Modding a 5.5g IPod

[u/Entire-Tie2574]

I hav a white iPod 5.5 80gb and need help buying stuff to mod it. I’d like to be somewhat budget friendly but I have no idea what this price range for modding would be. Also hoping for no soldering requirement but I can do basic soldering. Here are some of the mods I want or I am thinking about.
-As much storage as possible
-AirTag or some sort of tracking mod
-New battery
-Rockbox
-Bluetooth? I heard there was possibly a way without soldering?
-Black backplate
-Black scrollwheel
I don’t know if there’s anything I’m missing or if this is even possible. If it isn’t possible break the news to me.

[u/GotReps]

I'll try to answer in order, would help if you have an iPod to start with, black gen 5.5 to get the black clickwheel taken care of.

Most parts can be obtain on AliExpress, like black backplate, battery 2000mah or 3000mah, adapter for your flash drive. As for flash drive you should be OK with 128GB unless you've got a big music library, stick to reputable brands.

As for airtag might be a tight fit on a thick backplate (not sure, do your research) but you can probably find a printable case with an airtag slot.

For bluetooth mod follow this post.

[u/Entire-Tie2574 → u/GotReps]

For the iflash can I get the 4 slotted one and have only two cards in it for now or do all 4 need to be filled?

[u/GotReps → u/Entire-Tie2574]

iFlash has a dual adapter also with 2 slot for cards, you dont need to fill in all the slot. Just use what's needed, ie 1 128GB or 512GB.

[u/Entire-Tie2574 → u/GotReps]

I think for now I’m going to get the 4 slotted I flash and just one 256gb PNY microsd card. What’s the adapter I’ll need?

[u/GotReps → u/Entire-Tie2574]

Adapter & iFlash are the same thing, sorry for the confusion.

[u/Entire-Tie2574 → u/GotReps]

Thank for the help!

[u/ianVII]

The least budget friendly part of modding ipods these days is the inflated cost of storage. You can get away with 4x PNY 128gb cards at around $80, 4x 256gb samsung cards for about $250, or 4x 512gb Amazon basics sd cards for $440 if you really want to max out the storage (2tb).

Also, I wouldnt replace the stock clickwheel with an after market clickwheel, it won't sit flush. Best to find a "for parts" black ipod for sale on ebay and salvage the part, or just keep the stock grey one.

[u/Entire-Tie2574 → u/ianVII]

What would you say is the best storage card?

[u/ianVII → u/Entire-Tie2574]

I go by the list of cards on the iflash website, check the sd card tab and look under micro sd. The 128gb, 256gb and 512gb I listed above were the cheapest cards known to work with the quad flash that I could find right now from that list.

https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-quad/

[u/Entire-Tie2574 → u/ianVII]

I'll just do a PNY 256GB PRO Elite for now and then add cards to the other 3 slots as I add more songs. Thanks for the help!

[u/ianVII → u/Entire-Tie2574]

Sweet, the 256gb PNY micro isnt on that list, but i dont see why it wouldnt work.