u/TaliMyBananas

I'm mostly an iPod user and modder, but recently on a business trip to China, I picked up a couple of Zune 30s to try for the first time ever. An online seller claimed that these KingSpec SSDs (KSM-ZIF-6-064MS) worked with Zunes, so I bought one and indeed it did. It has a form factor more similar to those thin SSD cards for iPods/other DMPs rather than the larger 1.8" box KingSpec/Yansen ones (model number starting KSD I believe), but the controller/how the drive is presented to the Zune is similar I guess, so it works the same. These apparently also come in 16, 32, and 128 GB versions.

Unfortunately it is still a KingSpec drive and almost certainly not manufactured anymore, so this doesn't resolve the long term problem of the 1.8" ZIF drives becoming unavailable and more expensive. (The SD adapter custom designed by u/sylvainsf could be the long-term solution.) But if you happen to be in China or can pick up gadgets from there, there are some sellers listing these 64GB drives for around 30 USD on Xianyu (Goofish, basically Chinese eBay), maybe 15 USD for 32GB drives.

These drives plug in as shown and is also thin enough on top of a extended '3000 mAh' battery advertised for iPod 5/6th gens.

There are some quirks with the Chinese Zune community as mentioned in some older threads in this sub, including the infamous 'Test 1.0 firmware' which enables drag-and-drop file support and Asian languages, but must be manually flashed, and any attempt to update the firmware with the Zune software apparently bricks the device. I've even a seller claim to have a 'Test 1.0' device modded with a CF card. As you may know, Zune 30s were never sold in China but refurb units probably ended up in the hands of consumers via recyclers in Shenzhen. If there is interest, I shall try to procure one of these weird devices.

Clockwise from back left:

• 2007 Core 2 Duo 24" (Aluminium pre-unibody, 2007-09, also available with 20" display)
• 2017 Core i5 21" Retina (Aluminium thin unibody, 2012-20, also available with 27" Retina display)
• 2021 M1 (Apple silicon, 2021-present)
• 2002 G4 (750) 15" (2002-04, also available with 17" or 20" displays)
• 2000 G3 (350) slot loading (1998-2001, many variants)

Almost all form factors are represented, missing only the Polycarbonate (2005 iMac G5 and 2006 early Intel), and to a minor extent the Aluminium thick unibody (2009-11).

Fun fact: the 23.5" M1 iMac weighs the lightest out of all five, despite it having the widest display (the 2007 24" is slightly taller as it's 16:10).

iPod with color display (Photo/4th gen, 20GB thin back) modded with all parts from Aliexpress. This build is similar to u/ChenGuang's in this post except with a dual SD adapter instead of an SSD.

Parts:

• '2450mAh' Extended battery (comes with the right connector)
• Dual SD adapter (many listings available, check for good reviews and 'IPOD 3-7' label. Plenty of posts have been written on reddit recently with positive views due to its low cost compared to the iFlash uDual and ability to work out-of-the-box)
• microSD card - old 64 GB PNY class 10 one I had on hand
• ZIF to CE/SSD adapter for 4th gen - this seems to be a copy of the Tarkan/iFlash cable but works nonetheless. The original listing I bought might have been removed, and this one might also no longer be sold at some point, just search 'ipod 4th gen zif cable' on Aliexpress or get the original iFlash one
• 12V USB charging cable - this is required to charge if you don't have a Firewire charger after restoring in iTunes. It has a converter to step up 5V from the USB A port to the required 12V simulating a Firewire charging cable, but does not support data transfer (regular cable can be used for syncing)

After numerous problems firstly with the click wheel then a possible short that shuts down the iPod when unlocking the hold switch after reassembly despite heaps of kapton tape, I thought the board was fried when it eventually refused to charge. So I left it disassembled in a corner for two weeks, reseated some ZIF cables and kapton tape, lo and behold, it decided to start booting again. Hopefully with careful handling it doesn't fail again too soon.

Sequoia 15.7.7 (OCLP) on iMac 2017 (A1418)

Since the trick of installing a system profile to block major version upgrades is no longer working, the only workaround to prevent Tahoe updates from showing up in Software Update is apparently to enrol in a Sequoia Beta channel. I've followed the instructions by signing up on the Apple Beta page with my Apple ID (https://beta.apple.com/en-GB/enroll-your-devices), and also tried to manually enable it in System Preferences using the command

open "x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.Software-Update-Settings.extension?action=showBetaUpdates" 

but the beta channels don't show up and just says 'Off'. Tried logging out and back in to this Apple ID, rebooted etc. Any ideas please?