Upgrading iPod Hard Drives
A number of people have asked about upgrading iPod hard drives — what to buy, how to prepare, and how to perform the upgrade — so here are all the technical details. If you’ve never worked inside an iPod before, this is certainly an advanced tutorial, but don’t let that scare you. Working slowly and methodically, you too can upgrade your iPod and store even more music, photos, and videos.
What to Buy
Which hard drive to buy depends on your specific iPod model, so like any half-decent attempt at an upgrade, a little research will be necessary before purchasing. The main factor that will affect your decision is the height, or thickness, of both the iPod and hard drive. Since day one of the iPod launch, Toshiba has produced all the hard drives employed in the full size iPod lineup. While they currently enjoy a profitable OEM business agreement with Apple, the drives are in no way exclusive to the iPod, and they can be found in many other products, including (not surprisingly) some Toshiba laptops and (perhaps more surprisingly) Microsoft’s Zune player. To allow for some options in product development, Toshiba’s 1.8″ hard drives come in two thicknesses — the thinner has one physical storage platter inside, and the thicker has two. As technology advances, however, the capacity of each platter increases while the dimensions remain fixed. This is good news for iPod upgraders — the longer you wait, the more you can store.
Apple’s iPods are fairly easy to find a matching replacement/upgrade hard drive for, as you can generally tell which thickness drive you need just by holding the device in your hand. If your iPod was the thicker of the series when you purchased it, it takes the thicker, two-platter hard drive (examples include the higher capacity models such as 40 GB iPod and 60 GB iPod photo). The thinner models (like the 15 GB iPod and 30 GB iPod photo) take the thinner hard drives.
The new iPods with video capability are a different beast, as the drive technology and space requirements have demanded smaller hardware. With that in mind, Toshiba engineered a new connector on recent drives that is vastly smaller than the previous models. These new drives sport a Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) connector, which, unlike the older iPods, requires no pressure to connect the cable. Simply holding the hair-thin ribbon cable in place and folding down a clamp-like lock will secure all 40 pins in a staggeringly small — and fragile! — connector. The connector on the new iPods’ logic boards is now no wider than your thumbnail, and it, too is quite delicate. Such is the way of ever-shrinking consumer electronics.
Tools of the Trade
Before you decide on a hard drive, you’ll also want to purchase a few tools to ensure the job gets done right. While you’re able to pry most iPods apart using a tool as simple as a butter knife, the professionals use the following to make entry, upgrading, and close-up as seamless as possible.
- Apple’s “black stick”
This nylon-based pry tool is key to almost any iPod upgrade, as it provides a strong lever to get into the edges of the case, while its plastic properties leave next to no marks or chewed-up spots along the edges. Best bought from Stanley Supply & Services.
- IC puller or hemostats (both available at your local RadioShack)
Either of these tools will work for undoing the iPod battery cable and handling some of the smaller pieces of the iPod. Not necessary, but highly recommended if you plan on doing more than one upgrade. - A straight razor blade (for 5G iPods)
I was hesitant to include this, as it’s a recipe for injury if you’re not careful. In the interest of completeness, though, it’s here. The latest iPods are sealed very well, and more often than not they require a very thin and flexible bit of metal to make room for Apple’s Black Stick pry tool. - HD adapters from Addonics: 1.8″ to 2.5″ IDE and 2.5″ to 3.5″ IDE
To do testing or erasing on iPod-size hard drives, these adapters will get your 4G-or-earlier drive hooked up to a desktop computer’s IDE bus. (For 5G iPods, see this post) Also not necessary, but again, these are recommended for advanced testing and erasure.
Picking a Hard Drive
Depending on your iPod thickness and model, you can choose from the hard drives in the table below. Note that some of these models are not used in iPods, but should work just fine (for example, the 20 GB ZIF drive, which will only connect to new iPods which start out at 60 GB from Apple — technically a downgrade, but listed for compatibility information).
| Model # | Capacity | Connector | Thickness | Supported iPods |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MK1011GAH | 100 GB | ZIF | 8mm | Thick 5G, 5.5G |
| MK8007GAH | 80 GB | Pins | 8mm | Thick 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| MK8009GAH | 80 GB | ZIF | 8mm | Thick 5G, 5.5G |
| MK6006GAH | 60 GB | Pins | 8mm | Thick 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| MK6008GAH | 60 GB | ZIF | 8mm | Thick 5G, 5.5G |
| MK4006GAH | 40 GB | Pins | 8mm | Thick 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| MK4008GAH | 40 GB | ZIF | 8mm | Thick 5G, 5.5G |
| MK4007GAL | 40 GB | Pins | 5mm | 1G, Thin 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| MK4009GAL | 40 GB | ZIF | 5mm | Thin 5G, 5.5G |
| MK3006GAL | 30 GB | Pins | 5mm | Thin 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| MK3008GAL | 30 GB | ZIF | 5mm | Thin 5G, 5.5G |
| MK2004GAL | 20 GB | Pins | 5mm | 1G, Thin 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| MK2006GAL | 20 GB | Pins | 5mm | 1G, Thin 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| MK2008GAL | 20 GB | ZIF | 5mm | Thin 5G, 5.5G |
| MK1504GAL | 15 GB | Pins | 5mm | 1G, Thin 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| MK1003GAL | 10 GB | Pins | 5mm | 1G, Thin 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| MK5002MAL | 5 GB | Pins | 5mm | 1G, Thin 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| MK5004MAL | 5 GB | Pins | 5mm | 1G, Thin 2G, 3G, 4G, photo |
| Seagate ST760211DE |
60 GB | ZIF | 5mm | Thin 5G, 5.5G |
You can find many of the above drives on eBay and online retailers, but the most prevalent ones will be models used in iPods that shipped in the past. I have used non-Apple-branded Toshiba hard drives without issue, confirming that there is nothing particular about them, except an Apple logo on the sticker. Having a third party manufacturer such as Toshiba re-brand a product is nothing new to the computer industry — other big companies like Dell and IBM work deals like this for many components in almost every product.
Hard Drive Preparation
Unlike my iPod Super hack, a replacement iPod hard drive does not require any special formatting or filesystem preparation. In fact, I’ve found that working with a completely empty/zeroed hard drive works best. If you decided to purchase the adapters listed above, you can connect them as detailed in my Really Testing iPod Hard Drives post, and completely erase the hard drive using the handy Darik’s Boot and Nuke utility (see the comments on that post). I’ve found that it works best to have a zeroed hard drive, but it can usually be done without. (The iPod sometimes tries to find software on the hard drive, which may be incorrect for its generation or be corrupted).
Opening the iPod
To get at the old hard drive, you’ll need to open the iPod, which is usually the hardest part of the process. 1G through 4G iPods aren’t as tough as the newer 5G and later iPods, and can be popped open by pushing the metal backing one way while pulling the plastic front the opposite way. In doing so, you create a small gap where you can slide in the nylon pry tool and undo the five plastic clips along one of the two longer sides. The inside top and bottom edges of all iPods are not secured. Other World Computing has some detailed take-apart videos which should help give you a good idea of exactly how to get inside.
To open a 5G or later iPod, try the first technique above, and use a straight razor as a last resort. For the really tough ones, work the sharp edge of a new razor perpendicularly into the side seam where the front plastic and back metal meet. Once wedged between the two halves, tip the dull edge of blade towards the front (towards you), using the iPod’s plastic side as a fulcrum to open a small space to insert the nylon pry tool. This is extremely dangerous! Not only are you working with a super-sharp piece of metal, you’re flexing its brittle structure, which may cause it to shatter — so don’t push too hard. I’ve never gotten cut or had a razor shatter while doing this, but only because I took my time and didn’t get my fingers near the sharp edge. Moving slow and thinking smart (as smart as bending a razor can be) are keys to making this technique work. Once the nylon pry tool is in place and has a little room to work, carefully extract the razor and set it aside. Use the pry tool to work the rest of the side clips open.
The Switch
After cracking the side of the iPod open, carefully disconnect any audio jack or battery ribbon cables attached to the back panel. Undoing these connectors often requires the use of the nylon pry tool again, or careful pulling with hemostats. The hard drive is then exposed. 1G through 4G iPod hard drives can be unplugged by simply pulling the connector straight off the end of the drive, whereas the 5G and later iPods require you to flip up the narrow lever — it hinges lengthwise along the middle — and unlock the cable.
Install the new hard drive in the same direction as the old one, making sure all pins and plastic guides line up perfectly. 5G iPods are especially tricky due to the ZIF connector. Yet again, some tiny tools may come in handy — just be sure to work gently with its delicate ribbon cable. Move the metal back panel close to the iPod and reconnect all the cables you unhooked to get into the device, and snap the panel back onto the plastic clips.
Restoring in Disk Mode
Pressing any button will power on your iPod, and you should be able to hear the new drive spin up. Unless the drive is preloaded with the correct software you will get a “sad iPod” face. This is OK. Reset your iPod using the commands detailed here, and immediately hold the Disk Mode keys as soon as the screen blanks for the reboot. This may take a few tries, but as long as your iPod doesn’t have the correct data on the drive, you’ve got all the attempts you need to get into Disk Mode. When done properly, you’ll see “Disk Mode” at the top of the iPod. You can now plug the freshly upgraded iPod into your computer and launch iTunes. After it’s detected, iTunes may complain about a corrupted iPod, or one that needs to be Restored. Dismiss the dialogs and browse to the Summary tab for the iPod, and click Restore. iTunes will load the proper software onto your iPod, and it will be as good as new — with more capacity!
3/16/08 Update
I added the Seagate ST760211DE 60 GB 5mm drive following a painless drop-in replacement report from Jerry Wnorowski:
Well it finally arrived, and with just a little hesitation, after all this was entirely new ground for me, I installed the 60GB SeaGate Hard Drive into my broken 30GB iPod Video 5.5 Gen. When I plugged it in to my laptop, iTunes said it needed to be restored. I restored it, and it booted and came up in iTunes!!! I loaded my music, and now I have the thinnest 60GB iPod Video in the world!!
(iPod 5G hard drive image borrowed from ArsTechnica)
March 12th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Thanks for the great insight. I would have liked to see instructions on how to actually take the iPod apart and replace the hard ddrive as well.
———–
http://www.mostofmymac.com
March 12th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I have seen someone take a iPod mini and put a FLASH drive in place of the hard drive it comes with. I wonder if one can do this with a 3rd gen iPod.
Thanks for all the data.
March 12th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Hey, thanks for the post. I bought a 60 gb hard drive on ebay, and the serial number matches one in your list of numbers, but i can’t seem to get it working on my 3G ipod. could you offer any help? i’ve tried everything, but when i put it back into the ipod, it always show the folder with the ! in it, and i can’t seem to figure out exactly what is wrong.
March 12th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
I got a 4G ipod with hard disk dead. Just wondering if the ordinary 1.8 Toshiba hard disk for laptop is compatible for the replacement or not. Thanks
March 13th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Dear writer (couldn’t find your name anywhere),
Some clarification on the iPod-drive combinations.
iPod 3G and harddrives.
The newer MKx006 model harddrives will not (always) work in 3G iPods. This is due to different power requirements for the MKx004 and MKx006 drives. Quite simple: x004 models require low power to spin up and mid power to run. x006 models require high power to spin up and low power to run. This is done to effectively lower power requirements of gadgets like the iPod. The net effect is that x006 HD’s MAY work in 3G iPods, but most of the time will not. x004 harddrives will most of the time work in 4G iPods.
iPod mini flash conversion
As of next week we will start rebuilding iPod mini’s with flash memory (4GB and 8GB). You should be able to perform such an action by yourself. Beware: not all flash cards work. Some cards may even fry your iPod or explode (we have proof of this in our lab!). Check out our website for testresults.
March 13th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
That’s some great information, Adam. Thanks! I hope readers will take that into consideration when preparing for an upgrade :-)
March 15th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
I have a new Toshiba 80GB 1.8-in harddisk MK8009GAH that uses a ZIF
connector, (http://www.welovemacs.com/mk8009gah.html) while my Toshiba
Portege R100 notebook uses a 44-pin (3.3V) connector.
The original harddisk in the notebook is 40GB 1.8-in MK4004GAH
(http://www.welovemacs.com/132.html).
I need your great help to help me to find a converter that can connect
my ZIF 80GB harddisk to the 44-pin (3.3V) connector in my notebook.
This is something like finding a ZIF to 50-pin (3.3V) converter that allow us to put a 5G hard disk into a 4G and below iPod.
March 15th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Unfortunately, I don’t know of any adapter that exists yet — especially one that connects a ZIF drive to an available 44-pin 1.8″ male connector. It’s entirely possible to make it work, but the technologies are so tiny, that it would be tough for anyone without production level equipment to manufacture. Toshiba does make a 44-pin 3.3v 1.8″ 80 GB drive (wow, that’s a lot of specs for one drive), the MK8007GAH, but you’d have to do some exchanging or returning to get ahold of one. That is, if welovemacs.com even has them. They exist, so that’s probably your best move.
To be sure, non-ZIF iPod drives do work in the Portege R100’s, and vice versa. They require some formatting and OS-swapping, of course, but the hardware is identical (save for the Apple logo on the drives harvested from iPods). I’ve swapped drives between iPods and Portege R100’s numerous times, using both Ghost 2003 and Acronis True Image to image the proper software as needed.
March 16th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
What is the address limit, size notwithstanding of an ipod? If it was repackaged, could it address a 300 Gbyte drive?
March 21st, 2007 at 5:32 am
thanks very much so can i upgrade my 20 GB 4G pod to 100 GB correct ?
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:39 pm
With a thicker 4G back plate/audio jack assembly (available on eBay and various parts places), you should be able to max out your 4G iPod to 100 GB :-) I’ve pushed it as far as 80 GB, but I don’t see why 100 GB would pose an issue.
March 24th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Hi, first of all love what your doing, nice to see someone with some guts and the skills to match. I saw your aricle about your super ipod and was wondering if it is possible replicate the same idea for the 5th gen ipod. I was thinking of using an ipod with a 3.5″ drive (as large a capacity as possible) for a system in a car. The ipod would be permently built in and it’s power taken from an in car charger which would connect through a moddifed dock connector which will also allow for audio and video connections to the rest of the car’s system. The larger drive would allow room for a huge library of music and video etc.
Heres a couple of websites with some interesting products to help:
http://www.span.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28_1203&products_id=14142
http://www.span.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=8932&c=102&t=side_right1
http://home.swipnet.se/ridax/connector.htm
The first two have ribbons that are compitable with the hard drives used in the 5th gen ipods and so I assume will be compatible with the zif connection on the ipod mainboard. It would great to find out if a 300gb ide drive could be formatted to be used with a 5th gen ipod. I wounder if the video feed from the ipod could be mirrored on several screens too? I would be very interested to hear your response to these ideas, keep up the good work.
March 24th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
I think the 5G iPod would be a great candidate for a car-based MP3 player, and is most likely able to handle at least 100 GB worth of space, if not loads more. The only issue is that the ZIF connector on the 5G and higher logic board is not the same as the one on the hard drive — its pins are staggered (like the contacts on an AGP graphics card). Getting a working adapter — from iPod board to 3.5″ or 2.5″ IDE — would be quite tedious, as it would involve soldering to the ribbon cable. The hard drive connector is the one directly above the dock connector in the following photo. Note that it’s about half the width of the dock connector (which is about the width of the standard ZIF hard drive cable).
For another view, see this photo at ArsTechnica.
That second adapter you linked to at Span does work for adapting the 5G iPod drives to 2.5″ IDE (and then, with another adapter, to 3.5″ IDE), however it wouldn’t help adapt the reverse connection (iPod) to a regular hard drive, as the pins would be entirely backwards.
Ridax’s items are great! I highly recommend him. I bought several dock connectors a while back, as well a breakout circuit board more recently. See some of the recent photos tagged with ipod on Flickr :-)
March 25th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Thanks for your reply that was really quick. I was thinking about going from the ipod using the zif cable from the ipod to plug it into the adaptor from span. Since the zif conection on the hard drive seems to be standard apart from the thickness of the cable. And as the zif cable on span is the same at both ends, the cable from the ipod should plug into the adaptor from span, and then convert from 2.5″ to 3.5″. From the 3.5″ socket use a ide cable and at one end open up the ide plug and seperate all the cables and reconfigure them so that each line goes to the correct terminal. I think you said that you know the pinout out of the zif hard drive, so that it can refernced against a standard 3.5″ cable.
I was wondering if you could give detailed instrutions on how you configured your 3.5″ hard drive so that the ipod accepted it in terms of the software methods you used.
I was also wondering about powering the drive, I don’t think the ipod would be able to supply the power. Would both the hard drive and the ipod have to power at the same time or could either be powered up in no particular order and still result in it being functional and of course in the worse case for no damage to be caused.
If you would like please add me to MSN messenger as I would like to talk to you further on this. It would also be easier to communicate ideas via the white board too. Awaiting your response.
April 6th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Hi,
How can this be so easy, and I make it so hard? I have done just as stated, and the restore will just not take. I can see the ipod in Windows Explorer, and even click on properties, and when I get to the properties of the Ipod, I can click populate and it will give me the drive info, and says everything is working.
By the way, I am working on a 20 gig Gen 4. If I connect to Itunes, it will see the unit and claim it is corrupt. I was able to work past the 1418 failure, with unplugging and plugging the unit back in, but then it fails with 1415. I have tried about 20 restores to no avail. I have now tied to a second computer, and am trying with Itunes version 6 after reading questionable reviews about issue 7.
When I reboot with 6 I will try again, it is not seen right now. If it works I will let you know.
Thanks for your efforts,
David
April 6th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
David,
What size hard drive are you attempting to use, and are you sure it’s working?
April 15th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
I was looking at doing the exact same thing David. I’ve currently got a 5th Gen Ipod, but I would probably purchase a broken 4th gen off Ebay.
You’ve probably already thought of this, but could you just hook up the ipod Hard Drive to your main PC using a 3.5″ adapter, and then run Ghost to image the drive to whatever you like?
Let me know what you find out, and good luck!
Thanks,
Ben
April 15th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Colin, you list only the Toshiba drive which seems to be the only drives apples uses. But I was wondering have you tried or do you know of any issue with the current Samsung(HS060HB) or Seagate(ST760211DE)1.8″ drives?
They are the one with the 60 gigs on a single platter so you wouldn’t have to upgrade the back of the ipod, theoretically.
April 16th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Hi!
I’m continuously getting error 1418 as well, when trying to replace the dead drive in my brother’s 5g 30gig ipod. I bought a new toshiba mk3008gal, opened up the ipod, replaced the drive and tried the instructions above but nothing seems to initialize the drive. itunes 7.1.1.5 gives me the 1418 error, and removing it (including the itl files) and using the ipod updater just states “can’t mount ipod.” the ipod is willing to charge and go into disk mode, which is an improvement from its previous state… this is true with my macbook as well as my xp desktop. I’ve unplugged all other usb devices.
in the diagnostics menu I can view the HDD specs and smart data; nothing looks awry. any advice?
April 16th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
never mind, I fixed my problem by reseating the hdd cable on the ipod’s circuitboard. silly me. I guess the cable is a bit touchy!
April 17th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I bought an 80 GB 5G iPod not long ago. But I have so many CDs and don’t want to use low quality files (I’m currently using 320 kpbs AAC; most of my music is classical). How much higher capacity HD could be installed into my iPod. Is the hardware in your list the only choice or there are compatible higher capacity HDs? (Say 120 or 150 GB)
April 18th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
As of this writing, I believe the maximum size is 100 GB in the 1.8″ form factor.
April 18th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Help! I replaced the hard drive in my ipod, but now i just get a black apple screen and nothing else. tried putting the old drive back in but same problem. Anyone have advice on how to figure out what might be wrong?
April 19th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Excellent guide, thanks.
One of the respondents says that the MKx006 drives usually won’t work in 3G ipods because of the power requirements.
How about the MKx007 drives (MK8007GAH)?
Are there any good options for 80/100 GB in a 3G ipod?
Thanks.
Bernie
April 19th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Hi! Read about these iPod HD upgrade articles long time ago, they used to say after HD upgrading, we no longer can use the firewire connection, is that still the case for 4G iPod today? I’m very tempted to max out my 40GB 4G iPod.
April 20th, 2007 at 6:45 am
i have a 1st gen click wheel the hard drive is a MK2004GAL i want to put a flash drive in and the flash drive is a San Disk 512mb i wa sjust wondering if any one knew any pinouts and or anything that could help me out thanks
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:00 pm
@Michael: If your new hard drive doesn’t get you anywhere, and booting into Disk Mode doesn’t help, certainly your old hard drive should bring it back to its default state. Since that isn’t working, try re-seating the cable — often a loose connection is the problem.
@Bernie: I have to assume that unless the power requirements are less for the newer drives (the specs should be listed in the white papers from Toshiba), they won’t work.
@WoofWoof: That is simply untrue. I’ve replaced and upgraded dozens of 4G iPod hard drives and never once lost FireWire capabilities. The 4G iPods are a rock-solid bunch with plenty of room to grow.
April 22nd, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Are toshiba the only working drives?
April 25th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Hello,
I just bought a 60GB hdd for my Gen2 iPod (old school :)
Unfortunately, I had not read through all the comments and discovered a little too late that these hard drives might not work with Gen3 (and as such, I guess Gen2) ipods because of power consumtion.
I wonder if you install also a new battery such as 2200mAh 3.7v, it could solve the problem.
Any idea / advise ?
Thanks !
May 7th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Hi Collin,
I was just wondering if Daniel (other one) successfully completed his iPod modification, allowing him to run his 5th Generation iPod off a 3.5″ drive in his car. I was about to buy the span 1.8″ to 2.5″ converter and then attempt to connect a 3.5″ to that. In theory this sound like it would work. My question I guess is has it been done successfully and what are the major issues that may cause this plan to fail?
Thanks for your help!