I took apart a Mini iPod.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Matt Kim
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Matt Kim

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I took one apart tonight. It was quite easy and didn't do any cosmetic damage. The best thing to do is get a popsicle stick and a couple drops of hot glue, and stick it to the white plastic ends. Wait for it to dry and then slowly lift until the covers come off. The rest is easy.

To remove the hot glue, just heat it up with a hair dryer and then peel the rest of the glue away.

Bad news is, I could not get the 4gb drive to work, or a 1gb microdrive to work in the iPod. :(

Matt
 
I think the problem will be that the drive is formatted with an Apple specific filesystem (Apple Extended file system) rather than with the file system the camera is expecting (Fat32).

If you have access to an apple laptop and someone with a CF-> PCMCIA adapter you can probably stick the 4Gb disk from the iPod into the adapter, stick it in the machine and read/copy the disk, and write format your 1Gb disk with an Apple filesystem using the same method, and copy the contents on. That'll probably make the 1Gb disk work with the iPod.

Next you'll just need to reformat the 4Gb CF in your camera.

Cesare
I took one apart tonight. It was quite easy and didn't do any
cosmetic damage. The best thing to do is get a popsicle stick and a
couple drops of hot glue, and stick it to the white plastic ends.
Wait for it to dry and then slowly lift until the covers come off.
The rest is easy.

To remove the hot glue, just heat it up with a hair dryer and then
peel the rest of the glue away.

Bad news is, I could not get the 4gb drive to work, or a 1gb
microdrive to work in the iPod. :(

Matt
 
Something else is going on.

The drive is formatted in the ipod as "windows"
If you have access to an apple laptop and someone with a CF-> PCMCIA
adapter you can probably stick the 4Gb disk from the iPod into the
adapter, stick it in the machine and read/copy the disk, and write
format your 1Gb disk with an Apple filesystem using the same
method, and copy the contents on. That'll probably make the 1Gb
disk work with the iPod.

Next you'll just need to reformat the 4Gb CF in your camera.

Cesare
I took one apart tonight. It was quite easy and didn't do any
cosmetic damage. The best thing to do is get a popsicle stick and a
couple drops of hot glue, and stick it to the white plastic ends.
Wait for it to dry and then slowly lift until the covers come off.
The rest is easy.

To remove the hot glue, just heat it up with a hair dryer and then
peel the rest of the glue away.

Bad news is, I could not get the 4gb drive to work, or a 1gb
microdrive to work in the iPod. :(

Matt
--
Regards,
Matt

http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=386029
http://www.pbase.com/mattjkphoto/root
http://www.wherearethetoonsnow.com/
 
I took one apart tonight. It was quite easy and didn't do any
cosmetic damage. The best thing to do is get a popsicle stick and a
couple drops of hot glue, and stick it to the white plastic ends.
Wait for it to dry and then slowly lift until the covers come off.
The rest is easy.

To remove the hot glue, just heat it up with a hair dryer and then
peel the rest of the glue away.

Bad news is, I could not get the 4gb drive to work, or a 1gb
microdrive to work in the iPod. :(

Matt
Did you try formatting the 4Gb card FAT32 in a card reader?

Simon
--
See profile for my credit card legacy...
 
I think what you need to do is make a disk image of the 4gig hitachi drive. (this way you could restore your 4gig drive if you wanted to later).

then mount the disk image on a desktop. Assuming you have an OSX mac: use an app called Carbon Copy Cloner and clone the operating system to the 1 gig microdrive. (there must be some equivalent software on the pc... ). Then pop that back in the iPod.

You will have to reformat the 4gig hitachi drive to get it to work. You could try formatting it in your camera. Or you could format it on a mac or a pc...

What happened when you tried to format it?

It would be great if we could use these 4gig drives in our cameras. I may feel bad about tearing a perfectly good iPod apart to get at the microdrive, but I sure would like to buy a 4 gig for $250...
 
There are two potential problems.

One, the 4gb drive is set as a memory disk, and not a system disk. The is a white paper describing the two modes on the hitachi website.

Next is, and should be easy. Partitioning the drive for the iPod, with the Mac file system, and not just a format.

I can format the 4gb drive, but it will not function in the camera.
I think what you need to do is make a disk image of the 4gig
hitachi drive. (this way you could restore your 4gig drive if you
wanted to later).

then mount the disk image on a desktop. Assuming you have an OSX
mac: use an app called Carbon Copy Cloner and clone the operating
system to the 1 gig microdrive. (there must be some equivalent
software on the pc... ). Then pop that back in the iPod.

You will have to reformat the 4gig hitachi drive to get it to work.
You could try formatting it in your camera. Or you could format it
on a mac or a pc...

What happened when you tried to format it?

It would be great if we could use these 4gig drives in our cameras.
I may feel bad about tearing a perfectly good iPod apart to get at
the microdrive, but I sure would like to buy a 4 gig for $250...
--
Regards,
Matt

http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=386029
http://www.pbase.com/mattjkphoto/root
http://www.wherearethetoonsnow.com/
 
Sure did.

I think there are 2 partitions on the disk, and the main one is a Mac partition, and then the rest is formatted in FAT32.
I took one apart tonight. It was quite easy and didn't do any
cosmetic damage. The best thing to do is get a popsicle stick and a
couple drops of hot glue, and stick it to the white plastic ends.
Wait for it to dry and then slowly lift until the covers come off.
The rest is easy.

To remove the hot glue, just heat it up with a hair dryer and then
peel the rest of the glue away.

Bad news is, I could not get the 4gb drive to work, or a 1gb
microdrive to work in the iPod. :(

Matt
Did you try formatting the 4Gb card FAT32 in a card reader?

Simon
--
See profile for my credit card legacy...
--
Regards,
Matt

http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=386029
http://www.pbase.com/mattjkphoto/root
http://www.wherearethetoonsnow.com/
 
Sure did.

I think there are 2 partitions on the disk, and the main one is a
Mac partition, and then the rest is formatted in FAT32.
Perhaps you could try using something like Partition Magic to sort out the partitions to get it back to normal?

Simon
 
Hi, at the time of the release of the Mini-iPod there was some reports about the media inside on the mac centric sites. According to these reports , if true the drive in the MiPod is different from normal CF. The Hitachi drive in the iPod has no buffer memory so as to save on costs, this may be why you cannot get it to work.
I took one apart tonight. It was quite easy and didn't do any
cosmetic damage. The best thing to do is get a popsicle stick and a
couple drops of hot glue, and stick it to the white plastic ends.
Wait for it to dry and then slowly lift until the covers come off.
The rest is easy.

To remove the hot glue, just heat it up with a hair dryer and then
peel the rest of the glue away.

Bad news is, I could not get the 4gb drive to work, or a 1gb
microdrive to work in the iPod. :(

Matt
--
http://www.pbase.com/sjn2003
 
Interesting.

I looked at Hitachi's site and glanced quickly through their pdf files.

they say that drives over 2.14GB have to be FAT32. The 2gig microdrives use FAT16. They say to check with your camera manufacturer to see if it supports FAT32.

Also, it says camera manufacturers only support 1 partition drives. so 2 partitions won't cut it.

Got this out of the Introduction to FAT pdf file: http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/BB4945CEAAE4DAD986256D890016E8F4

Maybe you can call up Hitachi tech support and ask them. Can't hurt.
 
That is strange, because the part number of the Microdrive in the iPod mini is HMS360404D5CF00 (according to http://www.ipodlounge.com/articles_more.php?id=3059_0_8_0_C ) -- which is the same part number that retailers sell online. Wouldn't the P/N's be different if it wasn't a normal Microdrive?
  • Leo
normal CF. The Hitachi drive in the iPod has no buffer memory so as
to save on costs, this may be why you cannot get it to work.
 
Yes, you are correct. Firmware or something must be different.

If this means anything, I was able to get an online RMA for repair/replacement fro Hitachi. I guess I could send it in and then them send me a "working" unit. ;)
  • Leo
normal CF. The Hitachi drive in the iPod has no buffer memory so as
to save on costs, this may be why you cannot get it to work.
--
Regards,
Matt

http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=386029
http://www.pbase.com/mattjkphoto/root
http://www.wherearethetoonsnow.com/
 
Sorry, I misread,

I guess the MODEL number for the drive is HMS360404D5CF00, but the PART number for the drive is 13G1768

does this tell us anything? Matt, is your drive the same? how about the muvo drive, does anyone know?

Thanks,
Leo
That is strange, because the part number of the Microdrive in the
iPod mini is HMS360404D5CF00 (according to
http://www.ipodlounge.com/articles_more.php?id=3059_0_8_0_C ) --
which is the same part number that retailers sell online. Wouldn't
the P/N's be different if it wasn't a normal Microdrive?
  • Leo
 
After searching this forum, it looks like the MuVo's MD is P/N: 13G1766 (which differ's from the mini's 13G1768)

hmmm...
  • Leo
Sorry, I misread,

I guess the MODEL number for the drive is HMS360404D5CF00, but the
PART number for the drive is 13G1768

does this tell us anything? Matt, is your drive the same? how
about the muvo drive, does anyone know?

Thanks,
Leo
 
Matt,

I heard that either Apple or Hitachi did some tweaking of the hardware so that the 4G microdrive will not work when extracted.

It's nice that Hitachi is sending you a replacement but did they know that you pulled it out of an iPod mini? :)

http://www.andymack.com , I believe, was the first to break the news of the Hitachi 4G CF Microdrives in the MuVo. He also extracted one off of the MuVo2a (which supposed to come soldered).

I'm also wondering if you could get your mini to work again?
I took one apart tonight. It was quite easy and didn't do any
cosmetic damage. The best thing to do is get a popsicle stick and a
couple drops of hot glue, and stick it to the white plastic ends.
Wait for it to dry and then slowly lift until the covers come off.
The rest is easy.

To remove the hot glue, just heat it up with a hair dryer and then
peel the rest of the glue away.

Bad news is, I could not get the 4gb drive to work, or a 1gb
microdrive to work in the iPod. :(

Matt
 
Okay, explain to me why you did this?
I heard that either Apple or Hitachi did some tweaking of the
hardware so that the 4G microdrive will not work when extracted.

It's nice that Hitachi is sending you a replacement but did they
know that you pulled it out of an iPod mini? :)

http://www.andymack.com , I believe, was the first to break the news of the
Hitachi 4G CF Microdrives in the MuVo. He also extracted one off
of the MuVo2a (which supposed to come soldered).

I'm also wondering if you could get your mini to work again?
I took one apart tonight. It was quite easy and didn't do any
cosmetic damage. The best thing to do is get a popsicle stick and a
couple drops of hot glue, and stick it to the white plastic ends.
Wait for it to dry and then slowly lift until the covers come off.
The rest is easy.

To remove the hot glue, just heat it up with a hair dryer and then
peel the rest of the glue away.

Bad news is, I could not get the 4gb drive to work, or a 1gb
microdrive to work in the iPod. :(

Matt
--
Hardware is not as important as the photo!
 
He did it because spending 250 dollars on a mini ipod is cheaper than buying the 4 gig CF card itself. If you have a spare microdrive, there was hope that it could be swapped into it and then you get a 4 gig card and an ipod for less than a 4 gig card...
I heard that either Apple or Hitachi did some tweaking of the
hardware so that the 4G microdrive will not work when extracted.

It's nice that Hitachi is sending you a replacement but did they
know that you pulled it out of an iPod mini? :)

http://www.andymack.com , I believe, was the first to break the news of the
Hitachi 4G CF Microdrives in the MuVo. He also extracted one off
of the MuVo2a (which supposed to come soldered).

I'm also wondering if you could get your mini to work again?
I took one apart tonight. It was quite easy and didn't do any
cosmetic damage. The best thing to do is get a popsicle stick and a
couple drops of hot glue, and stick it to the white plastic ends.
Wait for it to dry and then slowly lift until the covers come off.
The rest is easy.

To remove the hot glue, just heat it up with a hair dryer and then
peel the rest of the glue away.

Bad news is, I could not get the 4gb drive to work, or a 1gb
microdrive to work in the iPod. :(

Matt
--
Hardware is not as important as the photo!
 

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