The Rockbox iPod port page

Install

Full installation and uninstallation instructions for all compatible iPod models are in the Rockbox manual.

Bootloader

There is a working bootloader that can load and run Rockbox. For more detailed information please visit this page. The iPodPatcher is what installs the bootloader on the device, and more information on that can be found here, and here is a list of the iPod bootloader error codes.

Simulator

Hardware Details

• IpodHardwareInfo

Rockbox Status

iPod	SVN Builds?	Status
1st and 2nd Gen.		Rockbox works nicely, but more work is needed on these ports. These iPods cannot be shut down physically, and Rockbox doesn't implement suspend yet. NOTE that some 1st gen iPods do not get identified correctly and as such do not work properly (no touchpad), this is under investigation.
3rd Gen.		Rockbox works nicely, but more work is needed on this port.
4th Gen. Greyscale		Most (but not all) Rockbox features and plugins are working, but there are still a small number of important features unimplemented.
4th Gen. Photo/Color		Stable.
Mini 1st Gen.		Rockbox works with audio playback, but some more optimization is still needed.
Mini 2nd Gen.		Port is being actively optimized - Rockbox works quite nicely and plays audio.
Nano 1st Gen.		Stable.
Nano 2nd Gen.		Not Supported - the 2nd Gen Nano has completely different hardware to the other iPods (requiring a brand new port)
Nano 3rd Gen.		See above.
5th Gen. (Video)		Very stable.
5.5th Gen. 30 GB (Late 2006 Video)		Very stable. Battery life has been improved, but there is still room for improvement.
5.5th Gen. 80 GB (Late 2006 Video)		Works as of 23 May 2007. Very stable; more work on optimising the disk writing code is needed.
6th Gen Classic		Not supported. The 6th Gen Classic has completely different hardware compared to the other "classic" iPods, requiring a new port.
Shuffle		Not supported. Some information has been gathered here.

FAQ

Other Pages Of Interest

• IpodManualRestore - How to restore a completely broken iPod (requires Linux on your PC).
• UseOldiPodsWithBadFirewirePort - How to use a 1G or 2G iPod which has a damaged Firewire port.
• IpodStatus - Information about the major known bugs/unimplemented features.
• IpodAccessories - A table of iPod accessories and how well they work with Rockbox
• IpodRuntime - A table of reported battery life - Please submit yours!
• ConvertiTunesDBtoTagCache - Unofficial tool to convert the iTunes database to the Rockbox database.
• IpodConversionToFAT32 - How to convert your iPod drive to FAT32.
• IpodLinux - A brief description of it and a comparisson with Rockbox.
• MiniCF - Info on replacing the iPod Mini microdrive with a Compact Flash card.

Obsolete pages

• IpodEightyGB - What held up the port to the 80GB iPod Video (5.5G)