1Tb 7g iPod Classic – Restore & Sync Video

Guides

1Tb 7g iPod Classic – Restore & Sync Video

Support
13, January 2015
186 Comments

Posted a new video – demonstrating the complete restore and sync of a 1Tb 7.5g iPod Classic.

I have done this many many times now with zero problems, so I thought this time I would make a video.

Syncing is done using iTunes 11, importantly I used the Apple Dual Firewire/USB Docking Lead, and the Apple 12V Firewire charger.

The firewire can supply enough power to the iPod while syncing that you do not have to worry about Power Loss Corruption issues which can occur while syncing mSata drive based iPods. The iPod USB Charge circuit cannot supply enough power to the mSata during syncing to stop the battery drain issues.

Equipment

  • iPod Classic (7.5g 160Gb Model PC297LL)
  • iFlash-Sata
  • Samsung 840EVO 1Tb mSata
  • Apple 12V Firewire Charger
  • Apple Dual Firewire/USB Docking Lead

Stats

Tracks Sync’d:  49995 Tracks

Data Sync’d:   907Gb Transfered

Time Taken: Restore to Sync to Eject  approx. 11 hours

 

Click on video settings to select the 1080p HD version.

186 thoughts on “1Tb 7g iPod Classic – Restore & Sync Video”

    2. Tim

      It would be cool two have a flash adapter board that had 2 regular size slots and and 1 mini slot so one could go beyond 1TB for those of us that strictly import Apple lossless files.

  2. Mark

    Before reading all the recent posts, I purchased a SAMSUNG 850 EVO mSATA 1TB Mini-SATA (mSATA) Internal SSD Single Unit Version MZ-M5E1T0BW. I have a 7g Classic. Can someone please give me an idea of success before I open the package. I have waited over a month for the other parts to arrive from China!

    Reply ↓
    2. Mark

      The outlet told me that the EVO 840 was out of stock and discontinued and replaced by the 850. Would you suggest I not even try it? Time is running out on the return.

  4. Stefan

    Which 850´s TB evos work – the first series or the newer?
    The 840 becomes more expensive than the 850s.
    So could we buy a new 850 tb for a 7g ipod?

    Reply ↓
    1. Support

      @Stefan – Sadly the 850EVO have proved extremely unreliable due to the fact they draw and require too much power on startup – too much for the iPod to provide. The best solution for 1Tb is my iFlash-Dual with 2x 512Gb SDXC cards.

  5. Peter

    Thanks for the advice guys.

    I’ve jumped one hurdle by getting the ipod restored in itunes, but am now crashing face first into the next one. I can’t get itunes to sync my music to the ipod without experiencing errors. I’m getting errors (-50, -53). Anyone know of a fix or way around this? Or possibly another program that will sync the music to the ipod?

    Thanks again.

    Reply ↓
    1. Support

      @Peter – you need to investigate why you are getting errors. Are the tracks you it does sync actually play on the iPod ok? with the 1Tb you need to make sure your battery is fully charged before attempting any syncing. Also to test everything out – close iTunes and run something like H2Testw against the iPod drive – this will confirm that you writes and reads are completing error free.

  7. Peter

    Hi Tarkan,

    I seem to be experiencing problems getting iTunes to recognize my 1TB 840 mSata.

    I bought:
    -64bit 820-2437-A Logic board.
    -iFlash Sata Adaptor & 1TB Samsung 840EVO mSata.
    -iPod Dock Connector to USB + FireWire
    -mSata to Sata Converter Adaptor
    -USB to Sata Converter
    -2600mAh Battery + back cover upgrade kit

    I ran the AOMEI partition assistant, formatted to Fat32, shut down the PC, reassembled everything. I even did what @rolski suggested by disassembling the ipod and reassembling it, I’m still left with a red X. I prefer not to run RockBox because I want to be able to play my library in my car via the in-dash screen.

    Any help from you or anyone else would be appreciated.

    Reply ↓
    1. Support

      @Peter – First thing you need to confirm that the iPod is working ok – especially the HDD ribbon. If you are connecting the 1Tb mSata via an USB connection, I am not sure that will work – the shutdown process does not complete cleanly as the drive is not shutdown first before power is removed. I know some people have reported doing this with a USB3.0 or Thunderbolt connection, but I always suggest direct mSata to Sata connection.

  8. Tim

    Ok, I’ve got 2 of your iflash boards the dual sd board and the msata board. The ipod with the sd cards works like a charm. I keep getting the red x with the 1tb 840 evo. I do have the AOMEI software and the msata to regular sata adapter. Would like to know step by step what procedures to take with this software to get this msata out of the power corruption mode. Thank you.

    Reply ↓
  9. rubeN

    @Ryan
    mSATA drives only get warm when you’re syncing a lot of content into it. When you’re listening to the iPod it does not get hot at all. A little heat isn’t going cause any problems. Some use an ice pack to help cool it during initial sync.

    Reply ↓
  10. Ryan

    I am giving thought into purchasing the iflash sata for 1tb of storage, but I have heard that mSATA puts off a lot of heat. With no fans or ventilation obviously that is bad for the Ipod. Can you shed some light if the heat output is true and/or a problem? Thanks.

    Reply ↓
    1. Tarkan

      @rubeN – I have read that before, but something is not right with that – I have seen power draw graphs for both 840EVO and 850EVO 1Tb drives and they are different.
      Knowing Samsung it is possible a batch was made using the older controller, before switching to the new controller – this could possibly explain why there is a few people out there using the 850EVO 1Tb with no problem.

  12. rubeN

    It’s probably the controller chip on the 1TB that do not like working on the iPods. The 250, and 500 have a different controller than the 1TB.

    Reply ↓
  13. Dan

    Is there any reason the 850EVO 1Tb drive won’t work? Is there a potential work around? I got the sad ipod when I tried it on my 5th gen.

    Reply ↓
    1. Tarkan

      @Dan – The new 850EVO range seem to have a very high startup current draw, which is too much for most iPods to handle – a couple of people do have them running on the 7g’s.

      I have it on the not working list as plenty of people also have not been able to get them working on the 7g’s, so there seems to be some magic combination of the right iPod and right 850EVO.

  14. rubeN

    @Tarkan
    So I was reading online that the 840EVOs have a problem slowing down in time and when reading old data. Samsung has come out with a firmware update fix twice to address this issue. Do you think this would have affect the performance in iPods? Should we even bother with updating its firmware?

    Reply ↓
    1. Tarkan

      @rubeN – not really necessary – the slowdown is related to how the controller handles Trim requests and data scrubbing – which is not a problem for a device (the iPod) which mainly just reads from the drive. If you are someone who erases and sync several 100Gb every day then maybe it might impact you to warrant updating the firmware.

  15. rolski

    OK, so I was fed-up of getting nowhere with my problem below, but I’ve suddenly regained some interest and thought I’d ditch iTunes and go with RockBox, as this seems to be the most common way to get over a multitude of problems.

    So now I have another problem : I’m also getting an “ATA error -32 / -11” message after installing & starting RockBox in a 5.5Gen (MA450FD) iPod, with a Samsung 840EVO 1TB mSATA SSD & Tarkan’s adapter.

    Any ideas ?

    I’ve used the stable & latest RockBox installation files, dated October 2015.

    Thanks.

    Reply ↓
  17. Renzo

    Gents, in the past there was a list of compatible msata SSD. I am unable to find it anymore. I did try also with Google but with no results.
    Could you please point me the mSata SSD compatibility list?
    I remember that M550 users reported some issue…

    Thanks!

    Reply ↓
  20. Brian

    Hey sorry if this seems to be a pretty easy question to address, but I’d like to make sure I’m getting the right stuff before I commit to a somewhat big purchase.

    I have a 7G iPod 160GB (model MC297) and I’m looking to grab a 500GB Samsung 840 Evo SSD and the iFlash mSata adapter and install both of those since my old hard drive is beyond fried (it will boot to Disk Mode and Diagnostic Mode but otherwise just sits on the apple screen). Do I need anything else hardware wise? If not, what do I need to do to the ssd to either make it compatible with iTunes or Rockbox? I assume I’ll have to format the hard drive somehow but I’m not sure what’s the best method of doing so, and I really don’t want to screw something up at that point. Thanks to anyone with some advice!

    Reply ↓
    1. Tarkan

      You need to get the 840EVO mSata drive and not the SSD version (as that is a 2.5″ drive). There are some very good 500Gb models which are cheaper than the Samsung – like the Kingfast F8-M and Mydigital BP4e, which are popular with other iFlash-Sata users.

      Other than that it is pretty much plug and play – restore and sync. Unless you have a specific need I would stick to iTunes with the MC297 model iPod.

    2. rolski

      OK Gents, so now my mSATA converter has finally arrived, I’ve removed all partitions using AOMEI Partition Assistant, re-formatted into FAT32, shut-down my PC, re-assembled / charged & re-connected my iPod. Windows then told me that the disk had to be formatted (which I ignored), and iTunes told me that there was an iPod connected in recovery mode that needed to be restored.
      Restored the iPod, and now I’m in the sad face / Apple reboot / sad face loop again.
      I have the 1TB Evo 840 drive & an 80GB classic MA450FD as mentioned before.
      Any ideas ?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *