He spent years reverse-engineering an iPod Nano to upgrade its storage to 16GB
16GB iPod Nano 3G Upgrade
Starting in 2020 with no soldering or reverse-engineering experience, the author set out to upgrade a 3rd-generation iPod Nano's NAND flash from its stock capacity to 16GB. After swapping the chip, the iPod showed a Red X. The fix required exploiting a BootROM stack overflow, patching the EFI NAND driver's device table, and even smuggling data out through diagnostic mode to debug the initialization failure. The result: a working 16GB iPod Nano 3G.
I didn't realize how big of a challenge this would be, mainly because I was learning everything from scratch. But now that it's done, I can confidently say that it was worth it.
- int32_64
Apple should really do a 25th anniversary edition iPod with a scroll wheel, modernized battery, and modernized storage.
Do some nice nostalgia marketing for the zoomers and people that had one back in the day and it would sell like hotcakes.
- germinalphrase
I explored reviving an old iPod for my son, but that route proved cost prohibitive. Instead, I bought an Innoasys Y1. It supports RockBox (and, somewhat uniquely, Bluetooth with RockBox) and I was able to create a customized CoverFlow landing surface so my son (still learning to read) can listen to music and podcasts freely. It’s been great.
- Quartzium
I was just looking at the Rockbox port status for Nano 3G, was surprised to see a progress update this month. Seems like only 4G flash works atm. I'd totally upgrade to 16GB.
- Raed667
The iPod nano 3rd generation holds a special place in my heart, i was about 14 when my mom bought me one as a birthday gift and i still cherish it till today where I charge it maybe once a year and listen to my (very curated) metal catalogue from back in the day... it was the only ipod i ever had or needed
It obviously can't hold a charge anymore and every time i reach for it i'm praying it still works
- Kuyawa
I still have my 2nd gen iPod Shuffle, one of the most convenient devices ever created by Apple, specially for joggers. I know everything has been replaced by a phone but that little thing clipped to your sleeve weighting nothing was the best thing ever. By that time there were no AirPods, but that combination would have been an absolute grand slam nowadays. I guess they put a strap on it an called it Apple Watch