How to turn a dead iPod into an upgraded budget music player
When a beloved piece of technology dies, it's often hard to let go. We've all seen basements and closets cluttered with the corpses of burned-out hardware that once served us well. Perhaps you've got a drawer somewhere with your dead USB sticks or an iPod that's given up the ghost. Well, there's good news for anyone who has an old 5th-generation iPod sitting around the house. For just about $40 to $50 in parts you can resurrect your old machine into a brand new budget music/gaming device.
Utilizing a compact flash adapter and a camera memory card, you can easily replace the dead iPod hard drive, bringing the iPod back to the land of the living. In the video below, YouTube user Tinkernut shows how to easily open, repair, and refresh your old MP3 player into the perfect device for a young child or elderly relative who doesn't need modern bells and whistles.
Tinkernut even walks you through the process of installing Rockbox, a iPod friendly operating system that comes with a large number of simple games for the device. Beyond giving new life to a wonderful piece of old technology, this is the perfect weekend project for curious tinkerers of all ages. Have fun.
