Given that the specs of the first gen match that of the 1st and 2nd gen iPhone (pretty much). Is there/would there be a way to remove Apple's restrictions and get OS 4 onto a first gen touch?
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Able to "shoehorn" iPhone OS 4 onto a 1st Gen?
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I'm extremely interested in doing this if at all possible. I definitely think it will be more complicated than activating multitasking on the iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G will be.
I wouldn't rule out the possibility (you never know what the jailbreak community will come up with), but this would be a lot harder than simply activating multitasking on the 3G, since that just involved toggling a function in an OS designed for the device to begin with. Since Apple won't be developing a build of iPhone OS 4 for the 1st-gen Touch, getting it working would likely be a bigger project; they'd have to develop (or port from iPhone OS 3) the drivers to get it working.
Not being a developer, I can't say exactly how hard this is (or if it's even possible), but it's definitely a bigger project than just enabling a software-disabled feature.
Not being a developer, I can't say exactly how hard this is (or if it's even possible), but it's definitely a bigger project than just enabling a software-disabled feature.
Presumably the drivers would already exist; as I understand it the hardware in the iPhone 2G/3G iPod touch 2G is nearly identical to the 1G touch.
Wouldn't it be like how people manage to install Leopard on unsupported machines? The hardware is there, the software just needs to be "tricked" into installing?
This. The first iPhone and iPod touches all have difference hardware, which is not in the .ispw for 4.0 and unless your going to reverse engineer that firmware file, add your hardware in, just for it to run extremely slow, your not going to get 4.0 on it.
Nearly identical, but not completely identical. The 2nd-generation Touch has, for example, volume buttons, a faster processor, an internal speaker, input through the headphone jack, etc...I'm not a hardware developer, so I can't say how similar they are, and it's possible that you could pull an XPostFacto in this case.
Remember, though, that XPostFacto works by basically tricking Apple's "Does this machine have a processor faster than 867 MHz" check; the OS X build has drivers for some of the unsupported machines. But you still can't install Leopard on the oldest G4s (or any G3s), because Apple simply didn't build drivers for those machines. And even the systems that you can shoehorn Leopard onto sometimes have issues (Time Machine, DVD Player, Front Row, etc.).
And the iPhone/iPod Touch are much more tightly integrated with their software than Macs, so it's entirely possible that these glitches will result in having a barely-usable device.
Basically, it will depend on three things:
1) How many hardware differences there are
2) Whether Apple actively removes the 1G Touch hardware drivers from OS 4.0 builds
...and if they did:
3) Whether developers are able to hack an older version of the 1G Touch drivers into a custom 4.0 firmware file
Like I said, not impossible to imagine that it could be done, but it would likely be a much more involved project than just toggling a switch and going to town.
And even then, Whats the point of it? So a very small majority can get 4.0 because they are too cheap to upgrade?
As the Gen1 is the most open of the bunch, we all know pretty much anything is possible with that device. Will it be functional and work well is another story.
IMO this statement is incorrect.
The Point
The point (for me personally) would be increased utility for a device I use several times daily. Specifically, I would use multitasking often to keep Pandora playing while I read tweets, check out facebook, read these forums, read Daring Fireball, etc. Folders and a unified mailbox would also be very useful for me.
Yes, iPod touch 1G and Original iPhone users are a minority (I wouldn't say very small minority, but a minority none the less), but I don't think that makes this (shoehorning...) any less useful. When you see hackers put so much effort into putting Windows 95 onto on iPod touch, you have to think they're going to try hard to shoehorn this OS onto older devices, if only to say they did it (This could be their reason for doing it, not mine. I'm saying it would be a feat and be useful.)
I also don't think it's correct to say iPod touch 1G users are "too cheap to upgrade." I would say we are seeking to be efficient with our technology. The main reason I want OS 4.0 is to play Pandora and surf the internet simultaneously. I could not do that any better with a new iPod compared to my 1G iPod touch (slightly faster, yes, but better per say).
What about the rest of you 1st gen owners? Feel similar?
Why do you say Gen1 is the most open? Not saying that's not true, just wondering the reasoning behind this statement. Also, do you think it will not work well because of how Leopard doesn't quite work so well on unintended machines?
The point (for me personally) would be increased utility for a device I use several times daily. Specifically, I would use multitasking often to keep Pandora playing while I read tweets, check out facebook, read these forums, read Daring Fireball, etc. Folders and a unified mailbox would also be very useful for me.
Yes, iPod touch 1G and Original iPhone users are a minority (I wouldn't say very small minority, but a minority none the less), but I don't think that makes this (shoehorning...) any less useful. When you see hackers put so much effort into putting Windows 95 onto on iPod touch, you have to think they're going to try hard to shoehorn this OS onto older devices, if only to say they did it (This could be their reason for doing it, not mine. I'm saying it would be a feat and be useful.)
I also don't think it's correct to say iPod touch 1G users are "too cheap to upgrade." I would say we are seeking to be efficient with our technology. The main reason I want OS 4.0 is to play Pandora and surf the internet simultaneously. I could not do that any better with a new iPod compared to my 1G iPod touch (slightly faster, yes, but better per say).
What about the rest of you 1st gen owners? Feel similar?
Why do you say Gen1 is the most open? Not saying that's not true, just wondering the reasoning behind this statement. Also, do you think it will not work well because of how Leopard doesn't quite work so well on unintended machines?
I think the rest 1st gen owners have already jailbroken their devices to have multitasking instead of waiting for apple doing it years later..
Oh and its much easier than what your asking for isnt it?edit: he says the 1st gen is the most open because the exploits needed to hack the device have been long time discovered and nothing can happen to prevent them. Each newer model gets hardware changes to prevent that, thats why we'll never know for sure if the latest device will be jailbreakable, untill someone finds an exploit.