Restore iPod without iTunes
Before using this guide, you should try restoring your iPod with iTunes. If it doesn't recognise it, try putting it in DFU mode first. Here's a video on how to achieve this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_bIDtBohnE
Then use iTunes' Restore option, but it should ask you to do it automatically - just accept it.
If this doesn't work, 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 (nano 3rd to nano 7th, and all Classic models)
- A computer running Windows, Linux or macOS
- Patience
Overview of the procedure
- You put the iPod into DFU mode
- You send the first stage of the restore firmware (called "WTF") to the iPod using mks5lboot
- The iPod reconnects with a different USB IDs
- You send the second stage of the restore firmware (called "FIRMWARE") to the iPod using mks5lboot
- The iPod shows a monochrome disk mode screen
- You repartition the hard disk, upload the new firmware and reboot the iPod - all these three at once using ipodscsi
- Your iPod is working again!
Please note that Apple's files are available ONLY over HTTP! It is possible that your browser automatically changes HTTP to HTTPS, which won't work. Make sure you download them over HTTP.
Steps to restore
Here's what you need to do.
Putting the iPod into DFU mode
- Connect a USB to iPod cable to your computer. Don't connect the iPod yet.
- Lock the HOLD switch, then unlock it after a second.
- Connect the USB cable to the iPod.
- During the next two steps, disregard what happens on the iPod's screen, just do what we ask you to.
- Hold down MENU + CENTER for 12 seconds but no more than 15 seconds.
- Release the buttons.
- You're in DFU mode.
Here's a video on how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_bIDtBohnE
Uploading the first restore stage (WTF)
This is the Writing The Firmware or Waiting for The Firmware mode. Your device needs to receive a Recovery program.
- Open cmd or Terminal
- Download one of these files depending on the OS type/version you have:
- mks5lboot32.exe for 32-bit Windows
- mks5lboot64.exe for 64-bit Windows
- mks5lboot.x86 for 32-bit Linux
- mks5lboot.x86_64 for 64-bit Linux
- mks5lboot for macOS
- Download a file from Apple's servers depending on your iPod model:
- x12230000_Recovery.ipsw for iPod classic and iPod nano 3rd generation
- TODO: provide Recovery files for the nano models
- Rename the ipsw file to zip.
- Use your favourite tool to extract the zip, e.g. WinZip, WinRAR, 7-zip or even Windows' integrated ZIP extractor.
- Open the extracted folder, and go to Firmware -> dfu. There should be a file named WTF.x1223.RELEASE.dfu there. Copy it to your working directory.
Please note that the commands here may be different for you, depending on your operating system!
- Run the following command in your terminal
mks5lboot --dfuscan
You should see an output similar to the following, showing that your iPod is detected. If not, please ask for support and do not continue.
mks5lboot Version -170303 This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
[INFO] DFU scan: [INFO] winapi: found \\?\USB#VID_05AC&PID_1223#87020000000001#{B8085869-FEB9-404B-8CB1-1E5C14FA8C54}\0001 [INFO] DFU device state: 2
10. Run the following command:
mks5lboot --dfusend WTF.x????.RELEASE.dfu
You should see an output similar to this:
mks5lboot Version -170303 This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
[INFO] winapi: found \\?\USB#VID_05AC&PID_1223#87020000000001#{B8085869-FEB9-404B-8CB1-1E5C14FA8C54}\0001 [INFO] DFU image sent successfully (35955 bytes)
If you don't see "DFU image sent successfully", stop here.
Uploading the second restore stage (FIRMWARE)
- Run the following command:
mks5lboot --dfuscan
You should see an output similar to this:
mks5lboot Version -170303 This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
[INFO] DFU scan: [INFO] winapi: found \\?\USB#VID_05AC&PID_1245#87020000000001#{B8085869-FEB9-404B-8CB1-1E5C14FA8C54}\0001 [INFO] DFU device state: 2
- On the line that has a "found" text, look for the USB Product ID. It is the four symbols after the text PID_. In this example, it's 1245 which means a Classic 2G (120GB)
- Download one of the following files, depending on your iPod's model/product ID.
- For Classic 1G (USB PID 1241), download x12410000_Recovery.ipsw.
- For Classic 2G (USB PID 1245), download x12450000_Recovery.ipsw.
- For Classic 3G (USB PID 1247), download x12470000_Recovery.ipsw.
- For Classic 4G (USB PID 1250), download x12500000_Recovery.ipsw
- As before, rename it to zip and extract it.
- Go inside the folder Firmware -> dfu, and copy the file to your working directory. It should be named FIRMWARE.x****.RELEASE.dfu where **** is the USB ID of your iPod at the moment.
- Run the following command:
mks5lboot --dfusend FIRMWARE.x????.RELEASE.dfu
You should see an output similar to this:
mks5lboot Version -170303 This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
[INFO] winapi: found \\?\USB#VID_05AC&PID_1245#87020000000001#{B8085869-FEB9-404B-8CB1-1E5C14FA8C54}\0001 [INFO] DFU image sent successfully (1157699 bytes)
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. Your operating system might want to reformat it, say No if it does. Continue to the next step.
Final step: Install Apple's firmware
- You're almost there! Go to http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/ and download the latest firmware for your iPod model.
- As you might have guessed, you need to rename the ipsw to zip, and extract it.
- In the resulting folder, you'll find a file named Firmware-XX-X.X.X (X's depending on the model and version). Copy it to your working directory.
- Get ipodscsi.
- For Windows, download ipodscsi.exe to your working directory.
- For Linux/macOS, download out Git repository, navigate to tools/ipodscsi_linux and build ipodscsi using make
- Open your file manager and look for your iPod. It should be in the Removable drives section. Take a note of its drive letter (e.g. F: on Windows) or block device path (e.g. /dev/disk4 on Linux/macOS).
- Run the following command:
ipodscsi F: ipod6g writefirmware -p -r Firmware-*
You should see an output similar to this:
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................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ...... 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 reboot 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.
- On Linux, use mkfs.vfat.
- On macOS use Disk Utility or the diskutil command-line tool.
Then use iTunes to manage your music/videos. Or install Rockbox.
Enjoy your unbricked iPod!