Restore iPod without iTunes

Ok, so you have an iPod Classic (80, 120 or 160 GB), or a Nano (3G or 4G should work, can't speak for the newer models). You have done something bad to it, like changing the firmware or deleting something you shouldn't have deleted, and you want to bring it to life? Great, that's the article you're looking for!

First, you should try restoring it with iTunes. But it probably won't recognise it, unless you put it in DFU mode. Here's a video on how to achieve this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_bIDtBohnE

Then use iTunes' Restore option. It should actually ask you to do it, just accept it and it would be back to life in a minute or two.

But, .... it doesn't work! What should I do? It's BROKEN!

Calm down, and keep reading...

The standard disclaimer

THE SOFTWARE AND INSTRUCTIONS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR INSTRUCTIONS, OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE OR INSTRUCTIONS.

Continue reading only if your agree.

Prerequisites

• An iPod (Classic - also known as iPod 6G/7G) (It works for Nanos, but the files are different!)
• Computer with Windows (Linux tutorial coming soon, it's mostly the same except that you don't need to care about drivers, but need to build ipodscsi from source)
• Patience

Files needed

• Zadig
• Python + pyusb + libusb
• ipoddfu.py
• libipoddfu.py
• ipodscsi

Overview of the procedure

1. You put the iPod into DFU mode
2. You install a custom driver to that device, so ipoddfu can talk to it
3. You install Python and pyusb
4. You send the first stage of the restore firmware (called "WTF") to the iPod using ipoddfu
5. The iPod reconnects with a different USB IDs
6. You install a custom driver for the new USB device
7. You send the second stage of the restore firmware (called "FIRMWARE") to the iPod using ipoddfu
8. The iPod shows a monochrome disk mode screen
9. You repartition the hard disk, upload the new firmware and reboot the iPod - all these three at once using ipodscsi
10. Your iPod is working again. Yay!

You're ready? Ok, let's do it!

Steps to restore

There's a video of what you see on your computer during the whole procedure. At some point, I messed up the arguments of ipodscsi, so I tried again. Sorry about that. Link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEz0cCDBqnQ

Putting the iPod into DFU mode

1. Get an USB-to-iPod cable.
2. Connect it to your computer.
3. Get your iPod.
4. Lock the HOLD switch, then unlock it after a second.
5. Connect the USB cable to the iPod.
6. During the next two steps, disregard what happens on the iPod's screen, just do what we ask you to.
7. Hold down MENU + SELECT (the center button), and count to 12.
8. Release the buttons.
9. You're in DFU mode.

Here's a video, to make it more clear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_bIDtBohnE

Installing a custom DFU driver

1. Download Zadig
2. Open Zadig
3. Click menu Options -> List all devices
4. Select USB DFU Device (the first box of USB ID should be 05AC, the second one depends on the iPod model - 1223 for iPod Classic)
5. From the options to the right of the green arrow, select libusb-win32
6. Click the large button named Install driver or Replace driver or Reinstall driver (depending on what driver you have installed at the moment)
7. Wait for Zadig to complete the installation.
8. You're ready for the next step

Uploading the first restore stage (WTF)

1. "What the f*ck"? No, probably means Writing The Firmware or Waiting for The Firmware - we never found out. Who cares, anyway.
2. Press the Start menu button
3. Type cmd and press Enter
4. In the black window that opens, type cd Desktop and press Enter (in case your Windows installation is localized, type the name of your desktop folder in your language instead)
5. Download this file to your Desktop: ipoddfu.py (Right-click, then choose Save link as...)
6. And this one, too: libipoddfu.py, make sure you also put it there
7. Another one, this time from Apple's servers: x12230000_Recovery.ipsw (I hope they won't delete it at some point, because we can't legally host it on our server)
8. Go to your desktop, and rename the ipsw file to zip
9. Use your favourite tool to extract the zip, WinZip, WinRAR and 7-zip will do it well, even Windows' integrated ZIP extractor will do.
10. Open the extracted folder, and go to Firmware -> dfu. There should be a file named WTF.x1223.RELEASE.dfu there. Copy it to the desktop.
11. Back in the black window, type: (or copy/paste)

python ipoddfu.py WTF.x????.RELEASE.dfu

and press Enter.

You should see the following output:

Connected to S5L8702 Bootrom DFU mode, USB version 1
Upload: ................... done

If you see something different, stop here. Otherwise, go ahead.

Installing a custom WTF driver

1. It's the same as the previous driver install, this time the device is named iPod Recovery and the second ID is 1241 for Classic 1G, 1245 for Classic 2G or 1247 for Classic 3G
2. Complete the installation, and move to the next step

Uploading the second restore stage (FIRMWARE)

1. Download one of the following files, depending on your iPod model. You can tell it from the USB ID in the previous step.
   1. For Classic 1G (USB ID 1241), download x12410000_Recovery.ipsw
   2. For Classic 2G (USB ID 1245), download x12450000_Recovery.ipsw
   3. For Classic 3G (USB ID 1247), download x12470000_Recovery.ipsw
2. As before, rename it to zip and extract it.
3. Go inside the folder Firmware -> dfu, and copy the file to your desktop. It should be named FIRMWARE.x****.RELEASE.dfu where **** is the USB ID of your iPod at the moment.
4. Type this command:

python ipoddfu.py FIRMWARE.x????.RELEASE.dfu

and press Enter.

You should see the following output:

Connected to iPod Classic 2G WTF mode, USB version 1
Upload: ........................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................
............... done

After 10-20 seconds, you should see an Apple logo on the screen, and after a couple more second a white screen with a stop sign and text Do not disconnect at the bottom. Windows might want to reformat it, say No if it does. Continue to the next step.

Final step: Install Apple's firmware

1. You're almost there. Go to http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/ and download the latest firmware for your iPod model.
2. As you might have guessed, you need to rename the ipsw to zip, and extract it.
3. In that folder, you'll find a file named Firmware-XX-X.X.X (X's depending on the model and version). Copy it to the desktop.
4. Download ipodscsi.exe to your desktop.
5. Open Windows Explorer, and look for your iPod. It should be in the Removable drives section. Take a note of its drive letter (e.g. F:)
6. Open the black window, and type:

ipodscsi F: ipod6g writefirmware -p -r Firmware-*

You should see:

ipodscsi v. 0.1.0 r959 - Copyright 2011 by Michael Sparmann (TheSeven)
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Repartitioning... done
Initiating firmware transfer... done
Writing firmware................................................................
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...... done
Rebooting device... done

Your iPod will reboot. You'll see a black screen with an Apple logo, and a progress bar at the bottom. Then it will again, show you another Apple logo for a while, and finally start Apple's firmware.

It should be safe to format it at this point. Use FAT32 as filesystem. Windows isn't going to allow you format large devices with FAT32, so you might need to use a third-party tool. FAT32 Format is a good choice.

Then use iTunes to manage your music/videos. Or install emCORE.

Enjoy your unbricked iPod!

Related info

• USB Modes of iPods
• Nano 4G (also Nano 3G and Classics') firmware upgrade process
• iPod Firmware download (from Apple's servers)
• Links to all firmware packages of i-devices, hosted by Apple (warning - very large file)