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Hacker Replaces iPod HDD With Flash Memory
Via a Wired Blog, an anonymous reader wrote with a link to a post on the Geek Technique website. There, post author Mark Hoekstra details how to replace an iPod's HDD with flash memory. It's not an inexpensive procedure, as 16 Gigs of flash memory is still a mite expensive, and the post is not a 'how-to'. Just the same, the project took painstaking work and is well worth recognizing. "I guess I can say I found ways of eliminating almost every hard drive out of almost every hard drive based iPod thereby eliminating all moving parts. The only one left is the iPod video which would only need a slightly different adapter. But next to that I've got a gut feeling that one's being upgraded to flash memory by Apple themselves any time soon."
I'm confused by the summary. It talks about how the article gives details on how to do it, but it's not a 'how to'. Er... huh? But back to topic, I think this is cool as a technical hack but a bit pointless unless for some strange reason you absolutely need the battery life that I suspect is the only gain. Then again, getting to know how to (but not 'how to') swap your HDD might come in handy when those flash-based HDDs come to the market at reasonable prices.
+Raider of the lost BBS
Yes, I got one from NewEgg. The pinouts on a CF card are pretty close to IDE already. There are adapters that will connect your CF card to either a desktop IDE interface or to a laptop one, they have pins for both on the same card.
I, personally, prefer the inverse of this hack.
Go 6 second battery life!
What is the point?
Spoken like a true non geek! Why exactly are you on slashdot again?
Sure, I'm relatively new here, but it sure is nice to see a /. headline that I truly love. Did you notice the word 'hacker'? It was used correctly!
Hacking has always been about using technology to do something you normally couldn't do. The original hackers built the foundations on which the Web lives. The media and other public opinion sources have vilified all the good hackers by lumping them in with the crackers, script kiddies, and other generally nasty online personas.
Hackers continue to advance the state of technology, whether its writing new bits of the Linux kernel or by upgrading a typically non-user-servicable iPod. The article says it itself: Apple will eventually offer a Flash-based model. Granted, they might have done this themselves eventually, but if the populace starts modding their iPods to run Flash, it only pressures Apple to move forward. Think about the early case modders: Windows, lights, case paint other than beige....Now about 70% of cases I see on Newegg have windows and LEDs.
Whether Fox News wants to admit it or not, hackers will continue to drive innovation. Not MS, not Apple...
khasim (12/9/06): In a blind taste test, more people preferred Coke over the Pepsi that I had previously pissed in.
Not as bullet proof though
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Sounds like you are the one who wants to waste time--one or two years to be exact.
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WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
From the article, the 1.8 inch drive is not pin for pin compatible with ATA/CF. Pinouts for both are listed in the forum.
This makes not exactly hard into not exactly easy.
The truth shall set you free!