[dr408517]

and Another update:
(All of the tests below use the same iTunes database using stock ipod firmware. The ipod logic boards are known to work fine with Toshiba 240gb HD. All are 64k RAM. All songs in test library are coded to 128.mp3)

- 240g Toshiba HD V7: I have now loaded 57121 songs on to the ipod. Ipod almost full.

- 256g BP4 mSata V5.5: I've loaded 46799 songs and on completion, the ipod reported 0 songs. I checked the music folder on the ipod, and all 46799 songs are there. So, i disconnected the ipod and reset it. The Apple logo remained on the screen for about four minutes, but once it hit the menu screen - all songs were now present. To be sure it would play, I selected Nazareth's Hair of the Dog album and it played all songs on album straight through. Now playing Beatles for Sale. All of the artwork, however, is missing(?) The iTunesdb is just over 80k on the ipod. I have 33.4g free space remaining. My goal is to match the load limit of the Toshiba HD, if possible.

 

[cmarti]

- 256g BP4 mSata V5.5: I've loaded 46799 songs and on completion, the ipod reported 0 songs. I checked the music folder on the ipod, and all 46799 songs are there. So, i disconnected the ipod and reset it. The Apple logo remained on the screen for about four minutes, but once it hit the menu screen - all songs were now present. To be sure it would play, I selected Nazareth's Hair of the Dog album and it played all songs on album straight through. Now playing Beatles for Sale. All of the artwork, however, is missing(?) The iTunesdb is just over 80k on the ipod. I have 33.4g free space remaining. My goal is to match the load limit of the Toshiba HD, if possible.

So this means that it could be the media used to save the music, now why is the difference between solid state and hard disk? I wish we knew the answer..
 
Thanks dr for taking the time to perform all these tests.

 

[dr408517]

And, pressing Play/Pause for 2sec does not shut off ipod. Could just be a new mechanical issue with this ipod, but worth noting just in case. :confused_face:

 

[dr408517]

So this means that it could be the media used to save the music, now why is the difference between solid state and hard disk? I wish we knew the answer..

Thanks dr for taking the time to perform all these tests.

It really makes me wonder if i should retest the 446g Crucial V5.5 again. My OCD is wearing me out.

 

[cmarti]

It really makes me wonder if i should retest the 446g Crucial V5.5 again. My OCD is wearing me out.

I am getting my 448gb Crucial on Wednesday, I hope I don't run into any problems.  Can you install RockBox on it and then load the music and check if the data doesn't corrupt this time?

 

[dr408517]

I've got the 446g loading using the stock iTunes firmware to see if i can recreate the successful loading to the 57k i achieved with the 240g Toshiba HD V5.5. Unfortunately, i can only load 5k at a time to avoid overheating. I have burned two adapters and a 256g card before. My ultimate goal is to get a solid state ipod >128g that will work in my car.

So far only the kingspec 128g V7 and the transend 128g sd+tarkan have worked.

If the BP 256g mSata does not work in the car today, I will switch to testing the RB patch on the 446g combo.

 

[dr408517]

And, pressing Play/Pause for 2sec does not shut off ipod. Could just be a new mechanical issue with this ipod, but worth noting just in case.

New development with 256g BP4 mSata V5.5 - at 46799 songs, ipod will not shut off, either manually or automatically. Sleep function does not work. I removed the adapter and chip, and placed it into another V5.5. I started ipod, and after 5 minutes on the apple logo, all songs are present and "off" feature works.  Apparently, I have a mechanical issue with my test V5.5 ipod.

 

[cmarti]

 
New development with 256g BP4 mSata V5.5 - at 46799 songs, ipod will not shut off, either manually or automatically. Sleep function does not work. I removed the adapter and chip, and placed it into another V5.5. I started ipod, and after 5 minutes on the apple logo, all songs are present and "off" feature works.  Apparently, I have a mechanical issue with my test V5.5 ipod.

dr, would it be safe to say that from observations from your tests it would be safer to load chunks of files at a time and then let the iPod cool down before filling it to full capacity? Maybe the iPod overheats and that heat affected the iPod logic board.
 
I would try to put a hard drive, maybe a 30gb in the  non responding iPod just to check if it behaves the same way as id did when it last had the mSATA drive installed in it.

 

[dr408517]

I've got the 446g loading using the stock iTunes firmware to see if i can recreate the successful loading to the 57k i achieved with the 240g Toshiba HD V5.5. Unfortunately, i can only load 5k at a time to avoid overheating. I have burned two adapters and a 256g card before. My ultimate goal is to get a solid state ipod >128g that will work in my car.

So far only the kingspec 128g V7 and the transend 128g sd+tarkan have worked.

If the BP 256g mSata does not work in the car today, I will switch to testing the RB patch on the 446g combo.

Hurray - the initial test of the 256g mSata BP4 v5.5 with 46799 songs works in the car (2013 Toyota-iPod USB interface) - and although the ipod does not show the album art when used independently, the car interface shows some. I will "road test" the configuration this week to see if the performance is acceptable before declaring this a full success - but I was able to switch between three songs before I encountered a gap in continuous song-play.

 

[davidcotton]

I've got the 446g loading using the stock iTunes firmware to see if i can recreate the successful loading to the 57k i achieved with the 240g Toshiba HD V5.5. Unfortunately, i can only load 5k at a time to avoid overheating. I have burned two adapters and a 256g card before. My ultimate goal is to get a solid state ipod >128g that will work in my car.

So far only the kingspec 128g V7 and the transend 128g sd+tarkan have worked.

If the BP 256g mSata does not work in the car today, I will switch to testing the RB patch on the 446g combo.

Would it not be easier perhaps to do a ipod mini 2nd gen and a 128gig compact flash card instead if that's all you are after?

 

[dr408517]

  dr, would it be safe to say that from observations from your tests it would be safer to load chunks of files at a time and then let the iPod cool down before filling it to full capacity? Maybe the iPod overheats and that heat affected the iPod logic board.
 
I would try to put a hard drive, maybe a 30gb in the  non responding iPod just to check if it behaves the same way as id did when it last had the mSATA drive installed in it.

Indeed, I think you are right. I had to leave it on the charger all night so that the battery did not run down. When I disassembled it, it was still warm. I also noticed that my mSata test-pods now have a "rainbow" effect starting from the bottom of the LCD when the iPod is viewed from the side. Heat is a clearly a problem.
 
I replaced the BP4 with the 240g Toshiba HD used for the song-limit testing, restored and loaded about 250 songs on the V5.5 ipod. It appears to be functioning normally now, and the off feature is working. I think I will retire this one from further mSata testing.

 

[dr408517]

 
Would it not be easier perhaps to do a ipod mini 2nd gen and a 128gig compact flash card instead if that's all you are after?

128g is not enough - I'd like to have 256g because I do not want my entire library at 128.mp3. I wish the 240g HD would work in the car, but it has big problems with play-gaps and responsiveness.
 
I was very interested in the CF card tests conducted here, and I was sad when the 256g ipod mini CF card appeared to be a bust. I did build a 64g Sandisk SD+Tarkan ipod mini V2, and I was not impressed with its performance in the car. Based on what I have seen here, the CF would probably perform better than the SDs.
 
Ultimately, I have been trying to build a 256g or greater V7 solid state for use in the car. The Lexar 256 SD+Tarkan V7 really looked to me to be the most likely to succeed, but it has been a bust so far for what appears to be I/O errors.
 
I have not tried the 256g CF+Tarkan in V7, and I will eventually do this.  
 
I probably need to summarize all of the tests I've done and post it for others, because I am sure I am not the only squirrel trying to crack this nut.

 

[cmarti]

One observation about the iPod Mini CF card conversion, I has the 1st generation iPod mini when I first used the Komputerbay 128gb 600X and it worked pretty good. But then trying to make get better battery life I ordered two other iPod mini's the Komputerbay card failed to be recognized properly when the iPod boots. Thinking that it could be caused by a bad board I tried the same card in the second iPod mini and it also have problems recognizing the card. It takes multiple resets for the iPod to boot correctly, even after restoring the iPod multiple times.

Looks that the iPod mini 1st gen and the 2nd gen have different power output for the storage device.

 

[davidcotton]

One observation about the iPod Mini CF card conversion, I has the 1st generation iPod mini when I first used the Komputerbay 128gb 600X and it worked pretty good. But then trying to make get better battery life I ordered two other iPod mini's the Komputerbay card failed to be recognized properly when the iPod boots. Thinking that it could be caused by a bad board I tried the same card in the second iPod mini and it also have problems recognizing the card. It takes multiple resets for the iPod to boot correctly, even after restoring the iPod multiple times.

Looks that the iPod mini 1st gen and the 2nd gen have different power output for the storage device.

I think I mentioned in this thread before that I tried the Komputerbay 128 gig in the mini (2nd gen) and it was massively unstable to the point you couldn't use it.  I DID manage to get Rockbox installed but even that didn't change the behaviour.

 

[hornsfan2112]

Really excited I found this forum. I have an 160g iPod Classic, the original thicker version (6th generation). The HD will not update via iTunes. I would like to replace the HD in this unit with a larger SSD drive. I started reading through this thread, but so many pages...wow!
 
Can anyone tell me if they know a person who mods iPod Classics for a fee? I'm willing to pay, but not even sure if anyone offers such a service?