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iPod Mini Autopsy
tritone writes "Some fearless soul has disassembled his iPod mini and provided pictures and commentary about the process. This really does seem to be an autopsy since he managed to kill it in the process. That's $249 well spent in the pursuit of knowledge. See the full report at www.ipodlounge.com."
Is the battery at least covered under warranty?
The opposite of progress is congress
No comments at all and already slashdotted... What's the webserver running on, an iPod?
I am one of many. My idea is not unique, nor do I expect my voice alone to sway you. I speak in a chorus of opinion.
Photo server is still up at http://gallery.ipodlounge.com/ipod/thumbnails.php? album=6 Taking apart the iPod mini
February 23, 2004 By Greg Koenig
Apple has crammed a lot of stuff into the anodized aluminum enclosure of the new iPod mini, and taking it apart is no easy task. I'm an industrial designer with lots of experience pulling back the curtain and meeting the wizard in PDAs, Mp3 players, stereos, watches and all sorts of other gear. I am usually pretty good at it, having not broken something in years (lots of bug hunts for tiny parts on the floor though). Except my brand-new iPod mini, where I screwed up big time... twice!
The Procedure:
Tools needed: (1) Wiha 1.5mm flat head screwdriver (1) Wiha Philips #000 screwdriver (1) Needle nose pliers or medical (Kelly type) hemostats (1) Hair dryer
To help illustrate my disassembly adventure, view the iPod mini autopsy photos and follow along.
To begin with, make sure the 'Hold' button is locked into the ON position (showing orange) to prevent the internal components to be turning on while you are taking it apart.
The plastic top and bottom plates are glued into place with a tacky adhesive that will soften considerably when heated so use the hair dryer on a low setting to heat up the top plate. Work the area until it's very warm to the touch. Now turn the mini around so you're looking at the Apple logo and squeeze the two rounded edges together at the top, causing the enclosure to bow a little bit in the middle. Insert the flat bladed screwdriver between the plastic and the metal (in line directly above the Apple logo) and gently pry the plate straight up. Work around the edges, leaving the area around the 'Hold' button till last. When you finally do get to the 'Hold' button area, pry carefully and pull the plate STRAIGHT up. Behind the 'Hold' button are two plastic standoffs (sort of like tabs) that extend down into the case and push the real switch on and off. If you pry the thing out at an angle, you will break one of these standoffs. That was mistake #1 for me. The actual 'Hold' switch soldiered onto the main board broke, so the 'Hold' switch no longer works.
Now perform the same procedure on the plastic bottom plate. When it is removed, you will see a shiny sheet-metal plate held in place under spring tension by 4 tabs inserted into reliefs machined into the enclosure. At the end of each of these tabs, you will see a round hole. Use the Philips #000 in these holes and carefully pry each tab out of its slot. The sheet-metal plate will come right out.
Next, you need to disconnect a ribbon cable that connects the scroll/click wheel assembly to the main baord. This ribbon cable is on the bottom of the mini on the left hand side. It is orange. You can't miss it. Use the 1.5mm blade screwdriver to pry it apart. If there isn't enough slack in the ribbon cable, don't worry, as long as you get the connector loose, you have done your job here.
Turn the mini over, looking back into the top, you will see two tiny philips head screws on either side of another metal plate. Remove these with the #000 screwdriver carefully and put them in a safe place (don't drop these on the floor, you will never see them again).
Now comes the fun part - gently push on the 30 pin connector at the bottom of the mini and all of the main components (on an assembly I call the component sled) will slide right out the top. It is a bit tight, but if you meet major resistance, back off and INSURE you have the ribbon cable disconnected. This is where I messed up and killed my iPod mini, I forgot to check and I pushed with all my might, ripping the ribbon cable off of the male connector. Oops.
The component sled contains nearly all of the iPod's internals; the main circuit board, battery, LCD display and hard drive. While the LCD is held onto the ma inboard with 4 plastic tabs, the battery and HD ar
In an autopsy, the doctor doesn't kill anything. So it was more like a murder, then. Think before you type.
This really does seem to be an autopsy since he managed to kill it in the process
/.ers know that real men use 'kill -9' to do this.
Free XBox, PS2
He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom. (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Textbooks and Open Educational Resources
I'm sure in a month or two he could have gotten a dead one on ebay, thus saving himself $250. Why, oh why kill a good one?
This really does seem to be an autopsy since he managed to kill it in the process.
Somehow I doubt that the D.A. would see it that way.
You probably shouldn't click this.
If there was an easy way to create some kind of direct hot swappable drive slot for this hard disk that you could switch between a PC and a car you could really do some crazy in car audio mods for cheap. Have the i-pod display and controll buttons mounted somewhere in the car and then just wire in the audio to the Aux audio input for the stereo. It would be a not only easy mod but a cool looking one if done right.
Conclusion:
:)
Don't take apart your new iPod mini.
Well that takes care of that, doesn't it?
Those 4GB microdrives retail for a LOT more than $250. It would be a good deal based on that alone, but as an mp3 player, you can do better in the space per dollar department.
...they break when ham-handed fools take them apart, and Apple won't give said fools a free replacement!
Paging the Neistat brothers...
will they put out the f*cking $100 one? The one we were all hoping for? Right after Duke Nukem Forever comes out, right?
Of course they will. Right before Infinium Labs releases the Phantom.
The site seems to be a database driven PHP site, and dying fast. I threw the contents of my cache up, just in case-
http://www.sq7.org/temp/ipod
Colin Davis
i think the mini-ipod will be a complete flop, too price for too little.
If it was being manufactured by any company besides Apple, I'd agree wholeheartedly, but we all know it will do reasonable well, simply because it's an Apple product.
That's $249 well spent in the pursuit of knowledge.
;)
$249 is not a lot, but I would love to see his bandwidth bill this month
Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
When you can strap a discman on an armband and go jogging with it, then you'll have a point.
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
My group at Oregon State University is currently working on a device that uses an old hard drive from an Ipod. We have successfully interfaced with it, and can read and write from it at blazing speeds using an FPGA. See our web site here:
0 3/ ece441/groups/g15/
http://classes.engr.oregonstate.edu/eecs/fall20
If you have more questions, send me an email (also listed on the web page)
Bob
I read this site yesterday after seeing a link in the Slickdeals discussion forums.
It sounds like extracting the 4GB CF isn't much of a problem.
People have been able to put it in a CF reader and get it working fine on their computers.
A number of people have reported problems getting the CF to work with their cameras or other CF devices working in the iPod. I suspect that this has something to do with how apple formatted the disk and will eventually be solved.
For those of you laughing at iPod mini buyers -- they could probably sell the 4GB CF cards for a profit.
Evolution: love it or leave it
Can't get to the article, but found this one showing a nicely dissected mini ipod...
iPod mini Dissection
From the comments in the page:
I took one apart also... The Hitachi drive works fine in my Sandisk USB reader. I can delete partitions and reformat it, etc. However, my Digital Rebel just turns the Red CF light on and sits there.
By Kent Marshall on Feb 23, 04 4:17 am
It looks like you can get the 4gb microdrive for $249 afterall.
"This really does seem to be an autopsy since he managed to kill it in the process."
I'm no expert but aren't autopsies supposed to be performed after death??? I believe the word you are looking for is malpractice.
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
We've been through this already: mini iPods have enough space for most people, so there is no value in getting the roomier one. On the other hand, the smaller physical size makes them much more convenient.
Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
I've successfully interfaced with my iPod hard drive, and can read and write from it at blazing speeds right out of the box.
I think that once you take that into account, you'll find that the iPod Mini is about the best deal on the market, from a formfactor v price standpoint, as well as the fact that it's the cheapest player in that market.
I have no regrets, this is the only path.
My whole life has been "UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS"
Wouldn't that technically make it a vivisection? Since it was alive when he started?
It's a necropsy unless the procedure is being done by another iPod mini.
Autopsy refers to dissection of a human by a human, or by extension, some instance of class 'foo' by another instance of class 'foo'.
Actually, in this case, it would be a vivisection, as the iPod started out functional, and died due to the procedure.
"i think the mini-ipod will be a complete flop, too price for too little."
I'd say 100,000 units preordered isn't a flop.
It is hard drive based. Its just that the hard drive used the Compact Flash interface more common to flash memory. It's a tiny hard drive manufactured by Hitachi.
Which will come with a copy with Half-Life 2.
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
Whirrrrrrrr--clickclickclick*clunk!*--whirrrrrrrrr
--Rob
Towards the Singularity.
He who doesn't break things to find out what it is isn't a geek. (Anonymous Coward)
Ok listen everybody. Let's try to go on the website one by one.
;)
Stop clicking the link, I'm going first
Iraq: war to save the U
CmdrTaco needs to update his vocabulary. If the subject is alive before the procedure, but dead afterward -- that's murder! Or at least a malpractice lawsuit.
No, it's a 0.1 Megaflops.
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
Would it be possible to rip out the 4GB microdrive, put it to good use in a camera, and replace it with a 512meg solid-state CF card? Would give you a non-skipping iPod mini that can interface with iTunes, and plenty of space to go work out with it. Plus the cheap microdrive.
It seems that a lot of the reports are pointing to tech savy females and not us gun-ho more bang for the buck males buying them... I know my girlfriend wanted a pink one the minute she saw it despite the 249.00 price tag (hers is shipping now)
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
Here's a discussion that talks about yanking the ($479.95) Hitachi microdrive inside. More discussion on my original source: boingboing
No sig for you!
The drive used in the iPod Mini retails for much more than the Mini sells for. Apple is either getting an amazing volume price from Hitachi or they are taking it up their collective asses in order to infiltrate the market.
Well, in the case of the iPod mini, the hard drive retails for $500 whereas the iPod mini is half of that. I know of a few digital camera junkies that are considering buying the iPod just for the hard drive.
Here is another one.
I bought the Mini because it's significantly smaller than the 15 gig iPod. It's also much more solidly built thanks to the aluminum case. Moving the controls under the jog dial is also a huge improvement. But the size and sturdiness were what convinced me: The mini fits into a relatively cramped pocket on a pair of jeans or gym shorts.. the regular iPod just can't do that.
"FS: Mini iPod. $30
This was 'purchased from a friend' and I don't have anyway to test it. I'm selling this cheap and make no guarantees about function."
And he'll only charge $15 for S&H!
Because the drives retail for twice what the whole ipod goes for by itself. Currently, it's possible to make a profit by buying the ipod and selling just the drive on ebay.
--- Submission is feudal.
We considered this. It was actually cheaper for us to buy a defective iPod off of ebay than to get it from the OEM. The iPod hard drive was fine, it was another part of the iPod that was defective. Also, since we were using the battery as well, this was a package deal that saved us a LOT of money over buying the parts from manufacturers directly. Finally, we only needed to build a prototype, so getting the parts like this was preferred to begging the OEM to sell us single parts rather than in bulk.
bob
For just $50 more (thats like just #30, not much) you get 10 times the space
Well, that's just completely misinformed. For 50 more you get 3 times the space actually.
I hope that Ipod mini is a flop!
Yes! How dare they engineer, design and sell products?!
Not only will I not buy it, but I wish financial ruin on them for their audacity in manufacturing a device not aimed at me!
But, just like how Apple sells 0.1 upgrades of OSX for the price of a 1.0 upgrade
Who are these people to number their upgrades thus?
I say if we are to feel that we are getting enough for what we pay, we musn't look at the actual additional features and performance upgrades! We want a BIGGER numbers: Only that is worth money!
You can't take the sky from me...
Expect the $100 iPod sometime between when they've sold an iPod to nearly everyone that will pay more than a $100 and a competitor can come close to offering a product with equal sex appeal for less than $150.
There are fashion conscious male techies too y'know!
I'm getting a silver one simply because it looks better and I'm not huge on music to be honest - my collection in total is only 3.5GB and I don't listen to it all anyway. Why would I want to pay more for a large, less attractive (although still well designed) device with 11GB more that will be totally redundant 99% of the time. The only thing I can possibly think I would need it for is if I got one of those memory stick readers and backed up my photos so I only needed one stick.
Before anyone says $250 for a 4GB device is overpriced, look at the competition. Sony 256MB MP3s are about 150GBP here, and that's more than $250. The Creative MuVo 4GB (comparable size and capacity, but nothing like the build quality I've seen in the past from Apple and no more than average design) costs ~200GBP from Amazon, again much much more than the iPod for an all round inferior product.
Having said all that, if build quality doesn't matter to you then I'm sure you'll find a player from some unknown manufacturer on eBay at a huge discount from the iPod. I, on the other hand, am the kind of person who spent 200GBP on a second mobile phone because it was made from titanium and looked good when I was going out. I'm more than happy to pay a premium for looks and quality.
A girl-friend of mine wanted to buy an iPod mini, too. I proceeded to explain why it was a waste of money and that she was stupid for even thinking to buy it.
I made her cry.
Needless to say, I am a great friend.
Please don't mod this offtopic, as it is a relevant question...
For those iPod owners out there: What has been your experience with the device as far as strength/stability goes? As in... Does a drop off a table crash the heads? I am looking into purchasing one possibly, but my main use will be for snowboarding and if it's not gonna be able to take some abuse (obviously it will be in my jacket but still subject to vibration and the occassional wipeouts), I would rather go with a solid-state one. Any feedback would be most useful.
# fuser -v
#
If you do, point them to this page. The author there recommends buying a Creative Nomad MuVo. It has the same 4G drive and sells for $200.
Autopsy showed that that patient's death was caused by the autopsy.
How does what users hoped for, equate to vaporware? Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall Apple ever saying they'd release a $100 iPod.
CT
Dear Mr. Calling-Out-the-Karma-Whore,
It is traditional to not check the "Post Anonymously" box when calling out a karma whore and thus being "modded up" as Insightful, Funny, or, the jackpot, Underrated.
Best,
Traig
So long, michael. Don't let the door hit you...
RIP (Rest In Pieces)
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
So if I sold the drive and the battery I could make a fortune.
Money here I come.
A blog about stuff.
Now you must demand that Apple give you a new one and create an iMovie of you defacing their advertisements.
Also, register appledidnotpreventmefromdestroyingmyminiipod.com
MSNBC, here you come!