iPod Classic 6/ 7th Gen Hard Drive and Battery Upgrade Tutorial

Today i installed a 3000mAh battery and an iflash quad with 4x 64gb micro sd cards in a customers iPod classic 7th gen.
To book a mail in repair: partspluspods.com.au/product/...
Buy iPods here: partspluspods.com.au/product-...
Buy parts here:
3000 mAh Battery: partspluspods.com.au/product/...
Clickwheel: partspluspods.com.au/product/...
frontplate: partspluspods.com.au/product/...
iflash quad: www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-q...
Timestamps:
00:00 - ipod classic 6th gen 128GB limitation explanation
00:48 - opening the ipod
09:54 - removing the old hard drive and battery
11:13 - installing the new hard drive
13:00 - double checking the rear housing
14:45 - installing the new battery
14:53 - restoring the ipod with itunes and testing it works
15:34 - sealing the ipod back up
opening tools: partspluspods.com.au/product/...
Custom front and rear housings plus the 3000mah batteries available here: partspluspods.com.au/product-...
If you have any other issues feel free to ask in the comments as I will probably be able to help
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[@partspluspods3689]

Links to buy parts and book a mail-in repair in the description!

[@codywlsmith]

Important to note here that you didn't mention: The 5th and 6th gen iPods CAN actually utilize more than the 128GB limit, but it requires you to flash Rockbox as the OS and then expanding the partition of the card to use all of the available storage. So don't let having a 6th gen iPod limit you from wanting to put in 500GBs.

[@marcmiller2218]

so installing rockbox lets you go up to 500gb or even bigger?

[@codywlsmith]

@@marcmiller2218 Yes, it does. But there is some nuance to it. If you are keeping the original firmware on your iPod, you have the ability to mess up the partition. I know because I did it 😂. I accidently rebooted from Rockbox into the iPod firmware and it "downgraded" my partition to 127GB (even though it was a 512 GB microSD card). So you just have to be careful. Also you may need to use a partition manager to "unlock" the rest of the storage space after you restore the iPod and install Rockbox.

[@pikablu_25]

I just bought an iPod around 2 months ago and it's one of my favorite devices. Only issue is it's pretty banned up externally. I'm so glad people are still making parts so that I can renovate and restore

[@craigschaffer828]

Great tutorial! I have this model in a drawer and would really like to get it functional again. Going to go check out your site now.

[@kyky121911]

I want one of these so bad to do just this one of my only favorite apple products

[@ipodforever2023]

Hello my friend, cool video ! i didn't know it was possible to put big battery in thin back. I never use iflash adapter, i test with cheap green adapter but with this one you can do it . Bye :)

[@romansanchez9961]

For a 7th Gen: 1) What's the memory limit for each quad iFlash slot and iTunes? Same question with Rockbox 2) What brand and type of micro SD card would you pick? (class...) 3) When do you use a thin or thick back cover? Depends just on the battery size? Thanks for the video, I appreciate the effort

[@richardchaplin293]

Thank you for posting this. I'm a complete novice modifying iPods and it really helped me out with installing the iFlash quad into one of my old iPod Classics (7th gen). I also replaced the battery but only with a standard capacity one. I have another thin Classic 7th gen that I would like to upgrade with the iFlash quad AND a 3000mah battery exactly like you have in this video. The battery you use in the video and the one you sell on your site fits in the thin back but I've heard that others you can get on eBay (looks like mostly LG brand) will not fit the thin back. Is this right? I would buy the battery from your site but shipping to the US costs more than the battery itself (this is not a criticism of your service btw).

[@wyo_garage20]

Wow great vid!!! Much appreciated, the battery in mine doesn’t hold a charge so only works if plugged in constantly. I’ll be looking into the hard drive replacement as well!!

[@Goneaway-4-gud]

Ditto re not holding charge!

[@jorggamingcr409]

I did the HDD upgrade around 8 years ago after the og died (never disconect a device, specially a mechanical drive without safety ), after a couple of years I replaced the battery but it kinda sucked, these days I can get maybe 1h of charge from it so I was looking for a video for a bigger one if possible. It is useful to know that the original 160GB drive was a single plate, when I bought the 256GB model it was double plate so I ended buying a generic back plate since the double plate HDD does not fit with the og back plate. 10:06 yep been there, done that...two extra weeks for a replacement for me lol

[@HolographicSkux]

I live in NZ. What would you charge if I sent over a 6th gen 120GB classic for a battery and SSD upgrade?

[@Brandon-bc5um]

I bought a 6th gen for parts a year and a half ago and have yet to refurb it because I'm not looking forward to the frustration of opening it lol. It has what appears to be dried blood on it from someones previous attempts.

[@JumbleTasteSpinning]

To open this device is an tutorial by itself 😂😂

[@FMCREPAIRARMAGH22]

I recently took mine out of the drawer and decided it refurbish it I had the 6th gen 2nd revision so the 7th gen Iflash quad with 256gb and 512gb in it 2000mah battery Purple front and back Black click whell Loaded it up with my music there is just something about having a physical collection with you.

[@Goneaway-4-gud]

Going of complaints about high prices for an upgrade rebuild….there is not much point me asking where I can buy a battery or anything else related to the old iPods!…its around 2005 I got mine as a birthday gift v6 I think 30gb. I think firmware..or something else is shown as 1.3 ! Any better info appreciated :)

[@felipevitoria]

Great video. Struggling to find out which generation is my Ipod. 6th or 7th. By the serial number on Apples's website it stated its a iPod classic 160GB (Late 2009). Would that be a 7th gen? Appreciate the help?

[@FirstUsername]

Duh.

[@Kurazaybo]

I think it most likely is a "7g" . If it is 160 gb and is the thin one it 100% sure is a 7g. If you are not sure if it is the thin one, just check if the headphone port curves along the the back of the case. If it does, it is a thin model and therefore a 7g. Now, the difference also baffled me at first. Turns out there was never a 7th gen according to Apple. It is more of a distinción made by the community, but the difference in the storage size that can be restored is important enough.

[@AliciaandScott]

Hey pal, good vid… I was crushed when my iPod stopped working… bad sectors.. would this method resolve my issues? Never tried anything like this, but my budget replacement players off Amazon aren’t cutting it..

[@partspluspods3689]

yeah if its bad sectors then changing the hard drive to one of these will fix it.

[@frankenstein3163]

Do any of these allow video shuffle ?

[@rorywalters1614]

No the minis do have limitations. 128GB for gen 1 and 256GB for gen 2.

[@AntonioMontes-qg1tg]

how can I tell if my iPod can take more then 128 GB. only thing I found is model PB150LL

[@asspelican]

did apple have a device for these back in the day or was this how they also opened it?

[@StarcrossTV]

Good question, I'd love to know too

[@escapetherace1943]

they didn't, they never sold or wanted you to open your own product ever

[@jameskrell4392]

My 6 gen iPod classic is a 160 GB model so why would it be limited to 128?

[@samd3231]

Hi very good, the informative video I had thought of an idea would it be interesting to warm the iPod to expand it a little on the steel rear in order to facilitate the opening of it !!! ??? Salut très bien la vidéo instructif j'avais pensé à une idée serait-il intéressant de réchauffer l'iPod pour le dilater un peu sur l'arrière acier afin de faciliter l'ouverture de celui-ci !!! ???

[@someperson1001]

Heating it may damage the internal parts. I'm not sure if you should do that but I guess it depends how much heat.

[@bbytraz]

Did you have to format the sd cards before putting them in? I saw someone else do this and they had to format theirs, but I have no idea how

[@someperson1001]

Idk about Mac but you can format any drive when you plug it into your pc by right clicking on the drive, select format, then do FAT32 (sometime it's just called FAT)

[@bbytraz]

@@someperson1001 thank you!!

[@someperson1001]

You're welcome! Just be careful as this completely wipes any data off the drive, and the data isn't recoverable

[@AZGearGuy]

What happens after you reconnect everything and you get the Red x?

[@ZingboyG]

Try resetting the storage.

[@JurassicNotion]

I've just bought one yesterday and already watching how to open it ...

[@DrDrGerhard]

Looking for an upgrade on iTunes. Can't stand that software. Is there something better?

[@partspluspods3689]

if you install rockbox onto the iPod you can just drag and drop your music onto the iPod in file explorer and it will work. I'm pretty sure there is a theme you can use to make it look like the default software too. It will also be able to read flac files too.

[@martijnsimons2392]

hi, can the battery replacement fit with the original hard drive?

[@partspluspods3689]

if you want to use one of these 3000mah batteries and you have a thin version you can fit the battery + the original hard drive if you also change the rear housing to a thick version. you can get those through my website or aliexpress (should have links in the desc). However if you have the thick version it wont fit unfortunately.

[@PCB1223]

Can you fit 3000mah battery with iflash quad on the back of thin back ipod classic 7

[@diana-cy4kj]

I only stick those knives into one side.

[@queshun]

What the turn around time for a battery?

[@TheMaxSkl]

i have the mase question

[@matldn2697]

How do I know my 6th gen iPod 80GB classic can take a 256GB SD card?

[@partspluspods3689]

You can tell what generation yours is by looking at the model number In the iPod, just go settings > about > and the 3rd page will tell you. 6th gen model numbers start with: MB or BP. And can only read up to 127GB (even on the 160GB version) 7th gen model number start with PC or MC. And can read 256GB 512GB 1TB+ hard drives

[@matldn2697]

@@partspluspods3689 thanks

[@helai-fz3lf]

[@automat3000]

But there wasn't a 7th gen. Or am i missing something?

[@Jaymison]

It was like silent refresh, it's more of 6.5 gen then a 7gen

[@MrJoefoefrombuffalo]

Can... 1,2,3,4 Be added? 1) blue tooth 5.3 ? 2) wireless charging? 3) Convert connector to USBC? 4) get a better operating system than i tunes?

[@wishdankpods]

1) 5.3 specifically i don't think there's a transmitter that's been proven to work inside an ipod without heavy modification but you can put bluetooth transmitters on an ipod 2) yes, you just need to know how to solder, you also have to buy a wireless charging device and steal the coil from it. you also have to get or make a plastic custom back housing as wireless charging will not work with stainless steel 3) yes, again, you just need to know how to solder, but you will lose firewire, so if you happen to have a dead battery and you're trying to revive your ipod before opening it. you won't be able to. 4) there is the rockbox software but honestly imo i much prefer the iPods base software, while rockbox has a bunch of customizability but learning how to get music on there and themes and all sorts of stuff is very linux like. much prefer the iPod software since it's all done through iTunes and pretty easy

[@groom_of_the_stool]

Start video at 10:00 otherwise it's the most boring video ever that could have been sped up or had cuts made to the footage.

[@EyeForKnowledge.]

He was showing you what it takes to open one of these up. It takes patience and gentle touches. If you can’t sit through 10 minutes watching him show you the proper way of doing this, you better not try modding your iPod. Unless you want to destroy it.

[@HolographicSkux]

Never mind. I see you charge $177 for a 128GB and battery upgrade. Dude that's just too much. the only difficult part is opening the Ipod so its $150 for you to open it and connect the $27 worth of parts. Dude no.

[@partspluspods3689]

An iflash quad will cost roughly $80AUD including shipping off of the official website. The cheapest 3000mah batteries are around $25 and a 128GB micro SD card will cost $10 - $20 as well depending what brand (AUD). So if you were to do it yourself you would be spending a bit over $100 AUD on parts for a setup like this. You can definitely use cheaper parts than that if you want but its not as good of an experience. The green aliexpress adapters that can be had for $5 dont always work properly on the 6th and 7th gens, they consume more power, they wont fit in the slim version with the 3000mah battery and they occasionally corrupt by themselves and you have to restore it with itunes. For those reasons Im not comfortable using those for mail in repairs on the classic 6th and 7th gens. $177 is the NZD price also, its $165 AUD or $108 USD for a 128GB iflash and 3000mah battery upgrade on my website.

[@EyeForKnowledge.]

Then don’t buy it. Simple as that. Try doing it yourself. You’ll end up needing a new case. Probably screen and click wheel too. From what I can tell the parts alone are $100. You think he shouldn’t charge for labor? Welcome to the real world.

[@HolographicSkux]

@@EyeForKnowledge.I did it myself. It was a total of $42. Thanks for your input.

[@EyeForKnowledge.]

@@HolographicSkux Amazing! I suppose my only question is if you knew you were going to do it yourself, and did do it yourself, why would you call someone out on their price they would charge to do it? $42? That’s how much the iflash quad costs. Battery is another $20. The cards are around $15-30 each depending on what kind you got. $100 is on the low end. If you want a full TB, or even 2, it’s $150 and up. I’d surely like to know how you did this for $42.

[@HolographicSkux]

@@EyeForKnowledge.wow. you make no points at all but talk a lot. I didn't know I was going to do it so what a dumb comment that was for you to make. I did it because I wasn't going to pay this guy way too much to do it. Aliexpress had all the parts and it works perfectly. Any other moronic remarks you want to make?