Skip to Content

Free TUAW iPhone app -- try it now!
AOL Tech

iPod firmware reverse engineered

iPod firmware beeps

There’s more than one way to extract a bootloader, and Nils Schneider has come up with a rather inspired one. He wanted to study the iPod firmware in order to write new software for the device, but couldn’t examine the code without first somehow extracting it. He ended up using a piezo element to output the firmware as a series of sounds, which he recorded and analyzed on his PC to convert the squeaks and squawks into a digital representation of the code. He essentially turned iPod and microphone into an acoustic modem, and wrote his own application to decode the signal. Then, he wrote it all up for posterity and posted it online in contribution to hacker lore. Hats off to you, Nils!

[Thanks Brian for the tip!]

jobs & resumes
iPhone developer

Groupon - Chicago, IL (2 weeks ago)

See More Relevant Jobs ›

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Tip of the Day

To get an instant map to any address, just go to your Address Book and right click on the address field of any one of your contacts and select "Map Of." The address will then be revealed in Google Maps on Safari. You can do the same if a data detector determines there is an address in an e-mail in Mail.


Follow us on Twitter!
 TUAW [Cafepress]

Featured Galleries

DNC Macs
Macworld 2008 Keynote
Macworld 2008 Build-up
Google Earth for iPhone
Podcaster
Storyist 2.0
AT&T Navigator Road Test
Bento for iPhone 1.0
Scrabble for iPhone
Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase
Apple Vanity Plates
Apple booth Macworld 07
WorldVoice Radio
Quickoffice for iPhone 1.1.1
Daylite 3.9 Review
DiscPainter
Mariner Calc for iPhone
2009CupertinoBus
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
MLB.com At Bat 2009
Macworld Expo 2007 show floor

 

More Apple Analysis

AOL Radio TUAW on Stitcher