[Crazychimp3]

Ok up until now i have kept all of my music in itunes on my PC. However i just got an ibook to take away to school with me and i wanted to know if it is possible to transfer the music on my ipod to my ibook, and how to do that. Also I use a USB plug which hooks up my ipod to my PC, will I need to purchase a new mac compatible hook up? or does the USB work for both? I'm not very computer savvy so bear with me, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[dcipjr]

Congrats on your new iBook! Hope you enjoy it. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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Also I use a USB plug which hooks up my ipod to my PC, will I need to purchase a new mac compatible hook up? or does the USB work for both?

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Regarding the USB connection -- yes. If you're using one of the newest fourth-generation iPods or an iPod mini, the USB connection will work perfectly -- it'll charge the iPod as well as enable you to use the iPod with iTunes, as a hard drive, etc.
If you are using an older third-generation iPod (with 4 separate touch-sensitive buttons and a touch wheel), the answer is also yes -- as long as you have the most recent software updates -- but you may not want to. As you most likely know, the older iPods couldn't charge through USB, so you need to carry around your AC adapter so that you can charge when connecting to your computer. However, all iPods can charge through the FireWire port in your computer, and the iBook includes FireWire, making FireWire a much, much better option than USB.
Here's the good news: assuming you bought your iPod new (or reconditioned, in box) your iPod included a FireWire cable, too. Use that cable to connect your iPod to your iBook. Your iBook includes a FireWire port, so find that cable, plug in, and you're all set. Your iPod can now connect (and charge) through your iBook.
If you can't find that FireWire cable, all isn't lost. You probably still won't have to buy anything. I have the USB cable for use with my PC. There are two separate plugs: one for USB, and one for FireWire. Ignore the USB cable coming out of the dock plug, and use the FireWire cable to connect your iPod to your iBook. Done. And since FireWire charges the iPod, you needn't worry about hooking up your charger, which you normally would need to do when making a USB connection.

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i wanted to know if it is possible to transfer the music on my ipod to my ibook, and how to do that

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Sure is possible. It's a little messy, since you can't copy tracks directly from the iPod back to iTunes. But that doesn't mean it isn't possible altogether. Here's what to do:
1) Plug your iPod into your iBook, using FireWire.
2) iTunes will launch and ask you if you want to replace your iPod's contents with the contents of your iBook's music library. Click no -- you definitely don't want to be doing that, since you'd lose all your music on your iPod. Bad idea. Of course, if your iPod is in manual mode, this message won't come up.
3) Transferring your music is fairly simple, just bear with me. Your iPod must have "disk mode" enabled, so that it'll show up on the desktop as a FireWire or USB hard disk. In case you didn't know, you can use the iPod as a FireWire or USB hard drive, since that's essentially what it is. If your iPod shows up on the desktop, just go to the next step. If it doesn't, click the iPod icon on the bottom-right hand side of the iTunes window, and check "Enable disk use" in the iPod options window. Your iPod will show up on your desktop now.
4) Before you leave iTunes, go to the iTunes menu and select "Preferences". Go to the Advanced pane, and ensure that "Keep iTunes Music folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" are both checked. Then click OK, and go to your iTunes library. It'll still be empty. Move the iTunes window so that you can see your desktop (specifically, the iPod disk icon now on your desktop) but still see the empty library.
5) Now, go to your desktop. Your iPod will be there. Double-click it. Once you've opened your iPod, go to the Go menu, and choose "Go to folder". Paste the following in:
iPod_Control/Music/
And click Go. You will be taken to a seemingly empty folder called "Music". But it's not empty, actually, the icons are just hidden. There's actually a load of folders in there containing your music files.
6) Look at the top of the window. You'll see a folder icon and the title "Music". Since you just switched to Mac, you might not know this, but that folder in the title bar is draggable. Drag the folder icon into the iTunes window, to the empty iTunes library.
All your music will now be copied into your iTunes library on your iBook, from your iPod. Enjoy!
You could have done this using third-party software, but that would require downloading and installing stuff, and I never really found any good software that would copy iPod music back to iTunes. This is pretty much the easiest way. It's a little wacky, dealing with hidden folders and stuff, but considering that you aren't supposed to be able to do this at all.... /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Good luck with the new iBook!

[Crazychimp3]

Wow, thank you so much for the help. I never would have figured that one out, I can't wait to get started! Thanx again!

[Crazychimp3]

Ok I seem to be having a bit of trouble. Everything went smoothly up until the last step where I tried to drag the folder icon into the the iTunes window. I can do this, only afterwards nothing happens. Any ideas as to what is going on or how I can fix it? Thanx

[dcipjr]

Hmmm, I thought that would work, but maybe not -- perhaps iTunes isn't reading the invisible files?
Try dragging the folder to your desktop, while holding the option key down. That should copy all the files to a duplicate folder on your desktop, on the hard drive inside your Mac. Once the copy is done, try adding that folder to your library. Delete the folder when you're done, so that you won't have two copies of your library stored on your hard drive.

[Crazychimp3]

Still nothing, I wonder why this isn't working? Anyway thanks a bunch for your help. You had mentioned that there might be some third party software that could help me out, do you know where I could find such software or what a good one to use might be? Thanx

[dcipjr]

Hmm, I'm still not sure why it isn't working, but oh well....maybe it would be better just to go with some third-party program.
iPodlounge has a number of titles for download. Try one of those.

[catcherny]

can you please cite the programs on ipodlounge that will achieve the aforementioned task
thanks! I have the same issue

[Crazychimp3]

Well I used iPodRip and it worked perfectly. All of my music is now in my iTunes library. The only problem now is that iTunes is still not recognizing my iPod when I plug it in. On my old computer as soon as i plugged in my iPod an icon flashed and was followed by an automatic update. If i can't get iTunes to recognize my iPod and I download music from the music store, how will i get it back onto my ipod? Anybody have any ideas?

[dcipjr]

Hmmmm, is the iPod not showing up under the Source list in iTunes? It should be....

[Brettcamp]

Maybe try plugging the iPod into your computer, then restarting the computer? Maybe it'll "see" the iPod then.

[unclebinky]

Does the iPod need to be reformatted because of the mac-pc transition? I'm pretty sure iPod documentation says it must be formatted for either or...