Ok, so you have an iPod Classic (80, 120 or 160 GB), or a Nano (3G or 4G should work, can't speak for the newer models). You have done something bad to it, like changing the firmware or deleting something you shouldn't have deleted, and you want to bring it to life? Great, that's the article you're looking for!
First, you should try restoring it with iTunes. But it probably won't recognise it, unless you put it in DFU mode. Here's a video on how to achieve this:
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Then use iTunes' Restore option. It should actually ask you to do it, just accept it and it would be back to life in a minute or two.
But, .... it doesn't work! What should I do? It's BROKEN!
Calm down, and keep reading...
- 4Steps to restore
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- An iPod (Classic - also known as iPod 6G/7G) (It works for Nanos, but the files are different!)
- Computer with Windows (Linux tutorial coming soon, it's mostly the same except that you don't need to care about drivers, but need to build ipodscsi from source)
- Patience
- You put the iPod into DFU mode
- You send the first stage of the restore firmware (called 'WTF') to the iPod using mks5lboot
- The iPod reconnects with a different USB IDs
- You send the second stage of the restore firmware (called 'FIRMWARE') to the iPod using mks5lboot
- The iPod shows a monochrome disk mode screen
- You repartition the hard disk, upload the new firmware and reboot the iPod - all these three at once using ipodscsi
- Your iPod is working again. Yay!
You're ready? Ok, let's do it!
There's also a video of (almost) the whole procedure. The commands are longer, because I have the files in different directories. Also, it doesn't show USB driver installation, because I already have them installed.
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-nEXXv8_PY
The video is outdated, showing the old procedure (using Python/pyusb and ipoddfu.py).
Putting the iPod into DFU mode
- Get an USB to iPod dock cable.
- Connect it to your computer.
- Get your iPod.
- Lock the HOLD switch, then unlock it after a second.
- Connect the USB cable to the iPod.
- During the next two steps, disregard what happens on the iPod's screen, just do what we ask you to.
- Hold down MENU + SELECT (the center button) for 12 seconds (count to 12, just to be sure that your timing is right).
- Release the buttons.
- You're in DFU mode.
Here's a video, to make it more clear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_bIDtBohnE
Uploading the first restore stage (WTF)
'What the f*ck'? No, probably means Writing The Firmware or Waiting for The Firmware - we never found out. Who cares, anyway.
1. Press the Start menu button.
2. Type cmd and press Enter.
3. In the black window that opens, type cd Desktop and press Enter.
4. Download one of these files to your Desktop, depending on the Windows version you have (x86 = 32 bit, x64 = 64-bit): mks5lboot32.exe OR mks5lboot64.exe (Right-click, then choose Save link as...).
5. And this one too, from Apple's servers: x12230000_Recovery.ipsw (I hope they won't delete it at some point, because we can't legally host it on our server).
6. Go to your desktop, and rename the ipsw file to zip.
7. Use your favourite tool to extract the zip, WinZip, WinRAR and 7-zip will do it well, even Windows' integrated ZIP extractor will do.
8. Open the extracted folder, and go to Firmware -> dfu. There should be a file named WTF.x1223.RELEASE.dfu there. Copy it to the desktop.
Please note that the commands here are for the 32-bit version, which should work on all Windows versions - if you choose to use the 64-bit version, please enter mks5lboot64.exe instead of mks5lboot32.exe in the following commands!
9. Back in the black window, type: (or copy/paste)
and press Enter.
You should see a message similar to the following, showing that your iPod is detected. If not, please ask for support and do not continue.
10. Enter the following command:
You should see the following output:
If you see something different, stop here. Otherwise, go ahead.
Uploading the second restore stage (FIRMWARE)
1. Enter the following command:
You should see the following output:
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2. On the line that has a 'found' text, look for the USB Product ID. It is the four symbols after the text PID_. In this example, it's 1245 which means a Classic 2G (120GB)
3. Download one of the following files, depending on your iPod's model/product ID.
- For Classic 1G (USB PID 1241), download x12410000_Recovery.ipsw.
- For Classic 2G (USB PID 1245), download x12450000_Recovery.ipsw.
- For Classic 3G (USB PID 1247), download x12470000_Recovery.ipsw.
4. As before, rename it to zip and extract it.
5. Go inside the folder Firmware -> dfu, and copy the file to your desktop. It should be named FIRMWARE.x****.RELEASE.dfu where **** is the USB ID of your iPod at the moment.
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6 Enter the following command:
and press Enter.You should see the following output:
After 10-20 seconds, you should see an Apple logo on the screen, and after a couple more second a white screen with a stop sign and text Do not disconnect at the bottom. Windows might want to reformat it, say No if it does. Continue to the next step.
Final step: Install Apple's firmware
- You're almost there. Go to http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/ and download the latest firmware for your iPod model.
- As you might have guessed, you need to rename the ipsw to zip, and extract it.
- In that folder, you'll find a file named Firmware-XX-X.X.X (X's depending on the model and version). Copy it to the desktop.
- Download ipodscsi.exe to your desktop.
- Open Windows Explorer, and look for your iPod. It should be in the Removable drives section. Take a note of its drive letter (e.g. F:).
- Open the black window, and type:
You should see:
Your iPod will reboot. You'll see a black screen with an Apple logo, and a progress bar at the bottom. Then it will again, show you another Apple logo for a while, and finally start Apple's firmware.
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It should be safe to format it at this point. Use FAT32 as filesystem. Windows isn't going to allow you format large devices with FAT32, so you might need to use a third-party tool. FAT32 Format is a good choice.
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Then use iTunes to manage your music/videos. Or install Rockbox.
Enjoy your unbricked iPod!
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