[clug] Testing the VFAT patch on iPods

[David Schoen]

My iPod is set to operate as a disk. It just appears as a normal
external USB drive to anything not running iTunes or otherwise
specifically looking for the model of the device (Rythmbox and the
like).

I can't see anything extra that needs testing for the disk mode of an
iPod beyond what's required for a normal USB drive (the files work in
*nix, Windows, OS X).

The more interesting thing would be whether or not all the 34
character test files will load via iTunes or libgpod in to the iPod's
DB without some sort of corruption. When I'm fully unpacked (still
unpacking at the Melbourne end of my move) I'll give this a go unless
someone else has already posted results.

Cheers,
Dave

2009/7/25 Arjen Lentz <arjen at lentz.com.au>:
> Hi Ian, Tridge, all,
>
> On 25/07/2009, at 1:23 AM, Ian Munsie wrote:
>>>
>>> Well, the nano has no way of seeing files on its filesystem unless its
>>> database is updated with them. So I copied the FATTEST directory off
>>> to a linux machine and used Rhythmbox to put the mp3 files back on to
>>> the iPod. I have no way of knowing what that may have done to the file
>>> names but it played back 81 mp3 files.
>>
>> I don't have an iPod myself so I may be making things up here, and
>> Tridge is of course much more qualified than I to answer this, but the
>> use case for putting files on an iPod is almost always going to be to
>> play them on said iPod (occasionally I guess someone might use it for
>> portable storage, but then the onus is on the computer and not the
>> iPod to read the filenames anyway). Because the iPods have that
>> database that maps the files to their mangled filenames than that is
>> exactly what anyone using the iPod would be doing to get their music
>> on there - but to test it I think you need to do that with the patch
>> installed to check the mangled files it creates are OK. Unless it
>> doesn't create the filenames larger than 8.3 anyway in which case the
>> patch will create short filenames and all will be dandy.
>
>
> All true, but...
> Perhaps someone can try (or give Tridge access to) an iPod that has been set
> up to also work as a disk (aka usb "key").
> iTunes can do that, dunno if other tools can also.
>
> Then you can talk directly with the iPod as a disk, which (since it's done
> through the iPod firmware) I presume will look and behave the same
> externally as it does to the iPod internally. Then it's easier to test
> different patterns, and *if* anything shows up it's probably indicative.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Arjen.
> --
> Arjen Lentz, Director @ Open Query (http://openquery.com)
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