[beyondwind]

I just patched up Rockbox firmware it runs very well on iPOD Video 5th/5.5th mSATA SSD MOD. 
 
iPod 5th/5.5th, 32mb/64mb ram all modes tested to be working.
JM20330 based mSATA to Zif adapter
Crucial m500 240GB SSD
 
Maximum aligned 1MB transfer: 40MB/s
Battery run time: 25hrs with my dual battery mod.
>30K songs loaded, 180GB total, database initialized in 7 minutes.
 
Details about  the mod and Rockbox firmware:
 
http://beyondwind.duckdns.org/?page_id=58

 

[Reima]

This is great! It worked for me, my iPod has a MyDigitalSSD MDMS-BP4-240 Bullet Proof 4 mSATA in it.

 

[beyondwind]

That's great, Do you mind run a disk speed test and battery life benchmark for  the SSD? 

 

[batteraziiz]

That is a thing of beauty.

 

[DMinor]

This is what I have been hoping for and thanks for the great news and whoever has successfully resolved the rockbox issue.
 
Now we are looking forward to 480GB mSATA mod or more.

 

[beyondwind]

Anyone interested in buying my modded ipod? I just listed it on ebay, If I can sell it I will buy a 480GB SSD for testing. Power might be an issue as the 480GB drive is rated for higher peak current from the SSD spec sheets.

 

[DMinor]

  Anyone interested in buying my modded ipod? I just listed it on ebay, If I can sell it I will buy a 480GB SSD for testing. Power might be an issue as the 480GB drive is rated for higher peak current from the SSD spec sheets.

 
I actually just ordered the 480gb and will give it a try using your RB patch. If it still has the heat and/or battery issue, I will return the drive.

 

[cmarti]

   
I actually just ordered the 480gb and will give it a try using your RB patch. If it still has the heat and/or battery issue, I will return the drive.

I guess I will need to install back the 256gb mSATA card in my iPod video and try this out. Will do it tonight

 

[DMinor]

  I guess I will need to install back the 256gb mSATA card in my iPod video and try this out. Will do it tonight

 
Definitely. Let's just hope the heat issue is completely resolved with this RB patch.

 

[cmarti]

  I just patched up Rockbox firmware it runs very well on iPOD Video 5th/5.5th mSATA SSD MOD. 
 
iPod 5th/5.5th, 32mb/64mb ram all modes tested to be working.
JM20330 based mSATA to Zif adapter
Crucial m500 240GB SSD
 
Maximum aligned 1MB transfer: 40MB/s
Battery run time: 25hrs with my dual battery mod.
>30K songs loaded, 180GB total, database initialized in 7 minutes.
 
Details about  the mod and Rockbox firmware:
 
http://beyondwind.duckdns.org/?page_id=58

Please give us more information about your double battery mod and also post the link for the eBay auction. (Or provide your eBay ID)

 

[DMinor]

  Please give us more information about your double battery mod and also post the link for the eBay auction. (Or provide your eBay ID)

 
+1, I am also interested in the battery mod (pics please) and where we can buy the thin batteries.
 
I once tried to mod a iphone 3 battery (3mm thick only) for ipod. It worked for a while but then stopped working. it's hard to solder the ipod stock battery ribbon cable to the iphone 3 battery. I am pretty sure it can work and I just didn't get back to it.

 

[beyondwind]

  Please give us more information about your double battery mod and also post the link for the eBay auction. (Or provide your eBay ID)

I intended to make all information available, however hesitating in give out instructions on the double battery mod,  because this mod involving soldering (heat up) the lithium battery tabs without protection circuit and can be very dangerous if anything goes wrong,
For the double battery mod you will need: 
1. To arrange the mSATA SSD on the side, existing zif cable will need to be extended by a straight zif cable, I did it with a hot plate & solder paste, Soldering iron will be difficult. 
2. Get two piece of stock lithium ion battery, fully discharge them to the same voltage under 3.5V. took off the protection circuit and soldering their tabs together, then connect to one protection circuit. Try to avoid lithium polymer batteries, they have higher internal resistance and are more prone to damage & dangerous than the metal casing lithium ion battery. I did the soldering work with eye goggles on, a bucket of sand underneath my desk, windows open - in case something happen, I can throw the bomb out of the window.
 
Since the mSATA adapter available now is not of that high quality, I am thinking about make a new adapter with SSD in horizontal position, this will provide space for a single high capacity battery, and even room for a build in head Amp. TA6120 is a good candidate, I should be able to patch up rockbox so config Wolfson DAC output as differential lineout, which can be fed into TA6120's differential line-in without the need of any coupling capacitor. Volume control can also be done through TA6120's i2c interface, by modifying rockbox firmware.
 
My ebay ID is windandbeyond. Thanks.

 

[beyondwind]

   
Definitely. Let's just hope the heat issue is completely resolved with this RB patch.

The heat issue is mostly caused by stock firmware's lacking of UDMA support, and the way how iPOD deal with the hdd error handling, power management. The rockbox definitely runs cool during normal playback. though still get hot during intensive disk activities, such as database initialization, syncing. I did apply some thermal gel in between the SSD and back casing to help dissipating the heat.
I am newly registered on this forum so yet not have permission to post any internal pictures, but can be found on the site that I have setup.

 

[DMinor]

  The heat issue is mostly caused by stock firmware's lacking of UDMA support, and the way how iPOD deal with the hdd error handling, power management. The rockbox definitely runs cool during normal playback. though still get hot during intensive disk activities, such as database initialization, syncing. I did apply some thermal gel in between the SSD and back casing to help dissipating the heat.
I am newly registered on this forum so yet not have permission to post any internal pictures, but can be found on the site that I have setup.

 
That's cool and again thanks for your effort and sharing the info with us. The 240GB and 480GB mSATA drives are much more affordable than other options (CF cards, etc) for the same storage size, and for me personally I love rockbox so your RB patch for the mSATA is exactly what I am looking for. FYI, I am currently using a 256GB CF card for my diymod also rockboxed. It works great.
 
By the way, are you one of the Rockbox developers? Torne tried to resolve the rockbox issue previously and I just read your feedback in this post.

 

[DMinor]

  I intended to make all information available, however hesitating in give out instructions on the double battery mod,  because this mod involving soldering (heat up) the lithium battery tabs without protection circuit and can be very dangerous if anything goes wrong,
For the double battery mod you will need: 
1. To arrange the mSATA SSD on the side, existing zif cable will need to be extended by a straight zif cable, I did it with a hot plate & solder paste, Soldering iron will be difficult. 
2. Get two piece of stock lithium ion battery, fully discharge them to the same voltage under 3.5V. took off the protection circuit and soldering their tabs together, then connect to one protection circuit. Try to avoid lithium polymer batteries, they have higher internal resistance and are more prone to damage & dangerous than the metal casing lithium ion battery. I did the soldering work with eye goggles on, a bucket of sand underneath my desk, windows open - in case something happen, I can throw the bomb out of the window.
 
Since the mSATA adapter available now is not of that high quality, I am thinking about make a new adapter with SSD in horizontal position, this will provide space for a single high capacity battery, and even room for a build in head Amp. TA6120 is a good candidate, I should be able to patch up rockbox so config Wolfson DAC output as differential lineout, which can be fed into TA6120's differential line-in without the need of any coupling capacitor. Volume control can also be done through TA6120's i2c interface, by modifying rockbox firmware.
 
My ebay ID is windandbeyond. Thanks.

 
I agree modding batteries can be harmful if not handled correctly.  Need to be extremely careful. I saw Chinese selling those high capacity batteries already modded to plug and play for ipods. Unfortunately they are not available to us here.
 
Excellent idea on the new adapter and l look forward to buying one from you.
 
As for the caps, I have to say my favorite is NO caps for the diymod when it comes to neutral and transparency. I am sending 1.5 volts of dc offsets from the lod to my amp (UHA-6S.MK2) which has been designed with a servo circuit able to compensate for that much dc at output. It sounds so clean with a deadly black background.
 
Do you know how to completely remove/disable the headphone out (HO) from the board? I don't like the board feeding audio signals to the HO and LO at the same time. I want to permanently disable the HO from the board. Right now I simply unplug the HO jack ribbon cable and stop the board from sending signals to the HO, also stop the HO from drawing battery power.
 
Since you just joined the HF, I am not sure if you are aware of this diymod thread.