard drive is broken or not. Any suggestion to how I can check it? Please note that I have taken my ipod apart already !
Secondly, I have an idea but I am not sure whether it works or not. Do you think I can take apart a cf card reader and plug the pin to the reader and operate it as a removable drive?
Thanks a million,
Orempre
Cool, nice job. What about just buying a new HDD?
iPod Super
Collin von command-tab.com hat einen wunderschönen Hack auf seinem Blog veröffentlicht: Ein 3G iPod mit 3,5″-Platte. Falls die Platte meines iPods ebenfalls mal den Geist aufgibt, werde ich das mal nachbauen….
There’s a whole article over at MacUser in the UK (free reg perhaps required) concerning replacing the iPod HD, with 3rd and 4th gen being most successful. It seems that afterwords, fw no longer works, usb 2.0 recommended?
http://macuser.pcpro.co.uk/macuser/features/67347/replacing-your-ipods-hard-disk.html
Alternatively, I googled and used pricegrabber.com and found a 20 GB 1.8″ Toshiba MK2004GAL for $91
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=T20MK2004L
If you have installed a NEW HARD DRIVE in your iPod — here’s the easy way to get iPod Updater to successfully install the iPod Operating System. I screwed mine up, and my friend helped me out — he posted on MacOSXHints regarding how we fixed it. Here is the URL: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050309134113686
Here is the nutshell (partitioning as “Free Space” is the KEY!!!:
QUOTE
So, we opened Disk Utility, highlighted the iPod in the left sidebar, switched to the partition tab, and chose “1 Partition” from the “Volume Scheme” drop-list, then chose “Free Space” from the “Format” drop list, then clicked the partition button.
When it was done repartitioning the iPod, we ejected it, reconnected it, then opened the iPod Updater and chose Restore. About 1 minute later, my friend was putting songs back onto his iPod. You may need to follow this same procedure if you try to replace the hard drive in an iPod as well.
END QUOTE
Hope this helps. It took too many days for Todd and I to figure this out. I sure hope it helps others avoid the mess.
Jase.
To enter the diagnostic mode on the iPod, first of all reset it. When you see the Apple logo, hold down
Next, Previous, and Select. When the Apple logo goes away, release the buttons. You’ll see the coolest
thing ever: a backwards Apple logo, as if you were inside the iPod looking out. If it’s a 3G, you’ll hear
the iPod emit a little squeal, like you were pinching it. Diagnostic mode contains stuff used by
engineers, technicians, and factory folks to test out the iPod.
The iPod mini is slightly different. For this model, again reset the iPod. When you see the Apple logo,
hold down Select and Back. When the Apple logo goes away, release the buttons to see the famous
backward Apple and get into diagnostic mode.
When you enter diagnostic mode, you get an ugly, non-iPod-looking screen with a list of eight
diagnostic tests. Each test is marked with a letter, A through H. You might expect to use the wheel to
select the tests, but it doesn’t work. Instead, use the Next and Previous buttons to move up and down
the list. Press Select to run the highlighted test. While a test is running, press Play to return to the
menu. If you scroll down past test H (or up past test A), you’ll see a second screen, items I through P.
Man if u geared that up with an amp in your car and modded a double-DIN dash blanking plate u could have one SWEET iPod head unit in your car!!!! ;)
If i had the cash to buy another ipod id do it…but i feel bad screwing up a perfectly good pod just for this ;)
Well done tho ;)
[...] 7;t be worth it. As my wife says, it owes me nothing. Who knows? It may be reborn as an iPod Super … In light of my discovery that I prefer to have less music on my iPod, I decid [...]
I ran across a snapshot I took while using the iPod updater with the 6 GB drive hooked up – check it out.
Is the adapter still available and how much would you want for it.
email me at kevin_v@comcast.net
thanks
I have an 20 GB Ipod but the harddrive crashed. I want buy the same 1,8 harddrive, but can anyone tell me how to format it that it will work ? The link above is dead.
In response to a comment on hack-a-day about people not having the firmware for the iPod…
The iPod’s firmware is available from Apple inside every iPod Updater Utility (Mac), or can be extracted from it with the iPodWozard app (PC). On the Mac side, you can access the firmware by control-clicking on the iPod Updater application bundle, choosing Show Package Contents, and navigating to Contents/Resources/Updates. There you will find all the firmware files for all the iPod models supported by that updater (latest of this writing is iPod Updater 2005-03-23), as well as nifty icons of all the iPod models. The firmware files contained are as follows (along with iPod model information gleaned from various sites – may be incorrect. Please do your homework if you intend to do more in-depth hacking.)
Firmware-11.4.1 (?)
Firmware-2.2.3 (?)
Firmware-7.2.5 iPod mini (2G)
Firmware-5.4.1 iPod photo (4G/click wheel)
Firmware-3.2.5 iPod mini (1G)
Firmware-1.1.5 iPod (1G/scroll wheel)
Firmware-6.2.5 iPod mini (2G)
Firmware-4.3.0.2 (iPod 4G/click wheel)
Firmware-10.3.0.2 (iPod 4G/click wheel; identical to 4.3.0.2)
you need a 1.8 to ide converter
the one on comp usa is only a laptop to ide converter.
ipod drives are not standard laptop drives.
however you may be able to unsolder the connector from a broken ipod drive or hardwire the pins from the ipod connector to an ide cable or to a standard laptop drive connector.
updated instruction link:
http://www.bsodmike.com/?page_id=13
Toshiba MK2004GAL is a 20 GB replacement that should fit.
1.8 inches, 5.0 mm high.
Would it be possible to buy a 1.8″ external hard drive case and put a Toshiba MK4004GAH into it, plug it into my powermac and format it into the three partition using disc utilities? In fact could I just create two partitions, the first a 32meg ‘Apple_MDFW’partition and the second an “Apple-HFS’ partition with the rest of the hard drive and the utility will create the third partition of the master boot record directory like it does with all other hard drives you format. Then put it into my ipod hook it up and run updater and install firmware? It seem easier than using terminal since I’m not sure about how to just format a new hard drive from your article, unless I just do the last part. If it doesn’t work I just stick the old hard drive in and away I go I suppose.
Gary
[...] article on how to use an external IDE hard drive with an Ipod, which the author has named Ipod Super I would love to try some of the mods people have come up with for the ipod, includ [...]
I maid ipod Super.
http://rimruru.blog10.fc2.com/blog-entry-2.html
sorry, japanese word onry.
one of the links are dead — about formating..
When I first came upon your site, I was overjoyed. I have been a tinkerer and a case modder for a while, and I am going to begin work on my very own Ipod super sometime soon. I decided it would be nice to fit it in some sort of elegant, home theater style case, and use it with a larger stereo. The only problem is that it is hard to reorient the cabling going to the screen and controls. If anyone has any ideas regarding a good case design and what not, it would be great to hear about it.
[...] ad-pod Computing How a guy strapped at 3.5″ HDD to his 3G iPod posted by salmo on 05.17.05 @8:57 pm | [...]
I finished my adapter today, and it works great! It is not constructed as well as yours, but its functional. I am a lot of trouble with the firmware. I have been playing around with two western digital drives, one 2.3gb and one 120gb. I get through the partitioning using pdisk, but on the 120 I can’t copy the firmware, I just get an IO error. On the 2.3gb it copies over, but I am not sure where to go from there as the iPod updater doesn’t work. Is there a specific version of the iPod updater I should try?
[...] rlo como arma mortal, como mando a distancia universal, rememorar los tiempos del Walkman, añadirle un disco duro convencional,… Al final, resulta que el list [...]
Great work! Thanks for showing us how it’s done! Something to “file away for future reference”.
Well it turns out that different hard drive behave in different ways. After toying with two western digital drives, I switched to a 160gb Maxtor. With this drive, I didn’t get an error with the iPod updater, but when the ipod was reset after the restore, just the apple logo appeared. I don’t have the time to play around with more drives, so I’m just going to sell the parts. I think I am going to put the adapter on eBay, and if anyone is interested email me at curtis.layton@valley.net
I replaced a HD in a 2nd gen 10 gig iPod with a non Apple braded HD…NO GO since 2nd gen do not allow for USB connections (only firewire and as it stands, there is no cross “platform” usb-firewire adapters or cables which i kinda figured). If you have read anything here it is that one you replace the HD with a non branded iPod (in a 3rd or 4th gen iPod) you can no longer use firewire and need to use USB which will not work in 1st or 2nd gen iPods.
SO: the drive showed up in Disk Util but not anywhere else. The current iPod updater would run and stop just as other posts have indicated on MANY sites.
Just thought I’d let you know that the only way to replace a HD in a 1st or 2nd gen iPod is to buy an apple branded HD, not merely a “replacement” that fits into the iPod shell. I found apple branded HD’s at http://www.ipodreplacementparts.com. SUPER fast shipping if the guy has it in stock. He basically has most iPod parts so email him to see if he has what you need and good luck.
Oh and I replaced the battery and I now have a rock solid backup iPod to my 4th gen that I use in live during gigs. I’m extremely happy I was able to get my old one working (that only stopped due getting wet in the rain, blahhhh) for under $150 between the HD and battery. I still love the old school ones better than the new fangled but that’s just me.
Have a GREAT day!
Great News!
I got a 60 gig IBM drive from a friend, and it works. So I guess a tip for future iPod Super builders is not to use western digital drives.
Well done. Ipod is a fantastic machine and it will be better to repair it himself than to pay for the reparation.
Thanks for your advice.
Amazing piece of work! Have a question: think it’s possible to build a cable to connect iPOD to a CF iPAQ’s sleeve and have it as a giant storage card?
I have a 3rd generation 15gig ipod that I am tring to upgrade to a 40gig. I bought a toshiba 1.8 40 gig hard drive from a 4th gen ipod but it was formated for windows. Tried a restore didn’t work.
went to hack and tried to do partition in terminal but can’t find iPod_US_Firmware_201.bin anywhere to install. Can someone help me out. Also my partition map is always 63@1 not 62@1 is this a problem and how do I change it?
Please email me at benok@dakotacom.net
Gary
How can i best make a connection to a 3,5″ IDE disk?
At this site there’s an explanation for connecting to a 2,5″ disk. How do i make the 5V for this disk? And how do i connect all this together? I got an ipod 1st gen and an ide cable. My problem is the power. Who can help me out?
[...] Read [...]
I have a 2nd Generation ipod with a 20 GB hard Drive. I found out that Toshiba makes 1.8″ Drives that fit in the ipod. I want to know if anyone has tried to replace the original 20 GB HD with a 40GB or 60GB 1.8″HD. As well if anyone nas adepted to make a adaptor to connect the newer ipod stuff to an older ipod. If anyone has any ideas, knows how to do this process, or has websites that may help me please e-mail at
Dinowarrior18@bellsouth.net or at Dinowarrior@hotmail.com
I like to thank everyone in advance for the help.
Hi 2gether!
I’ve done a HDD replacement with a 2nd Generation IPod from 20 GB to 60 GB because my 20 GB HDD was broken…
So I thought, I’ll just buy a 60 GB HDD.. ;-)
I’ve read a lot about that replacement stuff and finally I succeeded…but there’s still ONE Limitation. I can’t use the firewire-interface! Well, too bad, because IPod 2nd Gen. has only firewire and no USB…So that’s my prob.
I guess the problem is, that the IPod firmware blocks my HDD, because it’s not an “Apple-branded”. It’s obiously that it must be that limitation. So I can “load” music on my ipod, but only with my hdd-usb-adapter…if I put back the HDD into my Ipod there’s no prob – it goes as it should (unless firewire access)
My question:
- How can I clear that blockage?
There are 2 ways:
1. I modify the HDD Firmware
2. I modify the IPod’s Firmware
Has anyone any experience with that? Or generally with hex files? I’m a novice in that…
Has anyone any idee how to solve that problem?
Please mail at pasco[at]gmx.ch
Thx in advance.
iPod Super – 3.5″ hdd in an iPod
Basically this guy broke his iPod’s hard drive and wanted to replace it.
This project came about after I dropped my 40 GB 3rd generation iPod and killed the hard drive in it. I decided to open up the iPod and see what I could do with it. I c…
[...] iPod Super Postado por Felipe Cepriano , 16 de Março de 2005 em Gadgets Command-Tab – Blog Archive – iPod Super [...]
A reader sumitted (via Trackback) his completed iPod Super hack using an 80 GB Seagate drive, with pictures of iTunes using the drive as well. Check out his page and photos here.
Thx 4 this link. But this guy did it with an IPod higher than 2nd Gen. So it’s no problem via USB Interface..But I’ve got an 2nd Gen. So I can only use the Firewire Interface..I must. There is something about the HDD’s firmware, the product code or something similar must be altered..I’ve read it somewhere, but can’t find it anymore ;-(. And if I know I wouldn’t know how to reflash my S.M.A.R.T HDD with a modified Firmware via USB. Anyone knows a acurate application for that?! thx
adapter for ipod and toshiba hard drive:
http://www.wiebetech.com/products/adapters.php
maybe this one (PDF German file, use babelfish to translate):
http://www.esskabel.de/Datenblaetter/ADA-HDD-1.8-REV1.pdf
adapter for 1.8″ HD:
http://www.span.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=4267&osCsid=1923327f5067765f8089a0a4242819ce
What is hacking and how could make this.
Because my system was received unnecessary mails from internet which have dosent any mean.
Please help me!
Nice work. Thanks for your article. It can be really helpfull for iPod owners.
Hey, glad my ipod hackin’ page came in use, very nice :)
Great project Collin.
Would u be able to email me the 512 boot sector of the 3rd gen ipod. I think that may solve my issue.
After partitioning with fdisk an empty partition of 1-10 and a fat32 of 10-full i can get ipod restore to work on windows. but after a reboot it just hangs on the apple logo. i dd’d the boot sector from an ipod photo to the disk because that is what i had available. I’m not sure if that was necessary to get the ipod to restore. im thinking if i dd the 3rd gen boot sector to the disk that may make it work completely.
The restore goes smoothly and finishes quickly. when it says to connect to an AC power source to flash firmware, i do that, but there is no additional response. After a reboot it just hangs on the apple logo where usually it would go to the folder and exclamation then shut off. in this condition i am unable to communicate via the usb, i have to connect the drive back to a pc to do anything to it. i have done this whole procedure twice with the same result.
I’m using a maxtor drive of 400 MB and my hookup cable is almost identical to the one made by num. hope u can help.
Cheers
[...] Why would anyone want 300GBs of space on their iPod? Someone has written a set of instruction on how to add a 3.5 inch hard drive to your iPod. Here they are. The 300GB iPod has been named the iPod Super and although it isn’t very portable you could wire it up to a set of speakers and use it instead of a hi-fi. Another suggestion is hooking it up to the speakers in your car and you can have 300GB of music for when your driving which is far more than you’ll ever need but nice to know that you have. [...]
Nice project !!! I found it because I am searching for a way to play MP3 files from my external hard disk, a Fujitsu 40GB USB 2.0. In other words, I would like to use such hard disk as the storage for my MP3, but I need an MP3 transmitter or something similar to read the files from the hard disk and play them (with folder selection capabilities). Do you know anything that can do this ? Thanks !!!!!!
There are a number of great homemade MP3 players out there, including this one linked to via the Make blog:
http://butterflymp3.sourceforge.net/
Most don’t use USB 2, though. Generally, they communicate using the drive’s native IDE/ATA bus. If you’re hoping to swap the drive between computer and MP3 player using USB 2, you’re probably just better off buying an off-the-shelf MP3 player like an iPod. Building one from scratch or even following a tutorial is quite a bit of electronics work and programming. Might be a fun project, though.
I finally figured it out (at least for Windows iPods). The Toshiba drives may (or may not) not come formatted. While windows recognizes the drive, it somehow can not access the drive to format it. The drive I bought came unformatted. My Gen 3 iPod will use the standard drive (Toshiba — Not iPod branded drive) MK2004GAL, but you must use a program such as Paragon Hard Disk Manager to access the drive to partition it. It will partition the drive through the USB cable while the drive is in the iPod. Of course the iPod will not boot properly if you just drop the drive in it and try to reset it, but if you plug the USB into the computer the iPod will go into disk mode so that windows can “see” the drive/iPod.
The key everyone seems to be missing is to leave at the first 32 MB blank. If you format the whole drive iTunes has nowhere to put the iPod boot instructions.
There is only one partition. The first 32 MB is unformatted “empty” space. You must partition the drive with at least 32 MB free for the iPod to put boot instructions. Set up to partition remaining drive as FAT 32. Once done mount the partition with Paragon Hard Disk Manager and it will assign a drive letter. Once this is done the Ipod updater will find it and you can run a restore on it. Once restored disconnect it and reconnect it. iTunes should pick it up and it should work as normal. It is true that FireWire connection will no longer work with the non apple drive.
To power the drive while putting my music back on the new drive, I have the apple combo FireWire/USB wire. I plug the FireWire end into the power supply that came with the iPod (my USB connection does not provide power). Then I plug the USB end into the computer and so that you can load all your tunes without the battery dying.
My iPod works great. I bought a reconditioned laptop drive for $75 (20 GB). You can buy new 20 GB Toshiba drives for $105 if you look around.
Thanks for the website Collin.
I am currently unemployed and am considering installing and formatting drives if you ship them both (ipod and drive) if there is any interest for such a service. Let me know. email: bbest10746@yahoo.com
My computer dont recognize my ipod and in my ipod it appears a folder with and exclamation. I downloaded the updater and it dont recognize my ipod ether. What can i do? help me please!!this is my type of iPod (40 GB dock connector)
[...] http://www.command-tab.com/index.php/ipod-super [...]
[...] Time to put an IDE drive in my old, busted 1st generation iPod. [...]
[...] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your ownsite. [...]
[...] Una notizia di qualche mese, ma l’ho letta solo ora. Ha smontato un suo vecchio iPod e lo ha collegato ad un Hard Disk esterno. Ha ottenuto un iPod da 300 GB ma inutilizzabile. Non fatelo! [...]
[...] Just as a reminder to myself re: “got inside”: Grab a 120GB hard drive (or something) (from somewhere) and hook it up like Command-Tab… [...]
[...] Anatomische Studie auf dem Schreibtisch. Gibt es eigentlich auch Adapter von CompactFlash-Buchse auf IDE? Das wäre doch ein schönes Projekt fürs Wohnzimmer, ein iPod mini mit 300GB Platte… Mit dem normalen iPod gehts wohl! [...]
[...] iPod Super – the best just got bigger [...]
[...] http://www.command-tab.com/index.php/ipod-super Filed under Technology/Apple/Mac at 3:31 pmPermalink [...]
[...] ergo how to attach a 3.5″ hdd to your iPod (link!) [...]
[...] Previously on found_drama: we got inside a 3G iPod and then speculated on Frankensteining it into a so-called iPod Super – - and now… Command-Tab’s iPod Junior? [...]
[...] iPod Super (Collin Allen, March 2005) – Attach a 3.5″ desktop hard drive to your iPod. [...]
[...] iPod Super (Collin Allen, March 2005) – Attach a 3.5″ desktop hard drive to your iPod. [...]
[...] iPod Hacking – Post 1 I’m not an avid fan of Apple, as most people know; however, as a high school graduation present, my cousin bought me a 3rd generation iPod. The 3rd generation iPods only had a battery life of about 18 months. So as of now, the iPod’s full battery charge is 10 minutes. That made it a useless portable music player.During the winter break, my roomate brought over a girl with sticky fingers. My iPod vanished for two months until his (my roomate’s) best friend found the girl and found my iPod. When I got it back, I got this error screen.I thought to myself, “that can’t be good.” After some online investigating and running some tests from the iPod’s BIOS, I found that the hard-drive had been damaged beyond repair. How this happened, I can only speculate. Did she hit it against a desk when it wouldn’t turn on? Who knows. Never-the-less, I’m not going to get the $400 it was worth, so I might as well fix it.I surfed the web, looking for people with the same problem. Blamo, after about an hour I found this Blog post.http://www.command-tab.com/index.php/ipod-superThis guy hooked up a 3.5″ hard-drive to the iPod 3g. This is exactly what I could do.I have the spare hard-drives, I have my iPod, and I have spring break. Here’s my new project. :)Extra Images: Ipod in pieces.Old Hard-Drive. [...]
[...] Re: Hard drive voltage This shows how to connect the drives Command-Tab » iPod Super [...]
[...] Expand it [...]
[...] 60gb is the biggest you can get from Apple. Toshiba makes the same drive in 80gb I think. You could hack a new ipod together if you’ve got the skills, willingness, and time. Then again this guy hacked a desktop hard drive into his ipod, so I’m guessing you could have a 750gb ipod. Command-Tab » iPod Super __________________ ImpulseResponse [...]
[...] iPod Super [...]
[...] Command-Tab » iPod Super Like this, only hardwire the buttons to the front of the panel, and use some bondo to make the front panel rather interesting. Either that or do it in metal. Or do it in bondo then vacuum form it. Tons of options really. Maybe I’ll build one sometime. [...]
[...] iPod Super by Collin Allen (picture copyright Collin Allen) [...]
[...] iPod Super [...]
[...] I’d like to get a regular 3.5″ hard drive working with the iPod [...]
[...] one ever use 2.5" notebook hdd in ipod? i found this on the net iPod Super | Command-Tab they said can use 3.5" pc hdd in ipod i try this with my 2.5" notebook hdd and 3.5" [...]