Tony1d ago

Weekend project: complete.

I’ve been wanting to totally overhaul my old iPod for years. Dead hard drive, dead battery, dead headphone jack, knackered case. Now it’s even better than it was when I bought it in 2006.

Personal music players peaked here… it’s just such a good device.

#iPod #Apple #DIYfix

Show thread1P1sces 🇪🇺1d ago

@coldkennels You’re not alone 😀

https://player-mods.com/en-de

PlayerMods - we build custom iPod Classic players

Looking for the ultimate iPod classic upgrade? Look no further than our custom iPod classic 2TB with SSD and extended battery! This handcrafted iPod classic has been upgraded with a massive up to 2TB drive, providing ample space for all of your favorite music, movies, and photos.

playermods
Show threadTony1d ago
@1P1sces Bloody hell. That's a lot more money than I paid for the parts I needed to get mine all cleaned up... maybe I should start a small business buying up knackered iPods and fixing them up!
Show thread1P1sces 🇪🇺
@coldkennels Indeed! 😀
I never owned one so I invested in this two years ago, with a 256 GB SSD and Bluetooth and a USB-C connector. Never looked back!
Apr 5 at 5:11pmWeb
Show threadTony1d ago
@1P1sces How do you handle new bluetooth connections? I considered opting for some sort of Bluetooth module in mine, but I really wanted to stick with the original firmware, and I couldn't imagine connecting and disconnecting headphones and receivers without a menu option.
Show thread1P1sces 🇪🇺1d ago
@coldkennels You just press the menu button on the device to activate/deactivate to pair your earbuds or speakers. Works like a charm, too. And there’s a Java app called Jakpod that lets you organise things w/o botching the meta data like iTunes does.
Show threadTony1d ago

@1P1sces I already have all my music in Apple Music for syncing to my phone; takes a bit of management (especially when importing anything with non-English characters in the title) but it's not the end of the world.

I do like the sound of that bluetooth mod, though. Maybe something to consider if I ever need to open this up again.

Show thread1P1sces 🇪🇺1d ago
@coldkennels I have about 1k albums both, ripped from CDs or bought online. And iTunes/Apple Music made a fair mess of things. Besides, the files live on a RasPi-driven NAS, so there really was no point in maintaining them via the Apple apps any longer.
Show threadTony1d ago

@1P1sces Yeah, I imagine if I was starting from scratch, getting everything cleanly organised in Apple Music would be an utter headache. Luckily, my MP3 library goes all the way back to 2002 or so, and I've been very good at managing the ID3 tags for all that time.

I've had to replace a lot of old 128 kbps rips I made back when storage was expensive, though. Oof.

Show thread1P1sces 🇪🇺1d ago
@coldkennels I never used iTunes much to begin with and when I ripped my CDs and tried to sync them via iTunes to the iPod, iTunes kept jumbling the cover art for some reason. So I moved everything out of iTunes. Besides, one never knows when “New Apple” will stop supporting these old gadgets…
Show threadTony23h ago

@1P1sces I'll say this: I'm impressed by how well the current MacOS supports the old iPod. It immediately recognised it, restored the firmware, and syncing was simple. It even synced photos with no fuss, and it took all my contacts from iCloud with a drag-and-drop vcard export.

The only thing I can't see native support for are podcasts now that Podcasts have been broken out into their own app. Bit of a shame, but hardly the end of the world.

Show thread1P1sces 🇪🇺23h ago
@coldkennels Yes, they’re doing a fine job in general. I’ve seen every Apple OS since System 7.1, causing me to suffer at work “experiencing” Windows 3.1 through 10 🙃
My pimped iPod came with a FAT-formatted SSD which really sucks: The iPod froze when cover-flowing 200+ album covers 😜 Re-initialised to HFS+ and things are as smooth as can be ever since.
Show threadTony23h ago

@1P1sces oh, god, I didn't even think to check the file format on this SSD! I forgot FAT was even a thing.

My first Mac OS was 9. It seemed ancient compared to the Windows 98 system at home... but XP drove me nuts, and so I made the jump to OSX before I ever had to use Windows Vista. Every Windows system I've ever had to use since then - in any capacity - has just made me even more entrenched into the Mac world. I'd go over to Linux before I ever went back to Windows.

Show thread1P1sces 🇪🇺23h ago

@coldkennels If you initialised the SSD on a Mac it probably isn’t FAT.

I’m running a Linux system on a 2008 Unibody Macbook — because it can 😅

Show threadTony23h ago
@1P1sces I have the pre-unibody base spec Macbook from that era. I've considered putting Linux on it, but it is FUCKED. That thing took a lot of heavy use for nine straight years. It needs a new battery, new screen, new keyboard, new trackpad... I run it off the mains solely as a means to install games to the HDD in my networked PS2 now. It's the only thing that'll still run the utilities for it!