How to change the graphics on your iPod!

Nice link! That looks awesome... Maybe some day, when my warranty runs out ( :p ) I'll hack my firmware and stick a custom image on there. That Do Not Disconnect really is a tad annoying...

nice may have to do that

I agree this hack is so much cooler with a iPod photo. But I might try it out I'm still undecided. If I do decided to do it I'll be sure to post some pics/.

Please pics if anyone does it, i will be doing this soon.

Originally posted by jpod999
Bah, only for pc. So not fair.

Oh, and to bad when I plug in my iPod I only see the "Ok to Disconnect" screen. I don't remember what the "Do not Disconnect" screen looks like:(

ouch.

Stupid flash i hate you. I need to re apply iCleaner again. *sigh* BUT THIS IS WORKING OH YEA.

Taken from the original article: "the ipods firmware can be updated without restoring the entire ipod, before running the updater follow these steps:

go on your ipod to ipod_control>device>sysinfo
and open the file in wordpad.
find this line of code:

buildID: 0x03028000 (3.0.2)
visibleBuildID: 0x03028000 (3.0.2)

Change a number with a lower number

buildID: 0x03018000 (3.0.1)
visibleBuildID: 0x03018000 (3.0.1)

Now the updater will think you have firmware version 3.0.1 and will let you update without restoring the entire thing.

this has been tested with 3g and 4g, the example above is 4g, the 3g uses different numbers but its virtually the some thing, just decrease the number. it should also work with other ipods but im not sure"

works like a charm.

Originally posted by yinyang
so do i defile my iPod by connecting it to a PC...!?

hhhmmmmm!! :D

DO IT!

*PEER PRESSURE*

:D

how did you do the panda thing there? Is that jpeg?

Originally posted by iPulse
how did you do the panda thing there? Is that jpeg?

No i went into the software. And you need to replace it as a .BMP

*bump*

has anyone else done this so far? Its actually quite easy.

It would work with a 4G. Here's ( http://ipodstudio.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3212) a pic of a 3G iPod hacked from iPod Studio (www.ipodstudio.com)

-Dan

I redid a lot of images on mine.
I changed the Disconnect logo to the Ghostbusters logo and the OK to disconnect to the Ghostbusters II logo. Rating songs is done in Pac-Man. The shuffle icon is a ghost. The battery now is bigger and cooler to me. While charging, it's a shaded block. The menu arrows have tails to them. The clock numbers have been shrunk and have a wavy line that changes with each number on them. The Parachute game has been done with ghosts now and the base says "Pac-Man" on it.
While hooked up, the spinning arrows are spinning Pac-Men.
Volume Speakers are now Up/Down arrows.
The music placeholder icon to fastforward is narrower to be more precise. The contrast icon on the left is hollow as opposed to half-filled.
The longer charge icon spells out the word "Chargin'" with a lightning bolt at full power.

Yeah, there's lots of little things I changed and I doubt it'll be the last revision.

If you have BitTorrent, you can grab it from me. I just hashed up the exe plain. No use in having people worry about what a Rar is. (Even though it saves 22MB)
Download torrent:
http://rickw512.no-ip.com:6969/torrent.html?info_hash=06541e5df80df9d84a408433f73 6e52ad688666c
Details of torrent:
http://rickw512.no-ip.com:6969/stats.html?info_hash=06541e5df80df9d84a408433f736e 52ad688666c

i have a 20g 4th gen and i can't get them to put pix over to it so i dunno whats going on. I put them on follow the guide but it dosn't go i think its the firmware thing i can't figure which one to get, none match the firmware i have so hmm

This is interesting...

Originally posted by james_shadow07
Anybody know what happens if you put a colour image on a 3G or 4G iPod?

think about it.

What happens when you play color tv show on a B&W television?

It will show up in B&W

Yer, well obviously it shows up in black and white. But does it use different shades of grey or sumin for where the colours are?

I'm messing with it right now, and if you load a color image it will gray-scale it. But some images look better than others..........

Which ever version is on your iPod I guess. Just check you iPod under "settings" then "about"...........

Originally posted by silver_haze20
Are you allowed to say that enjoilax?!

what? That I'm a goon and that i would like to know if a fellow goon is roaming these boards as well?

Anyways, Has anyone else modded their firmware? I would love to see everyone's moded pics. :D

Yes. I am that goon.

I'll post some more of the graphics I'm working on in a bit. I'm just making som more tweaks.

Sample graphics from the theme:
http://planetmew.com/pacsample.zip
Download torrent for it:
http://rickw512.no-ip.com:6969/torrent.html?info_hash=33c533248504d380702a47054ec a316b49ee354c
Details of torrent:
http://rickw512.no-ip.com:6969/stats.html?info_hash=33c533248504d380702a47054eca3 16b49ee354c

I hope you guys enjoy it.
(Right now I only put the pics onto the 4G iPods, but for the most part iit'll be easy to add them to the others. Even the clock!

I'm going to use the commie hammer and sickle for mine. = D

I wouldn't reccomend trying. I did, and now it won't boot. :(

So what can you do if you're one of the unlucky ones that it screws up your ipod for you?

http://messikan.com/images/ipod1.jpg
http://messikan.com/images/ipod2.jpg
http://messikan.com/images/ipod3.jpg

I'd try, but everytime I try to upload the firmware to my domain, my roommate cycles the router's power because I kill his ping. *sigh*

I used the iPod photo graphite pack for the b&w ipods and it works great on my 3rd generation white beaty.

The program is something in the good direction of hacking the firmware :)

I am really contemplating on doing this but I don not want to reupload all of my songs to my iPod. Now I was reading that you can change the sysinfo file on the iPod to read as a older firmware. Does anyone know which line to change for the 4G 20GB iPod and what to change it to. I really don't want to mess anything up on it.

Been doing this on my photo, if people want, I can distribte the file?

So far I have:

Made the bar at the top blue (fades from dark to light)
Made the rating stars into smiley faces
Changed the do not disconnect screen to a radioactive symbol
Changed the helicopters in parachute into space invader things!

I'm stuck on what to do for the battery though (the big symbol, when iPod is charging and is off). Bear in mind you only get 2 frames for the iPod photo.

I also tried changing the arrows (the ones that lead into the next menu) from black to blue, to match the rest of the iPod, but it only accepts mono :( I assume this is the same for some other pictures.

Ideas are more than welcome...and we need to get a theme page on the go, as in, a place where people can submit various themes. This is going to be so good.

Oh, and I have encountered no problems.

whoaaaa pretty cool stuff :D

Cool, thanks M3wThr33, would be very much appreciated if you could do that for the 3G ipods.

It's also here, again unlimited bandwidth. Have fun!

http://www.third-core.org/bigmouse64/various/ipodman.rar

ok im haveing a problem with this thing. I changed some of the pics, and loaded them on and wrote the firmware and it work all fine. Then when I tried to load the firmware onto my ipod it restored my ipod, then i had to plug it into the wall. After that i pluged my ipod back into my comp, and tried to click on update on updater program and it wont let me click it. So now i cant load the changed firmware onto my ipod.

hello, people start posting all your custom ipod graphics you've added using the ipodwizard. i'm thinking about putting a bunny on the "Do not disconnect" screen. :D

someone said you dont need to quite do a restore like that engadget guide said. anyone clear this up please?

Thanks to everyone who helped me do this. I really appreciate it. So far I have two images hacked on my 4G. I now have a radioactive sign for do not disconnect and I now rate my songs in Pacman instead of stars. It is a really cool hack. I recommend you do it if you know what you are doing and you want your iPod to look a bit different than your friends.

Hmmmm. Still not sure. I would like to make my iPod look different from everyone elses, but i don't want to screw it up if i do it wrong.

Originally posted by james_shadow07
Hmmmm. Still not sure. I would like to make my iPod look different from everyone elses, but i don't want to screw it up if i do it wrong.

You cane not screw your iPod up. If you don't like it you just restore it with the original (unchanged) updater and everythings fine like you just got it.

Orson

OK well after doing this i cant belive it was that easy i would like to thank the guy that made it is a great prgram and the person who figured out how to update with out losing everything which is useful cuase i keep projects on my mini. Also not sure if my pods screwy but it doesnt give me ok to disconnect sign anymore it just goes to the main menu with out haveing to startup like it usually did is this new or is it cuase i edited the check sign?

Nvm i figured it was put in the update and its perfectly normal the ipod mini will disconnect with out having to have the apple logo come up

Um anyone knwo which is the start up log in the mini update cuase i changed all the possible ones and none of them show up when i update it

This is an awsome hack, but the only problem is that I can't find the place to edit the firmware. :( I've been reading through the posts and I still cant seem to find it.

Would someone be able to describe the steps I would need to tak on doing this? Im not very good at this and I want to make sure I have everything right before I do anything.

Thanks :)

is there anywhere i can get my ipod 3g 40 gig modded in the UK

there's no place in particular that you have to send your iPod...all you have to do is download a program from Ipod Soft (www.ipodsoft.com) (i think thats where to get it) and you're set.

Eric

Yeh I do. I split it up into different .rar files, and can host those (on yahoo breifcase).

My provider does do hosting. However, I need a username and password to login, and I don't know it!

I'll host the smaller files on yahoo and make it publicly available. just download all of them, and open rar1

M3wThr33 - cool theme man i tried it out nicely done just pac man isnt my thing

so whoever is interested im gonna make a snowboaders theme. If anyone has any ideas on what to use for pictures and such i will consider it but for the disconnect i got a really cool one. its the cartoon calvin running naked with texts under it saying "Life is Short, Snowboard Naked"

silver_haze20, check your Private Messages as I'd be more than happy to host whatever you'd like to share with the iPod community.

And here is my half-baked change to my iPod,
images at www.overmused.com/sixapart/

Originally posted by stinkiedmb
does anyone think that this firmware hack could lead to another later development for the enabling of past gen ipods to be loaded with newer gen firmware? ie. 4gen firmware on a 3gen?
Probably not, I remember a user here with the username "Tom <something>" (sorry, my mind is gone today) was able to put the 4G firmware on a 3G device but it ended up not working at all. I'm pretty sure enough changed in the device to make reworking it nearly impossible, but who knows.

Originally posted by profbobo
http://messikan.com/images/ipod1.jpg
http://messikan.com/images/ipod2.jpg
http://messikan.com/images/ipod3.jpg

YAY! TRANSFORMERS!

Okay, I finally got to that part lol... Now heres my next problem,

My build Id and visible id are different are they suppose to be the same?

buildID: 0x02408000 (2.4)
visibleBuildID: 0x01208000 (1.2)

Also after I get that done I will be able to edit the images on the ipodwizard right? I was playing around before but it seems that I cannot load bitmap on the Check and the Circle with the slash through it...

Thanks for all the help

Okay I now edited the sys info things and put in a picture to replace one. Then I clikc write... It says it worked now what do I do? Change the nubmers back?

Rhin,

Thank you so much I finally got it to work!

:)

Alright. New version with 3G graphics is up.
http://planetmew.com/ipodmanw3g.rar

eugchen, if you do trick with changing the system info your data doesn't have to be lost you can keep it all ppl have posted the method:

Note- Will void warranty proceed at own risk

First Software Needed:
1. http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/ -iPod Updater from apple-
2. http://media.weblogsinc.com/common/videos/pt/ipodwizard.zip -iPod Wizard will let you edit the firmware

GUIDE TO CHANGE ICONS WITH OUT LOSING DATA

Written By Rhine to help some computer illiterate people trick out their Pods And other helpful people

"The ipods firmware can be updated without restoring the entire iPod, before running the updater follow these steps:

go on your ipod to ipod_control>device>sysinfo
and open the file in wordpad.
find this line of code:

buildID: 0x03028000 (3.0.2)
visibleBuildID: 0x03028000 (3.0.2)

Change a number with a lower number

buildID: 0x03018000 (3.0.1)
visibleBuildID: 0x03018000 (3.0.1)

Now the updater will think you have firmware version 3.0.1 and will let you update without restoring the entire thing.

this has been tested with 3g and 4g, the example above is 4g, the 3g uses different numbers but its virtually the some thing, just decrease the number. it should also work with other ipods but im not sure

(the ipod_control folder is a hidden folder)"
^done by unknown help full person Also Edited by me for some mispellings

Method to See hidden folders in XP

Go to My Computer then go to tools and then folder options then click on view <at the top> and where it says hidden files and folders to make it show them just click on your ipod HD icon and there will be a semi transparent folder that says what your looking for.

List of Firm Ware by What is known <Not Complete>
iPod Photo Firmware-5.4.0
iPod 4th Gen=4.3.0.2
iPod Mini=3.2.4
iPod 3rd Gen=2.2.2
iPod 2nd Gen=1.1.4
iPod 1st Gen=<some one figure it out i dont have one>

- Rhine <i misspelled Rhine if you know how ot chnage it plz tell me :D>

Originally posted by Rhin
eugchen, if you do trick with changing the system info your data doesn't have to be lost you can keep it all ppl have posted the method:

Note- Will void warranty proceed at own risk

First Software Needed:
1. http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/ -iPod Updater from apple-
2. http://media.weblogsinc.com/common/videos/pt/ipodwizard.zip -iPod Wizard will let you edit the firmware

GUIDE TO CHANGE ICONS WITH OUT LOSING DATA

Written By Rhine to help some computer illiterate people trick out their Pods And other helpful people

"The ipods firmware can be updated without restoring the entire iPod, before running the updater follow these steps:

go on your ipod to ipod_control>device>sysinfo
and open the file in wordpad.
find this line of code:

buildID: 0x03028000 (3.0.2)
visibleBuildID: 0x03028000 (3.0.2)

Change a number with a lower number

buildID: 0x03018000 (3.0.1)
visibleBuildID: 0x03018000 (3.0.1)

Now the updater will think you have firmware version 3.0.1 and will let you update without restoring the entire thing.

this has been tested with 3g and 4g, the example above is 4g, the 3g uses different numbers but its virtually the some thing, just decrease the number. it should also work with other ipods but im not sure

(the ipod_control folder is a hidden folder)"
^done by unknown help full person Also Edited by me for some mispellings

Method to See hidden folders in XP

Go to My Computer then go to tools and then folder options then click on view <at the top> and where it says hidden files and folders to make it show them just click on your ipod HD icon and there will be a semi transparent folder that says what your looking for.

List of Firm Ware by What is known <Not Complete>
iPod Photo Firmware-5.4.0
iPod 4th Gen=4.3.0.2
iPod Mini=3.2.4
iPod 3rd Gen=2.2.2
iPod 2nd Gen=1.1.4
iPod 1st Gen=<some one figure it out i dont have one>

- Rhine <i misspelled Rhine if you know how ot chnage it plz tell me :D>

thank you very much for your help...i will give it a try tonight.
good luck.

http://img97.exs.cx/img97/7094/sdfsdfff1nq.jpg

and

http://img54.exs.cx/img54/959/sdfg3pi.jpg

just google image search lol. the 2nd one on top row when you type "playboy"

Cool! His new version lets you edit fonts. I haven't played around much, but managed screw up the menu & now playing font (Chicago). Pretty silly right now, but once i can figure out how to replace the font it will pretty cool!

back to "normal"

Originally posted by Ink Noise
yinyang, thank you for, in essence, throwing my entire day away. Really, THANK YOU!

/me goes off to find the most fantastic graphics to replace the defaults with.

we try to please here at the 'lounge ;)

i'm still patiently waiting for a mac version of the editor, so that i too can fritter away hours individualising my iPod...!

This seems like a very cool hack. I just have a couple of questions. Why does this void the warranty? Can't you restore the ipod back to normal?

anyone figured out how to change to the apple graphic that comes up when you reset your ipod?

Originally posted by chucktaylor
Cool! His new version lets you edit fonts. I haven't played around much, but managed screw up the menu & now playing font (Chicago). Pretty silly right now, but once i can figure out how to replace the font it will pretty cool!

Where did you get the new version from? I re-downloaded the program, but its the same?

man, i can't believe what happened...i followed the guide on engadget and i changed the firmware exactly the way rhin said to, and i clicked on restore and all my songs and data got lost! and plus, my image did not show up. i have a 4G 20GB ipod, and have the firmware 3.02 on it. what did i do wrong?

Originally posted by eugchen
man, i can't believe what happened...i followed the guide on engadget and i changed the firmware exactly the way rhin said to, and i clicked on restore and all my songs and data got lost! and plus, my image did not show up. i have a 4G 20GB ipod, and have the firmware 3.02 on it. what did i do wrong?

that is what 'restore' does

Originally posted by eugchen
i dont know what that means, the guide says to press restore

Restore = Restore to factory settings, erase contents.
Update = update firmware and not erase contents.

If you use the wizard, then change your sysinfo file, then click update you won't lose anything.

Originally posted by eugchen
man, i can't believe what happened...i followed the guide on engadget and i changed the firmware exactly the way rhin said to, and i clicked on restore and all my songs and data got lost! and plus, my image did not show up. i have a 4G 20GB ipod, and have the firmware 3.02 on it. what did i do wrong?

Also, on the 11-15 updater I use 4.3.0.2 (I have a 4G 40gig). If you clicked "Load Bitmap" (then selected the new image) in Wizard and clicked "Write" to write the bitmap to the updater, it should have worked. Did you remember to click "write?"

Originally posted by chucktaylor
I am testing it for him. I don't think it has been "released" yet. Check out the thread I linked earlier

http://www.ipodhacks.com/modules.ph...rum=2&start=160

Could you email it to me? That link didn't work for me :( send it to the username i use here @hotmail.com if you can. Cheers

h@x0red!

Warranty cam in the box with your ipod

not sure i understand...are you saying i should have clicked on update? maybe i am looking at the wrong guide. i was at the engadget guide with the link on the very first post of this thread. in the guide at the end, it says quote...

"Make sure your iPod is plugged in, and iPod updater will look for what firmware you can restore to, for us, it found the iPod photo and we had the option to restore, which will then add the new firmware with our custom image.

Click restore, and in about 5 minutes you?ll have the new image you made, keep in mind this kills all your data, so back up before you do this. Here?s ours?"

see there it says click restore??
i think you guys are reading a different guide than i am.
please let me know...i am willing to give this another try.

Enjoilax was kind enough to post instructions for not having to restore the iPod on the first page of this thread. Also, the engadget article has a bunch of comments underneath it, and the third one down (I think...) had the instructions too. True, the guide did say click restore... but restore always erases the iPod. Sorry you lost your data on your iPod, but if you try it again, be sure to use the update trick or it will Restore all over again.

NEW version is out v.1.0.2

Now you cane replace all pictures and fonts and vieuw strings in the firmware.

Download Here ( http://www.will-burn.com/ipodwizard.zip)

Originally posted by Orson
NEW version is out v.1.0.2

Now you cane replace all pictures and fonts and vieuw strings in the firmware.

Download Here ( http://www.will-burn.com/ipodwizard.zip)

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Happy happy joy joy!

So has no one managed to change the apple logo that shows up when it boots? That's the only thing I'd like to change.

Enjoilax... you can change the logo but it will not change on the actual ipod. I've done all the apple logos and none change the boot loader image.

So, just checking out the string function, can we edit them in future versions? It seems to have all the menu options, what it should spell etc. It would be good to call the music directory something like, "wherez da muzic?1" or something similar!

Awaiting next version in anticipation...yes, I know the new one was just released...need more functions!

Originally posted by jpod999
None of this stuff works on Mac's right?

READ THE THREAD. :D

No it does not.

that guy likes his rush! :D

man, i can't wait til we can mod the strings... i want mine to say, instead of 'Do not Disconnect', 'Watch it, Buddy!'

Well, Changed the Chicago font to the Impact font for all normal characters. Kinda ugly, but it works.

chuck,

how did you go about changing the font? all manual, did you use some sort of pre-fab bitmap font file, or was there some other software involved?

Originally posted by Ink Noise
http://www.overmused.com/sixapart/archives/2004/12/ipod_photo_firm.php

Above is the link where can download the firmware updater than silverhaze20 has modified with his own graphics for the iPod photo.

Enjoy folks.

Cheers inknoise. I have made a post also over in the photo forum, and will make a few more on other websites.

Omg some one else likes robotech cool I was personally thinking of changin my apple logo to the SDF-1 but i doesnt work which really suxs

>Rhin

I don't know about Robotech (Harmony Gold Blows!!!), but alas that's an old debate! But, I DO LOVE MACROSS!!! Ichijoe?!?! - aka Rick Hunter!!!

As for replaceing the Apple Logo with an UNSpacy Logo I only had success in changeing the one Apple Icon in the Settings /About / Legal.

Yeah it would be if you could actualy change it.

Alas I don't think it's posible though. I have a sneeking suspicion that, that Logo is held NOT on the HDD but rather on an embedded EEPROM (e.g. REAL FIRMWARE) as opposed to the iPodOS that others call the Firmware. Upshot being you'll most likely will not be able to alter this Logo.

On the other hand I did manage to change it briefly to the UNSpacy Logo (if only for a brief moment). It came up as the iPodOS was being written to the Hard-Disk, then quickly reverted back to its Apple form. You can try this with a Logo of your own it's stored at Number 94 (iPod 3G rev. 2.2.2) Other iPods may vary.

BTW: Must you replace Images with similarly sized ones (48x64 Pixels)? Or can they be slightly larger?

Windows flag that I photoshopped, if anyone would like it.

(Rename to .bmp, as the board won't let you upload these.)

Which one is the Settings/Legal Apple Logo?

Would I be able to use the 4G font with the mini or another type?

iPod Wizard 1.04 released

New features:
- Ability to edit character metrics
- Find/Find next in strings pane
- New icon and about box (read the about box - there?s an important message in it!)

What?s in store:
- Edit strings
- Control character mapping in fonts
- Load multiple bitmaps at once
And any other feature you guys will suggest and is technically possible.

Download here (http://jesse.slacknet.com/ipodwizard/uploaded_files/ipodwizard.zip)

no, iPodWizard is the creator of this program.

iPod Wizard Central ( http://www.will-burn.net)

This is the *Official* ( I am still waiting on word for the permission from the Wizard).

Check it out, space to upload graphics and even full themes aswell as seek help and assistance with the program.

You just have to update the right firmware and it should work Nice site i like the setup and the look nice and clean

Originally posted by Uber_1337
iPod Wizard Central (http://www.will-burn.net)

This is the *Official* ( I am still waiting on word for the permission from the Wizard).

Check it out, space to upload graphics and even full themes aswell as seek help and assistance with the program.
You converted your domain and made an entire website devoted to a freeware tool before even asking the program author?

Anywho, looks nice.

If this is the info I get from the specified file in ipod_control>device>sysinfo

buildID: 0x04008000 (4.0)
visibleBuildID: 0x01008000 (1.0)

should I just change the 8 to a 7 ?

Just wonderin cause I dont wanna lose all data on my ipod photo for just changing the "do not disconnect" logo

its not even in there , the numbers are as I stated above, the guy from engadget seems to have different numbers then my ipod. Tho he says that his example is 4g ipod photo...

The problems are now sorted at iPod Wizard Central (www.will-burn.net), that problems where down to a server move that went badly wrong.

and yes, i dedicated a whole domain and made a website since there was nothing on the domain and it was just sitting as a blank page and ive got too much time on my hands due to the winter holidays.

And latest version is out, get it Here (http://will-burn.net/viewtopic.php?t=15).

google image search hello kitty

the pixo fonts already in the firmware fit well

Thank you Rhine you have been much of help! :)

I got a problem when I use the Pixo font. I used index #9 and it seems to have some weird filler thing for the space. Like if I have something like "Set Time", the space would show up as some weird mark... Any thoughts?

I tried other fonts before and it was missing the & also. For the Pixo font there is like a "P" with three dots on the side of the letter, where the space is suppose to be.

Thats cool, thanks Rhine

wtf? the site is shutdown? come on! pay the bill!

the site isnt shut down, i dunno what has really happend. I get back from holiday and see that :S.

Im working on it, hosts arent too helpful though, being new years day and all.