[Arkham00]

Hi guys,
 
I've red a lot of thread about this, but there is a thing not clear to me yet.
Here's my situation, I've the opportunity to buy an Ipod video 30gb for about 45$ and I'm planning to upgrade it with a 240gb hd from apricorn and then rockbox it.
I know I'll need  a more big backplate, for that I'm going to buy a broken ipod video 80gb for fews dollars on ebay to take its backplate.
Am i going right with that ? Will it fit ?
 
thank you guys

 

[Hero Kid]

The problem with your above plan is this. A 30gb iPod only has 32mb of ram which will lag with a large library (eg. One on a 240gb HDD). This is the reason why you are much better off just buying a USED and not refurbished iPod Video 60/80gb which has 64mb of ram. The reason why I warn you against buying a refurbished iPod is 95% of them use a 30gb logic board which means not enough/not the correct amount of ram.

 

[Arkham00]

Oh, I thought that rockbox would fix this problem, I red about this kind of problems only with itunes

 

[Hero Kid]

How can the ram on the actual device lagging have anything to do with iTunes? It is a separate device running on its own power... 
Sure you can still use it with the 30gb version of Rockbox but it will still lag especially considering the version of Rockbox you will be using was built for a 30gb HDD and not a 240gb one.

 

[Arkham00]

Quote:

How can the ram on the actual device lagging have anything to do with iTunes? It is a separate device running on its own power... 
Sure you can still use it with the 30gb version of Rockbox but it will still lag especially considering the version of Rockbox you will be using was built for a 30gb HDD and not a 240gb one.

No wait, I mean the software inside the ipod, isn't it called always itunes ? I never had an apple product before ...
My thought were that rockbox could be better optimized than the ipod software, so maybe it could manage ram in a better way ...i don't know... 
So probably I'd better ask on the rockbox forum for such a technical detail

 

[Hero Kid]

Yes I would suggest you do that. They generally know what they are talking about over there... Make sure to specify you plan to use a 240gb HDD
And for clarifications sake iTunes is not the software running on the iPod, it runs on your computer. It's generally just referred to as Stock Firmware or Apple Firmware but I don't know what it's actually called.

 

[Arkham00]

For info, I had an answer from a dropbox developer that says :
 
"The amount of memory affects only one thing: the amount of data that can be buffered. This has no effect on how the player feels to use. Having only 32MB will reduce battery life compared to having 64MB, but if you use lossy codecs like mp3 then it won't make much difference: it only makes a major difference on lossless codecs.

The 80GB iPod has a battery which is 50% larger capacity; you may want to consider this as well, since it means your battery will last (at least) 50% longer. 

"
 

 

[icedtrip]

As for the problems with the built-in iPod software and only 32MB, once you reach a certain number of music/videos, the iPod software will run into an issue with building the database used for storing Artist, Album, etc.  This has been reported on the rapid repairs forums, and although this wouldn't / shouldn't be an issue with Rockbox, currently RB isn't able to charge via USB.  This means you will have to boot into the original FW, which triggers the database to build, which throws the iPod into a reboot loop.  I guess you may be able to charge in DFU mode, but not sure.
 
Check out the rapid repair forums for these topics.  Here is the thread I ran across:
 
http://www.rapidrepair.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2508
 
EDIT:  Unless there has been recent progress with RB in regards to USB charging on iPods that I missed.

 

[Hero Kid]

I still hold my position of just buying a 80gb/60gb one.

 

[penartur]

Quote:

As for the problems with the built-in iPod software and only 32MB, once you reach a certain number of music/videos, the iPod software will run into an issue with building the database used for storing Artist, Album, etc.  This has been reported on the rapid repairs forums, and although this wouldn't / shouldn't be an issue with Rockbox, currently RB isn't able to charge via USB.  This means you will have to boot into the original FW, which triggers the database to build, which throws the iPod into a reboot loop.

IPod original firmware doesn't know about music/videos uploaded with Drag&Drop (not via itunes). So, if you're uploading music on your ipod with drag&drop, original firmware will believe that you have no music/videos at all, so there will be no "once you reach a certain number of music/videos".

 

[icedtrip]

Quote:

IPod original firmware doesn't know about music/videos uploaded with Drag&Drop (not via itunes). So, if you're uploading music on your ipod with drag&drop, original firmware will believe that you have no music/videos at all, so there will be no "once you reach a certain number of music/videos".

 
Good point.  Never even thought of that.  The simplicity of syncing playlists, smart playlists, genres, etc has kept me from the drag and drop methods.  I of course use drag and drop for my Clip+ (along with a script for playlists), but both iPods and both iPhones are synced.
 
Of course, having never dealt with manual updating on an iPod, how is everything navigated?  Is it navigated by folder?  If it is still navigated by Artist, Song, Album, etc; then a database would certainly have to be built.
 

 

[penartur]

There is a folder navigation in rockbox.
Also it does support database navigation (by genre, artist etc.); it builds its own database, independent of original firmware's.

 

[piesky]

Isn't the backplate of the 240gb a custom one? The one I see on Red Wine appears much thicker.

 

[mrarroyo]

I converted a 5.5 iPod 80 Gb to the 240 Gb hard drive and at the time I installed a new 850 mAh battery, no problems. The back plate is the stock one, Vinnie glues on a label indicating it has been modded and thus it looks thicker.

 

[penartur]

Quote:

Isn't the backplate of the 240gb a custom one? The one I see on Red Wine appears much thicker.

There are thin and thick ipods (30gb are thin, 60/80gb are thick).
240GB hard drive will not fit into a thin housing, so you will need to replace backplate of your 30gb ipod with one of 60/80gb.