iPod Installing an SSD into an iPod Classic in place of the hard drive

Yebubbleman · Jan 27, 2015

noodles5666 said:
I have a 512GB thin back for when I get my 512GB SDXC card.

Sweet! eBay? And if so, do you have the link to it? I'm curious.

matthew2926 said:
The Rockbox tool is pretty straight forward, just plug in your device and it will detect everything for you. Plenty of YouTube on how to do this simple process. Also, as I said, I have had some trouble with the 2000mah battery upgrade. If you still wanna try this, I would at least advise ordering a regular battery in addition to the 2000mah battery in case the 2000mah battery doesn't fit like mine didn't.

Regarding Rockbox, I'm not worried about the procedure. What I'm curious about is whether there is any functional difference between how it runs on an 80GB thin classic versus a 120GB thin classic or a 160GB thin classic.

If there is no difference, then I'd imagine (especially since the 128GB format limit doesn't apply to Rockbox), there's no reason to not just go with 80GB classics all the time for that as it'd probably be way cheaper than going the 120GB thin or 160GB thin route.

As for the 2000mAh battery, I'm asking you if you were using it with an mSATA configuration or an SDXC configuration. It makes sense that the latter would not fit that battery, however, everything I know of the former configuration and what I've read elsewhere suggests it ought to work, hence me asking which configuration you were trying to use with it.

HereBeMonsters · Jan 27, 2015

Does that work with a 4th Gen iPod?

Yebubbleman · Jan 30, 2015

Alright, so I got a few iPod classics and I decided to crack one open just to get an idea of the procedure. I definitely dinged the front panel, but nothing much worse than the condition it was already in. I definitely broke the back panel, but I figured that was to be expected. It seems as though everything inside was fine. Barring getting at the insides of the damn thing, it looks very much doable, as long as one uses a fresh backing, and perhaps a fresh front panel as well on the reassembly.

The only question I have at this point is:

How difficult is it to transfer the battery to a new backing (I ask with specific regards to the adhesive holding it in place)?

Otherwise, it all looks fairly straightforward once you get it open.

HereBeMonsters said:
Does that work with a 4th Gen iPod?

It might. Not positive.

matthew2926 · Jan 30, 2015

Yebubbleman said:
Alright, so I got a few iPod classics and I decided to crack one open just to get an idea of the procedure. I definitely dinged the front panel, but nothing much worse than the condition it was already in. I definitely broke the back panel, but I figured that was to be expected. It seems as though everything inside was fine. Barring getting at the insides of the damn thing, it looks very much doable, as long as one uses a fresh backing, and perhaps a fresh front panel as well on the reassembly.

The only question I have at this point is:

How difficult is it to transfer the battery to a new backing (I ask with specific regards to the adhesive holding it in place)?

Otherwise, it all looks fairly straightforward once you get it open.

It might. Not positive.

You can use a blunt butter knife or something else flat and not sharp to simply peel the old battery off. You can use 3M double sided adhesive to put it in the new back housing or you can simply roll a piece of tape into a circle so that the sticky part is on the outside and use that.

rgarjr · Jan 30, 2015

I just ordered today my mSATA drive from Amazon finally. I also wanted to rip open my iPod just to get it over with. Apple sure made these devices really hard to pry open.

So yeah you definitely need to have a new backplate on stand-by when you rip one open. The good thing is that they are cheap and easy to get replacements.

noodles5666 · Jan 31, 2015

rgarjr said:
I just ordered today my mSATA drive from Amazon finally. I also wanted to rip open my iPod just to get it over with. Apple sure made these devices really hard to pry open.

So yeah you definitely need to have a new backplate on stand-by when you rip one open. The good thing is that they are cheap and easy to get replacements.

This device works well:

https://shop.icracked.com/products/...nt=286649498&gclid=CJ3F4sfLvsMCFUojgQod0YoAxQ

rgarjr · Jan 31, 2015

Just got the mSata drive in.

irishtike · Feb 2, 2015

4 th gen questions

as herebemonsters asked, will this work with a 4th gen? i know they are limited and not many on this thread seem to mod them. but mine has a HD that is slowing down/on its last legs. i have a adapter on order that goes to CF, but if i read it correctly, that draws too much power. are CF to SDXC adapters easier to fined? do they work more reliably than CF?

rgarjr · Feb 3, 2015

irishtike said:
as herebemonsters asked, will this work with a 4th gen? i know they are limited and not many on this thread seem to mod them. but mine has a HD that is slowing down/on its last legs. i have a adapter on order that goes to CF, but if i read it correctly, that draws too much power. are CF to SDXC adapters easier to fined? do they work more reliably than CF?

Don't think it'll draw that much power. The mSATA drives are the ones that are power hungry when feeding songs in them. You can go PATA-to-CF or if you want an SD card PATA-to-CF, then CF-to-SD. Maximum capacity u can go is 128GB.

jailwut wunnow · Feb 3, 2015

https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iPod_Original

iFixit has parts you might need for this as well as great guides for opening your iPod. I used their tools and guides to so the SSD upgrade to my iPod sometime back. I was able to use the original backing and didn't need to replace it. Just a heads up so you guys don't have to use such brute force to crack open your iPods.

HereBeMonsters · Feb 4, 2015

jailwut wunnow said:
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iPod_Original

iFixit has parts you might need for this as well as great guides for opening your iPod. I used their tools and guides to so the SSD upgrade to my iPod sometime back. I was able to use the original backing and didn't need to replace it. Just a heads up so you guys don't have to use such brute force to crack open your iPods.

Thanks for that, looks really useful.

How do you format the disc once it's in though? Doesn't it need the iPod OS installed on it?

gumbyjunior1 · Feb 4, 2015

You have my sincere "props" for doing this. My 30 GB fifth generation iPod Video thanks you.

Yebubbleman · Feb 7, 2015

irishtike said:
as herebemonsters asked, will this work with a 4th gen? i know they are limited and not many on this thread seem to mod them. but mine has a HD that is slowing down/on its last legs. i have a adapter on order that goes to CF, but if i read it correctly, that draws too much power. are CF to SDXC adapters easier to fined? do they work more reliably than CF?

You should go to http://www.tarkan.info as his adapters seem to be the ones that everyone is using and having the best success with. Apparently the current ones that he sells do not have power drain issues when doing either CF or CF to SDXC. However, mSATA does have a power drain issue.

As for whether or not it will work in a 4th generation iPod, I'm not 100% sure. I'd imagine it would as the only iPods that have any limitations that I know of are the 2007 (thin 80GB/fat 160GB) and 2008 (thin 120GB) iPods, which have limitations on how much storage the built-in Apple Firmware will recognize. (As far as I know, this limit is not observed by the known third party firmwares.)

rgarjr said:
Don't think it'll draw that much power. The mSATA drives are the ones that are power hungry when feeding songs in them. You can go PATA-to-CF or if you want an SD card PATA-to-CF, then CF-to-SD. Maximum capacity u can go is 128GB.

Actually, you can go as high as 256GB. SanDisk just introduced a 512GB model, but it is, as of yet, untested.

jailwut wunnow said:
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iPod_Original

iFixit has parts you might need for this as well as great guides for opening your iPod. I used their tools and guides to so the SSD upgrade to my iPod sometime back. I was able to use the original backing and didn't need to replace it. Just a heads up so you guys don't have to use such brute force to crack open your iPods.

The fifth generation iPods don't seem to require as much force, however, it is fairly difficult to get the classic open. I've done it before, it's not a great process. Either way, replacement backs seem to be the winning strategy, especially since you can get them with 128GB and 256GB inscriptions.

HereBeMonsters said:
Thanks for that, looks really useful.

How do you format the disc once it's in though? Doesn't it need the iPod OS installed on it?

You might want to do more digging, but from what I've gathered so far (since starting this thread and the corresponding research), if it comes formatted for FAT32 (and using the MBR partition scheme), you're probably fine and don't need to repartition. If it comes formatted for exFAT (and using the GUID partition scheme) you'll want to repartition it for FAT32 (and MBR). I'm not positive on that though and am otherwise clueless. I have not gotten this far yet.

Presently I have three silver iPod classics ready for surgery (but am awaiting the arrival of the cards, adapters, and replacement front and rear housings).

gumbyjunior1 said:
You have my sincere "props" for doing this. My 30 GB fifth generation iPod Video thanks you.

You should do it too! Apparently that model of iPod is ripe for this kind of mod. I would like to do a fifth generation mod at some point, especially if I do an mSATA-based iPod.

rgarjr · Feb 7, 2015

gumbyjunior1 said:
You have my sincere "props" for doing this. My 30 GB fifth generation iPod Video thanks you.

Just picked up a used iPod video (5.5 Gen.) 30GB. Had the 160GB HD from my 7th gen sitting around, so that quickly found its way inside the iPod video.

PinkyMacGodess · Feb 8, 2015

andreyirra said:
I was checking Tarkans website since mi iPod Classic died. Then I proceeded to check video tutorials and iFixit and I was almost in dismay when thinking of opening the iPod.

As far as I have seen the back of the iPod has a very big chance of getting deformed. I even saw a video where the guy is pushing the sides of the back casing against a hard surface in order to flatten it again, which he did but not perfectly.

Here is the thing, the back of my iPod is engraved and I would want it to be ruined.

Any experience in this regard? How many chances of deforming the back casing?

I've opened two. The first one was a breeze. No deformations, and it looked perfect. The second one didn't open as nice. Note that this was before the idea of swapping the hard drive for a flash card.

Can you 'un-deform' a deformed back? I was never able to get it 'perfect'. It was the video classic, and the plastic top had a lip over the metal back, and the metal back had a stiffer ring around it that was the main thing that I couldn't seem to get to a good position.

It's not hard to deform the edge of the back, but the first one I did was a far newer model, so if you are careful, and don't pry very far, it should be fine.

I'm looking at my black 160G classic, and can imagine some issues opening it. It's also the thin back, so I am hoping to get a few more years out of it before having to risk opening it.

I'd either research the best ways and tools to open it, or perhaps have someone else do it that has a lot more experience opening them do it.

Patience is probably the word. I was impatient getting the second one open, and it showed.

andreyirra · Feb 11, 2015

PinkyMacGodess said:
I've opened two. The first one was a breeze. No deformations, and it looked perfect. The second one didn't open as nice. Note that this was before the idea of swapping the hard drive for a flash card.

Can you 'un-deform' a deformed back? I was never able to get it 'perfect'. It was the video classic, and the plastic top had a lip over the metal back, and the metal back had a stiffer ring around it that was the main thing that I couldn't seem to get to a good position.

It's not hard to deform the edge of the back, but the first one I did was a far newer model, so if you are careful, and don't pry very far, it should be fine.

I'm looking at my black 160G classic, and can imagine some issues opening it. It's also the thin back, so I am hoping to get a few more years out of it before having to risk opening it.

I'd either research the best ways and tools to open it, or perhaps have someone else do it that has a lot more experience opening them do it.

Patience is probably the word. I was impatient getting the second one open, and it showed.

My wife told me: remember the last time? When you opened the camera to change the display and ended up killing the entire device?

So i just when to the Apple Store and paid to have it exchanged for a refurbished one. The one failing had laser engraving but oh well.

Ipod Collector · Feb 13, 2015

Ipod Classic 7th gen Gold U2 256gb SSD mod

PinkyMacGodess said:
I've opened two. The first one was a breeze. No deformations, and it looked perfect. The second one didn't open as nice. Note that this was before the idea of swapping the hard drive for a flash card.

Can you 'un-deform' a deformed back? I was never able to get it 'perfect'. It was the video classic, and the plastic top had a lip over the metal back, and the metal back had a stiffer ring around it that was the main thing that I couldn't seem to get to a good position.

It's not hard to deform the edge of the back, but the first one I did was a far newer model, so if you are careful, and don't pry very far, it should be fine.

I'm looking at my black 160G classic, and can imagine some issues opening it. It's also the thin back, so I am hoping to get a few more years out of it before having to risk opening it.

I'd either research the best ways and tools to open it, or perhaps have someone else do it that has a lot more experience opening them do it.

Patience is probably the word. I was impatient getting the second one open, and it showed.

Hey Pinky,

You can always let me know about your 7th gen if you ever
wanted to upgrade/mod it. Let me know and we can go from
there.

Check this ipod out:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131371374@N08/

This ipod was originally a 7th gen 160gb thin back classic.
It's now a 7G Ipod Classic 256GB mod. (I could have
went the 512GB or 1TB route, but opted for the 256gb
for the time being with this one.)

I did this mod with a gold faceplate, red clickwheel,
gold center button, thick gold U2 back plate, a 7.5G
motherboard (7th gen thin 160gb board), a Tarkan
SSD iFlash adapter, Samsung PM851 256GB SSD,
and lastly a 1900mah battery, (which is why I went
with the thick back plate with this one. With this
battery it's a tight fit, but pretty much a perfect
fit at that.)

Ipod Collector · Feb 13, 2015

Ipod Classic 7th gen 256gb SSD Mod - Gold U2 Version

Ok, just trying to figure out a way to imbed
pics right into this thread. Heads up on it ?

Ipod Collector · Feb 13, 2015

Ipod Classic 7th gen 256gb SSD Mod - Gold U2 Version

Ahhh, ok, I'm still a fast learner

here you go for anybody interested.

Hit me up with any questions you may have.
I'd be more than happy to help you out if you'd like.

Yebubbleman · Mar 5, 2015

Alright, so as a test, I made my first modded iPod classic.

For this one, I used a used 120GB iPod classic that I bought on eBay. (Given that the 2007 iPod classics used a different color for the black models than the 2008 120GB and the 2009 160GB classics, I'm only going to be working with silver iPod classics for simplicity's sake). I bought a custom "128GB" backing and I even got the eBay seller to print the correct serial number on the back. I used Tarkan's adapters as well as a PNY 128GB SDXC card (he highly recommends their 256GB card, so I figured that getting 128GB would be fine for this, given that the 2008 120GB thin classics will only see up to 128GB on the Apple firmware). I did ruin the back as well as the front; again, I bought a replacement backing for this occasion as well as a replacement front.

I had to format the iPod in Windows as NTFS. For some reason, Disk Utility doesn't work well here. Then I restored using iTunes for Windows, which then makes it restore-able for Mac via iTunes for OS X. Badda-Bing. 128GB HDD-less iPod classic. Will report later when I get music going on it.

For the time being, I have been buying 80GB 2007-model iPod classics that are broken on eBay, spending no more than $55; then I'm taking them to the Genius Bar where I'm paying $130 to swap them out for Apple Refurbished replacements (which are otherwise brand spankin' new 2009-2014 160GB thin iPod classics). I am using THOSE iPods to do my 256GB mods which I will do in the same fashion as I did my 128GB. I have adapters, SDXC cards, fronts, and soon I will have more custom backs. It will be weird to gut what would otherwise be a working 160GB iPod that I could turn around and sell for a ton of money, but it will be nice to build out these 256GB iPods with a brand new battery and otherwise perfectly working logic boards and screens (as they will have been tested by Apple).

My last remaining question before I finally know all that I need to know is: Can I use an iPod classic backing on a 5th generation (or iPod video) and have it work? Are they interchangeable? Or are the backings specific and will not close properly when used with the wrong iPod? I ask as there are tons of custom 128GB and 256GB backing options on eBay for the iPod classics, but none that I can find for the 5th generation iPods. I am considering building out versions of those iPods for those that want the better DAC chip or Rockbox (which I've found to be rather glitchy on the iPod classic [which I imagine won't be remedied anytime soon]).

rgarjr · Mar 5, 2015

Did you read this procedure for SDXC cards?
http://www.tarkan.info/20140310/tutorials/prepare-sdxc-exfat-for-use-with-the-ipod

Yes I believe you can use a 5g back with a 6g or 7g face. I've heard people with 5g using 6g faces.

Yebubbleman · Mar 5, 2015

rgarjr said:
Did you read this procedure for SDXC cards?
http://www.tarkan.info/20140310/tutorials/prepare-sdxc-exfat-for-use-with-the-ipod

I did read that before I started and I assumed that Disk Utility in OS X would be sufficient. Turns out it wasn't, for some reason. No biggie though, again, formatting it as NTFS in Windows got iTunes to see the iPod and do the restore properly, so I might just do it that way from now on for simplicity's sake. Oddly enough I didn't need anything special in Windows. Using Windows' stock format disk interface worked just fine for me.

rgarjr said:
Yes I believe you can use a 5g back with a 6g or 7g face. I've heard people with 5g using 6g faces.

Actually, my question is the opposite; can I use a classic back with a 5g? Furthermore, while we're on the topic anyway, can I interchange the front and back panels of either with each other (i.e. can I use the logic board, frame, and LCD panel of a 5th generation iPod with the front and back panels of an iPod classic? I suppose it's also worth posing the question of whether or not the inverse will also work. Really, while I'm fine with getting replacement 5th gen parts which seem to be plentiful; it'd be nice to also have the option of using the custom "128GB" and "256GB" backings that I'm getting; which appear to be of pretty high quality.

rgarjr · Mar 5, 2015

When I got a 5.5g, the back was all scratched and had a small dent on it. Had an extra 6g back and it worked well on it.

noodles5666 · Mar 5, 2015

Yebubbleman said:
I did read that before I started and I assumed that Disk Utility in OS X would be sufficient. Turns out it wasn't, for some reason. No biggie though, again, formatting it as NTFS in Windows got iTunes to see the iPod and do the restore properly, so I might just do it that way from now on for simplicity's sake. Oddly enough I didn't need anything special in Windows. Using Windows' stock format disk interface worked just fine for me.

Actually, my question is the opposite; can I use a classic back with a 5g? Furthermore, while we're on the topic anyway, can I interchange the front and back panels of either with each other (i.e. can I use the logic board, frame, and LCD panel of a 5th generation iPod with the front and back panels of an iPod classic? I suppose it's also worth posing the question of whether or not the inverse will also work. Really, while I'm fine with getting replacement 5th gen parts which seem to be plentiful; it'd be nice to also have the option of using the custom "128GB" and "256GB" backings that I'm getting; which appear to be of pretty high quality.

I have a 5.5G in a Classic housing as well as a 7.5G in a Video housing.

m11rphy · Mar 6, 2015

Yebubbleman said:
Alright, so as a test, I made my first modded iPod classic.

For this one, I used a used 120GB iPod classic that I bought on eBay. (Given that the 2007 iPod classics used a different color for the black models than the 2008 120GB and the 2009 160GB classics, I'm only going to be working with silver iPod classics for simplicity's sake). I bought a custom "128GB" backing and I even got the eBay seller to print the correct serial number on the back. I used Tarkan's adapters as well as a PNY 128GB SDXC card (he highly recommends their 256GB card, so I figured that getting 128GB would be fine for this, given that the 2008 120GB thin classics will only see up to 128GB on the Apple firmware). I did ruin the back as well as the front; again, I bought a replacement backing for this occasion as well as a replacement front.

I had to format the iPod in Windows as NTFS. For some reason, Disk Utility doesn't work well here. Then I restored using iTunes for Windows, which then makes it restore-able for Mac via iTunes for OS X. Badda-Bing. 128GB HDD-less iPod classic. Will report later when I get music going on it.

For the time being, I have been buying 80GB 2007-model iPod classics that are broken on eBay, spending no more than $55; then I'm taking them to the Genius Bar where I'm paying $130 to swap them out for Apple Refurbished replacements (which are otherwise brand spankin' new 2009-2014 160GB thin iPod classics). I am using THOSE iPods to do my 256GB mods which I will do in the same fashion as I did my 128GB. I have adapters, SDXC cards, fronts, and soon I will have more custom backs. It will be weird to gut what would otherwise be a working 160GB iPod that I could turn around and sell for a ton of money, but it will be nice to build out these 256GB iPods with a brand new battery and otherwise perfectly working logic boards and screens (as they will have been tested by Apple).

My last remaining question before I finally know all that I need to know is: Can I use an iPod classic backing on a 5th generation (or iPod video) and have it work? Are they interchangeable? Or are the backings specific and will not close properly when used with the wrong iPod? I ask as there are tons of custom 128GB and 256GB backing options on eBay for the iPod classics, but none that I can find for the 5th generation iPods. I am considering building out versions of those iPods for those that want the better DAC chip or Rockbox (which I've found to be rather glitchy on the iPod classic [which I imagine won't be remedied anytime soon]).

I have a 30gb iPod video with a faulty screen, are you saying apple will upgrade it to a refurb classic for a fee ?

iPod Installing an SSD into an iPod Classic in place of the hard drive

macrumors 603

macrumors 6502

macrumors 603

macrumors 6502

macrumors 604

macrumors regular

macrumors 604

Attachments

macrumors member

macrumors 604

macrumors member

macrumors 6502

macrumors regular

macrumors 603

macrumors 604

Suspended

macrumors regular

macrumors member

macrumors member

Attachments

macrumors member

Attachments

macrumors 603

macrumors 604

macrumors 603

macrumors 604

macrumors regular

macrumors 6502a

Our Staff