WHS DIY vs Pre Built

There is much debate out there as to if buying the HP Mediasmart Server is better than a DIY WHS server.  I did a little digging and there really is not a lot of difference between the two options except that the HP solution is a generally more appliance like design in nature and it is pretty much plug and play.

For the average consumer, I would strongly suggest the HP server as it is designed for setup by the average user.  A DIY solution is a bit more involved and more of an entire weekend project.  Typically, a DIY choice is made due to spare/extra parts lying around.

iFlash followup

Well, I got my iFlash a couple weeks ago and have been fiddling ever since.  The adapter works fine as I tested it with the same ZIF adapter I ordered to try to test the harddrive in the 30GB iPod Video I was going to mod.

Sadly, it seems that there was more wrong with the iPod than just a bad drive as I am unable to get it to restore from iTunes.  I am constantly getting the following error:

The iPod “ipod” could not be restored. An unknown error occurred. (1437)

I did some digging and I am not the only one getting the 1437 error but it appears that there is little to be done.  If someone has anything I can try out, drop a comment and let me know as I really want to nail this hardware mod.

Fix your iPod with a Flash Upgrade

Well, a few weeks ago, I had a 5th gen iPod video dropped into my lap as the owner had tired of not getting it to work and it was out of warranty.  They knew of my geekiness so they gave it to me.

I ripped it apart and found that the drive was making the ever classic sounds of death.  I ordered a cheap adapter to test it on a PC with Spinrite.  No dice at all.  It would not be recognized at all.  All tinkering hope was not lost as when I was looking into adapters, I stumbled onto this…

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