Ok - give up - need help from those who are smarter than me.

Diekan · Post by **Diekan** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 4:56 am

Still trying to get this iPod to work...

Below are some screen shots - hopefully one of you guys will be able to help me get this issue worked out, so I can rid myself of Windows for good.

SUSE Hardware Tool detects the iPod.

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Gtkpod - the Linux iPod GUI that allows you to manipulate the files - think iTunes for Linux

Notice it says Disconnected in the bottom right corner of the interface.

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When I try to read the iPod data base I get the following error message:

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When I try to sync the device I get:

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Hardware information for the iPod

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More Hardware infomation - expanded the important aspects.

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And, finally - a shot of my partition information...

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I've been searching high and low for a "how to" online - but it's not easy. I guess a lot of people aren't either using iPods with Linux, or aren't sharing the how to - which is very uncommon in the community... or (and probably most likely) I haven't looked in the right *place.*

Anyone have an idea here?

Linux is supposed to see the iPod as just another mass storage device. But, I can't even mount it.

Post by **Lyion** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:34 am

When connecting an iPod via USB to a 2.6 kernel machine the iPod will
be recognized but not work correctly. In /var/log/messages you'll see
the a bunch of "Buffer I/O error on device sd?" when connecting the
iPod (Jonas Bergler, Kevin Venkiteswaran)

Solution (by "jeffmock"):

Disable CONFIG_EFI_PARTITION (File Systems -> Partition Types ->
Advanced Partition Selection -> EFI GUID Partition support) in your
kernel configuration, recompile.

Details can be found at
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions ... ost1197015

Excerpt:

"This problem could potentially happen with both 2.4 and 2.6 kernels.

A longer story follows and perhaps someone can come up with a more
sensible solution for the long run.

The iPod looks like a removable disk drive to the host computer. When it
is attached to the computer, the mini iPod reports a capacity of 7999488
512-byte sectors (or about 4GB). This turns out to be wrong for whatever
reason. The mini iPod only really has 7999376 sectors and it exaggerates
by 112 sectors. The other quality of the iPod is that if the computer
attempts to read a sector greater than the actual capacity but less than
the reported capacity, the iPod will dutifully report an I/O error, but
it won't respond to any future requests until you unplug/plug the iPod."

I followed the kernel recompile instructions for distro, disabled only
the CONFIG_EFI_PARTITION option, and things ran perfectly for me
afterwards. As indicated above, hopefully a better long-term solution
will emerge soon."

Diekan · Post by **Diekan** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:51 am

Great, thanks Lyion - I'll give that a shot.

Witty · Post by **Witty** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:19 am

Damn, I just saw one of these for sale at $150 yesterday (used) and contemplated buying it. I am now glad I didn't.

Diekan · Post by **Diekan** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:47 am

Ohh the iPod is pretty sweet - I'm STILL glad I bought it.

In a way - I am trying to make it do something it wasn't designed for. The iPod was designed to run on Windows and Apple OS's - not Linux. I *could* just leave well enough alone and keep that Winshit partition for the iPod - but I am hard headed. I won't stop until I finish what I started.

Witty · Post by **Witty** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:01 am

I see... contemplation commenced!

Tikker · Post by **Tikker** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:45 am

I've never understood the hardheadness of linux enthusiasts

there's a time and a place for every tool!