Hackszine.com: iPod Archives

Archive: iPod

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January 15, 2008

Unlimited ripping of Netflix "Watch Now" movies

A while ago we wrote about removing the DRM from Netflix "Watch Now" movies. At the time, it involved wading through a bit of HTML source to find the target video URL. Since then, a couple of important things have happened: a Greasemonkey script was written that makes it a bit easier to download and process the DRMed WVM file, and more importantly, Netflix is now allowing unlimited downloads.

What can you do with this? Well, you can download a number of videos ahead of time and then watch them at your leisure, especially if you travel a lot and are offline for extended periods of time. It also means you can convert the files to mp4 format for playing on your mac, iPod or Apple TV device. Or maybe you were hoping to finish that documentary you were making about the strange facial expressions of Sylvester Stallone and needed a few more clips to splice into your film...

How To Rip Netflix "Watch Now" Movies - Link
Netflix Downloader Greasemonkey Script - Link

January 5, 2008

VoIP on the iPod Touch

The Touchmods team recently released a working version of their iPod Touch VoIP app, making it possible for Touch owners to place outgoing calls on the device.

The Touch doesn't come with a built-in mic, so part of the hack involves either modifying a Walmart iVoice III mic, buying a Touchmods designed add-on, or building your own from their schematics. After that, you just need to add http://touchmods.net/rep.xml to the Installer's package source list, install the SIP-VoIP.app, configure it with a SIP account and hop on a WiFi connection.

Incoming calls are not supported yet, and as far as I can tell this isn't an open source project. Charlie Sorrel from Wired's Gadget Lab describes it as being fairly buggy at this stage, and was unable to get it to function, but we'll see how things progress after a few version updates. Anyone out there with an iTouch who wants to give this a shot and report back their findings?

VoIP For iPod Touch - [via] Link
DIY iPod Touch Mic - Link

January 4, 2008

Add Bluetooth to your iPod

fstedie came up with a nice hack for adding internal Bluetooth audio support to your iPod:

1st Ever Bluetooth-Enabled iPod!
If you're like me, you've often asked yourself why Apple has not added native Bluetooth capability to their iPod line up. Even the iPhone only supports mono Bluetooth!

Sure, there are numerous adapters that plug into the iPod's dock connector to give you wireless music, but they are clunky, they come off easily, can't use them with your case and you have to charge them separately!

So, here is my way to add "native" internal Bluetooth support to your 4G iPod. The same method may be used with other iPod versions, I leave that up to you.

The hack essentially involves disassembling a small Bluetooth audio adapter and wiring it directly to the iPod mainboard. Audio input is tapped from the headphone jack and draws power directly from the iPod's battery, giving you a completely wireless and dongle-free audio device.

Check out the picture above, though, and you'll also notice fstedie has replaced the iPod hard disk with a CF card. He has an instructable for that, too. I mentioned Mark Hoekstra's hack to create an iPod-to-CF adapter last year, and it looks like these are now more readily available and can be ordered online. Pretty cool little iPod hacks, I must say.

Add Internal Bluetooth Capability To Your iPod - Link
Convert your 4th Gen iPod to use Flash Memory - Link
iPod CF and SD Card Capability - Link

January 1, 2008

Encyclopodia: Wikipedia on your iPod

MakeFan pointed us to a howto for installing the Encyclopodia software, an alternate iPod interface built on iPodLinux which turns your iPod into an offline Wikipedia browser.

Yes that's right. Thanks to iPodLinux, you can now have the entire Wikipedia encylopedia on your iPod. Clocking in at only 1.7 GB of space, it is a very handy tool if you have the sudden uncontrollable urge while out at the shops to discover the capital of Mongolia or the mating habits of eels. The Wikipedia file is updated approximately once every 6 months so you won't have the most up-to-date version but hey it's free and Mongolia isn't going to change their capital anytime soon.

Unfortunately, the iPod Video and Nano devices as well as the Touch and iPhone are not yet supported by iPodLinux. If you have a slightly older iPod, however, it's a simple hack to turn it into a full pocket encyclopedia.

Encyclopodia: the encyclopedia on your iPod - Link
How to Install Wikipedia on Your iPod (Windows users)- Link
Encyclopodia Installation Guide for OS X and Linux - Link

October 13, 2007

HOWTO - stream music from your iPhone in Ubuntu

Listening to music on your Linux desktop doesn't mean having to duplicate all your audio onto your local harddrive. By streaming your music over WiFi from the iPhone or iPod Touch, you can keep your music portable.

Using two programs called FUSE (Filesystem in Userspace) and sshfs we can mount the iPhone filesystem in Linux, then configure ssh key pairs so we can connect without needing to sudo or login as root every time we want to sync the phone, then we'll install beta versions of Libgpod and Rythmbox to end up with something insanely great.

We've talked about the sshfs FUSE filesystem before, but this is a pretty cool application for it. You're basically turning your iPhone into a wireless harddisk. Unlike a normal portable drive, you can access it from multiple machines at the same time. This allows a couple people to listen to different tunes off the same iPhone library simultaneously.

How To: Stream Music From The iPhone In Ubuntu - Link

October 10, 2007

HOWTO: iPod Touch and iPhone 1.1.1 Jailbreak

A working TIFF buffer overflow exploit was finally released for the iPhone 1.1.1 firware and the iPod Touch! This is huge for iPod Touch fans, as it means we can finally install other apps on the device. Like before, it'll probably be a few days before there is a user-friendly tool, but if you don't mind working through it, there are now working instructions available for both devices.

The first step to jailbreaking the devices is loading up a special TIFF file in Safari which remounts the storage in read-write mode. I don't want to be a fear monger, but I'm a little concerned about a couple of things here:

I haven't seen source released anywhere, so who knows what the image is doing with root access on your phone
It's completely realistic to think that a more sinister version of the TIFF exploit could eventually be peppered around the web in comments and forum postings

It'd be smart for the iPhone and iPod Touch Dev teams to release the exploit code as well as instructions to manually apply the patch for libtiff. It'd be pretty ironic (not to mention good PR) for the dev teams to beat Apple to the security update. Especially since the update requires the jailbreak process to get it installed.

Links:
iPod Touch Jailbreak Guide - Link
iPhone Dev Team announces public iPhone 1.1.1 Jailbreak - Link
iPhone v1.1.1 Jailbreak & AppTapp Installation Guide - Link

Also Worth Reading:
Heap-based buffer overflow: how the iPhone and iPod Touch could be hacked - Link

October 6, 2007

Heap-based buffer overflow: how the iPhone and iPod Touch could be hacked

The recent scuttlebutt in the iPhone and iPod Touch developer forums is that there is a buffer overflow bug in the code used to load TIFF images in Safari (libtiff). The letdown is that the stack is not executable on the devices, leading many to think this is a dead end.

The heap, however, _is_ executable, and a heap based buffer overflow which exploits the libtiff bug may be the way to gain usable access to the iPod Touch and the 1.1.1 upgraded iPhone.

Read full story

September 17, 2007

Make new iPods work with Linux

With the new Nano, iPod Classic and iPod Touch devices, Apple altered the iTunes database slightly to include a cryptographic checksum, which immediately broke all third party iPod management software. Since there's no iTunes for Linux, this essentially meant that Linux users had to look for another solution for putting music on their devices. Great software like gtkpod and Amarok no longer worked.

This was a few days ago, and it looks like the hash used by iTunes has already been reverse engineered. Every time the database is updated--whether you change the name of a song file, or add or remove music--a new checksum needs to be calculated, based on the contents of the library and your device's unique ID.

Right now, you can continue to use your current software, and then generate and update the checksum in the database manually. No doubt that within another three days all of the nitty gritty details will be automated for you in your favorite open source iPod software.

Ian Monroe, makes this valid point, however:

Really the only "correct" solution is for folks to stop using Apple products. The iPod might have its own version of DAAP's iTunes 7 which has a checksum more difficult (apparently) to crack. But for the time being, things are fine.

Fifteen years ago, a lot of us started making the switch to Linux from Windows, even though the platform was a little foreign, took some work to learn, and was a bit crusty around the edges. The real catalyst was that Linux had a hell of a lot more to offer in terms of networking capabilities, a programmer-oriented free development environment out of the box, and a level of performance and stability that the Microsoft operating systems couldn't touch.

I'm not sure what the final motivating factor will be for people to switch to an open hardware/software platform for their mobile connectivity and media devices. The ability to use it with your preferred desktop OS--not to mention the ability to share your data between multiple devices and multiple desktop clients--is enough reason for me.

Making New iPods work in Linux - Link

September 14, 2007

What's in store for the iPod Touch?

Over at the iPhone Dev Wiki, people are taking a crack at hacking the iPod Touch. The discussion so far is that Apple has encoded the firmware image differently for the iPod Touch. Because of this, there is currently no working jailbreak method that will allow you to get 3rd party software onto the deivce. I'm pretty excited for this to get sorted out... there are some key features that are sadly missing from the iPod Touch.

Keep your fingers crossed, though. Here are a few things you'll be able to do once this obstacle is surmounted:

enable SSH access
copy Mail, Maps, Stocks and Weather apps from an iPhone to the iPod
install important 3rd party software like Apollo IM (AIM client) and NES.app (Nintendo emulator)

Personally, I just want a nice little WiFi-enabled web client that I can install apps on for, say, a hundred bucks less than the iPhone.

July 22, 2007

Sharing lists of podcasts for the iPhone, iPod, iTunes... OPML, .pcasts and more...

I was talking with a friend who has an iPhone and was sharing some of the videos and audio (podcasts) I have. It's a pretty good mix of current news, updated videos, science audio shows and best of all, free... The audio shows are good for running and the video shows are good for commuting (subway/bus). Since I don't have a TV this is a nice commercial free way to get a lot of great content. Not many people know you can share your Podcasts fairly easily (by share I mean the list of them).

First, the not so easy ways... You can't make an iMix since that's just for things you can buy (see image below).

Make 844

Make 849
Here's a screen shot of the ones I have...

Make 848
In iTunes you can see the XML feed, but you can't copy and paste it.

Make 847
One thing that is possible is to drag the podcast title from iTunes on to the desktop, it creates a .pcast file (Podcast subscription file) which contains the feed location.

Make 846
It's possible to cut and paste from a .pcast file once you open it in a text editor - and you can paste the url in to iTunes... (*Note, you can also drag RSS/XML feeds in to iTunes from a browser). If you like the shows listed here - download my .pcast files linked below or all of them in the zip file - Link.

That said, the easiest way for folks really in to this is to just use an OPML file. iTunes can export and import OPML files (a list of locations / feeds of the podcasts, audio, video and PDF). Here's how...

Make 851
In iTunes click podcasts in the main window.

Make 852-1
In the menu choose File > Export.

Make 853
In the pull down list choose OPML. That's your OPML file, you can now send this to someone, post it online and import it... Here's how -

Make 854
In iTunes go to the menu, choose File > Import and select the OPML file.

Make 855
You'll get this dialog and you're all set!

Here's my iTunes OPML file - Link.

That's it - go fill up those devices! It's what all those gigs are for.

Bonus tip: If you have your own podcast you can make a one-click subscption link. Just replace http:// with itpc://

For MAKE ours is: itpc://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/make_podcast/index.xml

This opens up iTunes and subscribes.

Or, you can use a link to the show within iTunes - here's ours again...
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=74069835&s=143441

Make 857
To get a URL location of any podcast just right click (or on Mac ctrl - click).

I'm pretty sure this works on both Macs and PCs, if it doesn't post up in the comments.

July 18, 2007

The iPhone does has iChat/AIM, MSN and Yahoo.. sorta

After trying a few of the web based AIM and being disappointed with all of them I remember the old trick I needed to use back in the day when there wasn't a good AIM client for Pocket PC phones - use AIM over SMS. Before you do this make sure you have the unlimited messaging plan, it's $20 - but worth it, otherwise you'll end up getting a big bill when you go over all your SMS allotment super fast.

For AT&T / Cingular customers just text your user name SPACE password to 265000.

You can set up your address book for quick sign on, just add a contact with 265000 as the to address.

After you text 265000 with your screen name and password. You'll get a SMS back with a short list of your buddies.

Img 1637-1
If you know the buddy name text 265010 with their screen name SPACE and a message. When they reply the SMS will be numbered, just hit reply and those text messages will go to that buddy.

It looks and sounds like iChat, so it's a lot like what you'd expect an iChat to be like.

Some other useful codes.

Text anything (The iPhone does not allow blank messages) to 265002 for your buddy list. You'll see your buddies get assigned temporary short codes.

Text anything (The iPhone does not allow blank messages) to 265001, that will sign you off.

There's an entire PDF from AOL with tons of information on using AIM over SMS here - Link.

You can do the same with Yahoo, and since Yahoo and MSN work together now you can with Yahoo/MSN people too... - Link.

If this is too complicated you can sign on to AIM and have the instant messages forward to your phone here - Link. You can't ping your buddy list, so it's not as useful.

July 16, 2007

iPhone Hacking: Messing with ringtones, graphics and more

Erica has a great round up on hacking up your own iPhone ringtones, changing carrier logos, activating secret apps/widgets and more... Link.

HOW TO - Put DVDs on the iPhone - the super simple way

HandBrake is a GPL'd multi-platform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter - it's super easy to rip the DVDs you have and put them on the new iPhone - they look great and are about 1 GB each, here's how...

First, get HandBrake - Link. There are also PC versions of HandBrake, it might work about the same way.

Make 825
Install it, run it. Pop the DVD in. Pick the DVD volume. Choose your settings, I use the defaults usually.

Make 826
It takes about 30 min or so, it runs fine in the background.

Make 827
Drag the MP4 file it makes in to iTunes, in videos tab in iTunes for the iPhone select the movie, click Sync.

Make 828
In a couple minutes it transfers over.

Make 829
It's about a gig.

The video is in the videos section. iPod / Videos.

It looks and sounds great!

*Joe notes - I found if you create a new preset for iphone in handbrake and set the video dimensions to 480x320 you can crunch movies down to a much smaller size optimized for the iphone native resolution.

May 15, 2007

Change your iPod's font color

By adjusting a few resource settings with the iPodWizard tool, you can now change your iPod's font colors:

Open iPW, load your firmwire. Go to Layout, scroll down to Font Types. In that list, go down to item 24223, which is the titlebar string. Now look at the z2 tag. It should say 0xFF000000. We're going to change that. Click on it so that the cursor goes into the hex field and highlights the first character in the series of hex, which should at the moment say 00 00 00 FF. Ignore the FF at the end, and change the first three digit series from 00 00 00 to DD 00 00. Write your iPod, eject, and look. Your titlebar text is now red!

It works with 1 bit fonts, allowing you to adjust the color, size and font face of the menu, title bar, stop watch, dates, etc.

Resources:

Changing your titlebar font color - iPodWizard.net forums
iPodWizard - tool for changing the fonts, graphics and text on your iPod

May 10, 2007

Adapting to your iPod

Mark from Geek Technique posted a bunch of photos last week of his prototype iPod CF card adapter. With a bit of hacking, he was able to wire everything up to make his iPod run on flash memory. Just short of a full howto, you should be able to glean a few pin wiring details off the photos.

The little iPod drive connector is peculiar. It's not mini IDE and not quite PCMCIA (though it uses a PCMCIA-style connector). It is, however, compatible with both technologies, so with the right adapter, you can use an iPod drive in an embedded computer, or perhaps even convert an iPod to use an SDCARD. There are cheap SD to CF adapters that fit inside the CF footprint, so essentially it's a no-brainer if you've gotten Mark's CF iPod hack to work.

Links: