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mattg3

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 8, 2010
417
20
ma.
About to buy a refurbished Ipod 5.5 and so many on forums say rockbox is way to go yet it seems like a lot of work to get it.I have yet to figure out how to put it on using an Imac since youtube has only people using a PC putting it on ipods.Im also confused as to how you put music on it if you have over 50 Gbs of music all on itunes like I do.Apparently once you have it you cant use Itunes?
 
To use rockbox on a 5.5g is actually pretty simple just use the rockbox install utility and yes you can dual boot the ipod firmware and the rockbox firmware/player thing.

To do so first(well after installing rockbox obviously) reset the ipod and immediately slide the button lock to the locked position and leave it there until the ipod firmware fully boots, as long as you do not reset the ipod then it will function like a normal ipod without rockbox installed(yes you can use itunes).

If you want to boot rockbox then reset the ipod and DO NOT slide the button lock to the locked position.

Also just in case you are not aware your 5.5g is considered an ipod video the 6 and 7g's are considered ipod classics and it is the classics that cannot currently dual boot.
 
It becomes like a regular hard drive and gives you folders I think? I don't remember. The last time I used it was in 2005, so almost a decade.

I ended up just taking it off and theming the iPod OS instead. The iPod Video was the most robust iPod that came out at the time, you could have games, you could stuff videos and movies in there, and the screen was much bigger.

And you lost the majority of that experience with Rockbox. Even the battery suffered.
 
Thanks.Im just interested in if I can get an even better sound quality by using Rockbox than what Im getting from the Ipod video.Not interested in anything else Rockbox has to offer.
 
Thanks.Im just interested in if I can get an even better sound quality by using Rockbox than what Im getting from the Ipod video.Not interested in anything else Rockbox has to offer.

You won't get any better sound quality; you will get, though, a decent parametric equaliser.
 
Thanks,So all this stuff Ive been reading about not getting the true Wolfson quality until you use Rockbox is just hype?
 
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