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notsofatjames

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 11, 2007
856
0
Wales, UK
Does anyone know if you can sync an iPod through the USB port on the AirPort Extreme Base Station (the new n one)

I hate having wires coming out of my macbook, and i will probably get an Airport base if i can sync my ipod through it. If not, ill have to stick to wires.
 

notsofatjames

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 11, 2007
856
0
Wales, UK
i was hoping someone could do that for me, since i dont own an airport base.. yet. I only really want one if it can sync. Otherwise, my current router will do just fine
 

Dreadnought

macrumors 68020
Jul 22, 2002
2,058
15
Almere, The Netherlands
To bad I have a second gen iPod with Firewire, else I would give it a go with my airport!

Edit: I do have a memorystick which I just put in my airport express, it doesn't come up in the finder. So it probably wouldn't work with an airport express, maybe it does with the new base station.
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
See's it as an external hard drive instead - not possible to sync wirelessly unfortunately.

I've been trying to get my USB TV Tuner to work on the Airport Extreme but nae luck and I've given up.

Wireless USB Hub might be the only option.
 

notsofatjames

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 11, 2007
856
0
Wales, UK
do you know where i can get a wireless USB hub (prefferbly in the UK), without a silly dongle. Bluetooth is way to slow to want to sync an iPod over too.
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
Not seen any without a dongle and if you used one without for your MB/P then you'd be using bluetooth which gives about 560kbit/s, really crap.

I'd guess someone will crack the USB port on the AE for use with anything; not just hard drives and printers.
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
Edit: I do have a memorystick which I just put in my airport express, it doesn't come up in the finder. So it probably wouldn't work with an airport express, maybe it does with the new base station.

Airport Express's USB port is only for printers - won't work with anything else like hard drives.

The new Airport Extreme's USB port can be used for both printers and hard drives.
 

notsofatjames

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 11, 2007
856
0
Wales, UK
i hope someone will. its really sad that i dont want the wires, but thats the whole purpose of having a laptop if you ask me. I dont understand people who keep then plugged in at theire desks all day.
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
Answer this: how often do you sync your laptop?

Is it really that much hassle to just plug in a USB cable whenever you want to update?
 

notsofatjames

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 11, 2007
856
0
Wales, UK
Answer this: how often do you sync your laptop?

Is it really that much hassle to just plug in a USB cable whenever you want to update?

in all honestly not that often. Woud just be nice to come home walk in my room, and my ipod update, time machine backup (when 10.5 comes out) without having to plug a wire in. at the moment i just plug in a usb hub at the same time i leave my macbook to charge. Suppose ill just have to wait to see if apple can come up with a solution.
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
I'm not using the USB slot on my AEBS for my external hard drive until I buy a SSD (i.e. when they become cheaper and larger storage). Why? AEBS doesn't put my hard drive on standby so it just stays on, shortening the lifespan and increasing the chance of a disc failure. My disc gets really warm when connected to the AEBS but never when connected to my laptop.

Reason why it doesn't go into standby is because the USB slot doesn't have the drivers to do so.
 

notsofatjames

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 11, 2007
856
0
Wales, UK
whats an SSD? i've not heard that acronym before.
And like said, a firmware update to AEBS could allow the harddrive to sleep. And could aslo support iPod updates. Apple would probably be looking at the usb port, since lot of people complained that the hard drive read/write speed was slow. Maybe if/when they update the AEBS they will improve hard drive support. And then just to keep me quiet, they'll introduce iPod syncing support too!:rolleyes:
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
SSD = Solid State Disc.

I.e. similar idea to your USB flash drives, no moving parts.
 

macleod199

macrumors 6502
Mar 10, 2007
290
6
Not seen any without a dongle and if you used one without for your MB/P then you'd be using bluetooth which gives about 560kbit/s, really crap.

I'd guess someone will crack the USB port on the AE for use with anything; not just hard drives and printers.

It's really, really not that simple as to just 'cracking' the USB port. iTunes isn't built to sync across the network, so they'd have to crack iTunes to allow this, build a network protocol for it, keep up with each new version of iTunes, and also make sure they weren't overloading the tiny processor on the AEBS with all the processing overhead.

This is NOT going to happen. Just running the USB hard drives is incredibly slow. The AEBS is not a general purpose computer.
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
It's really, really not that simple as to just 'cracking' the USB port. iTunes isn't built to sync across the network, so they'd have to crack iTunes to allow this, build a network protocol for it, keep up with each new version of iTunes, and also make sure they weren't overloading the tiny processor on the AEBS with all the processing overhead.

This is NOT going to happen. Just running the USB hard drives is incredibly slow. The AEBS is not a general purpose computer.

Really? I thought it wouldn't be too hard since the iPod would pop up onto the desktop and iTunes would be able to see that iPod since it is connected to computer (even if it is wireless).

iTunes then writes to the iPod, and does this by using whatever directory the iPod gives as its location.

But then again, I'm no expert. And the performance of the AEBS as a server is very poor. Something Apple might consider in future generations of the AE.
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Really? I thought it wouldn't be too hard since the iPod would pop up onto the desktop and iTunes would be able to see that iPod since it is connected to computer (even if it is wireless).

No... see the thing is that the iPod is not like a USB flash drive. When you plug in a USB flash drive, it identifies itself as a mass storage device and it gets mounted as a disk, and that's the only thing that happens with it. An iPod does multiple things -- iTunes can cause it to be seen as a mass storage device, but it also identifies itself as an iPod -- you don't even have to enable disk storage on an iPod (meaning it doesn't have to mount at all) to be able to communicate with iTunes. Likewise, AFAIK, iPods don't mount as drives on computers that do not have iTunes on them (this may have changed).
 

Cliff3

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2007
1,556
178
SF Bay Area
Belkin has a USB sharing hub that looks interesting. They published beta OSX drivers for it a couple of weeks ago. You're obviously not going to have multiple simultaneous users accessing any of the connected devices, but it seems like a nice way to free yourself from a tangle of USB cables.
 
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