I destroyed my nano! Help!

Ge64 · Mar 7, 2008

Hey all,

I got the idea to use my red iPod Nano 2nd gen as an external drive to install ubuntu on, so I wouldn't have to install it on my internal harddrive on my macbook pro. In an attempt to get this working I used diskutil to reformat my ipod as MBRFormat, which did succeed (the ubuntu install however wouldn't work on the ipod), but now I want to restore the iPod to use it as a music device again, and iTunes tells me I can't.

It downloads the software and everything then says there was an unknown error, with the same icon as the 'Device Removal' message you get when you yank out a usb drive.

Is there any way I can manually reformat the iPod and/or restore an image to get it working again? I should have made one myself, doh.

Soulwar · Mar 7, 2008

Could try to reset it and then try to restore.
To reset iPod nano:
1. Toggle the Hold switch on and off (slide it to HOLD and then back again).
2. Press and hold the Menu and Center buttons for at least 6 seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
If that doesn't work, it may need repaired.

Ge64 · Mar 8, 2008

It just says 'use iTunes to restore' like it did before, and then the same happens.

There is some very basic blackt & white firmware on the iPod, but I think the firmware is normally stored on the memory which I completely cleared. I don't think the problem lies in being able to write the software, but that iTunes isnt intelligent enough to repartition the iPod.

Soulwar · Mar 8, 2008

Will that Nano go into Disk mode? You may be able to reformat with Disk Utility.
Also, do a search for iPod firmware. There are some articles for adding or changing the firmware. Interesting one from ipodwizard.net (need access to a Windows machine though...)

Forgot to ask if Update does anything?

Ge64 · Mar 9, 2008

I can access it using disk utility I just don't know the correct format to format it to. If anyone can help me by connecting their iPod to a mac, going to a terminal (Applications>Utilities), run 'diskutil list' and posting whatever it says for the iPod (should be a disk around 4/8 gb, for the nano 2nd gen obviously), that would probably help

Soulwar · Mar 9, 2008

Apple site says HFS+.

Ge64 · Mar 10, 2008

I tried that though, still there might be a special firmware partition it doesn't mention?

Ge64 · Mar 11, 2008

Alright I got it fixed! Here's what I did for any other users who did something similar:

I connected a working ipod of the same type* and at the moment iTunes asks to erase and sync or cancel it, don't click anything and go to terminal:

Code:

Ge64:~ Ge64$ diskutil list disk1
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        *7.6 Gi     disk1
   1:        Apple_partition_map                         124.0 Ki   disk1s1
   2:                 Apple_MDFW                         94.0 Mi    disk1s2
   3:                  Apple_HFS Annemieke’s iPod        3.7 Gi     disk1s3

As you can see there is indeed a firmware partition. What I did now, instead of trying to copy the partition table or something, I made a simple image of the iPod:

Code:

Ge64:~ Ge64$ dd if=/dev/disk1 of=/Volumes/puddle/ipodimg
7929856+0 records in
7929856+0 records out
4060086272 bytes transferred in 1276.644721 secs (3180279 bytes/sec)

Then disconnected the good iPod, inserted the bad iPod, but instead of asking me to sync it iTunes would ask me to restore it (which wouldn't work) so I then did this:

Code:

Ge64:~ Ge64$ diskutil list disk1
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        *7.6 Gi     disk1
   1:        Apple_partition_map                         128.0 Ki   disk1s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS iPod                    7.4 Gi     disk1s3

As you can see above, the partition scheme I made is wrong and iTunes can't use it. So:

Code:

Ge64:~ Ge64$ sudo umount -fv /dev/disk1s3
Ge64:~ Ge64$ dd if=/Volumes/puddle/ipodimg of=/dev/disk1
7929856+0 records in
7929856+0 records out
4060086272 bytes transferred in 5460.472913 secs (743541 bytes/sec)

And after that, it worked again!
*= the only catch is, I used a 4gb good iPod for lack of an 8gb one, and now my 8gb iPod turned 4gb. I guess I'll do it again later with a correct iPod, I tried resizing the partition but it won't let me go higher.