Jesse Hollington
Retired
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2004
- Messages
- 13,228
- Points
- 36
- Age
- 51
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
- Website
- www.ilounge.com
As of 23 Mar 06 Apple has released Firmware v1.1.1. By all reports, this update appears to fix the video lag problems that were discovered in v1.1. It is strongly suggested that anybody having these problems try the v1.1.1 firmware, downloadable from http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/
Discussion of the new firmware can be found here
For those curious as to what the v1.1 problems were, by all means read on...
This topic has been discussed at great length in an excessively long thread here, however I am going to attempt to summarize the key points in a new sticky thread until such time as we have a resolution to the firmware issues. This will hopefully allow those looking for information on this problem to have a single reference on what has been discovered, and avoid a large number of redundant responses in the larger thread. I will attempt to update and maintain this post as new information is discovered.
You may reply to this thread with questions or comments, but please read through this post COMPLETELY before adding any further information.
The Firmware
Several users have been encountering problems with the latest v1.1 iPod firmware update on the 5G iPod. This update was released January 10, 2006, and is included in the "iPod Updater 2006-01-10" package.
Firstly, the new firmware was released to provide "several bug fixes" as well as to support Apple's new iPod FM Radio Remote. If you are not having any problems with your iPod with the v1.0 firmware, and do not intend to use the iPod FM Radio Remote, you do not need to update your firmware.
The Changes
The firmware also makes one significant change to the iPod interface which is not desirable for all users. In v1.0, as on previous iPod models, holding down the MENU key would toggle the backlight. In v1.1, holding down the MENU key now returns directly to the Main Menu.
This appears to have been an intentional change (ie, a feature) as opposed to a bug.
The new firmware also appears to improve the performance of the 5G iPod when accessing tracks and scrolling through menus. "Lagging" problems that seemed to occur with v1.0 are minimal to non-existent with v.1.1.
THE PROBLEM
After upgrading to the v1.1 firmware, a number of users have reported problems playing back video content that they have encoded themselves. The problem seems to include stops and stutters during playback, audio and video being out of synchronization, and other problems related to the consistent and smooth playback of video.
The following points should be noted:
Likewise, the other thread would seem to indicate that we have a large sample of people who are having the problem. Ideally, we would like to hear from anybody who fits into one of the following categories:
Regardless of whether Apple officially supports third-party conversion tools or not, and regardless of discussions around compliance with standards, the simple fact is that some videos that worked with v1.0 no longer work with v1.1.
Obviously, we are all hoping that Apple will do something to address this very soon. Until that time, the current workarounds include:
Unless you have manually deleted your previous iPod Updater, you should continue to have the previous firmware available on your computer. The last iPod updater was 2005-11-17, although the 5G firmware in this one is also the same as the one released on 2005-10-06, so either updater should suffice.
Note that by default, the only way to revert to an older firmware is the RESTORE your iPod to default settings. Doing this will ERASE ALL CONTENT on your iPod so make sure that you have a backup prior to doing this. If you have your entire music/photo/video library on your computer in iTunes, then that should suffice, as you can just reload it to your iPod following the restore.
Doing a RESTORE is the simplest and most recommended procedure provided that you already have a backup of your music. If you do not have a backup of your music, there are other methods available to "trick" the iPod into thinking that you're actually updating the firmware. However, my personal opinion is that it's probably better to backup your iPod and run a full RESTORE than to use one of these methods.
To backup your iPod, you can either use any number of available tools designed for recovering the music from your iPod, or you can simply back it up as you would any other external hard drive, ensuring that hidden directories are included.
OTHER NOTES
It would also appear that the v1.1 firmware update breaks the SDRAM diagnostics within the iPod diagnostics menu. Some originally felt that this was an indication that the SDRAM was failing, but this does not appear to be the case. Rather, the SDRAM test itself is not working as it should. Any results of this test with the word "FAIL" in them do not mean that your SDRAM has failed, but rather the word "FAIL" is just a legend indicating what the backlight should be doing in the event of a failure of the test. However, the test itself doesn't appear to run at all.
Several people report that they have contacted Apple Technical Support about this and they have acknowledged that there is a problem and are working on a fix.
This thread will be made a sticky at the top of the main iPod forum until this problem is resolved. Please feel free to contribute to this thread if you have any NEW information to offer, including indications that this problem is occurring on different hardware than already reported, or suggestions for other possible workarounds.
Please also note that if you are going to report a problem in this thread, please ensure that you include the following information:
Discussion of the new firmware can be found here
For those curious as to what the v1.1 problems were, by all means read on...
This topic has been discussed at great length in an excessively long thread here, however I am going to attempt to summarize the key points in a new sticky thread until such time as we have a resolution to the firmware issues. This will hopefully allow those looking for information on this problem to have a single reference on what has been discovered, and avoid a large number of redundant responses in the larger thread. I will attempt to update and maintain this post as new information is discovered.
You may reply to this thread with questions or comments, but please read through this post COMPLETELY before adding any further information.
The Firmware
Several users have been encountering problems with the latest v1.1 iPod firmware update on the 5G iPod. This update was released January 10, 2006, and is included in the "iPod Updater 2006-01-10" package.
Firstly, the new firmware was released to provide "several bug fixes" as well as to support Apple's new iPod FM Radio Remote. If you are not having any problems with your iPod with the v1.0 firmware, and do not intend to use the iPod FM Radio Remote, you do not need to update your firmware.
The Changes
The firmware also makes one significant change to the iPod interface which is not desirable for all users. In v1.0, as on previous iPod models, holding down the MENU key would toggle the backlight. In v1.1, holding down the MENU key now returns directly to the Main Menu.
This appears to have been an intentional change (ie, a feature) as opposed to a bug.
The new firmware also appears to improve the performance of the 5G iPod when accessing tracks and scrolling through menus. "Lagging" problems that seemed to occur with v1.0 are minimal to non-existent with v.1.1.
THE PROBLEM
After upgrading to the v1.1 firmware, a number of users have reported problems playing back video content that they have encoded themselves. The problem seems to include stops and stutters during playback, audio and video being out of synchronization, and other problems related to the consistent and smooth playback of video.
The following points should be noted:
- This problem only seems to affect the 5G 60Gb iPod
- There have been no reports of this problem occurring on the 5G 30Gb iPod
- The problem does not occur with content purchased from iTunes
- The problem does not occur with content encoded with QuickTime and/or iTunes.
- The problem only seems to occur with large video files (in excess of 100Mb)
- The problem seems to occur most frequently with content encoded with Videora on PC, although other applications have shown this problem as well.
- There have been few to no reports of this problem occurring for Mac users encoding with Handbrake.
Likewise, the other thread would seem to indicate that we have a large sample of people who are having the problem. Ideally, we would like to hear from anybody who fits into one of the following categories:
- You are using a 30Gb model and ARE having a problem with video playback
- You are having a problem with content encoded with iTunes or Quicktime
- You are having problems with content purchased from iTunes
- You are having problems with content encoded with Handbrake on Mac OS X
Regardless of whether Apple officially supports third-party conversion tools or not, and regardless of discussions around compliance with standards, the simple fact is that some videos that worked with v1.0 no longer work with v1.1.
Obviously, we are all hoping that Apple will do something to address this very soon. Until that time, the current workarounds include:
- Re-encode your content with Quicktime or iTunes, if possible
- Split larger files into smaller chunks using a utility such as MP4Box. Some have reported that the mere use of this tool fixes the problem for some reason, regardless of the final file size.
- Revert to the v1.0 firmware.
Unless you have manually deleted your previous iPod Updater, you should continue to have the previous firmware available on your computer. The last iPod updater was 2005-11-17, although the 5G firmware in this one is also the same as the one released on 2005-10-06, so either updater should suffice.
Note that by default, the only way to revert to an older firmware is the RESTORE your iPod to default settings. Doing this will ERASE ALL CONTENT on your iPod so make sure that you have a backup prior to doing this. If you have your entire music/photo/video library on your computer in iTunes, then that should suffice, as you can just reload it to your iPod following the restore.
Doing a RESTORE is the simplest and most recommended procedure provided that you already have a backup of your music. If you do not have a backup of your music, there are other methods available to "trick" the iPod into thinking that you're actually updating the firmware. However, my personal opinion is that it's probably better to backup your iPod and run a full RESTORE than to use one of these methods.
To backup your iPod, you can either use any number of available tools designed for recovering the music from your iPod, or you can simply back it up as you would any other external hard drive, ensuring that hidden directories are included.
OTHER NOTES
It would also appear that the v1.1 firmware update breaks the SDRAM diagnostics within the iPod diagnostics menu. Some originally felt that this was an indication that the SDRAM was failing, but this does not appear to be the case. Rather, the SDRAM test itself is not working as it should. Any results of this test with the word "FAIL" in them do not mean that your SDRAM has failed, but rather the word "FAIL" is just a legend indicating what the backlight should be doing in the event of a failure of the test. However, the test itself doesn't appear to run at all.
Several people report that they have contacted Apple Technical Support about this and they have acknowledged that there is a problem and are working on a fix.
This thread will be made a sticky at the top of the main iPod forum until this problem is resolved. Please feel free to contribute to this thread if you have any NEW information to offer, including indications that this problem is occurring on different hardware than already reported, or suggestions for other possible workarounds.
Please also note that if you are going to report a problem in this thread, please ensure that you include the following information:
- Your iPod Model (30Gb or 60Gb)
- What OS you are using (ie, Windows XP, Mac OS X, or something else)
- What you are using to encode your videos (ie, Videora, Handbrake, etc)
- The approximate size of the smallest video file that you are having problems with.
Last edited: