I can imagine my iPod flying through the air and crashing hard against the wall if I were to try that.
'Classic iPod Hackers Say There’s No Better Way to Listen to Music'
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I'd be tempted to try to resuscitate one just so I could drop offhanded comments about using a spudger.
I've got a whole bunch of spudgers, different sizes, shapes, tips, both plastic and metal spudgers. Yes I have spudged... if that's actually a word (probably not).
In most cases a small precision screwdriver is a perfect substitute if one lacks a spudger, however the case opener flat blade spatula type tool is more of a necessity, the only good suitable replacements one may already have on hand are a spark plug gap feeler gauge, or a very small thin metal spatula.
Here are my tools of the trade (F-you Apple I'll crack your shit open):
More than one person has actually had that happen, either due to their hands lacking the fine dexterity needed to perform this delicate dance, or they just got frustrated, lost all patience and threw the thing against the wall.
Reminds me of a friend of mine in NJ, he's unbelievably technical, and astute with all things mechanical too, he always knows what actually needs to be done and how to do it, but he lacks patience. It doesn't take him long to start issuing threats out loud to inanimate objects, something to the effect of "you motherfucker, if you don't submit real soon I'm just gonna throw you on the floor and jump up and down on you, and I guarantee you'll never give me trouble ever again!".
He actually means it, I've seen him do it, very short fuse. He stomped the crap out of a Japanese receiver one time, I don't even remember what about it was annoying him, but he threw it on the floor and put it to its death wearing a pair of winter boots that had Vibram soles supported by steel shanks, that unit stood no chance, he is a big strong guy. He was happy afterwards.
His father was a nuclear power plant engineer, and Dad clearly had a bit more patience built-in to his psyche.
I am, my Gen. 6 is the only iPod I still actually use, because it is capable of digital output via it's dock connector to certain "Made for iPod" compatible DACs, including the Oppo HA-2 that I own.
The problem is the Gen. 6 that I modded got a new battery, but it wasn't a high capacity version, and digital output actually consumes more battery than analog output does. That generic replacement battery is now 5-6 years old, and it is not holding up anywhere near as well as the Apple OEM Sanyo batteries that are now unobtainium.
I did some time ago order a high capacity battery for it, and a new back cover too, but I have been too lazy to date to actually search out and find which project bin that stuff is actually in, pull it out, and do the job. Maybe this thread will inspire me.
Is there anyone who does this work well, at a reasonable cost? I was thinking a “vintage “ iPod might be a fun source to feed my dads old radio.
I would imagine in Toronto there must be, however they seem to have mostly vanished here in NY, both due to the fleeting popularity of the iPod, and because Apple always refused to sell any replacement parts to repair shops which is criminal.
Those kinds of shops don't like buying generic parts at retail from Hong Kong, so this was and still is the domain of DIY more than professionals, but any place that fixes smart phones would possess the tools and knowledge necessary. If you ordered the parts after consulting with them, I'm sure they would do the job, but at what cost I would have no idea.
They actually sound quite good if using the analog Line Out of the 30-pin dock connector, as opposed to the headphone jack 3.5mm variable output.
I can't imagine trying to pry open an iPod. When I had to get into my 2009 Mac Mini, I found the perfect tool - a pizza cutter. It was able to roll along the seam where the clips would release. Worked pretty well, no damage.
Yes that too is a pain in the neck, bit of a pattern here with Apple products. I've torn apart and put back together my 2006 Mac mini, and also my 2012 Mac mini.
The newer one just needed a doubling of RAM from 4 to 8GB (that's easy) and a periodic cleaning of dust build up to increase airflow and lower the operating temperature. I know you've done that to yours too, and it definitely increases the lifespan if cleaned from time to time.
The 2006 mini was a total rebuild, I replaced the original 1.83 GHz CPU with a compatible 2.33 GHz dual core version, and the 80GB spinning HDD with a 256GB SSD, quadrupled the RAM from 1 to 4GB, along with the aforementioned full cleanup of dust built up over the years, and that unit now runs OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard like brand new.
Unbelievable how difficult Apple makes these upgrades, however the payoff is huge because they did use inherently good designs and parts, Apple products do last years and years, it seems the sky is the limit if periodically cleaned and updated.
I'd be happy to refurb any HFH member's iPod. Tell me which model you have and we'll have a look at the availability of the parts for it.
In almost all cases you'd want to use the superb iFlash adapter board to swap the fragile old spinning HDD for flash card memory. That adapter ships from London, but the designer uses Royal Mail and its flat out cheap, he does not mark up the shipping at all, and his product is vastly superior to the generic Chinese flash adapter boards. I have one such generic adapter board that I bought just to compare, I still have it and I will not install it in anything, because it's a piece of junk compared to the iFlash.
I see there appears to be a U.S. seller of the high capacity batteries now too, and that's good because shipments from China in a COVID-19 world are very slow and unreliable.
Toss in the nosediving cost of SDXC cards, and there is good reason to upgrade an iPod assuming one still has a use case for it.
@JohnVF might have a semi-unique case with a Gen. 4, if I'm not mistaken it's HDD ribbon cable is directly compatible with the Compact Flash memory cards, meaning he needs no adapter at all. The iPod mini is the same way, and though I did use a CF-SD adapter on mine, the one I built for a friend's wife skipped that part and just used a Compact Flash card plugged directly into the HDD ribbon cable connector, as it was an exact match pinout. I believe the Gen. 4 iPod is the same.
The only issue there is Compact Flash is a good deal more expensive than SDXC is, and there was odd incompatibility with certain CF cards that no one ever figured out, evidently they used wonky firmware or had a partition scheme that you could not alter when restoring in iTunes. That said, I did get a Kingston CF card to work just fine in my friend's wife's treasured mini, hers was just 16GB but that was plenty as her music library was iTunes Store bought MP3, and it was then 4 times the original 4GB capacity. The iPod mini is a really cool little portable player, all metal body, monochrome display, and it does have the famous Wolfson DAC too, it sounds great. The one limitation is there's no room inside for a high capacity battery, so the run time can't really be improved like it can with a full size iPod, and it too is a big PIA to take apart.
I'm going to resurrect this thread for the iPod. I searched and didn't find an iPod dedicated thread but this looks pretty close!
I love my iPod(s). I love the first quote of this thread:
“The iPod is a pure device,” says Sean Kirvin, 28. “When using an iPod all you can do is listen to music. On the surface it may seem restrictive, in reality it frees you.”
When I travel, one or more iPods come with me. No bluetooth, no WIFI, no cellular connections. My whole music world self contained and firewalled off from the rest of the world. There is comfort in that for me. So what is to follow is my show and tell. My iPods have a home amongst the tubes, Altecs and vinyl. iPods are my little music warriors.
iPod Classic - 3rd gen. First iPod with the 30-pin docking connector. 10GB. I replaced the battery. HDD works great. Loaded with Beck and Moby for the moment. Hail oh mighty Firewire!
I love my iPod(s). I love the first quote of this thread:
“The iPod is a pure device,” says Sean Kirvin, 28. “When using an iPod all you can do is listen to music. On the surface it may seem restrictive, in reality it frees you.”
When I travel, one or more iPods come with me. No bluetooth, no WIFI, no cellular connections. My whole music world self contained and firewalled off from the rest of the world. There is comfort in that for me. So what is to follow is my show and tell. My iPods have a home amongst the tubes, Altecs and vinyl. iPods are my little music warriors.
iPod Classic - 3rd gen. First iPod with the 30-pin docking connector. 10GB. I replaced the battery. HDD works great. Loaded with Beck and Moby for the moment. Hail oh mighty Firewire!
Great post. No need to worry about putting it in an existing iPod thread, That would be a fine start to a new one. Let me or one of the mods know, and we can move it to a new, dedicated thread.
Just grab an old phone out of a drawer and use it; it doesn't need service to play music or even stream WiFi if available. An old tablet would work fine too and have the bonus of a larger display.
When mom was passing we hooked up either an Ipod or old phone to a Tivoli radio for some music, as I couldn't find any OTA radio playing Herb Alpert or Barbara Streisand for her. All you need are .MP3s and a if it can take a microSD card 32Gb is more than you can fill. Just plug it into a charger and leave it by the radio. Or hook up a Bluetooth speaker via its Aux input.
I have a couple of the iPod Classic Gen 4s - 20 and 30GB. The 20GB comes with the original box and accessories. To me these have a very pleasant feel and weight to them. I travel most often with the 30GB. New batteries in both.
Your call but I don't mind leaving the post here. There is other good complementary information.
continuing ....
iPod Classic 5th (with original box and accessories) and a Classic 6th Gen. The 5 and 5.5 Gens are supposed to be the best iPods for
sound with the Wolfson DACs - I don't know - I try not to buy into the hype. Still, they sound good. With 80GB on the 6th Gen I have my entire music library. Majority of my listening done with Sennheiser CX400II in-ear things. I'm ready for the desert island ....
iPod Classic 5th (with original box and accessories) and a Classic 6th Gen. The 5 and 5.5 Gens are supposed to be the best iPods for
sound with the Wolfson DACs - I don't know - I try not to buy into the hype. Still, they sound good. With 80GB on the 6th Gen I have my entire music library. Majority of my listening done with Sennheiser CX400II in-ear things. I'm ready for the desert island ....
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I know what you mean, I have a Gen 5.5 with the Wolfson DAC, and a Gen 6 with the Cirrus Logic DAC. They do sound a bit different with the Gen 5.5 having a little warmer and fuller tonal balance, and the Gen. 6 a little cooler and leaner but perhaps a touch more detailed sounding, but they are not radically different from each other, to my ear they are more alike than dissimilar.
I'd also wonder if any sonic difference is truly the DAC chip itself, or something else such as a different opamp, or the sum total of several small changes between the two models.
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