unable to read mounted ipod

gymnart · 03-10-2008, 10:03 AM

My son-in-law has an 8 gb ipod nano 3rd generation (color). We tried connecting it to my SuSE 10.0 computer. It got mounted as follows by HAL:

Code:

Mar  9 21:18:09 linux hal-subfs-mount[7827]: MOUNT_POINT:: /media/ipod
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux hal-subfs-mount[7827]: MOUNTPOINT:: /media/ipod
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux hal-subfs-mount[7827]: Collected mount options and Called(0) /bin/mount -t subfs -o fs=floppyfss,sync,procuid,nosuid,nodev,exec,utf8=true /dev/sdb "/media/ipod"

The problem was that we could see the mounted directory but could not READ it.

I checked it with:

Code:

su
hwinfo --disk
25: SCSI 400.0: 10600 Disk
  [Created at block.188]
  UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_model_iPod
  Unique ID: Gi4D.6D83AKja8o2
  Parent ID: 5YuN.GZrxAHN+aC8
  SysFS ID: /block/sdb
  SysFS BusID: 4:0:0:0
  SysFS Device Link: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb5/5-8/5-8:1.0/host4/target4:0:0/4:0:0:0
  Hardware Class: disk
  Model: "Apple iPod"
  Vendor: usb 0x05ac "Apple"
  Device: usb 0x1262 "iPod"
  Revision: "1.62"
  Serial ID: "5U7463QLYXX"
  Driver: "usb-storage", "sd"
  Device File: /dev/sdb (/dev/sg1)
  Device Files: /dev/sdb, /dev/disk/by-id/usb-Apple_iPod_000A27001B010F26, /dev/disk/by-path/usb-000A27001B010F26:0:0:0
  Device Number: block 8:16-8:31 (char 21:1)
  Geometry (Logical): CHS 127/245/62
  Size: 1941441 sectors a 4096 bytes
  Speed: 480 Mbps
  Module Alias: "usb:v05ACp1262d0001dc00dsc00dp00ic08isc06ip50"
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: usb_storage is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe usb_storage"
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #8 (USB Controller)

I tried removing it and then mounting it as this:
mount /dev/sg1 /media/ipod
But got:
mount: /dev/sg1 is not a block device

I then tried mounting it this way:
mount /dev/sdb /media/ipod
That did not work.

I tried again with this:
mount -t vfat /dev/sdb /media/ipod

That still did not work.
I got messages "complaining" about the file system.

This is some of the output of /var/log/message:

Code:

Mar  9 21:18:04 linux kernel: usb 5-8: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6
Mar  9 21:18:04 linux kernel: usb 5-8: configuration #1 chosen from 2 choices
Mar  9 21:18:04 linux kernel: scsi4 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Mar  9 21:18:04 linux kernel: usb-storage: device found at 6
Mar  9 21:18:04 linux kernel: usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel:   Vendor: Apple     Model: iPod              Rev: 1.62
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel:   Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 00
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: SCSI device sdb: 1941441 4096-byte hdwr sectors (7952 MB)
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: sdb: Write Protect is off
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: sdb: Mode Sense: 68 00 00 08
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: SCSI device sdb: 1941441 4096-byte hdwr sectors (7952 MB)
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: sdb: Write Protect is off
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: sdb: Mode Sense: 68 00 00 08
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel:  sdb: sdb1
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: Attached scsi removable disk sdb at scsi4, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: Attached scsi generic sg1 at scsi4, channel 0, id 0, lun 0,  type 0
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: usb-storage: device scan complete
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux hal-subfs-mount[7827]: SYMLINKS:: disk/by-id/usb-Apple_iPod_000A27001B010F26 disk/by-path/usb-000A27001B010F26:0:0:0
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux hal-subfs-mount[7827]: MOUNT_POINT:: /media/ipod
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux hal-subfs-mount[7827]: MOUNTPOINT:: /media/ipod
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux hal-subfs-mount[7827]: Collected mount options and Called(0) /bin/mount -t subfs -o fs=floppyfss,sync,procuid,nosuid,nodev,exec,utf8=true /dev/sdb "/media/ipod"
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux udevd[2409]: get_netlink_msg: no ACTION in payload found, skip event 'umount'
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: FAT: count of clusters too big (1940928)
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: VFS: Can't find a valid FAT filesystem on dev sdb.
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux udevd[2409]: get_netlink_msg: no ACTION in payload found, skip event 'umount'
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: VFS: Can't find an ext2 filesystem on dev sdb.
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux udevd[2409]: get_netlink_msg: no ACTION in payload found, skip event 'umount'
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: MINIX-fs: blocksize too small for device.
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux udevd[2409]: get_netlink_msg: no ACTION in payload found, skip event 'umount'
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: HFS+-fs: unable to parse mount options
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux submountd: mount failure, Invalid argument
Mar  9 21:18:09 linux kernel: subfs: unsuccessful attempt to mount media (256)
Mar  9 21:18:13 linux udevd[2409]: get_netlink_msg: no ACTION in payload found, skip event 'umount'
Mar  9 21:18:13 linux kernel: FAT: count of clusters too big (1940928)
Mar  9 21:18:13 linux kernel: VFS: Can't find a valid FAT filesystem on dev sdb.
Mar  9 21:18:13 linux udevd[2409]: get_netlink_msg: no ACTION in payload found, skip event 'umount'
Mar  9 21:18:13 linux kernel: VFS: Can't find an ext2 filesystem on dev sdb.
Mar  9 21:18:13 linux udevd[2409]: get_netlink_msg: no ACTION in payload found, skip event 'umount'

I think you can get the picture.

Another thing I did after reading on these forums:

Code:

# zcat /proc/config.gz | grep CONFIG_HFSPLUS
CONFIG_HFSPLUS_FS=m
zcat /proc/config.gz | grep CONFIG_EFI_PARTITION
CONFIG_EFI_PARTITION=y
zcat /proc/config.gz | grep CONFIG_MAC_PARTITION
CONFIG_MAC_PARTITION=y

What does the m mean?

I checked and as far as I know, I don't have any hfsutils nor hfsplusutils nor gtkpod installed on my system.

Anyway, all we wanted to do was to copy some picture files over and submit them to a website (deviantart). We ended up giving up and turning on the Windows XP and it read it just fine.

---------
I just looked into using gtkpod 0.99.8 but for filling in the ipod type, the pod in question is not listed. The list for 3rd generation ipods starts with, 10 gb greyscale but like I said, this is an 8 gb 3rd generation color. I have not tried to connect it yet. I'm not sure if that would work due to the model type not being listed.

Retrievil_Knievil · 03-19-2008, 11:09 AM

I had the same trouble last weekend, a friend of mine bought an ipod and I was "just going to mount it" and copy over some files.

It appears that Apple really don't want anyone else accessing these little pods....they are not making it easy, anyway....

What I did to get it up and running:

1. Fix the kernel to accept HFSPlus and MAC partitions (which you did)

2. Mount the disk: (The ipod has three partitions, the last one is the data drive)
mount /dev/sda3 -t hfsplus /mnt/ipod

3. Since the HFSPlus probably is journaled, this means we cannot write to the disk. I copied the disk to my local hdd, and formatted it with HFSPlus without journaling activated.

4. Then I copied all the files back to the ipod, added the files my friend wanted, and everybody was happy. I used gtkpod for the adding of the files, since you have to add them into the ipod database for it to find them. I tried to just copy files to the ipod, but it never found anything. gtkpod worked like a charm though, as soon as learned I had to "Save Changes" to apply what I had done to the ipod.

Took me 3 hours, searching and reading included......even my Nokia was plug-and-play on Linux...

In addition to this, if you have used your ipod on a windows-machine, it's automatically converted to FAT32, which I am told does not make it easier to use under linux...someone actually recommended me to reformat it and go to HFSPlus if it was formatted to FAT. Luckily for me my friend had only used it on a Mac.....

Hope this helps, it's a shame you have to boot windows just because of Apple...

When it comes to picking the right model in gtkpod, the one I needed was not listed either, I just took the one that looked "closest" and it worked fine. Of course, I had a working backup at the time....

My 2 cents to anyone thinking of buying an ipod.....get creative instead....alas, I see the world is not listening, I wonder how many they've sold so far?

gymnart · 03-19-2008, 12:06 PM

Thanks for your tips, Retrievil_Knievil, (I love that name, lol).

I didn't want to write to the thing, I just wanted to copy what was on there onto my computer and then upload the result to a website.

So having to work with it in HFSPlus on Linux, does that mean a person cannot browse the thing and copy files from it without having to reformat it?

P.S. what does the "m" in this line mean?

Code:

CONFIG_HFSPLUS_FS=m

Retrievil_Knievil · 03-20-2008, 09:12 AM

Well, I've not tested the Ipod's with fat32, but it is supposed to work. I see there are several opinions on this around the web, but I found the way I did it to be the easiest. I don't quite understand why a fat32 partition should fail to mount as long as it is a valid partition though, this might have with the MAC-type partitioning to do.

Did you try to mount only /dev/sdb, or did you also try /dev/sdb1, /dev/sdb2, /dev/sdb3 ?

You can get a list of the partitions on your system by typing "cat /proc/partitions", this might give you info on which of the /dev/sd?'s you need.

The "m" means that HFS+ will be compiled as a module. You have the choice between 1. Y(es) - Compile into the kernel, 2. N(o) - Do not compile, 3. M(odules) - compile as external module, so the kernel can load it when it is needed, in stead of having it in RAM all the time. Modules can also be loaded/unloaded to/from RAM manually.

Check out this page also, it has a lot of info on the subject: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8160

gymnart · 03-20-2008, 11:10 AM

ok, thanks for the info!
I did not try mounting the ipod as anything other than sdb. I was thinking about the way my mp3 player (a Philips Go Gear) is mounted and for that one to work with the sync command I have to use /dev/sdb. I was also going by the information I got from the "hwinfo --disk" command.

I'll try to remember the "cat /proc/partitions" command if I try this again. I'm glad that this conversation is in my "subscribe" list so I can refer back to here if I need to.

The guy who wrote that article must have a different version of gtkpod than I just got because I did not see an Input/Output tab that says, "Handle mounting/umounting of iPod".

Retrievil_Knievil · 03-20-2008, 02:55 PM

No problem, glad to be able to help!