1Tb 7g iPod Classic – Restore & Sync Video

1Tb 7g iPod Classic – Restore & Sync Video

Posted a new video – demonstrating the complete restore and sync of a 1Tb 7.5g iPod Classic.

I have done this many many times now with zero problems, so I thought this time I would make a video.

Syncing is done using iTunes 11, importantly I used the Apple Dual Firewire/USB Docking Lead, and the Apple 12V Firewire charger.

The firewire can supply enough power to the iPod while syncing that you do not have to worry about Power Loss Corruption issues which can occur while syncing mSata drive based iPods. The iPod USB Charge circuit cannot supply enough power to the mSata during syncing to stop the battery drain issues.

Equipment

  • iPod Classic (7.5g 160Gb Model PC297LL)
  • iFlash-Sata
  • Samsung 840EVO 1Tb mSata
  • Apple 12V Firewire Charger
  • Apple Dual Firewire/USB Docking Lead

Stats

Tracks Sync’d:  49995 Tracks

Data Sync’d:   907Gb Transfered

Time Taken: Restore to Sync to Eject  approx. 11 hours

 

Click on video settings to select the 1080p HD version.

186 thoughts on “1Tb 7g iPod Classic – Restore & Sync Video

  1. Ron

    Hi, Tarkan. Surface scan worked like a charm. I let it run all the way, just in case. No problems after that. Ultimate iPod built and loaded. Took about 4 hours to load 250gb of music. Thanks again.

  2. Ron

    Hi, folks. Running into the same issue as a few others in this thread: 840 EVO 1TB and red X on a 7th Gen iPod classic (originally thin 160GB). I formatted the drive using the SATA adapter, AOMEI, and direct motherboard connection, powered down the PC, and still have the red X. Question: when I format as FAT32, does it matter if it is made into a bootable drive (MBR)? Could that be the issue? Would appreciate some ideas. I have made quite a few 480 and 256GB iPods, but really want the “ultimate iPod” to top off my collection. Thanks in advance.

    1. Support

      @Ron – Have you checked that the HDD ribbon is ok, the battery is able to power up the 1Tb without browning out.

      With AOMEI I find that running a surface scan for around 100Gb-200Gb, then shutting down the computer is more effective in clearing the Power Loss Mode then just doing a format.

    2. Ron

      Thanks for the AOMEI suggestion. Will try either tonight or tomorrow night.

      As far as ribbon and battery, I should be fine. It works with the original 160gb drive and now has a brand new 3000 mAh battery. Will keep you posted. Thanks again.

  3. Anton

    Hello, support! Forgive me for repeating myself! Tell me please! Why my player whith IFLASH-Sata is so hot? I synchronize 2-3 gigabytes files AAC – 192 kbps, and the iFlash-sata is very warm. And. Why do I have a file system error (http://tinypic.com/r/14l0dbs/9)? My SSD —–1 amper now.

    1. Ryan

      Ssd are really made for computer systems with heat syncs and cooling systems. iPods have no way of cooling. Unfortunately they get pretty warm when syncing.

  4. Anton

    I have maximum 5 gb per session (only AAC-192 kbps). But: my ssd —–3,3v 1,7 ampers; original hdd—-3,3v 0,5 ampers. Maybe a problem in the 1,7 ampers? I want to buy ssd with 0’3 ampers.

    1. Support

      @Anton – you can get away without the firewire/usb lead, you just need to limit your syncing to 80Gb per session with charging inbetween – having said that 250Gb mSata’s really do not need it as there power consumption is much better than the 500Gb/1Tb units.

    1. plasreconsurg

      These leads are very rare and therefore expensive! It needs to be a genuine Apple one I think. I bought a cheap non-Apple version and it didn’t work. Eventually I sourced one on eBay Germany for £70 approx! Just keep searching and eventually one will come up for sale. Good luck.

    2. Mark

      I find that with the Dual 512G SDXC, the Apple cord is not required even though I have one. It works fine without it!

  5. sg

    Agreed with below comments. You have a post regarding the teaser for a 1TB iPod and then a video showing you syncing it but don’t have any of the real explanation or a tutorial of the process of creating the 1TB iPod.

    A video would be excellent to help those interested. Also parts that are readily available (compatible SSD’s and batteries) rather than discontinued parts.

    From,
    A patiently waiting reader of your blog.

  6. rubeN

    Yeah 840 EVO 1TB are discontinued and are harder to buy new, you might find them used though. 850 EVO 1TB don’t work even with a big battery. 850 EVO 500GB works great though, I have 3 pods running them.

  7. Thierry de Nave

    Hello Tarkan,
    Looking around I don’t find the spot answer and the question might be obsolete :
    Can I upgrade iPod Classic model MC 293 with 1TB ?
    Glad to hear
    Thierry de Nave
    Antwerp (Belgium)

    1. Mark

      I should fill out my answer more…I have a MC293LL with Dual iFlash holding 2 Kingston 512G. I also have an 1800 mAh battery that I occasionally recharge. The Apple Dual Cord is not required. Works like a charm! At least it says it is 1 TB!

    2. Bruno

      But which hard drives models fits with this upgrade? U said that samsung 850 evo doesn’t work but 840 evo was discontinued.

  8. Alex

    What does actually happen when surpassing the storage limit of songs?
    Does the sync from iTunes fail or does only the iPod fail to start?
    Can you just remove a number of songs via iTunes to go below it again or do you have to erase the iPod and start agin to fill it from scratch?

    1. Support

      @Alex – depending on the generation, generally you get random resets when trying to play certain playlists, iPod hanging on the lit Apple logo while booting, or showing no tracks and the music is shown as other on the about screen.

      In all cases, connecting to the computer will let iTunes read the iPod as normal allowing you remove/reduce the number of tracks – if the iPod is hanging on boot, then reseting and entering diskmode will allow you to use iTunes as normal.

  9. Darren

    @peter. Thanks for the reply. I was asking becuase I only use my iPod in my car, and my Head unit controls the ipod.. From what I’ve been reading, the head unit will only recognize thei Pod if it’s running the apple software, the interface won’t recognize any other software on the iPod from my understanding.. unless someone else can tell e differently. BTW my radio is a Pioneer P4400BH. Thanks!!

  10. Darren

    I just ordered my dual flash adapter and was wondering if anyone has had any success syncing more than 50,000 songs. I have roughly 67k songs I wanted to put on my iPod. After reading that the limit is 50k I’m pretty bummed about it.

  11. plasreconsurg

    Thanks @support – yes, 65,000 tracks crashed it and I was back to red cross.
    But, it was working fine for a day with about 2,000 tracks – no battery issues (and I swear the new back cover from China gives a louder volume output).
    So, I am now going for 25,000 tracks, and I will try adding 5,000 at a time to see how close I can get to the 50,000 limit you mentioned at https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-compatibility/
    Cheers, am really enjoying this project!

  12. plasreconsurg

    I’m trying to upgrade a 7g 160GB to an Evo 840 1TB SSD. I’m not there yet, but this is what I think I have learned so far:
    1. Utterly stupid, I know, but put Tarkan’s adapter in the right way up as in the photos shown here. I learned this the hard way: http://www.alphr.com/audio/1001325/turbocharge-your-ipod-classic-revive-your-old-ipod-with-an-ssd
    3. I used a USB mSATA adapter from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/mini-PCIe-mSATA-adapter-driver/dp/B00KTE3J78?ie=UTF8&ref_=pe_385721_51767431_TE_dp_1 on one of the built in USB3 sockets on the back of my iMac (late 2013, 27″ 3.4GHz i5). Using Disk utility to format the “Generic drive’ that appeared to MS-DOS (Fat) seemed to work. iPod is restoring as I type.
    4. Using AOMEI partition assistant on a Parallels Windows 8.1 machine running on the same iMac, following all steps at https://www.iflash.xyz/prepare-sdxc-exfat-for-use-with-the-ipod/ did not work. I got the red cross in the iPod.
    5. I kept the battery connected when I slotted the evo840 into Tarkan’s adapter. Not sure if this is important.
    6. I then plugged in the dual lead into both my Firewire 12v charger and the USB3 socket on my iMac before connecting the remaining end to my iPod. I then got the picture of the white connector lead on the iPod and a notification on iTunes that an iPod in recovery mode had been detected!
    7. Before Step 1 formatting the same mSATA on a mate’s PC (the same friend who noticed my stupidity as detailed in Step 1) using a SATA to mSATA adapter had worked. I got as far as syncing my entire library (400GB, 65,000 tracks of varying bitrates) successfully. However, this was using a straight single USB to iPod lead, ie no firewire power supply. Seemed to work without crashing, so I thought so far so good. All seemed good on the iPod. However, battery level seemed low, so I left it to charge overnight via the iMac. Batt indicator on the iPod the next morning still showed half charged, so I might have a duff battery (new 2600mA one is on its way from China along with a thicker back plate).
    8. As soon as I tried playing a track the battery (original) ran out of juice and I was back to Red Cross.
    9. So, I am waiting to see how this current sync goes, and if it fails I’ll start again from Step 3 with the bigger battery I’ll report back either way.
    Thanks

    1. Support

      @plasreconsurg – I think your biggest problem will be the 65000 track library you have, I doubt if the iPod will boot/work with that size library.

    1. Support

      @Stefan – It sold out a lot quicker than I was expecting, and I have not even started making another batch yet. Hope to have another batch started soon’ish!!

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