iphone/ipod and Mac G5

[MrJB]

Hi folks
Apologies if this has been posted before - I have looked but to no avail. I have an Mac G5 running Leopard. It is a low end UK spec and has an 80gb disk. I am rapidly running out of space and am considering replacing the hard drive with something bigger however I use the G5 with a couple of ipods and also an iphone. If i replace the disk, do I have to do anything like 'unpairing' the devices or could I just go ahead and swap the disks without having to do any 'unpairing'?

J

 

[tallguy]

You don't have to do anything to "unpair" the devices before you switch drives but as soon as you plug them into the computer with the new drive itunes should show:
"The iPod "iPod" is synced with another iTunes library. Do you want to erase this iPod and sync with this iTunes library?"
"An iPod can be synced with only one iTunes library at a time. Erasing and syncing replaces the contents of this iPod with the contents of this iTunes library."
If you don't want to erase everything from the ipods, then I think there is a way to recover all the songs on them but I'm not familiar with how that's done.

 

[madog]

If you have purchases from the iTunes store (which you most likely do with th iPhone, free apps or otherwise) you can deauthorize your computer with iTunes. Make sure none of the iPods are plugged in, open up iTunes, head into the "Store" menu, and you should see the deauthorize option.

You can have up to 5 authorizaed devices at a time, and you can deauthorize all 5 at once (once a year if they haven't changed it), but this will just make it easier, and prevent you from having an unused store authorization connected to an old hard drive that isn't being used any more.

Just make sure you authorize the new drive/iTunes before attaching the iPhone (to make it easier) and then you can transfer the purchases over if you need to from it (an option from iTunes' File menu when the iPhone is connected).

What about jsut adding a secondary drive instead of replacing the original? You can have iTunes associate with a music library on a secondary external/internal drive.

 

[MrJB]

Sounds almost too easy for words. Many thanks

Re the second drive - I dont believe the particular model will allow a second internal drive, but I guess I could copy all itunes stuff onto an external USB and point at that . . . . I hadn't considered that. I will have a go at that first

J

 

[madog]

Unless of course you mean iMac G5 (the all-in-one) and not a Power Mac G5 (the tower, which I assumed you had).

Most likely the iMac because of that 80GB drive, though.

If it's the iMac G5 withOUT the built in iSight, then it's not too tough to replace the internal drive yourself if you are a somewhat technically inclined person. 2 or 3 screws on the bottom and the case pops open, and another 4 or so for the drive case/bumpers or whatever it was. If it's the iMac G5 with the built in iSight, then unless you are confident, I wouldn't bother. The actual replacing of the drive is the same, but it's much more tricky to open the case, and then if not careful you could break the cable attached to the camera.

If that's the case then I would go towards an external drive. Check out newegg.com. Last week they had a 1TB external drive for $99 (79 with rebate). Probably not the best drive out there, but certainly the most storage for the price.

 

[MrJB]

yes, its the all in one with no iSight. I have opened it before to slot in more memory and it is pretty easy.

Last night, I actually moved the itunes library to an external HD and lo and behold, I have about 35Gb to play with which made me very happy. I am now just going to buy a portable external drive to use for backups on both Mac's and PC's and I am flying (so to speak).

Many thanks for the advice folks

J

BTW, I also downloaded a trial of XSlimmer which suggests at least another 750Mb can be saved. Does anyone know of any reasons why I shouldnt go ahead and use the full version?