Case study

iPod Classic LCD: recovering the display pinout and bus protocol

The iPod Classic LCD investigation maps the 34-pin display connector and decodes its 18-lane RGB666, 8080-series bus using logic-analyser captures and electrical measurements. It documents command framing, initialization, power sequencing and pixel timing, and includes Python tools to decode captures and reconstruct screen images.

Targets: Protocol
Category: Independent reconstruction cases
Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
Evidence class: C2 code & docs, no demo or download

Stars: 2
Last commit: 2026-10-13
Language: Python

GitHub data as of 2026-11-10

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Evidence

Observed: Code, documentation and a demo observed; no download method found.
Checked: 2026-11-08

How evidence classes are assigned

Requirements & limits

Prerequisites: New captures require a logic analyser and the separately obtained gusmanb LogicAnalyzer binaries.
Scope: The documented unit is the 2009 thin iPod Classic 160 GB, model A1238, with its type 2 LCD.
Limits: The RGB666 pair test and the exact assignment of two control pins remain unresolved.
License: MIT for the project's work; vendored Rockbox sources in refs/ are GPL v2.

Cite

BibTeX

@misc{ipod-classic-lcd-protocol-case,
  title = {{iPod Classic LCD: recovering the display pinout and bus protocol}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/LXK-98/ipod-classic-reverse-engineering}},
  url = {https://github.com/LXK-98/ipod-classic-reverse-engineering},
  urldate = {2026-11-06},
  note = {Awesome REA entry: \url{https://awesomerea.org/resources/ipod-classic-lcd-protocol-case/}}
}

Plain text

iPod Classic LCD: recovering the display pinout and bus protocol. https://github.com/LXK-98/ipod-classic-reverse-engineering (accessed 2026-11-06). Awesome REA entry: https://awesomerea.org/resources/ipod-classic-lcd-protocol-case/

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About this entry

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Primary sources

README.md GitHub · LXK-98/ipod-classic-reverse-engineering · Revision 6ea3658
docs/PROTOCOL.md GitHub · LXK-98/ipod-classic-reverse-engineering · Revision 6ea3658