iPod iPod 5.5G Seen As A RAW Drive? Please Help Me I'm REALLY Desperate!

[aradroxar]

Hey all,
This is a long story so I'll just cut to the chase;
Basically I have an iPod Video 30GB 5.5G which has been corrupted/messed up by a faulty firmware using iPod Wizard. Anyway, it's stuck in a bootloop so it won't boot into the Apple OS and I can't restore it as that invovles formatting which will erase everything on it which I haven't got backed up on my hard drive. So i'm in a really bad situation. I installed iPodLinux prior to this and it still has the bootloader allowing me to choose between "Apple OS", "Sleep" and "Disk Mode". When i connect my ipod to my pc using Disk Mode, itunes asks me to format it, and when i open "my computer" it shows my ipod as a RAW formatted removable disk.

Is there a way of recovering everything I had? I tried to recover my stuff using Power Data Recovery which found all of my files but when i saved them they all had problems (ie MP3's/MP4's etc wouldnt play in VLC). So what am I to do? Could you recommend a software for me to use (preferably free but im not hugely fussy) or a special method. I REALLY don't want to format my iPod which'll erase 20+GB worth of music/video's/picture/files... which I havent got a backup of.

Thank You very much
Any help/advice appreciated
Adi

 

[mosx]

Turn on hidden files and folders in XP. Go to Control Panel, Classic View, Folder Options and check it in there. Then go back into the iPod (obviously in Disk Mode) and look for the iPod_Control folder. Open that. Inside is a "Music" folder and all of your media will be inside of it. Just copy and paste the music folder to your computer. I can't say about your pictures, but poke around once you've gotten the hidden files and folders visible.

And let this be a lesson to make backups Never rely on one portable device such as an iPod to be your only source. Otherwise things like this will happen.