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Piezo-Acoustic iPod Hack

Posted by michael on from the piezo-acoustic dept.

jugander writes "nilss over at the iPodLinux Project (previously on /.) has performed one of the coolest and most bizzare hacks I've seen in a while. He was able to extract the bootloader from the 4G iPod by sounding out ticks with the iPod's squeaky piezo. With some tweaking and a makeshift recording studio, he was able to dump the 64 kb file at 5 bytes/sec. And yes, this means that 4G iPods can now boot linux!"

32 of 397 comments (clear)

  1. Yup by ryanr · · Score: 2, Funny

    I thought the sound output trick was highly clever, bravo. I'm looking forward to having Linux on my mini.

  2. 2 posts and it's... by moo_penguin · · Score: 2, Funny

    /.ed already?

    1. Re:2 posts and it's... by Janitha · · Score: 2, Funny

      Seems like it.

      Wonder if they were hosting the website through a iPod through Apache, might explain the reason for such a short time overload.

  3. why do you people only care about linux by sakura+the+mc · · Score: 5, Funny

    does the motherfucker run *bsd?

    1. Re:why do you people only care about linux by BladeMelbourne · · Score: 4, Funny

      BSD will only run on dead iPods.

      Now please wash your potty-mouth out with soap, detergent or caustic soda.

  4. Slashdotted at 0 comments by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Is the site hosted on a 4G iPod?

  5. Wow, this hack is soooo cool.... by glomph · · Score: 5, Funny

    that your tongue sticks to it!

  6. Does this mean? by thinkliberty · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does this mean the ipod will support ogg-vorbis now? And they said it would never happen.

  7. Re:Hackaday, meet your new delayed mirror, Slashdo by physicsphairy · · Score: 4, Funny
    Have we really sunk so low that we now post stories that are substories of previous posted stories?

    Dude, he extracted the bootloader using the piezo! It's bloody brilliant.

    I'm even looking forward to the dupes of this article which will probably be posted as soon as his server recovers!

    --
    When things get complex, multiply by the complex conjugate.
  8. Re:Clever hack by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is a truely clever hack, I'm glad I donated money to these guys for a new 4G ipod.. now my ipod can run linux !

    Hey, if you donate an ipod to me, I'll even make it play music :-)

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  9. Re:Its sweet but does it ahve a point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    -1 Where's your geek spirit?

  10. Re:The iPod hardware is too weak for anything usef by cyberfunk2 · · Score: 2, Funny

    The irony of insulting the ipod with a free ipod link as the sig...

    oh.. wait a sec.. isnt my... crap.

    P.S. The ipods, at least the 4G's have TWO cpus.

  11. Re:The iPod hardware is too weak for anything usef by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't know about you, but I'm gonna run the Apollo emulator on it and have it land on the Moon. I'm already there.

  12. Re:Yes But, by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 5, Funny
    Can they compile a kernal for my brain?

    Only if you've been reduced to making nothing but clicking noises.

    --
    http://www.rootstrikers.org/
  13. Re:piezo? by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny
    So now we can say:
    This is the sound of your ipod "zzz ZZ zz zz ZZZ zz"

    This is the sound of your ipod running as a webserver being slashdotted "zzz ZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZWTF!!!!!! _______________"
  14. using this hack for ages by jean-guy69 · · Score: 5, Funny

    isn't this what we usually call a modem ?

  15. Re:Pack your bags, we're going on a guilt trip! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    lol

    gee how AOL of you

  16. Obligatory comment by deutschemonte · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sure but can it run linux?

    Wait, umm....

    Oh!

    Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of these things!

    --
    The preceding message was based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed.
  17. Re:Valid URL? by eomnimedia · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes, my colon is legal.

    But I bought my kidney very hush-hush from the back of a gray van.

  18. I for one by ICECommander · · Score: 2, Funny

    Combining this story with the previous one:
    http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/2 9/1815242&tid=217&tid=14
    and I for one welcome our new iPod overlords.

    --
    All your Sybase are belong to us.
  19. go work for google by Drunken_Jackass · · Score: 3, Funny

    I read the Google cache, and Google should hire him. If he doesn't already work there. This type of thinking is what Google is all about. I think. I'm not smart enough to be sure.

    --
    There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.
  20. Re:looking forward to an iPod emulator by bsharitt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Then you could play music from you desktop instead of you iPod, and play the iPod version of solitaire.

  21. CLICK! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    CLICK click CLICK CLICK
    click
    click click click

    click click

    CLICK
    click CLICK
    click CLICK click click
    CLICK click CLICK

    CLICK click
    CLICK CLICK CLICK
    click CLICK CLICK

    Never let the lameness filter get in the way of a good joke, OK Taco?

  22. Re:why!? by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1, Funny
    We're still looking for a cancer cure, aids cure

    Only because you are too stupid to realise that iPods running Linux cure Aids and cancer (but only in Penguins).

    --
    Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  23. Re:Hehee. Just like loading off a Cassette tape :) by teknomage1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I intend to use this technique to revere engineer the clock on my VCR. That 12:00 just keeps blinking at me, defiantly.

    --
    Stop intellectual property from infringing on me
  24. Re:Figures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    You're forgetting to imagine what a Beowulf cluster of these babies could do!

    In Korea, only old people imagine Beowulf clusters of Linux booting iPods, while in Soviet Russia, iPods linux boot you, and some iPods can even show pictures of Nathalie Portman and hot grits... in Japan. But all I wanted to know is if it will run NetBSD, you insensitive clod!

  25. Re:The iPod hardware is too weak for anything usef by Arru · · Score: 2, Funny

    That free iPod in your sig, is it free as in beer or free as in running Linux?

    --
    There's no 'on' position on the Slacker switch!
  26. Really think outside the box by Anita+Coney · · Score: 1, Funny

    Linux-heads are always getting Linux to run in odd things like game consoles, phones, and now an MP3 player. But how about something REALLY amazing. Remotely installing Linux on Bill Gates' personal computer!

    --
    If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
  27. You are so confused by A+nonymous+Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The head of a pin is not pointless...

    Yes it is, Bunky. It's the other end that is not pointless.

    --
    Infuriate left and right
  28. Re:Taco's comments from the page by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    He didn't mention that his ipod had double the normal battery life, thanks to a sticker he'd put on it.

    So, no.

    Mahatma Stalin

  29. Re:Its sweet but does it ahve a point? by Lord+Kano · · Score: 4, Funny

    You are aware that this is Slashdot, right?

    I'm waiting for someone to get an electric toothbrush to run Linux. Then he'll get WiFi working with it and modulate the pulses so that his skull resonates at the right frequencies to hear it for the purposes of streaming Ogg files directly into his brain.

    Why would someone do it? Well, because no one else has and to get linked on Slashdot.

    LK

    --
    "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
  30. iPod shuffle by ArbitraryConstant · · Score: 2, Funny

    I assume someone's going to try this with the iPod shuffles.

    I guess they'll have to use the LED lights to blink the signal out. Hell, they'll probably have to use the LEDs to blink the interface out too.

    --
    I rarely criticize things I don't care about.