[Hayduke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by srozzman /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is 2g if the buttons on the clickwheel are the same color as the body

Unless it's a silver Mini. The 1st gen click wheels all have silver printing

Assuming it's still in the original body, if the size is on the back of the Mini, it's a 2nd gen. I have a Mini dressed in silver, but iTunes dresses her (all my toys are female hehe) in blue

Of course she actually wears a lovely vinyl wrap made from a photo I took

Maybe I should put up a picture one of these days

Also the 6GB was only offered in 2nd Gen. (1st gen = 2GB and 4GB, 2nd gen = 4GB and 6GB)

 

[moriez]

Thanks for thinking with me Hayduke. Ive noticed that its indeed not the CF. The 6GB drive does the same so its another part in the Mini causing this. When this buggy playback occurs its as if the drive cannot be accessed properly. Anyone technical enough to do some suggestions as to what this can be? Could it even be the battery not delivering proper power anymore?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hayduke /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are you using the Apple OS or Rockbox?

Apple OS

Quote:

Is the crackle repeatable or random? ie does it always happen at 0:32 on a particular track everytime you play it?

Its always on the same spot/same time where it happens. Not random.

 

[moriez]

Double post.

 

[Hayduke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriez /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for thinking with me Hayduke. Ive noticed that its indeed not the CF. The 6GB drive does the same so its another part in the Mini causing this. When this buggy playback occurs its as if the drive cannot be accessed properly. Anyone technical enough to do some suggestions as to what this can be? Could it even be the battery not delivering proper power anymore? Its always on the same spot/same time where it happens. Not random.

Your description is sounding like the problem is the music file itself. Especially if it happens with the CF card and the original micro drive. What happens when you play it in iTunes?

Maybe you need to rerip the album?

After thinking about it some more, maybe the track is clipping? Is it a loud section of the song? Maybe it was ripped poorly? Maybe you're doing some sort of adjustment to the track via iTunes? Like if you try to normalize the volume, that can mess up the track too.

The first test is to see if you hear it via iTunes.

 

[moriez]

I dont use iTunes but WinAmp to play my files. I have put the music through mp3gain and applied max no clip gain for album so it cannot be clipping. It is not even necessary to tell you all that because all the files play fine on my other iPod. It must be a hardware related issue in the Mini.

 

[davidcotton]

Ok so I've just found out that theres a fair bit of hiss using the headphone socket on the ipod mini. Is this normal and something I'll have to get used to or is it a sign of a faulty headphone jack? Little annoying to find that a 1 gig zen stone beats the mini for sq. Using the apple firmware with 320 mp3s and senns px100.

 

[Hayduke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriez /img/forum/go_quote.gif I dont use iTunes but WinAmp to play my files. I have put the music through mp3gain and applied max no clip gain for album so it cannot be clipping. It is not even necessary to tell you all that because all the files play fine on my other iPod. It must be a hardware related issue in the Mini.

I still think you should try reripping the CD of one of the problem songs. I recommend EAC over anything else, especially if the CD is less then perfect (ie scratches). Maybe the drive is fragmented too? With a CF card, this shouldn't be an issue, but if you've added and deleted a lot of tracks, it's a possible cause for skipping. The fact that it happens at the same spot on certain tracks should make this easier to solve. So the songs play fine on other players huh? Are they the exact same files?

fwiw, I wouldn't process them though something like MP3gain myself, although I think that software only changes data in the header of the MP3, right? It doesn't actually change the compressed waveform from what I recall.

There is one other possibility. It could be related to using MP3s. Maybe the Mini isn't able to decompress the song correctly at that spot based on how you have it encoded. It's just a thought. I use lossless, so I can't comment on lossy codecs from first hand experience.

Do you have another Mini to test with? If not, put the file somewhere and I'll play it on mine and let you know if I have any problems. Be sure to tell me where in the song you hear the problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidcotton /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok so I've just found out that theres a fair bit of hiss using the headphone socket on the ipod mini. Is this normal and something I'll have to get used to or is it a sign of a faulty headphone jack? Little annoying to find that a 1 gig zen stone beats the mini for sq. Using the apple firmware with 320 mp3s and senns px100.

hmmm I don't have an hiss that I recall, and I use an IEM that is generally considered pretty sensitive (others complained of hiss with them). Maybe it's my hearing I keep meaning to schedule a trip back to my audiologist for a hearing test, but maybe I am subconsciously afraid to know hehe

Someone wrote an article a couple years ago comparing different iPods (or was it DAPs in general?). They actually hooked them up to oscilloscopes and measured frequency response. The Mini came in dead last for bass reproduction ability. It had the worst fall off of all the devices tested. I always assumed this was due to poor capacitor choices on Apple's part that they apparently fixed in later models. This only affects the headphone out though, so you could always use the line out and an amp

 

[KTamas]

The iPod minis headphone jack are commonly regarded as one of the worst, ever. And really, the SQ thru the hp jack is just damn awful, especially the bass.

However, the line-out of the mini is great; I highly suggest to you to get a portable amp (you can already get one around $50-$100) with a LOD cable ($10-$15) and listen to the mini with that; you won't regret it.

 

[moriez]

Oh, thanks for responding Hayduke. I lost track of this issue really. Not that its solved technically but Im getting rid of this mini. I sold my 2 amps and LODS and am not coming back soon. Ive been e-mailing with a couple of local repairers and the general opinion is that the logic board is causing the prob. One of these repairers is now buying it for a fair amount. Im not willing to waste any more money or time with this. Gave the 16GB CF to my father who can stash a gazillion photos on his cam now. Well played huh

Cya bro.

 

[Hayduke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriez /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, thanks for responding Hayduke. I lost track of this issue really. Not that its solved technically but Im getting rid of this mini. I sold my 2 amps and LODS and am not coming back soon. Ive been e-mailing with a couple of local repairers and the general opinion is that the logic board is causing the prob. One of these repairers is now buying it for a fair amount. Im not willing to waste any more money or time with this. Gave the 16GB CF to my father who can stash a gazillion photos on his cam now. Well played huh Cya bro.

May I ask what a "fair price" is? I still am not convinced it's the mainboard

I suppose you got out the best you can, but it's too bad. I love my 32GB Mini

It's off topic, but IMHO 16GB is too big for a digital camera. I limited myself to 2GB. With my D80, that's nearly 200 pictures. I'm not willing to risk more then that!

 

[moriez]

Oh, im not convinced either but its not important to me anymore. Hes willing to pay 35EUR for it. Fair

 

[Shauntell47]

i wanted to ask you guys where to get a line out dock in europe... should i just get the PocketDock one... is it any good?

 

[Hayduke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shauntell47 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i wanted to ask you guys where to get a line out dock in europe... should i just get the PocketDock one... is it any good?

You should try to get someone on the forums to make you one. Check the buy/sell forum. I haven't looked in there, but folks might be selling them. There are plenty available online, but I think they are overpriced sometimes. If you have access to some tools, you could make one. They really aren't that hard to make. Everyone says the pins on the connector are hard to work with, but I didn't think they were that bad (of course I have considerable soldering experience having worked in electronics manufacturing for many years). It is true that the pins are fragile, but you are only using 3, so you got lots more pins then you need I broke a couple the first time I worked with one, but once you learn the limits of how far they will bend, you will be fine. hint: they will actually bend quite a bit, but only once

 

[leeeooo]

Hi everybody,
it seems to me that I’m the only one who doesn’t get a Transcend 16GB Ultra Speed 133 to work on an 2gen 4GB Mini. The firmware is version 1.4.1, but when I put the CF card in and I reboot the Ipod it gives me first the Apple Logo, then the sad Ipod face

and then an (empty) battery symbol

(although the battery is quite new and fully charged). When I plug it via USB in my Windows PC it’s not even recognized as a plugged-in USB device (same with Firewire). So no chance to restore it. Also, what is strange with this Ipod is, even with the original MicroDrive when the Ipod is running perfectly there is no way to get into disk mode. I can get into diagnostig mode, but it looks different to what everybody else is seeing there. Mine is like

“iPod Diagnostics
SRV FEB 03 2005

Memory
IO
Power
Status
DIAG VER
RESET
AUTOTEST”

I ran some of the tests, they are OK.

When I have the CF card in I can’t even get to diagnostic mode…?!? I also checked the CF card, it seems OK in a card reader. As a last attempt I used this program to wipe the card completly but there is no change…
Well, I’m running out of ideas now, maybe somebody else has a clue why this isn’t working…

[size=xx-small](I also posted this on the original geektechnique site but I thougt there are more people coming by here who could possibly help me...)[/size]

 

[elliot42]

You could try a manual restore - IpodManualRestore < Main < TWiki

Those steps require linux, but you could use a live linux distro that goes on a flash drive and boot a computer with it. Something like Damn Small Linux should do the trick, or any distro really the commands in that guide are pretty core programs and available on most linux distros. Just remember to get the required files for the restore first and put them on the flash disk so they're already there and ready.