SOUND is at the end of silence.

TacetOS is a desktop app (Linux, Windows, macOS) and a custom firmware for the classic iPod. Plug in your iPod, and the app sets everything up: it prepares the disk, installs the bootloader and the firmware, then lets you manage your music, settings and themes, all from one place.

Warning

In development. Nothing works yet. Do not use it on a real iPod. Until the public beta, development builds refuse to write to a real device. Follow the progress in the roadmap.

Why "TacetOS"?

Tacet is the word written on a musical score when an instrument stays silent. The music only starts when the silence ends.

What it will do

• Install, step by step. The app detects your iPod and shows its state live: normal mode, disk mode, DFU, rebooting, copying... When a step has to be done by hand (like entering DFU mode on an iPod Classic), it shows a clear guide with the buttons to hold and a countdown, then carries on by itself.
• Safe by design. Blocking checks before any write, an automatic backup of the firmware partition, and a one-click way back to the original Apple software.
• Your music library. Cover art, tags, automatic sorting, drag-and-drop playlists, one-click sync, automatic conversion of formats the iPod cannot play.
• Settings editor. Every firmware setting in a clear form, with explanations, instead of editing a text file.
• Theme editor. Browse and install themes for your screen size, or make your own with a live preview.
• Its own firmware. With its own name, boot logo and default theme, updated from the app.
• Translated. English first, French next, then as many languages as possible.

Progress

Version	Focus	Done
Setup	Repository, app skeleton, CI	✅ 4/4
Foundations	Firmware base, model database, specs	✅ 7/7
v0.1	Device detection and live state	✅ 7/7
Test devices	Disk image test devices, privileged helper	⏳ 5/5
v0.2	Install and reset wizard	⏳ 0/12
v0.3	TacetOS firmware	⏳ 0/10
v0.4	Music library and sync	⏳ 0/11
v0.5	Settings, fonts, menus	⏳ 0/7
v0.6	Themes	⏳ 0/11
Translations	French, then many more	⏳ 0/3
Windows and macOS	Detection, DFU, disk access	⏳ 0/5
beta	Packages, public beta	⏳ 0/6
v1.0	Fixes from the beta	⏳ 0/1

Now: test devices and helper

• Disk images that behave like an iPod, for every family
• Installer for older iPods, checked byte for byte against a reference tool on the disk images
• Installer for the iPod Classic over DFU, always dual boot, checked byte for byte
• Privileged helper with a fixed set of commands (format, convert, install, uninstall, backup)
• Safety tests: refuse a USB stick, power cut in the middle of a write, full disk

Every task is listed in the roadmap. News is posted on the Discord server.

Supported models

The goal is the 6 classic iPod families, 14 models in all:

• iPod (1G to 4G):

  • 1G (FireWire only)
  • 2G (FireWire only)
  • 3G
  • 4G

• iPod Color / Photo:

  • Color / Photo

• iPod Mini:

  • Mini 1G
  • Mini 2G

• iPod Nano:

  • Nano 1G
  • Nano 2G

• iPod Video:

  • Video 5G
  • Video 5.5G

• iPod Classic:

  • Classic 6G
  • Classic 6.5G
  • Classic 7G

Only the iPod Classic is tested on real hardware during development. Other models will be marked experimental until beta testers confirm they work.

Supported systems

• Linux:

  • Any distribution with udisks2

• Windows:

  • Windows 10 (version 1809 or later)
  • Windows 11
  • x64 and ARM64

• macOS:

  • macOS 12 Monterey or later
  • Intel and Apple Silicon

Building

The app is written in C++17 with Qt 6 (6.8 or newer) and CMake (3.21 or newer). For now it detects a plugged-in iPod and shows its live state; installing and syncing come next. You only need this section to build TacetOS yourself: the packages of the beta will include everything.

1. Get the tools. One script checks what you already have and installs only what is missing:

• Linux (Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Arch...) and macOS (with Homebrew):

  ./scripts/install-deps.sh

• Windows (x64, in PowerShell):

  powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\install-deps.ps1

Add --check (-Check on Windows) to only see what is missing. When the Qt of your system is older than 6.8 (Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12), and always on Windows, the script installs Qt 6.8 for your user only, in ~/Qt, and prints the path to give to CMake.

2. Build, test and run.

cmake --preset debug
cmake --build --preset debug
ctest --preset debug
./build/debug/app/tacetos

Use the release preset for an optimized build.

Community

• Discord server: https://discord.gg/XfXtZeUFYs
• Contact me on Discord: vadmyro

Questions, ideas and bug reports go to the Discord server. TacetOS does not accept outside contributions: there are no issues or pull requests on GitHub. You are free to read the code and to fork it under the terms of the GPL.

License

Copyright (C) 2026 vadmyro

TacetOS (app and firmware) is free software, released under the GPL-3.0-or-later.

The TacetOS name and logo are not covered by the GPL: forks are welcome, but under another name and logo.

TacetOS is not affiliated with Apple. iPod is a trademark of Apple Inc. No Apple firmware is ever included or distributed.