iPOD and SDHC – SDXC cards

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iPOD and SDHC – SDXC cards

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1, January 2015
405 Comments

Introduction

For some time many people have wanted to use my iFlash iPod CF adapter with the new generation of large format SD memory cards. SDHC and SDXC are the new generation of SD cards which are cheaper and have capacities of upto 256Gb and growing.

SDXC 7g and 256Gb PNY

SDXC Installation

Installation

7g 256Gb About Screen

7g and 256Gb PNY

Installation is simple, the iFlash is first installed – then install the SD card in to your SD-CF Adapter – finally insert the whole thing in to the iFlash, ready to restore the iPod.

SDHC and SDXC which cards to get

So far all the SDHC and SDXC cards I tested worked ok, so it is looking likely that majority of the SD cards out there will work ok.

In terms of card speed, one user has reported issues playing FLACS with a Class 4 card. I would suggest you want a minimum of a Class 6 card with Class 10 the prefered option.

So far… working and tested in 5g / 6g / 7g iPods

iPod 5g with 256Gb PNY

iPod 5g with 256Gb PNY

The current compatibility list has been moved to the iFlash-Solo product page.

 

405 thoughts on “iPOD and SDHC – SDXC cards”

  1. Nathan

    Hi there,

    I have a ipod v 5.5 A1136 and I’m having trouble getting the iFlash Bundle (iFlash v3 + SD Adapter v7) to work with a 256 GB PNY SDXC card. After installation I get apple logo followed by sad face and then “please wait battery very low.” Then it goes back to apple logo, then sad face…this cycles continuously. I have followed the steps outlined for formatting using AOMEI and believe I am inserting the hard drive correctly. Below are pictures:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByZTGwBCPu6EUjlDTTloZk9EVHM/view?usp=sharing
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByZTGwBCPu6EbjNfUElhN0s4T0k/view?usp=sharing

    Could the problem be that my battery is simply too weak to handle this? It is the original factory battery and will usually last for a couple hours.

    Thanks for the help!

    Reply ↓
  2. Matt D

    Hi Everyone. I’ve been tinkering with Ipods classics I’ve got 2 5.5’s and a 6th gen classic, I can get all to work with a Transcend 128Gb R95-W60MB/s (also works in a Mini Ipod)
    i bought a 256 version of the card, Obviously won’t get the full amount of memory in the 6th gen, But On I-tunes with the 5.5gen would you expect to see 256gb displayed by the side of the Ipod icon?
    It does display the 128gb but not the 256gb. On the ipod itself it does display around 240gb. I’m not sure the authenticity of the card because when restored in an iPod mini it restores card to a 128gb and the card is from Ebay. I’ve formatted card to fat 32 using AOMEI but Crashes the iPod occasionally leadinjg the iPod to need a full restore.

    Any Ideas

    Thanks

    Matt D

    Reply ↓
  3. Derek

    Thanks for the quick response. All appears to be working just fine now. The trick was to use SDFormatter (from http://www.sdcard.org), then to use AOMEI to delete the existing (default) partition (which was exFAT), and to create a new FAT32 partition. I ran these on a Windows 7 computer and selected “Run as administrator” for both tools. I skipped the “Rebuild MBR” step outlined in your instructions, as that step only seemed to mess up my Windows XP computer’s boot sequence. Finally, my Delkin Devices brand card reader, despite claiming to handle SDXC cards, may not work as advertised.

    iTunes is now converting my 27,000+ song library from lossless/AIFF format to 256kbps as it syncs my “new” 256gb iPod — should take about 4 days. Thanks Tarkan!

    Reply ↓
  5. Derek

    I’m running into a snag with the iFlash kit fitted with a PNY 256gb SDXC card. The bar code on the PNY package reads P-SDX256U1H-GE and the UPC code is 7-51492-56952-9. After installation, I power up and get the “Connect to your computer. Use iTunes to restore.” message. When I connect the iPod to the PC running iTunes, iTunes prompts to restore the iPod. Eventually I receive the message:

    The iPod “iPod” cannot be restored because it contains files that are in use by another application.

    Previously, I did attempt to prepare the SDXC card using AOMEI as described on this site. This process seemed to fail: REBUILD MBR apparently rewrote the boot files on the Windows XP computer, not the SDXC card; and DELETE ALL PARTITIONS failed with messages stating the disk was mounted in read-only mode. I then tried formatting the SDXC card in a Canon camera, and now I have reached the state described above.

    Thanks for any ideas!

    Reply ↓
    1. Tarkan

      When you did the AOMEI process is your card reader SDXC compatible? This will cause problems if it is not.

      Check you have not got the lock lever on the side of the PNY set to Lock. Finally put the card back to original state by downloading the card formatting software at http://www.sdcard.org , then re-install in the iPod and restore.

  6. John

    Hi all,

    Wanted to share my experience.

    I have a ipod classic 6G and the hard drive crashed on me about 2 years ago after some very light use (mainly airplanes when traveling). I threw it in a drawer during which time the battery died. About 4 weeks ago I was researching how to replace the hard drive and came across the possibility of utilizing an adapter that would allow for using a CF card. Doing further research I discovered that there was the option to use an SD card which gives you more bang for the buck. Obviously in the process I came across Tarkan’s site and although I found the adapter and CF to SD conversion card on Amazon I decided to go with Tarkan’s bundled adapter because of all the success stories and I just was not in the mood to do trial and error. After ordering Tarkan bundled adapter I also purchased a 64 GB Silicon Power SDXC class 10 card off Amazon ($22) and a replacement 650 mah (not the 450 mah in the ipod) battery off ebay ($6).

    I received the bundled adapter Saturday and installed it that night. Itunes recognized my ipod and restored the software without any issues and on the first attempt. I then synched what music I have on my laptop to the ipod and that also transferred without any issues. So far anyway the Silicon Power SD card is working flawlessly even though it is not on Tarkan’s list.

    As far as the battery I purchased it is working great as well. After bringing it to a full charge I started playing music on the ipod last night at 6 PM. We are now at 3 PM (21 hours) and it still has a little more than 50% battery power left. I estimate the extended battery + the lower draw of the CF to SD adapter will give me 48+ hours of listening time before needing to be recharged.

    It would have cost me $55 to replace the hard drive/battery with a new hard drive/battery vs replacing the hard drive/battery with the CF To SD adapter which cost me around $60 and has less moving parts and I would think greater durability if dropped and I still have the option to increase my memory to 128 GB if I ever need to.

    Right now I am very happy with my decision to go this route.

    Reply ↓
  7. P Green

    Hello everyone. I have some questions. I have a 160GB 6 Plus iPod and just received a 256GB PNY SDXC card (Thanks to Richard D for the Flash Test link!) I’m aware that you have to use Rockbox in order to access the full capacity of the card; but I just found out that Rockbox doesn’t support the iPod’s video playback ability.

    I occasional use my iPod as a storage device. Would I be unable to access the remain storage in usb mode? Or run some type of dual booting to use the full card? Or just use Rockport and disregard the video until Rockbox comes adds video for the iPod Classic?

    Also is there a forum to get information about Rockbox usage? I know very little about it and wanted to compare it to the original iOS firmware.

    Thanks!

    Reply ↓
  8. mobes

    Since installing my Sandisk 64gb SDXC card and installing my music everyone once in a while there will be a skip or interruption in a song, not very often. Is this possibly related to how the SD card was formatted? Should I use Aomei to reformat and create a new MBR then sync again? It’s really not bad, but wondering if that should take care of it? Thanks!

    Reply ↓
  9. John Z

    That cool, I understand. Is my SD card (PNY Elite Performance 256GB SDXC P-SDX256U1H-GE) known to be fully compatible with the new adapter? Will I be able to use the full capacity of the card?

    Thanks

    Reply ↓
    1. Tarkan

      Yes I would say the PNY 256Gb is probably the most popular card used with my iFlash kit.

      There is a pdf with iPod model numbers on my store page check that to make sure your iPod is capable of handling greater than 128Gb.

  10. John Z

    Hi Tarkan

    I haven’t made any changes to my iPod in over a year, but it’s time to replace the battery and the back cover. Here’s what I’ve got right now:

    iPod 6G 30GB
    PNY Elite Performance 256GB
    iFlash SD-CF Adapter Bundle (purchased January 2014)
    Rockbox

    I have only been able to use 130GB of the SD card because of the limitation that existed a year ago. Before I make any hardware changes and close the iPod up, do you know of any way to fix the 130GB problem? On 1/5/15, you said that your v7 SDCF adapter handles it correctly. Is v6 to v7 just a firmware update? If so, is there any way to upgrade the adapter that I have? If not, is there any way to get the v7 adapter without buying a completely new one?

    Thanks

    Reply ↓
    1. Tarkan

      Sadly no upgrade path from the v6 to v7 – the v7 is a different hardware revision, so they do not share the same firmware base.

    1. Tarkan

      Two people have reported as working the Sandisk 512Gb SDXC, on 7g iPods.

      Sadly they are unable to help me with further specific tests, so I am waiting on more reports before putting it on the list.

  12. mobes

    @Tarkan – I restored using Itunes and now syncing all 3000 plus tracks onto the ipod. Going well so far.

    So, in order to avoid the issue with Rockbox I should always use itunes to sync? Rockbox will use the ipod control so I can still use Rockbox to play the music, right?

    Also, what about Mediamonkey? This is where I’ve been managing my music and then syncing with Rockbox.

    Do I need to worry about the SDXC as far as being fake since it looks like I’ll be able to at least sync 19gb? Or is there a way to test it? I believe I saw something in the comments.

    Thanks for the help.

    Reply ↓
    2. Tarkan

      @mobes – Yes boot in to the Apple OS for transfers, it should not matter to Mediamonkey how you connect the iPod, as long as the iPod has a drive letter (I don’t use Mediamonkey, but that is my understanding of it).

  13. Peter

    hello Tarkan:
    I buy the CF and SD-CF Adapter, and a Kingstone 64G SDXC (moedel name is SDX10V).
    Shoud I use the AOMEI REBUILD MBR AND change exFAT to FAT32 in a card reader? or , Can I do those steps in ipod classic when I installed the SD?

    thanks.

    Reply ↓
  14. mobes

    Sorry, maybe need to post to Rockbox also. Appreciate any help. Didn’t have the problem before using original hard drive.

    Btw, love having the extra disk space and just how light it is now too!

    Reply ↓
    1. Tarkan

      @Mobes – are you doing the transfers under the Apple OS? The Rockbox USB Handler is broken, it is slow and causes file system corruption. Also have you test the iPod under the Apple OS and everything working ok with the SDXC card, as most of the Sandisk SD cards sold on ebay/amazon are fake.

  15. mobes

    Hello, I just replaced my 30gb drive with the Sand Disk 64gb class 10 SD card and everything is working great so far except for when I try to use Rockbox. I used Rockbox before and never had any issues.

    Here is what I’ve done.

    1. Restored using itunes
    2. Installed Rockbox
    3. I use Media Monkey to manage my music. So, I copied all 3000 files to the iPod which showed fine in Media Monkey. Everything went well.
    4. Properly disconnected ipod and started Rockbox
    5. Initialized database and then it became stuck at “committing database 1/9”
    6. I left overnight and it did not do anything.

    Update: I restored again using itunes, installed Rockbox but then selected approximately 100 tunes from Mediamonkey. I started up Rockbox and initialized the database and it worked. The files appeared and could play the music. I tried the process again with approximately 1000 tunes and is stuck again at “committing datase 1/9”. I will try with about 500 songs and see if works.

    Anyone else run across this? I wouldn’t think it has anything to do with Mediamonkey? Thanks for your help!

    Reply ↓
  16. Antonio

    It was mentioned that i could do theis on my 4th Gen 20GB ipod.

    If I want to install the PNY 256 gb sd card, will I be able to past the 128 gb point of music?

    If so, what do i need from Tarkan’s tools and adapters. Would like to see if possible.

    Reply ↓
  17. Will

    Thanks. Just checked and my model is in the MB029, 6th Generation iPod 160gb.

    So do I need Tarken’s v.3 adaptor kit from the store and a 256GB Elite Performance SDXC Class 10 UHS-1 – 90MB/s.

    Install rockbox or emcore/rockbox?

    Reply ↓
  19. Will

    Hey there,

    I too have a IPod Classic 160 gb thick model.

    I’d like to upgrade it to 256 gb as well. Is it possible on this model? See some yes/no on this.

    If so, what would I need? Tarkan’s tops? Adapter model? and any specific type/model of 256gb card?

    Thanks.

    Reply ↓
  20. Jon M Curley

    @Antonio I get the adapter and 256GB for about $140USD. I have a few refurbished models that I have completed. Hit me up.

    Reply ↓

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