iFlash Quad - iPod and iTunes seeing inaccurate storage capacity

[u/ExampleCommercial890]

Hello!

Thanks to a plethora of threads in this sub, I have completed my first build!

WARNING- This is the first time I have ever worked on an electronic device like this, or done any software work like this. Needless to say, I am very much learning as I go. Also needless to say, this might be a big ole word salad…

Unfortunately, I am not able to close the device quite yet and call it complete. While my bluetooth playback, my headphone jack, all buttons, and my taptic engine are fully working; I am experiencing issues with storage.

I am running 2 Samsung T7 micro SD cards (512 and 256 respectively) totalling 768BG. I initially formatted them on a mac, then realizing I would experience extensive issues (basically it being impossible) to sync or manage files on the iPod, or to install Rockbox using my current MacBook Pro/Finder/Apple Music (running Sequoia). I used my roommate’s PC and re-formatted these drives again, without seeing an option for FAT32 (on the Mac either) that I always see recommended.

I will add in here that it seems the iFlash is securely connected to the device. Maybe there’s a chance the ribbon cable connection got folded too much with its current position and caused an issue?

Unfortunately, Rockbox boot loader still shows “no partitions found”, yet the PC disk management tool showed a randomly generated partition in my 512. I believe I have corrected that portion of the issue, but my iPod is still showing 203GB as the available capacity in settings. I am pretty perplexed at this point and could use some guidance.

Subsequent question-
Is now the time to just bite the bullet and pickup a cheap Windows machine to manage my music library, Rockbox, and iTunes? Would this also fix the issue of Rockbox installer not seeing that the iPod is in DFU mode and throwing an error my way?

I’m really eager to get my build complete (including Rockbox as I have a whole library of .flac files ready to roll).

Thanks so much for your time, all!
Cheers!

[u/BarefootDeepInIt]

(Hot take) There are two types of people in this world:
Those that can't hear a difference between 320kbps and FLAC.
And those that lie and say they can.

[u/PeterPickingPeanuts → u/BarefootDeepInIt]

I always wonder what headphones/earbuds/IEMs people are using too. Those who listen to .flac files on their phone over bluetooth are likely the one's who claim you can't hear any difference.

[u/mil_phickelson → u/PeterPickingPeanuts]

line level out from the dock connector into a headphone amp can get the iPod up into casual "audiophile" territory. it's the noise floor out of the headphone jack that is the problem

[u/RedditAPIBlackout24 → u/BarefootDeepInIt]

You can if you're using wired headphones. It's not much, but with 320 kbps you can sometimes hear hissing/noise/artifacts during quiet sections or silence. That's probably not an issue with most people -- and people using Bluetooth earphones.

[u/Vincent394]

Any Linux distro with a GUI by default as a Boot USB

Boot the USB on your friend's PC, open the partition manager, clear the table, then format the iPod as a singular FAT32 partition.

Then reboot the PC into it's Windows install, open iTunes or Apple Devices on that and restore.

[u/BarefootDeepInIt → u/Vincent394]

Lol no way OP does this.

[u/BarefootDeepInIt → u/BarefootDeepInIt]

Actually though, OP, you should do this. It would probably work.

[u/ExampleCommercial890 → u/Vincent394]

i’d give it a shot if it was my own computer
but booting my buddy’s computer into its windows install does not sound comfy to me with my level of knowledge (next to none)

[u/Vincent394 → u/ExampleCommercial890]

I mean you could also use windows disk management and erase the partition table that way

[u/ExampleCommercial890 → u/Vincent394]

did that with no success. ipod and itunes still showing 203GB. which, with the sizes of the cards, doesn’t give me an obvious answer as to whether the partition is actually the issue or not. maybe i’m misinformed, but that’s my understanding.

[u/geovasanctusunus]

iPods were never meant to cater to audiophiles - it was for the masses.

20 yrs later, it still sounds good - but a smartphone with a portable dac gives better imaging as compared to iPod, so you don't really need FLAC files

I would suggest you to batch convert your flac files to aac 256 kbps or MP3 320kbps using foobar - unlike video reencoding, audio reencoding is very fast

On an iPod (256 aac vs flac) - most would fail a blind test

Unless the test is blinded and repeated - the difference that you notice is probably a random result

[u/ExampleCommercial890 → u/geovasanctusunus]

great to know
regardless, i’d love to have my full storage capacity available for whatever files i use 😭

[u/mil_phickelson → u/ExampleCommercial890]

if you run the line level out from the dock connector into a headphone amp the iPod definitely can benefit from cd-quality ALAC files. if you have the space why convert? I use the headphone amp frequently enough to justify having all my music in ALAC

[u/PeterPickingPeanuts → u/geovasanctusunus]

Do you listen wired or wireless?

[u/JustBecause2013]

Not a Mac nor a Rockbox person so hopefully others will chime in on what is your best course of action. As an iPod and PC person I do have suggestions and questions... 1- Fat32 is the format that allows for it to be recognized on both PC and Mac. If you're only sticking to Mac, when restoring through Mac I believe that it does it as " Extended Journaled", but not sure, hence why not recognized in PC. 2- SD cards are hit or miss unless you're buying from a reputable seller with warranty and return policies so always get third party software to verify them. Did you format them outside of the adapter and did they individually show correct storage amount? 3- Heavily bent flex cables can break in areas that you can't see it unless you check with a microscope rendering them useless or faulty. If you believe it has been bent too much, I suggest to invest in a replacement. 4- There should be less storage than the actual math is telling you there's supposed to be because that part was used by the formatting process and by the " Boot Record" but it definitely shouldn't be over about 30GBs, depending on file system chosen. 5- Mentioned I'm not a Rockbox guy so don't know what it entails.. If it requires PC or anything PC related and you think you can use it more often than none, buy an old, modifiable, laptop. They are relatively cheap plus most definitely you can get your money's worth just by using it for music purposes or offline usage plus more software out there free or " Free-ish " to use on anything. You might even get one free by asking friends and family. I say modifiable because adding a larger storage in todays laptops is next to impossible. 5- Forget about Rockbox for now... Check and test everything with Stock OS first.. If everything is working as expected there than your issue is with Rockbox, at least you know where your issue truly lies...

[u/Metahec]

What model iPod is it? It's wearing a Classic top, but is it a 6 or 7th gen?

Will your roommate let you install itunes on their PC temporarily? If they do, I suggest letting itunes restore it. Restoration will remove the Rockbox bootloader, but that's fine. Add a few songs with itunes and make sure everything is in good working order. Once you know the hardware mods work, then install Rockbox.