IPodLinux

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The correct title of this article is iPodLinux. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

iPod running iPod Linux

iPod Linux is a µCLinux-based software distribution targeted specifically to run on Apple Inc.'s iPods. Besides the kernel, iPodLinux features as a primary component podzilla and podzilla2, applications which provide:

An iPod-like interface
Video playback with sound
Support for AAC, MP3 and basic OGG playback (4G & 5G Music Player Daemon is malfunctional, but can be fixed).
Many games, including TuxChess, Bluecube (Tetris clone), Chopper, StepMania (a Dance Dance Revolution clone) and more.
Recording through audio jack at much higher quality than Apple's firmware
Ability to play the games Doom and Doom II, as well as games for the Nintendo Game Boy (with appropriate add-on software, for instance iBoy).
Color scheme support
Many emulators, such as iBoy (Gameboy Emulator) and iNES (Nintendo Entertainment System Emulator)

1 Compatibility
2 Installer 2
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Compatibility

A list of working/non-working iPods;

Generation	LCD	Input	Serial¹	Hard Drive	Piezo	Audio Playback	Recording	Firewire	USB	Power Management	Video Out
1st	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	Yes	—	Yes	—
2nd	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	Yes	—	No	—
3rd	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	⁵	⁴	—
4th	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	²	Yes	³	⁵	⁵	⁴	—
5th⁶	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	²	Yes	No	—	⁵	⁴	No
1st Mini	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	²	Yes	—	⁵	⁵	⁴	—
2nd Mini	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	²	Yes	—	⁵	⁵	⁴	—
Photo / Color	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	²	Yes	³	⁵	⁵	⁴	No
1st Nano	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	²	Yes	No	—	⁵	⁴	—
2nd Nano	No	No	No	No	²	No	No	⁵	⁵	No	—

¹ - Serial is required for the remote to work.

² - Currently podzilla accesses the piezo directly - there is no kernel driver.

³ - Only recording via microphone works on these models, no line in.

⁴ - A basic battery meter and deep sleep functions are available.

⁵ - Neither USB nor FireWire communication drivers exist yet for these models.

⁶ - February 2007 5.5G iPods (Brighter backlight, AKA 5.1/5.5/5th Gen Enhanced) work with a special kernel developed by DataGhost. You can install manually, or with AriX's installer. 5.5G Page

As of August 5, 2006, only the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation iPods are officially supported by iPodLinux, although newer generations are also partially compatible[1]. The iPodLinux project does not plan support for iPod shuffles due to the lack of a GCC compiler for the Shuffle's DSP57000 core, as well as the fact that the iPod Shuffle lacks a screen. While later generations work fine for many uses of iPodLinux, not all features work; these later generations will not be officially supported by the project until most or all features from the earlier iPods work on them. Installers are in the process of being made. As of now, there is Installer 2.3 for Windows or Linux which can install on any generation iPod (except for the iPod shuffle and iPod Nano 2nd generation). As of March 11, 2007, iPodLinux does not work on the new iPod firmware included with the second generation iPod nano, and installer 2 cannot be used to install iPodLinux on 5.5th generation iPods.

Mandelbrot set in iPod Linux

Arguably one of the project's more notable accomplishments is its Video Player, released months before rumors about Apple's Video iPod began to spread. This video player only plays uncompressed AVI files, which are basically just a series of bitmap formatted frames with an audio overlay that commonly loses sync with the video output. A new compression technique called MoviePod, released in 2006, enables people to put more video content on their iPod. This function continues to be developed and is a useful function for users of older iPods (especially Nano users that, with the help of iPod Linux, can get an extremely small media center that can be held in the palm of their hand)[2].

podzilla 2, the second generation of podzilla, and commonly known as pz2, is currently in development and has recently superseded the original version of podzilla. It includes several new features, most notably modularity; users can install new applications, such as those below, without recompiling all of podzilla.

[edit] Installer 2

One of the iPodLinux developers has developed a new installer, dubbed "installer 2."[3] The new installer can install iPodLinux on any iPod except the 2G iPod nano and the updated 5th generation iPod.