Restore iTunes from iPod?

[MacKenzie999]

Hi folks...

I'm going to reformat my hardrive this weekend, and I'm wondering if I can use my iPod to restore all my iTunes files.

Also, any general advice on upgrading my OS is appreciated. I want to reformat and do a clean install, and I'm not 100% sure which files I need to save in order to keep all my email, iPhoto, etc.

Thanks in advance!
-Mike

PS My ipod is a 2nd gen, so it doesn't have the latest software I believe.

[j_maddison]

Hi folks...

I'm going to reformat my hardrive this weekend, and I'm wondering if I can use my iPod to restore all my iTunes files.

Also, any general advice on upgrading my OS is appreciated. I want to reformat and do a clean install, and I'm not 100% sure which files I need to save in order to keep all my email, iPhoto, etc.

Thanks in advance!
-Mike

PS My ipod is a 2nd gen, so it doesn't have the latest software I believe.

use podutil. you can get it on versiontracker i think. its free and its dead easy to restore the files

if you have any trouble after the reformat, im on ichat j_maddison@mac.com

jay

[aswitcher]

Hi folks...

I'm going to reformat my hardrive this weekend, and I'm wondering if I can use my iPod to restore all my iTunes files.

Also, any general advice on upgrading my OS is appreciated. I want to reformat and do a clean install, and I'm not 100% sure which files I need to save in order to keep all my email, iPhoto, etc.

Thanks in advance!
-Mike

PS My ipod is a 2nd gen, so it doesn't have the latest software I believe.


Please let us know what you end up using and how it goes...

[Xenious]

Any tips for switching from PC to Mac? The files are the easy part, but I don't want to loose my ratings and play count meta data. Anyone made this switch?

[j_maddison]

ok its definately called podutil. you can get it here

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14715

make sure you have the latest version if you are using panther. i think the latest version is 2.0.1

its free and its dead simple to use. ive used it dozens of times, even on freinds macs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

in reply to Xenious
I dont know if you will lose your metadata. my guess would be that you wont. so far i have never lost any information that has been transfered using podutil, with the exeption of playlists. the actual songs themselves have kept all of their information.

jay

[Xenious]

cool, thanks. My ipod is HPFS format anyway so I should be good to go.

[MacKenzie999]

Please let us know what you end up using and how it goes...

So far no luck. Previously recommended Podutil crashes iTunes, and iPod.2iTunes refuses to recognize my iTunes library file no matter how many times I try.

I'm sure thes are fine solutions but for reasons unknown they don't work for me.

[j_maddison]

So far no luck. Previously recommended Podutil crashes iTunes, and iPod.2iTunes refuses to recognize my iTunes library file no matter how many times I try.

I'm sure thes are fine solutions but for reasons unknown they don't work for me.

Earlier version of pod util only work on jaguar and do crash the application under panther. thats why you need to use podutil2.

as far as podutil2 goes, its probably a case of your not using it correctly. i dont mean that in a patronising way, i just recall when i first started using it that it took me a few goes to finally work out how it works.

if you use ichat or any other online messaging client, let me know and i'll talk you through it. it does honestly work, ive used it on my powerbook, my old imac and my mates emac.

jay

[MacKenzie999]

...let me know and i'll talk you through it. it does honestly work, ive used it on my powerbook, my old imac and my mates emac.

jay

Thanks for the offer, J.

After a few attempts it decided to sort of work for me, but it began copying all my song files back onto my mac when all I wanted was my playlists. it looks like it's supposed to be able to do just that but it doesn't. I still have all the music, although in a slightly different location than before.

Any thoughts on this, or is the answer too lengthy and requires an IM?

Thanks!
-Mike

[j_maddison]

Thanks for the offer, J.

After a few attempts it decided to sort of work for me, but it began copying all my song files back onto my mac when all I wanted was my playlists. it looks like it's supposed to be able to do just that but it doesn't. I still have all the music, although in a slightly different location than before.

Any thoughts on this, or is the answer too lengthy and requires an IM?

Thanks!
-Mike

ahh, apologies i've missunderstood what you wanted to do. i thought you wanted to copy all of the songs. as far as i know podutil copies them all. if the songs are in a different location, its just a case of drag and drop the folder to the location you want the songs to be in. its no more complicated than that. its exactly what i do, because i have the same problem as you. i'm not sure if apple keep changing the location with various releases of osx, or if pod util just puts them in the wrong place.

let me know if you need any more help

jay

[MacKenzie999]

...i'm not sure if apple keep changing the location with various releases of osx, or if pod util just puts them in the wrong place.

let me know if you need any more help

jay

Thanks again Jay...

It's not Apple but me I who changed the location; I went from a multi-partitioned disk to a non-partitioned one, so some things got moved around. I guess I'll just manually recreate the playlists, not the end of the world, just a bit of a chore.

Anyway, I greatly appreciate all your advice and willingness to help. Same goes for everyone else who spoke up, thank you all!

[garybUK]

Easier way...

Erase your ipod, Enable ipod hard disk mode, Finder --> Home --> Music and copy your entire iTunes folder (just drag and drop the iTunes folder) onto the ipod

Re-install Mac OS, plug in iPod and copy back again into Home --> Music folder, go repair file permissions and voilla you have your iTunes library again, now plug in the iPod and re-sync back up...