I Was Just Trying To… [iPod edition]

Me: My iPod’s broken, and I spent 5 hours last night fixing it.

Coworkers: <sympathy>

Me: You see, I was just trying to…

Coworkers: </sympathy>

Me: …install Linux on it and use it to boot another machine

Coworkers: <loathing>

The iPod

When necessary, I’d like to be able to boot whatever machine I’m at into Linux. I realize there are Live CD distros, but I’d like something a little faster.

I decided to do an install on my 80GB iPod Classic since I have that on me more often than I do a flash drive. The idea was that I could boot a computer via USB into my iPod-installed Linux. (I’m not talking about Linux for the iPod, btw. That’s not yet possible for the 6G Classics and not what I was going for).

Apparently, iPods don’t like to be repartitioned.

My iPod limped along, and neither Windows nor iTunes could see it. Giving up my Linux quest, I tried to set things back, but no partitioning program (parted, fdisk, Windows computer management, Acronis Disk Director, Partition Magic…) could figure out what to do with 4MB blocks on a FAT filesystem. 5 hours of work followed…

The solution: accidental and still mysterious.

1. I installed an old version of the iPod updater onto the new version of iTunes, partially breaking iTunes.
2. I told the iTunes installer to repair iTunes.
3. While iTunes was fixing itself, it detected my iPod for a split second and prompted me to restore the iPod to factory settings.
4. I clicked the PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JUST DO IT! button.
   
5. I repeated steps 1-4 because files were in use on the iPod, and iTunes stopped seeing it.
6. iTunes synched my music, and life was good.

Whew.

Stay tuned for I Was Just Trying to… [U3 flash drive edition]