iPod Nano 7th Generation Possible Hacks

[IpodAirplane]

Guys - you are doing AMAZING work. Well done!
I was wondering, would it eventually be possible to add apps such as Spotify and Duolingo? (I use these lot for running). Also - what games can run on 64 Mb RAM because, sadly, that is all the iPod has. Would it be possible to put notes and contacts on it - I have an old iPod classic 5th generation and maybe we could copy them. I am (hopefully) going to get an iPod nano in early June and will spend as much time as i can learning how to 'hack' it.
Thank you, and keep up the good work.

 

[sticktron]

Wow it's been awhile since I've been to this site!

With some minor changes I have compress7g working on my 6g nano watch, and have been able to successfully restore custom firmware

All we need now is a handy way to modify SilverImagesDB

 

[TheVividYoshi]

Guys - you are doing AMAZING work. Well done!
I was wondering, would it eventually be possible to add apps such as Spotify and Duolingo? (I use these lot for running). Also - what games can run on 64 Mb RAM because, sadly, that is all the iPod has. Would it be possible to put notes and contacts on it - I have an old iPod classic 5th generation and maybe we could copy them. I am (hopefully) going to get an iPod nano in early June and will spend as much time as i can learning how to 'hack' it.
Thank you, and keep up the good work.

Hi! Unfortunately, it wouldn't be possible to run apps like Spotify and Duolingo, as the iPod Nano 6G/7G don't have WiFi hardware. It might be possible over bluetooth, but then you would have to carry a phone with you, and what would be the point then? As far as games go, I could see emulators being a thing, as well as some simple games (Angry Birds perhaps?)

 

[TheVividYoshi]

Wow it's been awhile since I've been to this site!

With some minor changes I have compress7g working on my 6g nano watch, and have been able to successfully restore custom firmware

All we need now is a handy way to modify SilverImagesDB

How have you sent over custom firmware to the 6g? I'd be able to do a lot more in research if I could send over modified resource partitions and firmware, but I don't have the software to do it! Can someone hook me up? XD

 

[IpodAirplane]

As spotifys files are encrypted, would it be possible to actually sync the spotify app? Also - this is probably imbossible but could you take the camera from a 5g nano and solder it to a 7gs motherboard? You would have to cut a hole in the case, but I can get a 5g
Thank you

 

[Odder]

Try alpine as a password

 

[IpodAirplane]

I just got a nano - how do i find the .ipsw files on windows?
Also, how do i make the itunes u, audiobooks and voice recorder always on with windows?

 

[sticktron]

Status July 2017

How have you sent over custom firmware to the 6g? I'd be able to do a lot more in research if I could send over modified resource partitions and firmware, but I don't have the software to do it! Can someone hook me up? XD

I was able to flash a re-assembled Firmware.MSE packed into a new .IPSW file.
HOWEVER... if even one byte is changed, the firmware is rejected when the device reboots.

I still haven't been able to get that last piece of the puzzle figured out.

I can't flash the whole rsrc.fw over iRecovery because it's too large. And a tampered .ipsw is rejected. Stalled at this point.

 

[TheVividYoshi]

I was able to flash a re-assembled Firmware.MSE packed into a new .IPSW file.
HOWEVER... if even one byte is changed, the firmware is rejected when the device reboots.

I still haven't been able to get that last piece of the puzzle figured out.

I can't flash the whole rsrc.fw over iRecovery because it's too large. And a tampered .ipsw is rejected. Stalled at this point.

Make you a $50 bet that .IPSW files are signed or hashed in some way, and the iPod checks that signature and/or hash before starting from the image. Hell, the hashes may be built into the iPod itself, updated with each new firmware to ensure custom firmware flashing is not possible.

It appears iRecovery is our only hope. We may be able to hack the bootloader to accept modified .IPSWs, or allow for remote code execution. Does anyone know/anyone know anyone who knows assembly?

What is our possibility of hardmods? If we had a dump of the NAND or one of the other chips on the logic board, it is possible that we could figure out the format of it, and flash our partitions DIRECTLY TO THE CHIP, bypassing iRecovery and the bootloader entirely. Probably fat chance, but that is the only other way I can see to make any headway in hacking this Nano...

 

[User5115]

iPod Nano file relocation

Hi. I’ve been a fan of the iPod Nano for a very long time and I was wondering if someone could figure out if there would be some way to move files to areas they aren’t supposed to be, for example if you change the video type on iTunes when your iPod is plugged in to a music video and whenever you open the Films app it says that there aren’t any videos but instead you must go to the music app to access the video itself like on iTunes while the iPod is plugged in. If a way of doing this without breaking my iPod could be found, and someone could write a reply step by step on how to do it it would be more than greatly appreciated if they could do so. Thank you.

 

[Trevir]

3 years since I last checked the thread and little progress made. What a shame. simply wasn't enough interest i guess

 

[TheVividYoshi]

3 years since I last checked the thread and little progress made. What a shame. simply wasn't enough interest i guess

I think the main interest behind making the iPod Nano 7G run custom apps was the possibility of it being a cheap alternative to the more expensive and powerful iPod Touch. In reality though, as time has moved on, these devices have sort of lost their charm. Smartphones and technology is becoming cheaper, and you could pick up a recent iPod Touch off eBay for cheaper than an iPod Nano, and if you're looking to get a cheap MP3 player with decent audio reproduction, you could get an older iPod Classic or iPod Mini, and install a flash storage device into it.

My iPod Nano has been sitting in a drawer for the past 2 years, collecting dust, because all of the functionality it provided is now handled exclusively (and much better) with my smartphone. I'm holding onto it for a little bit longer, in the hopes that we find at least something to do with this device, like running Rockbox or iPodLinux on it, so we could run Doom on it. But considering the brick wall we've hit thus far, I'm not holding my breath...

 

[takiyatsi]

Its quite easy to extract the firmware in linux or mac but on windows its a completely different story. Your going to need terminal in order to extract it here is a guide on how to extract it.

bit . ly / Z4oZDL

Remove any spaces in the address as i am a new memberVidmate iTunes Notepad++ im not allowed to post links.

If anyone would mind sharing the extracted files to DB or something similar for us windows users it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Other than the files in the actually IPSW, the iPod_Control folder on the iPod disk itself has a few minor tweaks you can preform yourself. One of which you can change the array in the IconState.plist file. All this will do is rearrange the "applications" on the home screen which you can already do in the OS. This is still cool that you can do it manually as well, so there may be a few more minor tweaks there.

 

[N0seKn0ws]

okay so i realise what i wrote above was pretty trash, so the only way we can do anything is to take apart the silverimagesdb bin file and recompile them, and get another firmware (signed, too ¯\(ツ)/¯) so i'll be writing a program to do that for the next 2 years. either no one from this thread is coming back or someone new has come back. so you can email me [email protected]. that's the only place i will respond.

IWhat if we take files from ipod_device when it is in disk mode because it is uncompiled there? Also i found this and we might be able to do some backlight timings and stuff

 

[Red The (not)Admin]

Right, don't know if I'm pupating the corpse of a thread, but do we have a working prototype of custom firmware? I've looked everywhere and only this and one other place have said anything about real progress.

 

[Shyguy2434]

Hi I'm not too great with this stuff but is anyone still working on this?

 

[Trevir]

Hi I'm not too great with this stuff but is anyone still working on this?

No. there‘s little interest in these devices now.

 

[J_W_I_]

Hi
I have spent ages travelling around the internet looking for some way to somehow put some kind of app or something like an app on the ipod nano 7th gen, i personally love the device its so small and compact and thin, would love to see someone put all of the research together and finally make a breakthrough on this

 

[xFlynnt]

Someone has the link of the cfw ?

 

[Neverfa11ing]

I now have a working Nano 7G that I'll take some shots at, 10 years later.

I'll link the projects I'm referencing, in case anybody else dives in.
ipod_sun
ipodhax
wInd3x
img1tool

Nan0hail is still working for minor tweaks, below is a link to the latest version.
Nan0hail
(A recent fork with surface level changes here)

Any DMs with help is much appreciated!