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Hardware Hacking Media Media (Apple)

Hacking the iPod Firmware 273

Posted by michael from the void-your-warranty dept.
skreuzer writes "Earlier in the week, someone figured out how to get all the fonts and graphics off the iPod's firmware. Today, Engadget has an article that details on how to mod your own iPod's firmware and display just about any graphic for icons such as power, battery, status, etc."
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Hacking the iPod Firmware More

Hacking the iPod Firmware

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  • I'm waiting for the NetBSD-iPod-HOWTO.txt

  • adding in OGG? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by the_2nd_coming ( 444906 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @11:01AM (#11051869) Homepage
    when will some one hack it to play Ogg?
    • Please forgive my ignorance, but why was parent modded as funny?

      When I came to choose a digital music player the choice for me was obviously an iRiver. Since I have an extensive collection of Ogg files and I generally rip CDs in Ogg format, an Ogg player was the best choice.

      I'm sure I'm not alone in my decision and my situation, so giving the iPod Ogg support would have meant me buying that instead of the iRiver.

      Having said that, the HP-120 is great and I highly recommend it to anyone with an extensive O
      • What the hell is it about your post that inspires so much bitterness in the replies?? Sheesh. I don't use Ogg much, but crap.

        The reason I checked is I was going to say that it was probably tagged as funny because squeezing another protocol into an existing limited space is probably next to impossible due to space constraints.

        And if it isn't, saying it isn't like I just did will piss off someone enough that they will go do it just to prove me wrong.

    • Re:adding in OGG? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      the current ipods can't decode ogg. their processors can't handle that kind of decoding, so even if you could mod it, it most likely wouldn't be able to keep up and play properly

    • Re:adding in OGG? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      According to Page 2 at MacRumors, Apple will add playback of both OGG and FLAC in the iPod and iTunes at MWSF on January 11th.

    • Re:adding in OGG? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by physicsnerd ( 607860 )
      There's a page2 rumor over at Macrumors.com [macrumors.com] that ogg support will be added into Quicktime and iTunes at MWSF. With ogg support in both Quicktime and iTunes it's likely that the iPod software will be updated to play ogg files.

      • Re:adding in OGG? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by diamondsw ( 685967 )
        Um, think about this for a minute. The main site of MacRumors is devoted to *rumors*. This wasn't even good enough to make the front page.

        Sure, it'd be nice, but it's as likely as a snowball in a fusion reactor.
      • Well, if you're a Mac users, there's already OGG support for Quicktime and iTunes.

        Quicktime OGG component [sourceforge.net]

        It's actually been out for quite a while... the only problem is that the OGG support doesn't automagically carry over to the iPod.
    • Given that as far as we know:
      1) The audio decoding chip doesn't support Ogg
      2) iTunes doesn't support Ogg
      3) The iPod wouldn't know how to parse tags in an Ogg file

      I think the chances are pretty slim (outside of Apple supporting it, which is also slim). Number one is obviously the hardest nut to crack (it does support it or it doesn't), but the other two would also be difficult outside of Apple.

  • Microsoft (Score:4, Funny)

    by Basehart ( 633304 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @11:02AM (#11051878)
    Cool - all the folks in Redmond have to do is put Microsoft on the splash screen and that's the end of the problem.
  • Hmm, I'm waiting for someone to post pictures of their iPod with the apple.slashdot.org icons all over the place.

    Then the 9th level of circular [slashdot.org] hell will be complete! :)

  • I wish... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Ilgaz ( 86384 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @11:03AM (#11051894) Homepage
    I wish I could be authorized Apple service center right now.

    Lots of customers coming ;)

  • Its only changing some icons & graphics. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Viol8 ( 599362 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @11:03AM (#11051896) Homepage
    Hardly modding the firmware! Isn't there some way of programming your own apps on the thing?
    • Maybe if Apple released the SDK hackers have been BEGGING them for years...
      • True hackers wouldn't need an SDK, they'd just create their own binary and upload it. Uploading is the hard part I suspect if you don't have an EPROM blower (assuming the EPROM in the IPOD can even be removed from the circuit board).

        • Re:Its only changing some icons & graphics. (Score:4, Informative)

          by macemoneta ( 154740 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @12:57PM (#11053179) Homepage
          True hackers wouldn't need an SDK, they'd just create their own binary and upload it. Uploading is the hard part I suspect if you don't have an EPROM blower (assuming the EPROM in the IPOD can even be removed from the circuit board).

          The firmware is in the first partition of the disk drive, so updating the firmware (from Linux) is just:

          dd if=new-ipod-firmware of=/dev/sda1

          (where sda1 is replaced with the actual device on your system). The iPod expands the firmware and then reboots to use it.

          The only tricky part is that Apple doesn't distribute the firmware file outside of their updater application, so you have to download the Windows updater and then use a resource hacking tool to extract it.

    • "Hack" is a verb with many nuances of meaning, including both "to write programs for" and "to make modifications to". I happen to think that changing the user-visible graphics is a way cool hack, even if used for something so unthinkably perverse as to create a "Hello Kitty" theme. As a programmer, it would be cool to be able to write modules to plug into the firmware - or even to patch the firmware for new and different capabilities. But as someone who carries an iPod, I like this hack even better, because

    • Re:Its only changing some icons & graphics. (Score:5, Informative)

      by damiam ( 409504 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @11:39AM (#11052250)
      Yes. The easiest way at the moment is iPod Linux [ipodlinux.org].

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @11:04AM (#11051906)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I'd say it's closer to everyone wanting to appear unique, and not quite the same as other people. There are millions of iPods out there - but, as the popularity of laser engraving on them shows, people want theirs to be 'special' - want it to be unique to them. I'd say that, like case modding for PCs, this is simply people taking that to the next level.
      • I figured this uniqueness imperative was why iPods scratch so easily. Every iPod is like a snowflake, and it starts developing its own unique "character" the first time you allow it to be in contact with other matter.
        • I tried a couple of other mp3 players, and finally decided to get an iPod. It's not perfect, but it's pretty decent. While my case was coming from a seller on eBay, I carried it to and from work in my pants pocket. I'm talking about a pair of jeans, the pocket of which is smooth as silk. After a week, the back was covered with tiny scratches. There were a couple of scratches on the front, and even one on the screen. I got one of those rubber jackets, but constantly have to take it off to dock it.

          For
          • I quit using the dock because it involved taking the case off. Sticking with the iSkin Exo, which has a cutout for the firewire adapter.

            The screen cover on it broke, but I have replaced it with a trimmed-down WriteRight cover for my PalmPilot, which works just as well.

            if push comes to shove, it's fairly easy to polish an iPod back to new with an incredibly fine polishing material (I use toothpaste) and a soft cloth.
          • Apple either needs to create a surface that's a little more durable.

            Or what?
    • "No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's draft."

      - H.G. Wells
    • For thousands of years people have been 'modding' their clothes, houses, faces and bodies to distinguish themselves from the herd around them. Given that, I don't think hardware is a special case. If it forms part of your image then it will be changed, adapted or co-opted to help illustrate the personbrand you are. That's just the way human nature works, so no, the plastic surgery generation is irrelevant it's the an expression of desire for status, individuality and the illusion of differentiation.

      Like mo
    • Unfortunately, Apple has it patented [macnn.com].

      Interesting idea, though - what if Apple sold an iPod with electronic paper [mit.edu] in the case? You really could skin that hardware, and it would sell the same way that custom cases and faceplates for cellphones do today.
    • It seems people are never happy with how things are supposed to look - when given the opportunity, many chose to change it.

      Is this a result of the plastic surgery generation? Or is it just human nature?

      Why should someone have to live with someone elses idea of how something should look? Should the world have the same sameness everywhere? Boring!

      Might as well ask, "Why do people decorate their houses?" Or "Why do they change the desktop pic on their computers?"

      Or even better: "Why do children
    • Because we can.

    • Just human nature (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Kjella ( 173770 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @11:54AM (#11052412) Homepage
      People have always had a need to stand out in, individually or as a group. It can be your clothes, your car, your behavior, your language, your status symbols, your furniture etc. etc. Both in terms of high status, social group (us vs rest) and individually (you vs world).

      Artists have been creating their own designs forever. Couple hundred years ago here, speaking Latin proved you were a "learned scholar". 100 years ago the executives built housing on top of the hill, workers down the hillside. 60 years ago clothing was used to signalize if you were against the Nazis. 30 years you'd be wearing hippie clothes and join protests. And today you mod your iPod to show how "cool" you are.

      The "plastic surgery" generation is nothing more than human nature with better tools for the job. People were just as willing to endure for the sake of beautey before as they are now.

      Kjella
    • It seems people are never happy with how things are supposed to look - when given the opportunity, many chose to change it.

      Seems that way 'cuz you read /. It just ain't so otherwise.

      But since you brought it up - If I own the hardware, it's mine to tinker with. If I bought it, I can break it.

  • Cool (Score:2)

    by afidel ( 530433 )
    maybe now that the community can hack the firmware the on the go playlist feature will be backported to my gen 1 ipod =) I know that Apple isn't required to backport features to older units, but the fact that the hardware is capable of it, and that they have ported new features that benifit them just rubs me the wrong way.
    • "I know that Apple isn't required to backport features to older units"

      Why not, this is a huge requirement that most people expect when buying equiptment.

      I could see if it was many years difference, like NES to SNES where technology had changed so much (6-8 years right), but come on, it was 2 years between the different units?

      or a change like OS9 to OSX,yes alot has changed, but you can still use the basic built in features (network OS9 to an OSX box etc).

      If the features are there, and they went out of

  • Funny battery monitor (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 10, 2004 @11:07AM (#11051941)
    I did this. I changed the power monitor so it starts as a fully erect cock that becomes more and more flaccid as the battery runs down - it's totally hilarious. Of course, now people think I'm a gay pervert. But it's worth it.
  • From the article, "This most certainly voids your warranty..."

    As far as I can tell, this can't damage the iPod's hardware, can it? I hope that companies grow more "hacker friendly" in the future--offer stronger warranties, and allow (even encourage) tinkering.

    Also, I'd be more interested in hacks like this if I weren't so happy with Apple's nice default UI. Don't get me wrong--it's a wonderful technical achievement that these guys have hacked the iPod's firmware. I just think that most iPod owners are h

    • Well, it voids their warranty because they dont want to pay tech staff to fix it when you mod your firmware, and it locks up.

      When the price of a device is set, is is set with an assumption that a certian level of support is needed. They do not count for people having un-flashable firmware, because they modify their firmware to the point of total failure.

      In any embedded device, it is not hard to write over the wrong part of your firmware, which will block you from restoring your firmware. If you do this,

    • Of course it might break the HW (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Flexagon ( 740643 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @01:14PM (#11053409)

      As far as I can tell, this can't damage the iPod's hardware, can it?

      How do you know? In many highly cost-reduced platforms, critical control is moved into software, so that it might be quite easy to break the hardware by breaking the software. Fiddle with the power management (charging) firmware on some mobile devices and you might blow up the batteries or at least create a serious overheating condition. This kind of thing happens often enough to cause recalls and firmware updates even in "official" firmware to easily back up a claim that hacking the software can break the hardware.

      The earlier sibling's response is also sufficiently valid on its own: the vendor has no obligation to diagnose your problems if you've changed the (software) platform that provides the basis for their diagnosis capability. You didn't pay for an advanced hardware-only diagnostic service.

    • i assume they don't want to be responsible when people really screw everything up. i know someone that messed with the open firmware on his laptop and the machine was dead, had to be sent back to the magic Texas repair place and they fixed it no charge (after phone supports and the store's magic red phone had no idea how to help him).
      when a lot of companies seal the whole box up, Apple started using the "el capatian case" (B&W G3 and G4 towers) that allowed anyone to add PCI cards, memory, hard drives e

  • Isn't it Ironic (Score:2, Redundant)

    by OverlordQ ( 264228 )
    that it requires a PC instead of an Apple to hack the iPod?
  • and i'm all "hey this is great" but quite quickly ran into "ok so what am i gonna draw?"

    thanks, the blank white paper problem wasn't quite giving me the optimum level of frustration.

  • BETTER iPod HACKING GUIDE (Score:4, Informative)

    by mbeck145 ( 776648 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @11:34AM (#11052207)
    Chris Nowak has figured out how to do something the smart people at engadget couldn't do, hack the iPod images without loosing all your songs or data. Check out Chris's article "iPod Hacking". Props to Nowak for coming up with this.

    http://cnowak.blogspot.com/2004/12/ipod-hacking. ht ml
  • Not only don't I have an iPod to hack, but yesterday my Motorola V500 died while trying to flash an unbranded firmware to it.

    So, no more firmware hacking or mod for me.

    At least for now.

    • Try turning it off and flashing with the phone off, but charging - if I remember properly, this puts it into a USB-receptive mode.

      Then again, you might have nuked that too, I don't know.
  • Hack your iPod, go to jail [wired.com]. OK, it's not jail, just getting yanked from eBay. But, if that kind of baseless PTO abuse is accepted, how long before corporate cops, waving the DMCA, drag you off to a consumer reeducation camp?

  • Killer App... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Chrontius ( 654879 ) on Friday December 10, 2004 @12:14PM (#11052625)
    Since Apple's not doing it, and iPod firmware is no longer clear as mud, let me suggest something to those l33ter than I: A really compelling feature would be a book reader program that can take large text files with limited HTML -- just the basics like bold, italic, and underline, maybe even blockquote.

    With Baen distributing free books in RTF format with many hardbacks, and me getting an iPod for Christmas, this just got a lot more interesting.

    If anyone figures this out, I'd be happy to send a couple Baen CDs (copied) as a thank-you.
  • Any word on whether this utility could put Hebrew fonts on the ipod?

  • On a side note, Apple and every other music player maker should make this part of the software that comes with their device, we all change the icons, desktops, and everything else on our computers, so it makes sense to be able to brand our music players any way we want.

    I competely agree, my Canon digital camera allows me to upload new spashscreens and samples to it which I think is a very nifty feature.
    Most companies will probably worry too much about brand preservation to implement this though which is a

  • It's possible to change the text, menus, etc. also. Now you can change the "Do not disconnect." text along with the graphic. Warning: this is nowhere near as user friendly as the ipodwizard program, but it worked for me using a 4th gen. iPod on linux. Just download the firmware with dd from the /dev/sdx1 partition, open up a hex editor and replace whatever text you want. There's a checksum located at 0x421C that needs to be updated. There's a checksum2.c program that can calculate and write a firmware's che

  • How long before there's an ipod emulator?

    (I'm only half-joking.)

  • Realistically... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by allwaysmusic ( 815114 )

    Not sure how many people will actually take the time to change the graphics???

    Don't get me wrong... the idea of changing the pictures on your iPod and personalizing your iPod is really cool! I just don't know how many will take the time and effort to do it.

    Really clever firmware hack by the way. :)

    http://allwaysmusic.modblog.com/ [modblog.com]

  • Suggested Image Project (Score:4, Funny)

    by Mignon ( 34109 ) <satan@programmer.net> on Friday December 10, 2004 @04:31PM (#11055751)
    I think I spent too much time looking at the infinite cat [infinitecat.com] and iPods around the world [ipodlounge.com] pages, but how about this:

    1. Take a picture of your iPod *
    2. Scale appropriately and replace whatever built-in picture you like.
    3. Take a picture of this picture on your iPod *
    4. Go to step 2.
    * If you like, include a cat looking at your iPod.
  • I'd like to hack it to use KOI8-U, when displaying the titles, &c. For some reason, it uses ISO-8859-1, and there is no way to change that :-(

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