Syncing Music From Desktop to Laptop via iPod

At 11:16 PM +0200 2/5/07, Shirley Jordan wrote:
>As a new iPod user, is there an easy way to sync my desktop iTunes
>Music library to my laptop? Both computers are registered with Apple
>to play purchased music, but I download with my desktop, sync with my
>iPod and want to then transfer the music to my laptop. What is the
>easiest way to do this?

Unfortunately, Apple only offers ability to sync (more or less) the
content you have purchased from the iTunes store using your iPod and
iTunes. That is pretty easy to do, but it is not what you asking.

Instead, you want to sync everything in each library, whether
purchased from Apple or added from some other route.

The easiest way to do this is if you want iTunes to be identical on
each machine. However, if you want different playlist, song rating
and the like (as my wife and I do), it is a bit harder. You see, you
can't just copy the song files from one machine to another because
iTunes needs to add them to it's little database of what you have,
where it is and all the other info.

What _I_ do is only add music on one machine, and every so often copy
those files to the other machine. I actually use my iPod to do it,
with the iPod in disc mode. I literally copy the songs from iTunes to
the iPod (as a disc) and then from the iPod to the other iTunes on
second machine. Yes, the songs are already on the iPod, but they are
a pain to get to. (I view music by "date added" and grab everything
since the last time I did it.)

There are ways (e.g. a program called Senuti) that copies music
directly from an iPod to another mac. It's a slight pain to use, so I
just do it manually.

I'm sure that there are better ways to do than I do it, especially if
(as I mentioned above) you want the iTunes stuff to be any different
across machines. Perhaps involving firewire target disc mode and
automatic syncing, or other syncing across the network.
--

=Alex Hoffman
Leadership Policy & Politics
Teachers College, Columbia University

Shirley Jordan wrote:

> As a new iPod user, is there an easy way to sync my desktop iTunes
> Music library to my laptop? Both computers are registered with Apple
> to play purchased music, but I download with my desktop, sync with my
> iPod and want to then transfer the music to my laptop. What is the
> easiest way to do this?

Shirley,
*PodWorks* is a Mac OS X (Cocoa) application that compensates for the
iPod's only downside: Apple only allows you to copy songs to your iPod.
If you have two Macs and want to use your iPod to transfer music between
them, or you only store your MP3s on your iPod and need to copy them
back onto your hard drive after a disk failure, you are out of luck!
This is where PodWorks comes in: it allows you to copy songs from any
Mac iPod to any Mac running OS X (10.2).
Wayne

On 2/5/2007 11:34 PM, "Wayne Fisk" wrote:
> Shirley,
> *PodWorks* is a Mac OS X (Cocoa) application that compensates for the
> iPod's only downside: Apple only allows you to copy songs to your iPod.
> If you have two Macs and want to use your iPod to transfer music between
> them, or you only store your MP3s on your iPod and need to copy them
> back onto your hard drive after a disk failure, you are out of luck!
> This is where PodWorks comes in: it allows you to copy songs from any
> Mac iPod to any Mac running OS X (10.2).
> Wayne

A couple free alternatives are Senuti and iPodDisk. The former uses an
iTunes-like interface; the latter makes your iPod appear in the Finder like
a hard drive, with folders for artist, song, album, genre, etc.

<http://www.fadingred.org/senuti/>
<http://ipoddisk.ourbiti.com/index.php/about/>

>> As a new iPod user, is there an easy way to sync my desktop iTunes
>> Music library to my laptop? Both computers are registered with Apple
>> to play purchased music, but I download with my desktop, sync with my
>> iPod and want to then transfer the music to my laptop. What is the
>> easiest way to do this?
>
> Unfortunately, Apple only offers ability to sync (more or less) the
> content you have purchased from the iTunes store using your iPod and
> iTunes. That is pretty easy to do, but it is not what you asking.
>
Brave new world... why does anybody let someone else dictate what to do or
not to do with files on ones computer?? This is beyond me... really.

That's the reason I don't have OS X on my Mac. That's the reason I still use
the latest version of SoundJam -- no hassle in copying files from one Mac to
the other, no hassle in doing whatever I like with my music files.

I don't buy from the Apple Music Store -- I buy a CD from ebay, have
SoundJam convert it and I'm free to do what pleases me with the resulting
files. For the occasional copy protected CD I have an old CD-300 and a Mac
running System 7.6, which doesn't know anything about copy protection and
deals with such CDs just fine.

I own the files on my computer's HD, I have paid for them and I do what
pleases ME with things/files/etc. I own!

Udo

Joining songs in iTunes

The iTunes command Advanced -> Join CD Tracks works nicely when you're importing a CD, and there's an AppleScript, Track Splicer, which joins songs provided they're not protected.

But the iTunes Music Store sells many classical pieces only in the form of a separate song for each movement. Because they're protected, Track Splicer can't join them.

One way to join the tracks is to burn them to a CD and then import them. Is there a quicker way?

On Feb 7, 2007, at 12:06 AM, Udo Huth wrote:

> Brave new world... why does anybody let someone else dictate what
> to do or
> not to do with files on ones computer?? This is beyond me... really.

Profit motive.

Marilyn

On 2/6/2007 9:06 PM, "Udo Huth" wrote:
> Brave new world... why does anybody let someone else dictate what to do or
> not to do with files on ones computer?? This is beyond me... really.
>
> That's the reason I don't have OS X on my Mac. That's the reason I still use
> the latest version of SoundJam -- no hassle in copying files from one Mac to
> the other, no hassle in doing whatever I like with my music files.
>
> I don't buy from the Apple Music Store -- I buy a CD from ebay, have
> SoundJam convert it and I'm free to do what pleases me with the resulting
> files. For the occasional copy protected CD I have an old CD-300 and a Mac
> running System 7.6, which doesn't know anything about copy protection and
> deals with such CDs just fine.
>
> I own the files on my computer's HD, I have paid for them and I do what
> pleases ME with things/files/etc. I own!

I'm not sure I understand the argument above; everything you've noted above
can be done with the latest versions of iTunes and Mac OS X. With iTunes,
you can rip music from CDs to your Mac. (I have yet to personally come
across a "copy-protected" audio CD that iTunes can't rip; I've heard they're
out there, but I haven't yet found one.) With iTunes and Mac OS X, you can
easily copy music from one Mac to another. You can pretty much do whatever
you want with your music, especially anything you've ripped from your CDs.

The issue noted earlier in this thread is that Apple won't allow you to
(easily) use your *iPod* to transfer those music files. A situation that
would also apply to SoundJam and System 7.6 -- assuming they could even work
with an iPod, that is ;-)

Shirley,

There is a very easy way to do it. Just connect your macs over your local network. Drag and drop the files from your itunes library (user, music, itunes, itunes music) onto the laptops desktop. Then just open itunes on the laptop and drag and drop the files into the itunes window. I have an ethernet cable between the two macs and it takes less than a second for an album to pop over to the other mac. Wireless works too just a little slower.

NOTE: It is important that you import the songs into itunes on your second mac by dropping them into the itunes window, Do not place them in the itunes folder through the finder, if you do that itunes will not know they are there.

A TIP: If you are searching for an artist in the itunes folder to copy over and you cannot find it. Try looking under compilations, sometimes they go there. Also, If the artist begins with "the" as in "the who" it will be under T not W in the itunes folder you are copying from.

To make things easy make a smart playlist with the criteria "added today" before you import the tunes to your main mac. That way you will know what needs to be copied over.

It is really quite simple and I recommend getting an ethernet cable to slap between the two to do this, it takes seconds, its great.

Paul

BTW if you want to use your ipod to do it the app. ipod disc works well and is free.



[I think this thread has lapped. Let's wind it down. -Andrew]

I like emusic.com. They sell MP3s with no DRM from indie artists and
labels. Their selection is missing a lot, but if you like esoteric
music, you'll find lots of gems.

On 2/7/07, Marilyn Matty <mmattynyc.rr.com> wrote:
>
> On Feb 7, 2007, at 12:06 AM, Udo Huth wrote:
>
> > Brave new world... why does anybody let someone else dictate what
> > to do or
> > not to do with files on ones computer?? This is beyond me... really.
>
> Profit motive.
>
> Marilyn
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> If you want to unsubscribe or change your address, use this link:
>
> http://emperor.tidbits.com/webx?unsub.3c3f6899!u=305448b2
>

On 2007-02-08, at 07:52, Riph van den Assum wrote:

> Has everyone tried
>
> <http://www.allofmp3.com/>

I've used allofmp3 and p2p networks to obtain a few tracks not
available elsewhere, but otherwise stay clear of them: both of those
methods are just ripping off the artists...

--
'Why upgrade to Vista when you can upgrade past it?'
<http://www.apple.com/getamac/>