Linux guide to installing iPodLinux and iDoom

As promised, here is a step by step guide to installing iPodLinux on an iPod Nano from a linux based PC. We will also show you how to load iDoom. For more details and instructions for other installation methods head over to iPodLinux.org

Install iPodLinux

1. Download required files, put them in /tmp and extract them.

iPodLinux Kernel and Podzilla - http://ipodlinux.org/builds/ (get the most recent ones)
Bootloader Tools - http://ipodlinux.org/images/5/58/Ipodloader-20060114.tar.gz
Userland - http://so2.sys-techs.com/ipod/ipod_fs_240206.tar.gz

2. Change directory to /tmp.

cd /tmp

3. Plug in your iPod.

4. Find out which device is your iPod.

df

In Fedora, you will see the iPod filesystem mounted like this ...

/dev/sda3             17101248   3418812  12813724  22% /
/dev/sda2               101105     13681     82203  15% /boot
/dev/sda1             20507028  14266336   6240692  70% /mnt/sda1
/dev/sdb2              2050702   1426633    624069  70% /media/ipod

So, we know that /dev/sdb is the iPod.

5. Backup your iPod filesystems with dd.

dd if=/dev/sdb of=ipod_boot_sector_backup bs=512 count=1
dd if=/dev/sdb1 of=ipod_os_partition_backup

6. Re-partition your iPod with fdisk.

fdisk /dev/sdb

d

(... to delete a partition)

1

(... to select the first partition)

n

(... to create a new partition)

p

(... to select a primary partition)

1

(... to select partition number one)

1

(... to tell fdisk to start with cylinder 1)

4

(... to tell fdisk to end with cylinder 4)

a

(... to activate a partition)

1

(... to select the first partition)

t

(... to set the type of partition)

1

(... to select partition 1)

00

(... to specify an "empty" partition type)

n

(... to create a new partition)

p

(... to select a primary partition)

3

(... to select partition three)

5

(... to tell fdisk to start with cylinder 5)

10

(... to tell fdisk to end with cylinder 10)

p

(... to print your partition table layout)

It should look like this ...

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdb: 2047 MB, 2047868416 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 248 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1           4       32098+   0  Empty
/dev/sdb2              11         248     1911732    b  W95 FAT32
/dev/sdb3               5          10       48195   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Command (m for help):

w

This will write the new partition table.

7. Create an ext3 partition on partition 3 and tell it not to scan.

mke2fs -j /dev/sdb3
tune2fs -c 0 /dev/sdb3

8. Install the linux kernel and bootloader.

From the bootloader directory ...

./make_fw -o apple_os.bin -e 0 /tmp/ipod_os_partition_backup
./make_fw -g nano -o my_sw.bin -i apple_os.bin -l /tmp/2006-05-11-kernel.bin loader.bin
dd if=my_sw.bin of=/dev/sdb1

9. Mount the third iPod partition.

mkdir /mnt/ipod
mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt/ipod

10. Load ipod userland tools.

cd /mnt/ipod
tar -zxpf /tmp/ipod_fs_240206.tar.gz

11. Update podzilla.

cd /mnt/ipod/bin
mv /tmp/podzilla.gz .
mv podzilla podzilla.old
gunzip podzilla.gz
chmod +x podzilla

12. Unmount the iPod partition and eject.

cd /
umount /mnt/ipod
eject /dev/sdb

13. Reboot your iPod and boot into linux.

Hold down the Menu and Click Button for a few seconds. When you see a dim apple on the screen immediately hold down the left arrow key and Linux should boot.

Install iDoom

1. Download the latest version of iDoom and save it in /tmp.

http://idoom.hyarion.com/download.php

2. Uncompress the zip file.

unzip iDoom1_3.zip

3. Mount your iPod if it is not already mounted.

mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt/ipod

4. Copy the iDoom directory to your iPod.

cp -R iDoom /mnt/ipod

5. Unmount the iPod partition and eject.

cd /
umount /mnt/ipod
eject /dev/sdb

6. Reboot your iPod and boot into linux.

Hold down the Menu and Click Button for a few seconds. When you see a dim apple on the screen immediately hold down the left arrow key and Linux should boot.

7. Start iDoom.

Open the file browser and click on the iDoom directory. Then click on the file called "iDoom". Enjoy!