[ThinWalls]

when the back cover on my 7.5G Classic popped off suddenly/unexpectedly—tearing out the battery ribbon—i was feeling lucky for the way it connects! thankfully no damage was done.

is there anything to be super careful of when removing the front cover? ifixit says there is "mild adhesive" attaching the inner framework to the front cover... i just want to be sure i don't break it when i replace the front cover. i already dodged a bullet once!

Well, its about re-inserting the cable rather than removing it.  Removing it has never been a problem, but pushing it back in again I find is a pain.  Every time you have to do it it seems to flex the end of the cable where it bends, and eventually, if you have to keep doing it, I've found it tends to suffer from a sort of metal fatigue and the connection goes.  Seems more a problem with the 2000mah batteries than the originals (as the former have to bend twice, and lack the plastic shield bit on the end of the cable)
 
Also the reason I wish it had a more standardised kind of connector is that at some point those batteries will presumably cease to be available, and its the cable/connector that makes it specific to the ipod classic/video.
 
When taking the front off I don't think there's much to worry about, as long as you don't somehow manage to flex the logic board to a ridiculous degree while doing it.  And on the 6-7 gens don't forget to remove the securing screws first!  (there are no such screws on the 5/5.5 gens).  (oh, forget that, I was thinking about when you remove the logic board!)

 

[AudioPhilistine]

Is this when you already removed it from the backcover, the ribbon from the battery, etc.? You have to tug a bit to replace the front plate from the logicboard/frame work, but nothing to risk breaking it.

thanks for that info!

Well, its about re-inserting the cable rather than removing it.  Removing it has never been a problem, but pushing it back in again I find is a pain.  Every time you have to do it it seems to flex the end of the cable where it bends, and eventually, if you have to keep doing it, I've found it tends to suffer from a sort of metal fatigue and the connection goes.  Seems more a problem with the 2000mah batteries than the originals (as the former have to bend twice, and lack the plastic shield bit on the end of the cable)

Also the reason I wish it had a more standardised kind of connector is that at some point those batteries will presumably cease to be available, and its the cable/connector that makes it specific to the ipod classic/video.

When taking the front off I don't think there's much to worry about, as long as you don't somehow manage to flex the logic board to a ridiculous degree while doing it.  And on the 6-7 gens don't forget to remove the securing screws first!  (there are no such screws on the 5/5.5 gens).  (oh, forget that, I was thinking about when you remove the logic board!)

i totally hear you. it's concerning to think how much "at some point ... presumably cease to be available" may apply to all aspects of the iPod. the thing is, as we all know, no one's yet developed a truly superior product purely for listening to music. Apple itself hasn't really turned its attention to this, as it now seems to be focusing on streaming (not a good sign).

i simply hope that when Apple does finally nuke-and-pave iTunes with a ground-up rewrite that they don't sever backwards compatibility with iPods and iDevices that sync with a cable—not the Cloud. whatever one thinks of him, Steve Jobs was an avid music lover, and paired with his unyielding demand for quality, i think he might still see some special value in the "totally comprehensive, lossless music library that fits in your pocket."

thanks again for the tips on removing the iPod Classic's front cover. i feel a bit more confident about pulling it apart now!

 

[davidcotton]

thanks for that info!
i totally hear you. it's concerning to think how much "at some point ... presumably cease to be available" may apply to all aspects of the iPod. the thing is, as we all know, no one's yet developed a truly superior product purely for listening to music. Apple itself hasn't really turned its attention to this, as it now seems to be focusing on streaming (not a good sign).

i simply hope that when Apple does finally nuke-and-pave iTunes with a ground-up rewrite that they don't sever backwards compatibility with iPods and iDevices that sync with a cable—not the Cloud. whatever one thinks of him, Steve Jobs was an avid music lover, and paired with his unyielding demand for quality, i think he might still see some special value in the "totally comprehensive, lossless music library that fits in your pocket."

thanks again for the tips on removing the iPod Classic's front cover. i feel a bit more confident about pulling it apart now!

 
That's what Rockbox is for. 

 

[AudioPhilistine]

That's what Rockbox is for. 

i'm just not into Rockbox. i'm glad it exists, but its existence doesnt mean anything when a major market and thought leader like Apple isn't committed to producing the hardware that gives little projects like Rockbox a physical device to call home. at some point, with no new hardware, who'll even produce spare parts for the old ones?

this article hits on the point i was making:

Think Retro: RIP Rip, Mix, Burn
Apple took a stand in 2001 by stating that you owned your music. Now it's hoping you'd rather rent.
http://www.macworld.com/article/2934175/think-retro-rip-rip-mix-burn.html

 

[jdotfite]

Hey guys, I released a theme called redux 2 years ago for Rockbox and the iPod Video.  I left for awhile, but I am back again and have spent the last month working on a new theme.  I really wanted something polished and simplistic to bring rockbox on the iPod up to 2016.  I also wanted to do a few things that I hadn't seen done before.  The new theme is called "xhibition" and is now available for download.  Features full width 320px artwork!  DB volume has been converted to a regular volume output number. Hope you guys enjoy it. Convert your artwork down to 320x320 for the sharpest output and faster load times.
 
http://themes.rockbox.org/index.php?themeid=2454&target=ipodvideo
 

 
   

 

[Neccros]

Hope this isn't too off topic, but as I build my iPods and rockbox them, I am also ripping my 1000+ CDs to FLAC.  
 
What I wanted to know is I try and use 1000x1000 album art due to the sharpness at a smaller size. Is this overkill? And if so what is a good average size wise for album art to not slow down a iPod trying to load a file if it does

 

[jdotfite]

  Hope this isn't too off topic, but as I build my iPods and rockbox them, I am also ripping my 1000+ CDs to FLAC.  
 
What I wanted to know is I try and use 1000x1000 album art due to the sharpness at a smaller size. Is this overkill? And if so what is a good average size wise for album art to not slow down a iPod trying to load a file if it does

 
 
Yes, overkill.  In the post before your post, I commented that I am displaying full width artwork (320px) in my xhibition theme.  By resizing your artwork down to 320x320 in photoshop, for example, your artwork will display sharp and clear on your iPod using the xhibition theme.  If you keep the 1000x1000, your artwork will take much longer to load and will look fuzzier.  Rockbox can't resize your artwork as well as photoshop.
 
Pick a theme, check the artwork display size and resize your artwork to match for the best possible output.

 

[Neccros]

   
 
Yes, overkill.  In the post before your post, I commented that I am displaying full width artwork (320px) in my xhibition theme.  By resizing your artwork down to 320x320 in photoshop, for example, your artwork will display sharp and clear on your iPod using the xhibition theme.  If you keep the 1000x1000, your artwork will take much longer to load and will look fuzzier.  Rockbox can't resize your artwork as well as photoshop.
 
Pick a theme, check the artwork display size and resize your artwork to match for the best possible output.

My art is used elsewhere (Foobar, VLC, Winamp) so I found when I have too small of a file it looks blocky and fuzzy.  I know on stock iPod firmware 1000x1000 displays fine it just scales it down and remains sharp.
 
I am just trying to find the point where dimensions stop helping the quality and just starts taking up uneccessary space.

 

[jdotfite]

 
My art is used elsewhere (Foobar, VLC, Winamp) so I found when I have too small of a file it looks blocky and fuzzy.  I know on stock iPod firmware 1000x1000 displays fine it just scales it down and remains sharp.

I am just trying to find the point where dimensions stop helping the quality and just starts taking up uneccessary space.

Yes, elsewhere it will obviously look worse if you are stretching a smaller image to make it larger.  I resized my artwork down specifically for my iPod and keep my larger sizes in my main music library.

To reiterate, it stops helping as soon as you go over whatever the resolution is of the artwork area being displayed in the theme.  Anything over and you are wasting space, causing longer load times and your artwork will be less crisp.

If you are using a theme that uses a 280x280 viewport to display artwork, a 1000x1000 image will positively look worse rescaled by rockbox than that same 1000x1000 image scaled down in photoshop to 280x280 and then displayed in rockbox.  I tested this last week while testing my theme and setting up my iPod.  The iPod firmware may be able to resize artwork slightly better than rockbox, I haven't tested that, but I am betting if your artwork was resized in photoshop to the exact size the apple firmware uses, it would probably also be sharper than the iPod having to resale your artwork as well.  I am pickier than the average person, most people would be fine with rockbox scaling their artwork down.  

 

[JOBAH]

New quad microSD adapter from Tarkan
https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-quad/

 

[Imod]

  New quad microSD adapter from Tarkan
https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-quad/

Nice! Now just can't wait for the quad SD adapter for a 2TB iPod! lol

 

[fleasbaby]

  New quad microSD adapter from Tarkan
https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-quad/

Damn. Crappy timing. I just ordered and installed the Dual SD one. I filled it using two 64GB microSD cards in SD card adaptors...
 
Still annoyed that Rockbox has issues with solid state storage. Might get off my are and actually go to the forums and do some asking around.

 

[JOBAH]

Nice! Now just can't wait for the quad SD adapter for a 2TB iPod! lol

Tarkan told me few months ago there is no space for 4 SD cards... We must wait microSD 512GB to do that...

 

[ThinWalls]

  New quad microSD adapter from Tarkan
https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-quad/

Wow.  What's the largest genuine micro sd card now?  I see 256gb ones but I am suspicious those are all fakes.  Also, not sure which brands would work, will let others experiment first!

 

[ThinWalls]

Tarkan told me few months ago there is no space for 4 SD cards... We must wait microSD 512GB to do that...

 
I suppose in theory there's room for an octo-micro sd adaptor!