iPod Question: PC to Mac iPod switch?

[JSub]

Hello all,
I've been a long time PC owner, so I upload songs to my iPod through my Dell. However, I'm going to make the switch to a Mac very soon. One of my friends said I'm going to have to reupload everything onto my iPod, since the Mac cannot recognize the PC stuff. Is this true? I wasted a lot of time building my iPod library...I dont want to do it again.

Thanks

 

[Pct1theory]

dude, Mac OS X can Read MS-DOS Formated iPods, U Can still use the iPod in a MS-Dos Format under OS X, but u can't update it... u can restore it on OS X and make it a Mac OS Extended Format. When ur all done so u can update it...

if u want download "iPodRIP" For Mac OS X, and copy whats on ur ipod to what ever folder u want on the OS X's HDD. Then it wll add it to ur iTunes Library.

 

[stainlessliquid]

its fat32, MSDOS is an old operating system and not a file format..

Anyways, your friend is 100% wrong. ipods formatted in windows using fat32 work on a mac since fat32 is a universal file system these days, and mp3 files and every other file work on all operating systems. You wont lose anything and theres no need to format your ipod to the mac format, the only thing you really gain from doing so is getting an ipod icon on your desktop when you plug it in instead of a generic white hdd icon, the pro's for keeping it fat32 far outweigh the pro's for converting it to mac. With fat32 youll always beable to use the ipod as a portable hdd for transfering files with a friend who has a PC or at a school.

Keep it fat32, you never know when you might need to use the hdd function on a PC.

 

[Eclipse278]

stainlessliquid is correct. I use my ipod in fat32 so i can use its hard drive feature on my pc. It works fine.

Never trust anyone who says "ur"

 

[zephead]

You should be aware that when the odd iPod update comes out every once in a while, iPods formatted as FAT32 can't have their software updated on a Mac for some reason, though they can update on a PC with iTunes installed. That, and the fact that I'm most likely not gonna be using my iPod with any other computers (got my flash drive for that), convinced me to make my iPod Mac-formatted.

You don't have to lose all your songs or library info either.

- If all your music is in your specified folders instead of iTunes organizing them, check the appropriate boxes for iTunes to manage your library (preferences > advanced > "keep iTunes music folder organized"), and then consolidate your library (advanced, consolidate library). If you don't have your music arranged into your own folders and already have iTunes organizing your folders, you can skip this step.
- Copy your entire iTunes folder (the location specified in preferences > advanced) to your iPod with disk mode enabled.
- Plug in your iPod on your Mac and copy/paste that folder into your Music folder.
- I'm not exactly sure how this next step works, but it did for me (and had me baffled), so then just open iTunes. All your music and library info should be there.

Let me know how that goes .

 

[nora]

Follow up questions on ipod PC to ipod Mac

I'm a recent switcher to Mac as well.

I've moved my PC iTunes library to my new iMac. I've authorized the iMac so I can play all the tunes.

I read the comments about how a Windows iPod works fine on a Mac, but that updates to iTunes software would be a problem.

I want to reformat my iPod to be a Mac iPod. Here are my questions --

1) How do I reformat it? (I have a 5G iPod Video 60 gig)

2) Will all my music in iTunes on the Mac automatically sync onto it then? It won't somehow erase my iTunes music that is residing on the Mac will it?

I think the iPod is strictly one way -- at least via iTunes -- in that it only passes music to the device, that the device doesn't pass music to it. (I know there are some third party apps that help facilitate 2 way.)

I just want to make sure I'm doing this right. I have about 14 gigs of video and music that I don't want to lose!

Many thanks!

 

[zephead]

For future reference, nora, posting a different question in someone elses thread is called "thread hijacking", and is highly frowned upon. You should create a new thread with your question in the future. However, I'll be nice and answer your question anyways .

You just need to restore your iPod in iTunes for it to be Mac-formatted. Just make sure you don't have any other data that you might've put on there like backups or songs put in from manual mode or etc. It won't erase anything in your iTunes library. After the restore, just sync all your songs over to your iPod and you're set.

 

[mokeyjoe]

Hello all,
I've been a long time PC owner, so I upload songs to my iPod through my Dell. However, I'm going to make the switch to a Mac very soon. One of my friends said I'm going to have to reupload everything onto my iPod, since the Mac cannot recognize the PC stuff. Is this true? I wasted a lot of time building my iPod library...I dont want to do it again.

Thanks

I did the same. What I did was:

- Formatted ipod on Mac (all songs deleted from iPod)
- Switched on hard disk mode.
- Plugged in to PC and dragged iTunes library on to ipod
- Plugged into Mac and dragged songs from iPod into iTunes library.
- Updated iPod.

If your library's too big for your iPod you can do a couple of trips. Transferred my photos the same way too. It won't take very long.

 

[xfiftyfour]

For future reference, nora, posting a different question in someone elses thread is called "thread hijacking", and is highly frowned upon. You should create a new thread with your question in the future. However, I'll be nice and answer your question anyways .

What?? No. Posting a relevant question in an existing thread is called smart, and avoids polluting the forums.

I think you're getting confused between the forums and the marketplace.

 

[Howard Brazee]

You should be aware that when the odd iPod update comes out every once in a while, iPods formatted as FAT32 can't have their software updated on a Mac for some reason, though they can update on a PC with iTunes installed. That, and the fact that I'm most likely not gonna be using my iPod with any other computers (got my flash drive for that), convinced me to make my iPod Mac-formatted.

That's a good reason - however if you want to use your iPod sometimes to copy data to or from a Windows machine, it needs to be formated FAT32.

There's one other thing (I can't remember what), that a FAT32 iPOD can't do though.

 

[cLin]

So let me get this straight, if I am using OSX normally with my ipod and want to switch over to windows on bootcamp, there is no way I can put music on my ipod to listen to without having to reformat?

 

[Howard Brazee]

So let me get this straight, if I am using OSX normally with my ipod and want to switch over to windows on bootcamp, there is no way I can put music on my ipod to listen to without having to reformat?

I believe there are two alternatives.

1. Format your iPOD from a Windows machine first. Macs will still access it, although I believe one randomizing feature doesn't work.

2. I was reading the specs for a iPod copying program which said it came with a separate product which allows Windows machines to access Mac formated disks. I'd like to learn more about this product.

 

[Eraserhead]

2. I was reading the specs for a iPod copying program which said it came with a separate product which allows Windows machines to access Mac formated disks. I'd like to learn more about this product.

Linky

2) Will all my music in iTunes on the Mac automatically sync onto it then? It won't somehow erase my iTunes music that is residing on the Mac will it

Yes, the music on your Mac is safe.

There's one other thing (I can't remember what), that a FAT32 iPOD can't do though.

Mac iPod's with firewire (4G and earlier) allow you to boot PPC and Intel OSX from them, I believe if you have a 5G/Nano you can boot an Intel Mac (not PPC) from your Mac formatted iPod.

One of my friends said I'm going to have to reupload everything onto my iPod, since the Mac cannot recognize the PC stuff. Is this true? I wasted a lot of time building my iPod library...I dont want to do it again.

Thanks

Kinda, Mac's are great at working with PC stuff but as it's a new computer you'll be prompted to wipe the iPod, first copy your music across to your new Mac using this guide. And then you can safely sync your iPod with your Mac, you won't need to reformat it .

So let me get this straight, if I am using OSX normally with my ipod and want to switch over to windows on bootcamp, there is no way I can put music on my ipod to listen to without having to reformat?

Sort of, basically you'll need to format it as FAT32 or use Macdrive under bootcamp (but then you can access your iTunes music on your Mac under bootcamp too.

if u want download "iPodRIP" For Mac OS X, and copy whats on ur ipod to what ever folder u want on the OS X's HDD. Then it wll add it to ur iTunes Library.

Senuti is free though so I'd use that.

(This is an obsessive posting spree)

 

[cLin]

Sort of, basically you'll need to format it as FAT32 or use Macdrive under bootcamp (but then you can access your iTunes music on your Mac under bootcamp too.


(This is an obsessive posting spree)

Really now. I already have macdrive but didn't install itunes cause I didn't think it would detect it. So once I plug in the ipod, would itunes ask me that question about deleting everything on the ipod and putting in the music from the library? If so, how do I get past that? I am essentially using two libraries (one on pc and one on mac) for one ipod.

edit: just tried it. when I load itunes, it says it detects a mac formatted ipod and I need to reformat to make it work on windows. Any suggestions?