r/ipod

I charged it over night last night and as it was charging it had a little green light. But when I turn it on, the light doesn't show and I can't hear anything when I plug in my headphones. I've never used an iPod before, so I figured I would ask the iPod enthusiasts here.

I have refurbed a couple of iPods over the last week and have had a mixed experience getting content onto them.

First up was a 4G photo which went ok eventually using Swinsian on my Mac, it probably took 1-2 hours to copy 80gb of songs.

Then at the weekend me and my daughter repaired an iPod Mini for her to use and we replaced the battery and HDD with an sd card using the iFlash adapter. Initially tried to use iTunes on her school Windows laptop but it was so slow that we then switched to Media Monkey which just seemed to want to transcode everything despite switching off the setting, at least I think it was based on how long it took to copy just 2 albums. We then switched to Swinsian on my Mac and as with the 4G it worked fine but did take a lot longer. In total to copy just over 40gb of music it took over 8 hours.

Is this normal? How fast does your modded iPod sync content?

Lots of people are ditching streaming and going back to physical media. This is why I own an iPod. How do you feel about Sony going all digital for the PlayStation? Do you think some years from now you will want to go back to physical discs for gaming? I have hated streaming since it came out. I have never subscribed or even listened to streaming music by my own doing. I am extremely upset about the Sony and GTAVI decisions.

TLDR: Fuck streaming and the Sony\GTAVI decision to go digital. They can kiss my ass.

Okay, so I been looking to get myself an ipod, the only thing is I have a MASSIVE library of music and I like to keep adding to it. So if i got a 7th gen and put in a quad iflash in it, what would stop me or better yet stop the ipod from being able to use four 2TB SDs?

I've modded my iPod 5 with an iFlash Quad and a new battery and I love it. Yet I just have my old music library from 2010 or so and was wondering: where do you get your music and in the best case FLAC/ALAC files from? From CDs? From libraries?

Title basically. I live in Asia so buying from iFlash, EOE or iDemiGods come with big shipping price tags.

I know that the red cards are problematic on Windows, and requires a lot of effort just to get it working. I have a "Mac", but it's just annoying having to get another machine on just to sync music, instead of using my more modern laptops to do so (also having to transfer somgs every time I get a new CD).

Has anyone gotten any alternatives that work? Any on AliExpress (or even Taobao) would be just fine.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I'll be modding a 4th Gen monochrome.

The iPods were the peak of digital media. You bought music. You owned it forever. It's so gloriously simple that I love it. Old Apple was so good.

I'm gen Z and I hate the way digital media is going. I'm also investing in physical media like DVDs and CDs and considering getting a turntable. I'm so tired of all the annoying ads and this "buying isn't ownership" drama. I'm loading new music onto my 4th generation iPod nano. I can just plug it into my car an just play music. No more. No less. That's what I love about it. I'm experiencing childlike glee.

Hey everyone,
I’m a 17-year-old hardware hobbyist and absolutely love the iPod Classic 5G (Video). Lately, I’ve had this project stuck in my head, and before I actually spend my budget on parts and start prototyping, I wanted to do some quick market research and get some feedback from you guys.
We all love the 5G, but original motherboards are getting old, dying, or are just way too expensive on eBay right now. Plus, internal Bluetooth mods usually involve janky soldering, and 30-pin transmitters are just bulky.
So, I’m seriously considering designing a completely custom, modern drop-in replacement motherboard for the iPod 5G from scratch using KiCad.
Here’s what I’m planning so far:
It will fit perfectly into the original 5G thin or thick backcovers without any case modding.
Powered by a modern, cheap microcontroller like the new Raspberry Pi RP2350 (or RP2040).
Native Rockbox: This is the main goal. No modern Android/touchscreen OS. It should run Bare-Metal Rockbox by mapping the hardware pins correctly. So it will look, feel, and control exactly like a stock iPod running Rockbox, meaning full support for all community themes and the original clickwheel.
Integrated Bluetooth: Fully controllable directly inside the Rockbox settings menu (no external pairing buttons or cutting holes into the case).
Good Audio: A dedicated, high-end Audio DAC (like Texas Instruments or Cirrus Logic) so the 3.5mm jack keeps that legendary sound quality.
Storage: Just a MicroSD slot directly on the board.
DIY-Friendly: I want to use standard, readable SMD components (0805 or 0603) so people with a basic hot-air station can actually repair or mod the board themselves if something breaks.
Just to be 100% clear: I haven’t started building it yet. Right now, I’m just mapping out the schematics and checking if everything is feasible. Before I order individual AliExpress connectors, FPC breakout boards, and test chips, I want to see if people actually want this.
If I can get a prototype working on my desk, my plan is to do a small pre-order run of professionally assembled PCBs (via JLCPCB) to keep the price low for everyone. I’d target around €50 per board, which I hope sounds fair.
I’d love to hear your thoughts:

1. Would you actually buy a drop-in board like this to revive a dead 5G?
2. What features are an absolute must-have for you? Anything special you'd want on a modern board?
3. Any technical advice or good documentation on the clickwheel/LCD protocols?
   Let me know what you think!