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iPod Finished 256GB upgrade of 2nd gen iPod Mini (See Pics)
- Thread starter noodles5666
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Has anyone here experienced the problem, after installing a CF card, with the iPod mini displaying the "folder/exclamation point" icon?
About 4 years ago, I installed a 32GB CF card in a 2nd gen. and I had this issue whenever the iPod wakes from a deep sleep, but was able to get it to eventually snap out of it & boot normally after doing several resets (maybe 6, give or take). I've also experienced relatively infrequent freezes during playback, in which it reverts to this error icon, and takes several tries rebooting to get it to work again.
A few days ago, my iPod stopped being recognized by iTunes. I am a Mac user, and I used Disk Utility to check the iPod, and it reported "Invalid BTH length" and advised that repair was necessary. I then attempted to repair the volume, but that failed. So, I opened up the iPod and put the card in a CF card reader and was able to initialize the card. I put it back on the iPod motherboard and was able to successfully get it to restore in iTunes, but I'm still back to having to deal with the "folder/exclamation point" icon problem.
The card I have is Kingston 32GB Ultimate 266X, and in the past few days, I've tried many different approaches to erasing & reformatting the card, both in the CF card reader, and in the iPod. When trying to erase the the card with it in the iPod, I did get an interesting error message, which I'm hoping will give a clue to what's going on with the card -- it failed to erase it, stating "Unable to write to the last block of the device." I'm wondering if that in any way explains the folder/exclamation point icon.
Ultimately, I really want to go the route of the SD card & adapter as done by the original poster, but I'm a bit hung up about understanding why my existing CF card doesn't completely work, without finagling. It also makes me weary that I'd have the same problem with an SD card.
On a Mac, are there any special preparations that should be done to the CF or SD card before installing it in the iPod mini?
About 4 years ago, I installed a 32GB CF card in a 2nd gen. and I had this issue whenever the iPod wakes from a deep sleep, but was able to get it to eventually snap out of it & boot normally after doing several resets (maybe 6, give or take). I've also experienced relatively infrequent freezes during playback, in which it reverts to this error icon, and takes several tries rebooting to get it to work again.
A few days ago, my iPod stopped being recognized by iTunes. I am a Mac user, and I used Disk Utility to check the iPod, and it reported "Invalid BTH length" and advised that repair was necessary. I then attempted to repair the volume, but that failed. So, I opened up the iPod and put the card in a CF card reader and was able to initialize the card. I put it back on the iPod motherboard and was able to successfully get it to restore in iTunes, but I'm still back to having to deal with the "folder/exclamation point" icon problem.
The card I have is Kingston 32GB Ultimate 266X, and in the past few days, I've tried many different approaches to erasing & reformatting the card, both in the CF card reader, and in the iPod. When trying to erase the the card with it in the iPod, I did get an interesting error message, which I'm hoping will give a clue to what's going on with the card -- it failed to erase it, stating "Unable to write to the last block of the device." I'm wondering if that in any way explains the folder/exclamation point icon.
Ultimately, I really want to go the route of the SD card & adapter as done by the original poster, but I'm a bit hung up about understanding why my existing CF card doesn't completely work, without finagling. It also makes me weary that I'd have the same problem with an SD card.
On a Mac, are there any special preparations that should be done to the CF or SD card before installing it in the iPod mini?
I formated with disc utility for the mini.
Are you still using gen 2 ipod or mini now? I cant help with gen 2 but someone else may be able to.
Yes, I'm still using the gen. 2 iPod mini. I went ahead and ordered the iFlash CF-SDXC adapter and will see how it behaves with some SD cards I already have, and then will decide from there how to proceed.
I've had that issue on and off with my own 32GB CF mini. A quick reset, holding down menu for the first few seconds of the boot seems to knock it back into functionality. No idea why it does that or why that trick works, but it's been reliably working for a few years now
The iFlash CF-SD card adapter arrived a couple days ago, and as an initial test, I tried using a 32GB SDHC card I had on hand, and while it "worked," it gave me the same "folder/exclamation point" icon & associated rigamarole I described before. After all the efforts I went through before with trying to format/re-format/re-partition the CF card I had been using so far, I was feeling pretty bad about the iFlash adapter.
However, I decided to take a gamble and went to my local MicroCenter and bought the PNY 256GB SDXC card (on sale) that the original poster used, and it worked, issue-free! I'm a Mac user, but I didn't bother reformatting the card to HFS+ before installing it into the iPod. It turned on, went through the typical restore process with iTunes, and I'm now among the ranks of those with an iPod with more capacity than Apple has ever sold.
I'm curious, from an academic standpoint, why some cards work fine while others only work when you go through the multiple resets routine. I put up with it for a few years with the Kingston CF card, but it always nagged me that my iPod wasn't up to the Steve Jobs standard of "it just works." I'm glad that it does now though.
However, I decided to take a gamble and went to my local MicroCenter and bought the PNY 256GB SDXC card (on sale) that the original poster used, and it worked, issue-free! I'm a Mac user, but I didn't bother reformatting the card to HFS+ before installing it into the iPod. It turned on, went through the typical restore process with iTunes, and I'm now among the ranks of those with an iPod with more capacity than Apple has ever sold.
I'm curious, from an academic standpoint, why some cards work fine while others only work when you go through the multiple resets routine. I put up with it for a few years with the Kingston CF card, but it always nagged me that my iPod wasn't up to the Steve Jobs standard of "it just works." I'm glad that it does now though.
Me neither. I've had mine apart 3 times over the years and haven't had problems with that. The original adhesive remains sticky enough (so far).
Those are some nice fresh mods he's doing there.....
Thanks for posting that link, one mad Russian,
even though now you got mind on more than just
what I already had going on on my end.
Now I want this capacitor/filter done to my 5.5g
motherboard with the 64mb dbfile on it. I actually
already messaged RSF to ask him if he'd like to do
an upgrade to my board for me. I told him I could
do it myself if he'd help me out a bit or I'll send
him the board for him to do himself, whichever
way works for me. But if he's comfortable doing
it himself, I'm more than happy to pay him to do it
Oh, and noodles, nice mod on the mini, that's fresh.
And yes, the mini's definitely have a nice crisp sound
to them, especially when using the dock output on it.
I like to use my ipod at work during the day.
I have a bose dock I use it on. I bought a Kokkia
30 pin dock bluetooth adapter a couple of months
ago and I simply can't get enough of it. It's a little
rough on the battery usage but no biggie, there's
always a plug around to charge her back up.
I'm using a 900Mah battery in it, but with it being
modded to a 256gb SSD and using bluetooth along
with it, I guess I can say I'm pretty happy at getting
10-12 hours worth of play on one charge.
Not too shabby anyways.
I also have another mod I just completed this past week
after I received my SSD adapter boards I ordered from Tarkan.
It's a 7.5G 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.)
Here's some pics, let me know what you all think of it...
What's the best battery to install for ipod mini 6g?
That is pretty cool! I applaud people who know how to do these types of things. I hope you enjoy it.
Hello guys !
My iPod Classic 7th Gen, Thin, 160GB started having issues a few weeks ago. It was shutting down by itself. I gave it to a tech guy here in my town and he opened it (really without any scratch at all). He told me the issue is most probably the HDD that is failing. So I bought iFlash Solo, a 200Gb MicroSDXC UHS-I (U1) Sandisk Ultra (from the compatible SD Cards list, right ? ) and a new battery fix kit from iFixit.com
Today I got to work with it. I formatted the SD with the AOMEI tool (following every single step of the said guide - https://www.iflash.xyz/prepare-sdxc-exfat-for-use-with-the-ipod) and installed it. At first it was doing fine. I restored it and then started syncing songs. It managed to sync around 100 songs but then I started giving me errors like these:
https://postimg.org/image/fvmbbis5p/
https://postimg.org/image/w7wd196h9/
https://postimg.org/image/v6w4c4php/
- I tried reformatting the SD card via the SandisK SD Formatter utility
- I tried another microSD card I had - a 16GB Lexar 633x
- I removed the HDD ribbon and re-placed it again in its place carefully.
- I even ran a pencil eraser over the ribbon's gold fingers.
I always have the same results.
Even when iTunes manages to sync some songs, it stops after a number of songs and gives me those error messages. Once I did manage to sync around 800 - 1000 tracks - maybe even more.
All my trials were done without me closing the iPod - I wanted to make sure everything works before I close it.
One other weird issue is that I haven't managed to enter the Test / Diagnostic mode on the iPod after it started having these issues. When I press the center button along with MENU, the screen just turns off and nothing happens, or the apple comes up and it gets stuck there.
Update after another effort:
This time I managed to sync more songs, while listening to an iTunes playlist of mine. I noticed that like the previous times, when iTunes gets stuck on the syncing, right before showing the errors, it stops playing the music I’m listening to (it’s like it hangs all together as an application), and the iPod gets stuck at the “Connected” state and does not proceed again to “syncing”. After 5-6 minutes it shows the error message “Itunes could not sync the X track to the iPod because an unknown error occured (-50)” and the music continues where from where it was. Now the ipod is stuck at the “Connected” screen and I have to disconnect it, open it and unplug the battery ribbon and re-plug the battery ribbon for it to wake up. I also tried with the previous battery. Same thing happens.
Maybe the logic board / main board or the clickwheel is damaged ?
I also suspect there may be something wrong with the HDD ribbon, and I have ordered some, but it will take time for them to come (one from China and one from the iFlash shop)
Any help appreciated
Thanks in advance.
My iPod Classic 7th Gen, Thin, 160GB started having issues a few weeks ago. It was shutting down by itself. I gave it to a tech guy here in my town and he opened it (really without any scratch at all). He told me the issue is most probably the HDD that is failing. So I bought iFlash Solo, a 200Gb MicroSDXC UHS-I (U1) Sandisk Ultra (from the compatible SD Cards list, right ? ) and a new battery fix kit from iFixit.com
Today I got to work with it. I formatted the SD with the AOMEI tool (following every single step of the said guide - https://www.iflash.xyz/prepare-sdxc-exfat-for-use-with-the-ipod) and installed it. At first it was doing fine. I restored it and then started syncing songs. It managed to sync around 100 songs but then I started giving me errors like these:
https://postimg.org/image/fvmbbis5p/
https://postimg.org/image/w7wd196h9/
https://postimg.org/image/v6w4c4php/
- I tried reformatting the SD card via the SandisK SD Formatter utility
- I tried another microSD card I had - a 16GB Lexar 633x
- I removed the HDD ribbon and re-placed it again in its place carefully.
- I even ran a pencil eraser over the ribbon's gold fingers.
I always have the same results.
Even when iTunes manages to sync some songs, it stops after a number of songs and gives me those error messages. Once I did manage to sync around 800 - 1000 tracks - maybe even more.
All my trials were done without me closing the iPod - I wanted to make sure everything works before I close it.
One other weird issue is that I haven't managed to enter the Test / Diagnostic mode on the iPod after it started having these issues. When I press the center button along with MENU, the screen just turns off and nothing happens, or the apple comes up and it gets stuck there.
Update after another effort:
This time I managed to sync more songs, while listening to an iTunes playlist of mine. I noticed that like the previous times, when iTunes gets stuck on the syncing, right before showing the errors, it stops playing the music I’m listening to (it’s like it hangs all together as an application), and the iPod gets stuck at the “Connected” state and does not proceed again to “syncing”. After 5-6 minutes it shows the error message “Itunes could not sync the X track to the iPod because an unknown error occured (-50)” and the music continues where from where it was. Now the ipod is stuck at the “Connected” screen and I have to disconnect it, open it and unplug the battery ribbon and re-plug the battery ribbon for it to wake up. I also tried with the previous battery. Same thing happens.
Maybe the logic board / main board or the clickwheel is damaged ?
I also suspect there may be something wrong with the HDD ribbon, and I have ordered some, but it will take time for them to come (one from China and one from the iFlash shop)
Any help appreciated
Thanks in advance.
.... addendum to my ipod-mini modding post ... https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...od-mini-see-pics.1843060/page-2#post-22198866
======
remove Apple applied anodizing by soaking in phosphoric acid for one or two days ... you can buy that from a hardware store as clear-as-water rust remover
======
best anodizing receipe i used after some experienced third party advice and experimentation
· 20 to 23 degrees celius ambient temperature
· 2 to 3 amps for a single ipod-mini case (approx 26 square inches exposed surface area)
· 7 to 9 volts (NON-switching power supply)
· 180 minutes
======
after removal from anodizing bath (33% battery acid + 67% distilled water, which equals approximately 11% pure sulphuric acid + 89% distilled water) , then rinse, optionally dye, and seal in boiling distilled water
filtered water rinse
filtered water rinse, again
distilled water rinse
optionally, dye in a bath, preheated to 50 deg.C, no additional heat applied, so probably cooled to 40C over 1/2 hour, use distilled water - i used a tall 500ml glass jar placed in a plastic jug so i could surround the glass jar with hot water and cap the 'hot water jacket' with a kitchen sponge -- this can be easily heated in a microwave prior to suspending the ipod-mini case within the jar ... the black dye i got as a powder from ebay, but i suspect it is merely laser-printer / photocopier toner and was opened by border customs inspectors who thought it could be an illegal narcotic ... it had a slight red tinge when applied to the case, but this tinge dissappeared after a few days
to close the aluminium pores (sealing) boil for 1/2 hour ... in distilled water, no sealant chemicals added, as i don't have any ... i just bought a cheap electric kettle / jug to boil the ipod-mini case in
======
i used aluminium mig welding wire to suspend case from an aluminium support strip acting as the anode bus bar (positive 7 - 9 volts) placed on top of the anodizing, rinse, dye, and sealing baths, last photo (at the botttom right) shows how i looped it to press fit within the interior of the ipod-mini case, and the support strip which connects to the positive side of the power supply ... the two larger aluminium sheet metal cathodes connect to the negative side of the power supply
======
when re-anodizing the case, use no pigment/dye if your want a natural look ... or in some variations i used a colloidal silver ('dye') bath for a subtle silver sheen
i did want to try a 'white' anodize, but never got around to doing it ... a process i thought could work would be to use two dye baths
first is barim acetate (made from barium carbonate and acetic acid)
second bath is sodium sulphate
they will react to form barium sulphate in the yet unclosed pores of the aluminium which is a white insoluble powder
======
at the time these photos were taken i was experimenting with recolouring the PVC material used in the endcaps on a unused white ipod-mini click-ring ... the tan vinyl spray was old and lumpy because it was from the bottom of the aerosol can ... in the end, the best results i got for recolouring the end caps was black vinyl (auto uphostery / carpet) dye, removed from an aerosol can, and applied with an air brush
--- tips ---
unremoveable, broken or damaged tiny casing screws WILL dissolve in the anodising bath
excesssive anodizing current will pit the ipod-mini casing, you may be able to see that erosion damage along the edges of the apertures for the end-caps, click-ring and lcd, of the ipod-mini case which i tried anodizing at 4 Amps for 120 minutes
anodizing will not hide (or fill) any scratches or imperfections in the case metal
a short caustic soda solution bath prior to anodizing, say 15 - 30 seconds, will give you a matte anodize finish
i am not responsible for any misuse or mishandling of these chemicals, wear rubber gloves, eye, face and breathing protection, and sacrificial clothes as a minimum - sulphuric acid splashed on your clothes will leave big holes in them which appear after a day or two, or after washing them.
anodizing will release toxic sulphuric acid fumes and a fine mist, do this outside on a warm day, and don't breathe the fumes in
sulphuric acid will permanently stain concrete, bricks, and open-pore ceramics white
do not use these chemicals unattended
store and use these chemicals away from children and animals; keep them in impact and ultra-violet resistant containers
a solution of caustic soda will neutralize sulphuric acid, keep plenty of water and a solution of neutralizing caustic soda around in case of accidents
dispose of unwanted chemicals ecologically and in acccordance with local laws, don't just pour them down the drain
anodizing is an art not a science
======
remove Apple applied anodizing by soaking in phosphoric acid for one or two days ... you can buy that from a hardware store as clear-as-water rust remover
======
best anodizing receipe i used after some experienced third party advice and experimentation
· 20 to 23 degrees celius ambient temperature
· 2 to 3 amps for a single ipod-mini case (approx 26 square inches exposed surface area)
· 7 to 9 volts (NON-switching power supply)
· 180 minutes
======
after removal from anodizing bath (33% battery acid + 67% distilled water, which equals approximately 11% pure sulphuric acid + 89% distilled water) , then rinse, optionally dye, and seal in boiling distilled water
filtered water rinse
filtered water rinse, again
distilled water rinse
optionally, dye in a bath, preheated to 50 deg.C, no additional heat applied, so probably cooled to 40C over 1/2 hour, use distilled water - i used a tall 500ml glass jar placed in a plastic jug so i could surround the glass jar with hot water and cap the 'hot water jacket' with a kitchen sponge -- this can be easily heated in a microwave prior to suspending the ipod-mini case within the jar ... the black dye i got as a powder from ebay, but i suspect it is merely laser-printer / photocopier toner and was opened by border customs inspectors who thought it could be an illegal narcotic ... it had a slight red tinge when applied to the case, but this tinge dissappeared after a few days
to close the aluminium pores (sealing) boil for 1/2 hour ... in distilled water, no sealant chemicals added, as i don't have any ... i just bought a cheap electric kettle / jug to boil the ipod-mini case in
======
i used aluminium mig welding wire to suspend case from an aluminium support strip acting as the anode bus bar (positive 7 - 9 volts) placed on top of the anodizing, rinse, dye, and sealing baths, last photo (at the botttom right) shows how i looped it to press fit within the interior of the ipod-mini case, and the support strip which connects to the positive side of the power supply ... the two larger aluminium sheet metal cathodes connect to the negative side of the power supply
======
when re-anodizing the case, use no pigment/dye if your want a natural look ... or in some variations i used a colloidal silver ('dye') bath for a subtle silver sheen
i did want to try a 'white' anodize, but never got around to doing it ... a process i thought could work would be to use two dye baths
first is barim acetate (made from barium carbonate and acetic acid)
second bath is sodium sulphate
they will react to form barium sulphate in the yet unclosed pores of the aluminium which is a white insoluble powder
======
at the time these photos were taken i was experimenting with recolouring the PVC material used in the endcaps on a unused white ipod-mini click-ring ... the tan vinyl spray was old and lumpy because it was from the bottom of the aerosol can ... in the end, the best results i got for recolouring the end caps was black vinyl (auto uphostery / carpet) dye, removed from an aerosol can, and applied with an air brush
--- tips ---
unremoveable, broken or damaged tiny casing screws WILL dissolve in the anodising bath
excesssive anodizing current will pit the ipod-mini casing, you may be able to see that erosion damage along the edges of the apertures for the end-caps, click-ring and lcd, of the ipod-mini case which i tried anodizing at 4 Amps for 120 minutes
anodizing will not hide (or fill) any scratches or imperfections in the case metal
a short caustic soda solution bath prior to anodizing, say 15 - 30 seconds, will give you a matte anodize finish
i am not responsible for any misuse or mishandling of these chemicals, wear rubber gloves, eye, face and breathing protection, and sacrificial clothes as a minimum - sulphuric acid splashed on your clothes will leave big holes in them which appear after a day or two, or after washing them.
anodizing will release toxic sulphuric acid fumes and a fine mist, do this outside on a warm day, and don't breathe the fumes in
sulphuric acid will permanently stain concrete, bricks, and open-pore ceramics white
do not use these chemicals unattended
store and use these chemicals away from children and animals; keep them in impact and ultra-violet resistant containers
a solution of caustic soda will neutralize sulphuric acid, keep plenty of water and a solution of neutralizing caustic soda around in case of accidents
dispose of unwanted chemicals ecologically and in acccordance with local laws, don't just pour them down the drain
anodizing is an art not a science
Last edited:
Well finally finished my Mini upgrade. Currently have over 15,000 tracks on it and only using my db file is only at 28.5MB. Getting an average of at least 20 hours straight play time.
1 Used 2G iPod Mini 4GB
1 Tarkan CF-SDXC Adapter
1 PNY 256GB SDXC
1 Custom made 256GB 1G iPod Mini housing
Not a particularly useful response - but this is cool!
I didn't even know people still used iPods, with steaming services and the latest phones, put its cool to see such a new taste being brought to the market - its refreshing.
Well done - you smashed it!
This thread inspired me. I found a working Mini 2nd gen on eBay for $25, ordered the iFlash CF-SD adapter, a 256GB Lexar Pro 633x UHS-I SDXC card, and a 1300mAh Insten battery from GadgetMenders.
Surgery only took about 30 minutes. The hot glue trick for removing the end caps didn’t work for me, so I had to pry them off with a screwdriver. Only suffered minimal damage, but I’d buy an iSesamo tool if I had to start over from scratch. My snap ring pliers were too big so I carefully pried out the bottom retaining clip with a tiny screwdriver. Only real damage was to my thumb. A little super glue fixed that though.
Once it went all back together, it worked flawlessly. Copying songs was considerably faster, though still not as fast as my iPhone. Can’t comment on battery life yet but seems proper so far. No overnight drain or anything weird.
HOWEVER today it started behaving quite odd. When I’d press buttons the screen would go blank until I let off the buttons. It seemed to be pressure related because when it happened, it happened even with the hold switch on. This issue came and went at random. Then it started skipping over songs. When I plugged it into my computer, iTunes said it couldn’t communicate with it, and it quickly went downhill. iTunes stopped even recognizing it, Finder quickly stopped recognizing it, and it wouldn’t even charge when plugged in, or just freeze up completely. Disk mode didn’t work.
I took it apart and examined the inside. Nothing had come loose that I could see. Diagnostics didn’t really tell me anything, and I didn’t know what to look for anyhow.
While using it with the click wheel dangling free, it did that blank screen thing a couple times when squeezing a button. It occurred to me that something was probably touching where it shouldn’t.
Thnakfully, my Windows Bootcamp was able to read and restore the iPod. When I put it back together, I used a bit of gorilla tape to secure the iFlash adapter to the PCB so it doesn’t flop, and I put some masking tape on the back side of the click wheel. Now it feels more secure in the housing and is once again copying my library over as I type. Hopefully this was just a fluke and the masking tape solved whatever that shorting problem might have been.
If not, I’ve got a broken Classic that I’ll bite the bullet and try to open without destroying it or myself.
Surgery only took about 30 minutes. The hot glue trick for removing the end caps didn’t work for me, so I had to pry them off with a screwdriver. Only suffered minimal damage, but I’d buy an iSesamo tool if I had to start over from scratch. My snap ring pliers were too big so I carefully pried out the bottom retaining clip with a tiny screwdriver. Only real damage was to my thumb. A little super glue fixed that though.
Once it went all back together, it worked flawlessly. Copying songs was considerably faster, though still not as fast as my iPhone. Can’t comment on battery life yet but seems proper so far. No overnight drain or anything weird.
HOWEVER today it started behaving quite odd. When I’d press buttons the screen would go blank until I let off the buttons. It seemed to be pressure related because when it happened, it happened even with the hold switch on. This issue came and went at random. Then it started skipping over songs. When I plugged it into my computer, iTunes said it couldn’t communicate with it, and it quickly went downhill. iTunes stopped even recognizing it, Finder quickly stopped recognizing it, and it wouldn’t even charge when plugged in, or just freeze up completely. Disk mode didn’t work.
I took it apart and examined the inside. Nothing had come loose that I could see. Diagnostics didn’t really tell me anything, and I didn’t know what to look for anyhow.
While using it with the click wheel dangling free, it did that blank screen thing a couple times when squeezing a button. It occurred to me that something was probably touching where it shouldn’t.
Thnakfully, my Windows Bootcamp was able to read and restore the iPod. When I put it back together, I used a bit of gorilla tape to secure the iFlash adapter to the PCB so it doesn’t flop, and I put some masking tape on the back side of the click wheel. Now it feels more secure in the housing and is once again copying my library over as I type. Hopefully this was just a fluke and the masking tape solved whatever that shorting problem might have been.
If not, I’ve got a broken Classic that I’ll bite the bullet and try to open without destroying it or myself.
Yup ... you recaptured some magic. I wholeheartedly believe that Apple is making a huge mistake by not having a dedicated music player. I know I'm starving for a focused device such as the classic iPod.