iPod iCharge iCable

You know how when you plug your iPod into a computer, it goes into disk mode, whether you like it or not. Well, sometimes, maybe you want to charge your iPod while still listening to music. I know some wall-plug-chargers can do this, but I don’t have one and don’t want one.

I remember reading a while back about how they do this, it was something to do with grounding the data pins. Well, I decided to do it my own way

You will need:

• Scissors
• Nail clippers (Or wire cutters, but I prefer the former)
• Screwdriver(s)
• USB extension cable (Comes with every USB item under the sun, cheap as heck)
• iPod + dock cable (Not included)
• Terminal block (Two lumps)

First, lop the USB extension cable in half. I did mine near the male connector, so I don’t have to stare at my shoddy hack too much when it’s plugged in behind the computer

Second, strip the ends of both stubs so you can get at all the internal wires. You should have 4 wires + shielding. The four wires are something along the lines of:

1. Red: Juice (VCC)
2. White: Bits (Data-)
3. Green/yellow: Bobs (Data+)
4. Black: Lack of juice (GND)

Strip off enough of 1 and 4 that you can screw them into the two bits of the terminal block. Do this for both stubs of the cable. Leave 2 and 3 disconnected (I originally thought you had to ground these two for the hack to work, but it seems to work with them left floating on the ipod (female) side).

Trim off any trailing shielding, 2 and 3, tighten up your terminal block connections.

Hope for the best, plug the extension cable into an old computer and ipod (Well, I used my main workstation and my expensive ipod video, but hey, why not), and hope for the best. Worked first time for me (I actually tried it out before using terminal block, just holding the wires, and that worked fine too).

Finish using any means necessary. You could make a nice little neat box, or even replace some insulation or something to make the hack invisible. Me, I just stuck a wire tie around the two cables and covered the whole lot in bright red electrical tape (Why won’t people let me charge my iPod on their computers…?).

Good luck, happy hacking.

Edit: I just had a thought, it would’ve been quite cool to actually use a double throw switch so you can choose whether you want to charge or transfer data, rather than having to use a different extension cable. Oh well.

GHOP, part 2

Well, I just completed my first issue on GHOP, to fix 12 bugs from bugzilla. There are some things that have annoyed me, like there not being many bugs to choose from, some bugs taking a *lot* longer than others, but overall I’ve really enjoyed myself. I should be getting a report on my results some time soonish.

Even though it’s a lot of work, and you really have to spend quite a lot of time a day to finish the issues within the timelimit, I think this is a great alternative to SOC for younger people. It is unfortunate that most tasks require quite a lot of programming skill and prior knowledge of open source software and the projects in particular – therefore I don’t think it serves the purpose of getting young people interested in open source software so much as getting those already into open source software and programming into contributing to projects.

I’d like to say thanks to Andre Klapper for giving me some pointers along the way, and massive hugs to grep and vim for being awesome

Edit: Andre just marked my results as completed – thanks