Mounting iPod on Slackware 10.2

brooky9999 · 08-03-2006, 05:13 AM

Hi all,

I'm trying to mount my Mac formatted iPod on my Slack 10.2 notebook running kernel 2.16.7.7.

To do this, I have recompiled my kernel to include HFS+ filesystem support and Advanced partition selection / Macintosh partition map support.

However, when I reboot I get the following error:

Code:

kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(3,2)

I can then fix it all by booting to another kernel again, and then recompiling 2.6.17.7 without Advanced Partition selection - but I need this to successfully mount my iPod.

Can anyone help me? I don't really want to go through the hassle of formatting my iPod into a Windows iPod.

Mark.

-=Graz=- · 08-03-2006, 05:25 AM

Unsure if this helps and i cannot test this very moment as i am booted into Ubuntu and loading freeBSD into VMWare

But...
When i use slackware im pretty sure i can mount my ipod nano just by issuing a standard mount command as root with reference to sda1 or whatever it has mapped to.
i.e. #mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/ipod
i have never done anything special to the iPOD itself so i assume it is still 'windows' or whatever...

Im not sure if this helps but it worked for me. ALl i had to do when building the kernel was ensure i compiled all USB support and also support for scsi devices ..

Are you able to use a standard USB thumb drive or something similar in your standard kernel that works?

brooky9999 · 08-03-2006, 05:31 AM

Hi Graz!

Yeah, it sees the iPod as a USB device - that ain't a problem. The issue is that I can't read it.

If I do a fdisk -l I get:

Code:

Disk /dev/sda doesn't contain a valid partition table

This is because it needs HFS+ support and Advanced partition selection. However, when I compile those in, I get that nasty error at boot time.

Mark.

ExplodingTurnip · 08-03-2006, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brooky9999

Can anyone help me? I don't really want to go through the hassle of formatting my iPod into a Windows iPod.

Why not use FAT32? It's automatically supported and you won't have to do a Kernel recompile, plus you get read/write support on the device. The HFS+ filesystem, AFAIK, only has read-only support under Linux. About the only problem you'll have with FAT32, though, is using files at or larger than 4GB.

I'm assuming the hassle arises from: Not having Windows installed. Backing up and restoring the files on the iPod. Or you're using files larger than 4GB?

brooky9999 · 08-04-2006, 04:32 AM

hi Turnip,

Yeah, I'd pretty much resigned myself to the fact this is what I'm gonna have to do.

It ain't a major hassle - but I've got to fire up a Windows VM, install the iPod and iTunes software, then restore my music to it. All so it can be seen in GTKpod.

On the plus side, it means I can keep my lean, mean, killing machine kernel just that! I won't have to compile in advanced partition support and HFS+.

I don't use my iPod as a portable HD so I ain't bothered about saving files 4Gb+ in size.

Many thanks for all your help guys!

Mark.

-=Graz=- · 08-04-2006, 06:14 AM

hey cool, no probs... glad you got it sorted.
yeah FAT filesystem would be the best bet for sure - i agree.

shilo · 08-04-2006, 06:17 AM

I don't know why your kernel won't boot with the Advanced Partition Selection option. I know that in the past I was able to mount a Mac formatted iPod with this method.

I did want to add that I think you will be much happier with the Windows formatted iPod. The HFS+ support is not read-only (you can write to it), but when the filesystem gets corrupted, it will become read-only. It's a real pain. The filesystem seems to get corrupted quite easily with HFS+ (at least it did when I tried it last). With my Windows formatted iPod, I have no issues.

It is possible to convert to a Windows format without Windows, but it is more trouble than it's worth (if you have Windows available). If you are going to use Windows, make sure to grab the latest firmware while you're at it. Upgrading the firmware without Windows is kinda difficult, requiring that you use Wine to help you extract a copy of the new firmware.

If you happen to be running Dropline with a recent 2.6.x kernel, working with a Windows formatted iPod is really easy. I added a custom UDEV rule, installed libgpod, installed gtkpod, and was done. I just plug in the iPod, and it is mounted right up. Then, just fire up GTKpod, make sure it's pointing to the correct mount point, and have fun. GTKpod is even better than iTunes. You can easily tranfer music either way, computer to iPod or iPod to computer.

brooky9999 · 08-05-2006, 05:10 PM

Hiya Shilo,

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I get used to the 'format from Windows' option.

It ain't that bad really.

I'll grab the latest firmware and get on with the format and copying.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks,

Mark.