Bluetooth 5G iPod - Finished!
Here it is! "Native" Bluetooth support for the 5G iPod Video. A few weeks ago I posted a tutorial on Instructables.com for how to add internal Bluetooth to your 4G iPOd. Modding the iPod video was considerably more difficult. Unlike the previous hack, I wanted a to leave the external appearance looking stock. So, with the exception of the custom clear front panel, the iPod looks just like any other.
Most external Bluetooth modules will work, but keep in mind that the smaller the better. Even with the smallest one though, there is very little room in the case. The standard 30GB 5G iPod is significantly thinner than the 4G, so unless you want to use a bigger back plate, the CF conversion is a must. You can get the adapter from Tarkan at www.tarkan.info
You have to take my word for it, but the pretty blue light means I've got streaming stereo Bluetooth!
My original design used a universal module from Jabra, but I was lucky enough to find an even smaller module (thanks Xanatos451). The picture on the left shows the circuit board from the external BT module wired directly into the iPod's motherboard. The wires you see are for power, audio and LED outputs.
The led is mounted from the inside and through the metal frame. If you don't have a clear front panel like this one, you can still mod your existing front panel without drilling through it (more to come on that later). You can get the iVue clear panel at RapidRepair.com.
This hack was a lot more difficult than the one for the 4G unit so don't even think about doing this unless you're quite comfortable with the complete disassembly and reassembly of your iPod. Of course, there is always the distinct possibility that you will brick your iPod.
Feel free to post comments, I'll post more details over the next few days followed by a more complete set of Instructables.com. In the meantime you can check out the rest of my iPod Hacks here.
posted by fstedie at
6:45 AM
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22 Comments:
Apple should have done this! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!
where in the world did you get that sweet clear face plate? any tips on doing it myself?
what john said...
John, Matt, the front panel of that iPod sports what is called an iVue.
The following website\company are the supplier of the see through iVue mod.
http://www.rapidrepair.com/shop/ivue-ipod-crystal-case.html
They have a forum too, have a look first, to justify your need for one, there are, seemingly, delays..
http://www.rapidrepair.com/phpbb/
This is teh sickest thing. Congrats on your superior kungfu.
great job. I've wanted to do this to my 5g iPod for months now. I can't wait till you publish the instructions, or even better, possibly mod a A2DP iPhone/iPod Touch. excellent!
Hey the 30 pin connector on my ipod broke, so I took mine apart and all I have is the hard drive. Is there anyway I can buy something that will read my hdd so I can recover all the songs I had on there? If you could point me to a website that would be awesome. I had a 5G 30gig.
There are ZIF to IDE adapters out there but they are rare and expensive. You're better off getting an iPod with a broken hd and fixing that.
Can you point me in the direction of where to get a bluetooth module like yours. I had been looking at the Jabra A210 module, but I wanted something smaller.
Great job, do you know if using the Motorola PC850 would work? It is noticeably smaller. Or the NaviPlay iPod adapter? Possibly even a mono bluetooth headset and a hackto make it stereo?
so does this allow you to transfer songs via bluetooth, or listen to songs via bluetooth headset?
This is only for wireless headphones, not for the transfer of songs.
Does it eat up the battery?
I am following this hack- just got my CF adapter from Tarkan. What kind of bluetooth adapter did you end up using??
what adapter did you use? the jabra a320s?
I just installed a new stereo receiver in my car, which can stream songs from my phone via bluetooth. I was just wondering how to go about modifying my ipod to do the same thing.
This is only for audio? Not data? Is there a way to mod the 5g ipod to stream data?
Hi
I would like to swap my 32gb converted ipod video for an in car GPS. If interested e-mail at rocnrol@hotmail.com I'am Lyle
Thanks
I'm currently doing your CF card and BT mod on a 3rd Gen iPod.
There's still a lot of space left with the hdd gone and I was thinking about adding a bigger or second battery to extend running time.
The 2nd Gen batteries have 2200mAh, but they are too big to fit in. What about adding another 1100mAh parallel to the primary one? Any reason why that wouldn't work? And how would I go about doing that?
Help and comments appreciated.
In order to put another battery in parallel, you would have to find a way to wire them together. However, even if you do, the charger is only designed for the one cell, you risk burning up the charging circuit. Overall, not a good idea. You can always get a bigger battery with the bigger back plate.
Thanks for your reply.
Wiring them together wouldn't be the problem. I'm not a trained electronics expert, but I know how to use a soldering iron ;)
I don't know enough about batteries to understand if this would work, but what is the difference between 2x 1100mAh cells or one 2200mAh cell? Wouldn't the bigger one also be too much for the charging circuit?
Bigger back plate sounds like a good option. Problem is that the 2nd Gen 2200mAh pack has a smaller connector and more importantly lacks the third (white) wire. Do you know what that is used for?
Anyways, currently I'm stuck at restoring the ipod software to the cf card. Ipod keeps restarting and restarting. Guess I'll have to deal with that first .....
I got my 16GB Transcend CF card to work and I think I found a solution for the "constant restarting problem" reported by many people trying the same thing.
It's a bit longer and contains links to some websites. Can I post it here or should I send it to you so you can post it on your page?
Go ahead and email it to contact @ ipodhackers.net, we'll post it.
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