DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player - Gizmodo Comments

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

tankboyben — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:00:49 EDT

hi all, i recently bought a non branded 4gb cf and it didnt work (sold it on) also iv'e heard it needs to be a cf II?
anyhoo im gonna buy a branded one and see if that works, would be nice if people who have sucsessfully done this mod could post what brand of card they used, would help us newbie modders a bunch.
=o) x

tankboyben

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

Worf — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 12:38:12 EST

They shouldn't cut the feature - TrueIDE mode is a required part of the CF spec for memory cards.

The microdrive in the mini is basically the same as a regular CF microdrive, except that the internal firmware was crippled to not support CF mode (i.e., it's stuck in TrueIDE mode). So it was just a hard drive in a CF formfactor using TrueIDE pinout.

Worf

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

zeiche — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:14:22 EST

This will work as long as you use an ATA-compliant CF card. Some off-brand companies cut the feature so you need to check before you buy. Non-ATA-compliant CF will not be recognized by Apple's updater.

zeiche

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

vodka — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 07:16:55 EST

do u work for the cia adam?????????

give it a break ,,,,im sure it works with a cf card,,,,, he doesnt have to tell ya that u gotta put it back the other way round,, it the same way he ripped it.

vodka

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

soldierboyadam — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 07:08:09 EST

Ever notice how he never shows the mini put back together?

soldierboyadam

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

StackyBotrus — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 06:40:40 EST

Creative flash palyers were capable of this long ago. So its the reverse here. got me a 512 player, and stuck a 4GB MD in it... cost about 80 bucks over 3 years ago. Maybe longer.

StackyBotrus

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

Silvadragon — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 06:27:11 EST

My mate did this ages ago. Old News. Tho, now he can go jogging without being paranoid the microdrive will get damaged.

Silvadragon

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

El Guano — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 01:52:08 EST

Very cool, but I just wanted to point out that this is far from a given. Some microdrives (like Seagate's USB Pocket Hard Drives) use a proprietary, non-IDE interface to defeat modders who rip out the drives to use in their digital cameras or mp3 players.

El Guano

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

canfezplay — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:09:12 EST

that is not a bad idea...t'would almost make the ipod worth buying, but between my zune and 512mb samsung YP-17...i'm good, and have at least three days of battery life.

man...my comments are useless

canfezplay

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

Big B — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 21:10:12 EST

Yes, CF cards and microdrives are almost exactly the same. The only difference is that a microdrive is about 2 mm thicker. I had this idea a while ago... but I figured why bother.

Big B

DIY: Convert the iPod Mini to a Flash-Based Player

diverguy — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 19:52:36 EST

Maybe I missed something...

The pinout for the microdrive is exactly the same as the CF Card?

I didn't see any detail on converting the connector from teh microdrive to work with the CF card...

diverguy