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 Installation
Installation
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
The current compatibility list has been moved to the iFlash-Solo product page.
@ Tarkan
Okay I found the debug menu. See if this is what you need. Also my iPod model number is MB145LL/A Silver 6g 160gb
Model: SD to CF Adapter 3rd Gen.
DMA mode: UDMa 4
@ Tarkan;
I am sorry you need to explain to me where I can find the information you are asking for. The Rockbox version I am currently using is c299412-150616. The memory card capacity is 476. Why do you think I am not using the v7 SDCF adapter? I bought it from you as a bundle months ago. It is the $33 bundle in your store. (The thick type bundle) Also I need to correct myself about the battery. It is 2000mah capacity.
@ WildmaN – I don’t have a Rockbox iPod, but in the settings menu there should be a debug menu, in there you can view the HDD information. That should list the HDD name/model & firmware version.
@ Tarkan;
Yes as far as I know I am using your iflash bundle with sdcf adapter. I actually had just over 60gb of music left to load as it was loading at the time. And the iPod froze up, and I had to start all over. I tried again, and was able to put just over 100gb on it, and it froze again and showed weird computer language. So again I had to redo everything over. I have tried different Rockbox programs and keep hitting the same wall. Also it seems to be doing a battery drain like it did in the past. I am using the 1900 mah battery. Is that possibly not giving an accurate reading in Rockbox?
With all that said. Does that mean I have to go back to a 7g iPod? I would be really bummed out if I had to do that. As the 6g iPod was the first one I bought new.. And I have had it since 2008. And I wanted it to be my permanent and daily used iPod with all my music on it.
@ WildmaN – I don’t think you have a v7 SDCF adapter, can you tell me what Rockbox reports for the HDD information, name & firmware version (I think you can find it in the debug menu).
@ maingey:
I am running Rockbox on my 6g Classic, and am almost done with getting all my music on there. In less than 4 hours I will have all my 384 gigs of music that I started loading over 13 hours ago.
If you try running on the iTunes firmware, it will hit a wall after 65000 tracks. And you can’t shuffle more than 48000 or so tracks without the iPod glitching and freezing up. My opinion iTunes sucks with custom iPods, and Rockbox works much smoother and you have more freedom.
@ Tarkan:
I don’t know how much difference iTunes 10.7 or any other are. But I am running 10.7, and when I restore my iPod it shows the full capacity of the 512gb sd card. It even showed the full capacity with the 256gb sd card. And both times were with my 6g 160gb fat version. Now when I tried the Samsung 512gb SSD, it only showed 127 or so. But with the sd cards iTunes doesn’t seem to care about the 128gb limit.
@Wildman – are you sure you are using my iFlash-Bundle with the v7 SDCF adapter? The older v6 and before adapters are not LBA48 compatible so would have shown the full capacity on a 6g but not actually worked above 128Gb.
@Tarkan thanks for breaking it down for me a bit. You were referenceing the 6G ipods talking about the 128. I get it. So how come there are 160 GB 6G ipods out there from Apple then, or 128GB limitation specific to the 8GB and 120GB 6G?
@Maingey – Apple use CE-ATA drive for the thick 160Gb model, but when you use a PATA based hard drive the Apple firmware only uses LBA28 hence the limit to 128Gb.
@mig, I just completed a 128GB SDXC on iflash. Pretty amazing how easy it was (outside of opening the unit) on a Gen 6 80GB. I have a 120GB Gen7 that I would like to do and another Gen6 120GB that I’m not sure about because it has randomly deleted the music 2 times so I’m not sure if it’s the hdd or the mobo/controller.
@Tarkan, Your response has lost me, (I apologize)
“If there is no mention that means they have been reported and tested on all generations supported by the iFlash adapters. The LBA28 (128Gb) or iTunes track limits for specific iPod’s still applies, of course!”
This means that they are reported to work but are beyond the LBA28? Are they not stable?
How are people selling 240GB and 500 GB ipods then?
@WildmaN are you saying that you are successfully able to get a 512GB SDXC stable in Apple Itunes and can copy over music with no issue and it is stable all the way through for extended periods of time?
@maingey – quite simple, the 256Gb & 512Gb have been reported as working on the 5g/7g iPods – however it does not change the fact that the 6g are LBA28 limited, so on the 6g iPods they will only show up as 128Gb capacity. The ebay iPods you mention will be 7g (160gb) motherboards running firmware 2.0.4/2.0.5.
I cannot comment on what @WildmaN is seeing, I would have expect it to show up as a 128Gb. I have a 512Gb SDXC coming to me soon, so will check myself.
@maingey:
Yes it works just fine on a 6g 160gb Classic fat version. I put a 512gb Sandisk sd class 10 card on it. And loaded Rockbox, and I am loading up my music. Took me a few tries to figure out which Rockbox would work. As one particular one made the iPod crash, and a bunch of computer language showed on the iPod. lol Hopefully I am past that little crazy glitch.
@ Tarkan:
When I put the sd card on, and restored it in iTunes. It showed the full amount of space the card had. (roughly 476gb) I know in the past when I tried to put a 240gb hard drive on it or the 512gb Sansung SSD it only showed 128gb. But with the sd card and your Flash Adapter it bypasses that 128gb limit. And that particular limit does not apply with an sd card.
@Tarkan, thanks for your help withthe 6G 80GB ipod. I was able to load it all the way and left it docked overnight. I then had it play for 2 hrs, hard reset it with no issues. I noticed that you had posted that users had reported working SDXC for in the iflash, but you didn’t comment on what gen ipod it was with. Can you tell us that please?
256Gb SDXC UHS-I (U1) PNY Elite Performance
256Gb SDXC UHS-I (U3) PNY Elite Performance
512Gb SDXC UHS-I (U3) PNY Elite Performance
@maingey – If there is no mention that means they have been reported and tested on all generations supported by the iFlash adapters. The LBA28 (128Gb) or iTunes track limits for specific iPod’s still applies, of course!
@maingey I have installed iFlash with a 128 GB Qumox SDXC in a 5.5th iPod Video. No issues at all. Plug, restore and play, actually. Just check the list provided by Tarkan on supported cards.
Could be your hard drive ribbon. Remove it from both sides and put it back. I like to remove it from the logic board and insert it to the iFlash adapter first, then to the logic board.
Hi Tarkan,
I finally got around to installing your adapter along with a PNY 256 gb SDXC card into my 5.5G iPod.
I keep getting the sad iPod/ link to iPod support screen, but I can boot into disk mode. Once I get into disk mode, with the “OK to disconnect screen”, I connect it to my macbook pro. I get the “Do not disconnect” screen, but after a minute, it goes back to apple logo startup screen, and then into the sad iPod screen. Seems that I can’t get iTunes to recognize the iPod. When I had the original hard drive in there, the iPod was working perfectly. Any suggestions? Thanks!
@Jason – You probably have a bad ribbon, also the iFlash is installed correct way? Zif connector facing out, opposite way to the original HDD.
@Pete H
Saying its playing while not actually progressing from zero usually indicates hard-drive problems.
But then it wouldn’t play through the dock either.
Though that sort of issue can be erratic, where some files will play and some won’t, so could it just be coincidence based on which tracks you played in each case?
The other possible problem is if the ipod keeps thinking the headphones have been pulled out of the socket and so automatically pauses. Due to a faulty headphone jack. But that would put the ipod on pause, rather than saying its playing while not doing so.
Meanwhile, I’ve given up on the Kingston card, as even using a different PC it rockboxes slightly better but still won’t let you copy much to it before losing the drive again.
@Pete H
That doesn’t make any sense. Why would it play fine when connector to the 30-pin dock cable and then not work (track won’t progress in time) when connected to headphones.
Thanks for responding! The ipod shows the file is playing, but the time never progresses past zero. I can play any files through my car or computer, however.
Hi, I recently purchased a 5th gen 30gb that would not play files. I installed the iflash with a 128gb card and the ipod took 70gb of files with no problem. However, ipod still will not play files. It will play them while connected to itunes or my car, but not with headphones. Do you think the logic board is caput? Thanks for any and all input!
@Pete H – you mean they are playing but no sound through the headphones? you get sound ok when playing through your car system? If so more than likely the headphone jack/hold switch assembly has probably failed, replacement are quite cheap and easy enough to replace.
Update on my trouble with kingston card – weirdly, I can install rockbox on it if I use a different, linux-based PC. But any attempt to write to the ipod with my normal PC and it fails very quickly. Have to suspect there is something _really_ peculiar about the USB on my main PC, as it seems in general very fussy about what it will work with.
It won’t sync any Sony mp3-players, it won’t reliably synch an ipod with more than 160gb and original firmware, and it won’t write to an ipod with a kingston card. It _will_ synch to a rockboxed ipod with a PNY card, and it _will_ sync an original firmware ipod if 160gb or less. Lord alone knows what’s wrong with the wretched thing.
@Tarkan
Thanks – will definitely be checking to see what you find, will give me a clue whether its worth trying swapping card into different ipod.
Well, the 128gb (probably fake) Kingston did not work… random skipping and freezing occured after a few mins of playing.
So i ve bought a Sandisk 64gb UHS1 and its really great. Sorry for the first misinformation.
@Tarkan
I tried a couple of different versions of emcore – the normal unmodded one what worked fine with the PNY card ipod, and also one I think I got from beyondwind’s site.
Sometimes it fails when installing emcore, more often it falls over part-way through installing rockbox itself. Always it continues to detect the ‘device’ but suddenly decides the device has no drive in it. OF allows the drive to be filled and seems to play everything perfectly well.
Annoying in that before I wouldn’t have cared as I hadn’t gotten used to rockbox, but now I’m a convert and don’t want to use the original firmware! Not least as some of my digital stuff is in ogg format which OF can’t natively play. Rather wishing I’d just got another PNY card from the US, but I didn’t want to wait that long for shipping.
I suppose there’s an outside chance its something odd about this particular ipod rather than the Kingston card brand.
@Pete – it is possible that you have an issue specific to that iPod. I own the Kingston 256Gb card myself if I need to sync & restore in the next few weeks, I will try to test Encore/Rockbox on it before I do.
Received the new U3 PNY in 256gb & 128gb versions excellent cards, and currently very cheap, sadly another USA thing.
So, no-one knows whether different brands of sdxc cards are likely to have subtle differences in how they behave with the adaptor? I’m just bemused that this one will work perfectly with original firmware but just can’t be rockboxed. Is there a possible reason for that?
@Pete – different cards do behave differently, cheaper PNY range for example has high variation between cards, where as the more expensive cards tend to have less variation.
I pesonally have not heard of a SD card working under the Apple OS but not working with Rockbox – but I suppose the possibility exists, the Rockbox ATA code does not work as well as the Apple OS code base so anything is possible.
I assume you are using the same version of Emcore and Rockbox, you have formatted the data partition within Emcore to prep the card, etc.??
So after a lot of trial and error, and many tries. I finally got the 2005 ribbon cable to work on my 7g 160gb with the 256gb sd card. Crazy I couldn’t get it to work before. The cable that worked was the one I recently received from an Ebay auction. Maybe it takes many attempts to get it to read with the older ribbon cable. Who knows? lol At least I finally got it to work. Though I will probably still order the 2008 ribbon cable, just in case my 6g 160gb (fat version) decides to be a little picky. We will see I guess….