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Iphone Mod - 120gb Iphone?

P

poohbarr

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 1, 2008
4
0
Hi all,

I have a powerbook G4 and about 3 ipods currently and love apple, and yet I am a little bit of a traitor cause I just got an 80gb zune. To my dismay the zune isn't great and does exactly the same if not less than the ipod AND the whole wireless bs hasn't been hacked so it is usesless!

Anywho, I have a friends that just got both the touch and the iphone. They rave about it endlessly and I would be more than willing to sell all my ipods and my zune if the iphone has larger harddrive options. Unfortunately 16gb being the biggest and 32gb being rumored I have decided that if there is a way to hack or mod an iphone to hold a 120gb, 250gb, or 320gb drive then I would be able to play all/most of my music add a couple of apps. The bummer is that I don't know how to or if it would work!

So what I want to do is increase the battery size so it can handle the HDD and last longer than the stock one, increase the HDD, and later jailbrake it so I can use my cricket service.

Is there anyone that has done this already? If so where can i get the parts needed and how would you suggest extending the back of the case? And how much do yalls think that this hack or mod would cost?

Thanks in Advanced,

Poohbarr
 
the iphone does not use an HDD. it uses a chip. there are no 120gb chips yet, or even 2x64. basically, between an extended battery, an extended back, and a 120gb drive, you are dreaming. come back in 3-5 years.
 
how the heck are you supposed to just 'hack' the iphone to all of a sudden increase its storage capacity? doesn't even make sense.
 
.............are you serious?

When you were sitting in front of your computer typing this thread was your brain even operating??? That is impossible!!! this thread needs to go to wasteland. Goodbye
 
iblastoff said:
how the heck are you supposed to just 'hack' the iphone to all of a sudden increase its storage capacity? doesn't even make sense.
Click to expand...

First off. He means a hardware hack. It completely makes sense.

stoich said:
When you were sitting in front of your computer typing this thread was your brain even operating??? That is impossible!!! this thread needs to go to wasteland. Goodbye
Click to expand...

Shut up. Don't be rude. People like you ruin forums like these. This is clearly a forum so people can ask questions. Don't act like an ass because you probably have no idea what you are talking about.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but the iPhone/iPod touch does not use a Hard drive. It uses flash memory chips. I don't see why you couldnt just pop it open and solder on more chips, but obviously it is more complicated then that. I see these topics pop up all the time and im sure if you searched around you could find the exact answer you are looking for. I'm going to say it hasn't happened it and it will be complicated if you do try, but good luck!

-Switz
 
From what I'm reading around the net you'd need to find a new logic board for your iPhone.
However google wasn't being very friendly to me when I tried looking for 'logic boards for iPhone 3G'

Good luck, and be sure to let us know if you succeed.
 
Ridiculous

Im sorry to say switz that is Impossible as in it cannot be done. The only way possible would be to completley remove the innards of the iphone/Itouch and then install a hard drive. You cannot use chips cause you cant multibranch chips especially at a 8gb x 15 chips that would be completley unstable and could never be achieved.

After you install the hard drive you would need a new hard drive. New wiring and circuitry. Then a whole new casing that you would have to custom build yourself. Then you would need to figure out how to run the operating system that the Iphone/Itouch use to configure with the HDD which would also be unstable. Then after that You would need a new battery that could handle it. Then After all is said and done 1 year later you would have yourself a Box shaped Iphone and if you walked down to the apple store there in the window would be the brand new Iphone 120GB that was just released that day. So all your hard work would be essentially useless.

Be satisfied with your current 16gb Iphone/Itouch cause somepeople in this world would like to just have clean water to drink let alone worrying about more freaking memory! Just wait for apple to catch up cause believe me once the 120GB Iphone is released people will be on this forum posting about how to mod their 120GB to be a 1TB Iphone. Its completley absurd.
 
Chip?

Don't you guys mean they iphone uses Flash memory instead of "chips"

lol

anyways, flash memories only go up to what 40 gigs?
the 80+ gig zune uses a small hard drive, that's why is bulky

so it's not possible to "hack" an iphone and make the storage that big...unless you want to carry around an iphone with a HUGE ass HDD sticking out lol
 
It doesn't seem worth is to me as it may never work. You don't even know how much room apple left. I doubt you could put more memory on. But you may be able to take the old chips off and then use the 32GB Touch's memory and install that.
 
I actually wonder if this could be done, but not by 'hacking' the iPhone. Rather, by using something similar to the Juice Pack, which is a battery pack for the iPhone. Yes, it adds a lot of bulk, because you are pretty much sliding the phone into an external docking battery. But instead of a battery (or maybe in addition to), there is either built-in flash memory, or maybe a card reader, or something similar.

I don't know if you'd have to hack the iPhone's firmware or OS to make it work, so it might require a Jailbroken iPhone. But, I would think that it's at least feasible possible. Provided a user is willing to double the size of the phone, etc.

Just a thought. Maybe it's just not possible.
 
I'm totally in BS mode here but would it be theoretically possible to have a compact external battery/hard drive that would interface with the iphone via the dock connector? This external pack would add a bit of length b/c of the dock connector interface and maybe 2.5X the thickness. A software hack could allow itunes access to the hard drive.
 
if u have some knowlege about writing apps you could jailbreak and write an app to use an external HDD that u stuck in one of thouse external batery extenders but u would have to mod that:( it would be easier than doing the whole new flash and re engineering the whole phone
 
poohbarr said:
Hi all,

I have a powerbook G4 and about 3 ipods currently and love apple, and yet I am a little bit of a traitor cause I just got an 80gb zune. To my dismay the zune isn't great and does exactly the same if not less than the ipod AND the whole wireless bs hasn't been hacked so it is usesless!

Anywho, I have a friends that just got both the touch and the iphone. They rave about it endlessly and I would be more than willing to sell all my ipods and my zune if the iphone has larger harddrive options. Unfortunately 16gb being the biggest and 32gb being rumored I have decided that if there is a way to hack or mod an iphone to hold a 120gb, 250gb, or 320gb drive then I would be able to play all/most of my music add a couple of apps. The bummer is that I don't know how to or if it would work!

So what I want to do is increase the battery size so it can handle the HDD and last longer than the stock one, increase the HDD, and later jailbrake it so I can use my cricket service.

Is there anyone that has done this already? If so where can i get the parts needed and how would you suggest extending the back of the case? And how much do yalls think that this hack or mod would cost?

Thanks in Advanced,

Poohbarr
Click to expand...

You can store 16gb of your favorite music on your iPhone and stream the rest with orb/Simplify Media

I'm currently beta testing orb on 2.0 and it works great. I can easily stream my 20,000 songs, music, tv and photos to my iPhone over 3g
 
download SIMPLIFY MEDIA from the app store...follow the directions.....stream all your music from your pc or mac to your iphone...problem solved...
 
no, there is no IDE channel on the iPhone motherboard. also, you can't unsolder the memory chips off the iPhone mobo without 1337 soldering skills and surgeon-precision hands :D
 
The iPhone's OS can support any amount of storage (well, not unlimited, but more than 120Gb). There's no software hack involved, just a hardware hack.

'just' may not be the correct word. You'd need to desolder the iPhone's NAND chips, find the pinout for those chips, and build an IDE bridge. That would require some electronic engineering knowledge, and you'd need to contact a manufacturer in China who could fabricate the circuit on an IC for you (or use a really big PIC). Next, you'd need to get a new backing plate made to fit the HDD in to, and you'd probably need a board with driver circuits to power the drive (it could use up to 12V, more than a NAND chip takes, I bet). Once you have the chip->IDE bridge and driver circuits done and tested, you can solder them in to your phone, and fix the new back plate on.

After that, you'd probably have significantly decreased battery life, thermal instability, and you'd almost certainly have voided your warranty. I'd advise against it.
 
whatever this dude is smoking... we all need some ASAP

on an unrelated note.. i hacked my iphone 3G to run off my G5's second processor wirelessly using 802.11Z, it's WAY faster now
 
Let me Explain...

Howdy all and thanks for your replies. Your way faster on this forum than others, i am impressed!

Anywho, I am technically inclined in some computer related fields while others I'll admit I am fairly retarded. The point of this post was to answer the question would my idea work? I could see working in my head, but don't technically know what would be needed to make it a reality. So after reading all yalls replies, I see that de-soldering the NAND chips and making an IDE bridge (which is what i had in mind) won't work. I am very interested in how you would make an extended module for the iphone though.

Oh and on a side note to yalls that don't want to lug a brick around, if you have ever used or had to use a pocket pc or pda or have a zune then you know that you get used to lugging it around. I would sacrifice looks, and being a brick for functionality. All I want is the iphone interface with my base 110gb music library, put some dvds on it and be able to make phone calls and surf.

My original idea before the iphone came out was to use mini-itx's newsest motherboard the "mobile" and custom your own touch screen handheld and use an archos like os!? But the iphone came out first and I don't have thousands of dollars to build a prototype :) So I have to settle with what is out and I was hoping that I could modify the existing iphone to what I have always wanted.

I am also surprised as to how many others would be interested in this sort of mod! Makes me feel more sane that I am not the only one asking for the future :)

And lastly about the streaming thing, I tried orb at one time and got choppy audio and I had to leave my laptop running at home. Also with the iphone if I want to stream music going down the road I either have to hot spot jump or pay for a service I am assuming neither of which are ideal considering where i live has multiple droped spots that I drive through all the time and hot spots aren't all over the place like a big city would have. Hence the reason why I wanted the onboard storage.

If you have any ideas, suggestions or creative builds that you think would work please let me know. I am open to everything!
 
This is honestly to the point of completley ridiculous! You seriously want to mod your F%*$#@! Iphone so you can store your 110 gb of music and movies because your "always on the go?" I feel like im talking to Donald Trump and telling him he doesnt need to buy anymore land cause he just is NOT going to listen. So think about it after you spend 500 hours and a whole lot of money to make this brick size fantasy Iphone to come to life what good is it going to do?? Can you Imagine actually driving down the road watching a movie on it? What case are you gonna hold it in? Maybe a duffle bag? or you could buy a fanny pack?!

You want to be watching your favorite flick on your homemade robocop Iphone?? Then when the phone explodes in your hand and you crash and cause a 40 car pileup youd wish you would of just stuck with the basics.

Ok so that story was a little exaggerated BUT SERIOIUSLY if your going to spend all the time and money on modding your Iphone just buy new car audio system with flip up 20 inch monitor on the dash and two monitors in your headrests maybe even a 40 inch drop down screen in the backseat and couple of 12in mtx thunder 5000s and a flippin 1TB Storage system then all your dreams will come true and you can watch them on the go! :D GENIUS!
 
poohbarr said:
Howdy all and thanks for your replies. Your way faster on this forum than others, i am impressed!

Anywho, I am technically inclined in some computer related fields while others I'll admit I am fairly retarded. The point of this post was to answer the question would my idea work? I could see working in my head, but don't technically know what would be needed to make it a reality. So after reading all yalls replies, I see that de-soldering the NAND chips and making an IDE bridge (which is what i had in mind) won't work. I am very interested in how you would make an extended module for the iphone though.

Oh and on a side note to yalls that don't want to lug a brick around, if you have ever used or had to use a pocket pc or pda or have a zune then you know that you get used to lugging it around. I would sacrifice looks, and being a brick for functionality. All I want is the iphone interface with my base 110gb music library, put some dvds on it and be able to make phone calls and surf.

My original idea before the iphone came out was to use mini-itx's newsest motherboard the "mobile" and custom your own touch screen handheld and use an archos like os!? But the iphone came out first and I don't have thousands of dollars to build a prototype :) So I have to settle with what is out and I was hoping that I could modify the existing iphone to what I have always wanted.

I am also surprised as to how many others would be interested in this sort of mod! Makes me feel more sane that I am not the only one asking for the future :)

And lastly about the streaming thing, I tried orb at one time and got choppy audio and I had to leave my laptop running at home. Also with the iphone if I want to stream music going down the road I either have to hot spot jump or pay for a service I am assuming neither of which are ideal considering where i live has multiple droped spots that I drive through all the time and hot spots aren't all over the place like a big city would have. Hence the reason why I wanted the onboard storage.

If you have any ideas, suggestions or creative builds that you think would work please let me know. I am open to everything!
Click to expand...

Dude.

Seriousy, just buy a 32Gb Touch or a 160Gb Classic...
 
stoich said:
<snip>Im sorry to say switz that is Impossible as in it cannot be done. The only way possible would be <snip>
Click to expand...
lol.

As funny as that is, I think what he means is that it can't be REASONABLY done. Anything can be done with enough time and money, but in this case, it's just not worth it. Unless your primary objective is learning, you have a huge budget, alot of know how, and you don't care how long it takes to complete, I would look into using the 16gb and streaming your music, or holding out a couple years until a larger drive option is available.
 
xsecretfiles said:
Don't you guys mean they iphone uses Flash memory instead of "chips"

lol

anyways, flash memories only go up to what 40 gigs?
the 80+ gig zune uses a small hard drive, that's why is bulky

so it's not possible to "hack" an iphone and make the storage that big...unless you want to carry around an iphone with a HUGE ass HDD sticking out lol
Click to expand...

Sorry that is impossible to do or is not worth it.... the flash memory is soldered to the logic board...
 
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