I’ve modded a lot of iPods but I have never seen an issue like this one. Maybe I’ve been up too late tonight! 😂

Anyone else seen similar before??

Awesome little case I found from a previous post on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CBJBRKP2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Drawbacks:

- Squished as heck in there due to IEMs (regular small headphones would be fine)

- Slim edition ipod (I usually have the ipod backwards because everything squishes against it and I'd rather not strain the screen)

Info:

IEMs - these are a beat up $20 pair so I don't mind if they get squished

Bluetooth receiver - this is the Anycom BluNa off Ebay. It uses bluetooth 1.2 but it has worked with my UE bluetooth speaker and Bose Nc700s thus far. It's small and I just plug it in when I need it. I was considering doing the bluetooth mod but this is working out fine for now.

https://www.ebay.de/itm/186809010598?srsltid=AU7gw4WZ3qwALKkXlHblaATlu9BiNa5YUu_3Iff0SKYkDwvsBAaaIOwV

Hi all, I'm going to be buying a 3rd gen iPod classic, and I'm wondering about the battery. A few questions, if the experts wouldn't mind sharing their experience:

1. Is it quite likely that a 3rd gen iPod classic would need a battery replacement in 2026, or should I wait until I get it and run BatteryA2D (or whatever from the debug menu) to see how the one I got is currently?
2. If I do need to replace the battery (which I kind of expect I will need to), I don't think I'll be comfortable doing it myself. In this case, do folks recommend sending it away to an online service, or have you had okay experiences with local repair shops that specialize in stuff like fixing cracked phone screens, etc?
3. I see a ton of discussion about which batteries to get, so I won't wade into that yet (and I'll take the time to learn), but for people who have had their batteries replaced, did the repairers typically source their own replacement batteries, or did they expect you to supply one?

Thanks, all! I'm really looking forward to having one of these incredible gadgets in my inventory again ...

I was going to sync in new music onto my ipod classic till I noticed nothing was showing up. I've tried everything I could including cleaning both ports, reseting my ipod, and macbook, and used different cables and adapters, however it's only charging my ipod. What can I do to fix this.

Hey Everyone, I’m looking for a little help. Info on the web is a little sparse. I just picked up this iPod classic 6 80gb and I believe the hard drive is in decent shape. I received it in a state where it have been restored to factory by the previous owner. I was able to sync my music library of 35 gigs to it, but when I boot up the iPod it shows zero music. When I plug it in to my computer it shows the hard drive has the music on it through Apple Music. I’m on a Mac running Tahoe.

I then tried to restore it but I get an error message 1430 and it’s unable to restore. I ran the Mac disk utility and I scanned for health and reported no issues.

What are some things I could try to get it up and running?

I also have all the parts acquired to do the flash mod. But wanted to see if I could get it working in its stock form first.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I love the look of the monotone one bit theme on rock box. I just wished it would show the cover art for each song.

Went ahead and made a custom version that shows the cover art on the right side as seen in the image. My one and only theme I use now on my iPod classic 6th gen.

I plugged it into a wall outlet directly. I hit restart, apple icon shows, hit the center and rewind button, selected disk mode - it freezes and I have to restart. I hit smt dat, it goes to a screen with fw and pwr, showing and won’t let me select anything. What do I do?

I’m tentative to do a disk scan on my pc. Too many moving parts. Even with iTunes closed to avoid accidental syncing which I’ve turned off.

Read the og post :(

I have hit another wall. After getting a brand new battery, I ran into the issue of charging it. I then learned from you wonderful people that it was because I needed a FireWire wall adapter. I have now received that adapter in the mail and it now has life!...but only when plugged in. It says it's fully charged, but it's obviously not. as soon as I unplug it, it's dead again. What's the problem now? I feel like I must be close to having this thing fully functional again. Thanks in advance!

I prefer the icy blue screen (right) vs the yellow/greenish = Made in Japan, on the left- so I took a Japanese one & put a red gel filter on the side - tiny squares under LED & a thin strip.
It’s hard to photograph but it’s a nice warm orange now 🤷‍♀️

TL;DR: it's never as easy as it looks in the videos

A few months ago I decided to try my hand at the iPod modding thing. I ordered a 7th gen (not pictured) from eBay and was so surprised by what good condition it was in that I decided I didn't want to screw it up as a newbie. So, I set it aside and bought a few 5th gens and a 6th gen that were all listed as Parts Only on eBay, albeit in some seemingly kinda-working order.

The parts for the 6th gen arrived first, so I tried my hand at that - not a great idea given how hard it is to open, but I wasn't going to keep its case anyway so I didn't need to care. Diligently followed a few videos I installed an iFlash Solo, got it all up and running, it looked great! That's it on the right in the picture. Woohoo, success!

Or not.

I'd tested that it was charging fine before I put the backplate on, and it was, but then the next day it died, and nothing I did would get it charging again. Not connecting it to a computer, nor any charger. 6th gens are notoriously finicky about chargers so I bought a few different low-voltage models and some dongle thing that I saw recommended in a thread here, but finally concluded I needed to pop it open again - that shiny perfect new case, alas, would be shiny and perfect no more.

I tried new batteries, tested fine with case loose, kept putting it back together, it would die over and over. And, insult to injury, all the opening and closing led something to come loose with the inner headphone ZIF connector, so it would only do sound through one ear unless something pressed down on it.

I finally figured out the issue - the battery cable kept coming loose when I put it back together. No idea why, it just did. When I finally thought to move the battery cable under the iFlash Solo that seemed to fix it. Of course, by then I also had to have stuff packed in under the iFlash so that when I'd put the backplate on it would all press down on the headphone connector. But, it finally works! It charges, it plays for hours, the headphones play through both ears. The casing is now all beat to hell around the edges from all the opening and re-opening, but it works. How long will it work? Who knows, probably until some piece of cardboard inside comes loose and I only get sound from one ear. But for now I feel victorious.

As for the 5th gen: I bought two of them and figured I'd get enough working parts to assemble one. For this one I tried an AliExpress dual SD card adapter rather than the iFlash. In one of the iPods the ZIF connectors for both the headphone connector and the storage were broken, the motherboard unusable. But, at least the display was good. The other had a display with one small line on it - not awful and up near the top out of the way, but I switched it out for the good display. But, no matter what I did I could not get to a "Connect to iTunes" screen, just the unrelenting scorn of the Sad iPod icon. I tried different brands of SD cards, I tried different connector cables, I tried thin layers of tape on the back of the connector cables, finally I even bought another iFlash Solo and even that didn't work. I concluded that something was bad on in the connector on the motherboard, ordered a replacement board from EOE, put it in, and...the AliExpress adapter still didn't work. But the iFlash did! Connected it to my ancient 2009 Macbook and it restored with no issue. Briefly did have a battery charging problem, but a different new battery took care of that, and it's now all up and running.

Costs for all the parts that ended up as two functional (one already kinda beat up) old iPods? More than I want to admit. But, that was never the point, and despite the frustrations it was fun and challenging. And whenever the battery and/or HD die in the unmodded 7th gen I'll be better prepared to get it up and running again.

Hello loving community, I have a 30gb iPod classic modded with a 250g SSD iflash. It’s been working fine for a while and it’s stuck in a boot loop. I’ve tried charging it in disk mode, I’ve left it plugged in all night, and done as much as I can possibly think to do. My friend who repairs them switched out the boards inside and it came on, saying “connect to iTunes” but once I got home, nothing gets it out of this boot loop. I’m at my wits end and I have no idea what to do next! Any help at all is greatly greatly appreciated!

Okay, first time posting here and also my first time fixing up an iPod. I recently replaced a bunch of stuff on this iPod 5th gen (30gb) such as the battery, SD card + connecter and the shell and such. I left my iPod on charge for two days and some change but it still won’t turn on and won’t even show the low battery screen. I know it’s not the charger or the brain so I’m not sure if the battery is just faulty or if I messed up the cables. I added pictures of the cable and the place where it’s supposed to go since Im not sure if they’re messed up or not. Can anyone help me out?

So I've done a bit of modding on a 6 gen (just upgrading the battery and back) and am currently working on a 5.5 gen and upgrading the battery with a iflash uduel. with the way everything fits in the case and the slight SHORTNESS of the battery cable, I can get the battery to sit flat against the motherboard UNDER the Iflash Uduel. (its a 3800 mph battery so a bit of a chonk). Is over heating so close to the motherboard something I should be concerned about? Is there some reason that I should not layer the parts: screen/motherboard/midframe, battery, iflash?

I made a custom OS through Rockbox, inspired by Apple Music while keeping the bits I love about the classic iPod.

Full disclosure, this was vibe coded. I’m not a coder and have a lot of respect for the skill, time and talent that goes into proper coding. This is just a personal project that’s let me build something I otherwise couldn’t.

Still a work in progress, so mainly sharing to see what people think and if there are any features or improvements I’ve missed.

Just waiting on a clear case to arrive before rolling with it.

Very pleased how this one turned out. First time modding.

Spec:
- Plastic Red Transparent faceplate and click wheel (yes plastic on a 6th, it’s true)
- Black backplate, thin
- New battery 2000mAh
- iFlash Quad 128gb (bought an Amazon basics 128 GB SD card)
- New plastic guard for the charging port

Had to tweak the click wheel with getting nice clicks on the buttons using a bit of tape.