GaryK

Ok so I treated myself a nice new 40gb iPod (4th Gen) the other week. Overall I am impressed but had a couple of small problems. Anyway something that is really bugging me that I cannot sort at the moment.

I can hook it up to my powerbook and transfer music just fine. If I plug into my PC at work, the updater it tells me I have to re-format it so i have to do a restore first. As soon as I do the restore boom all I get is an icon on the screen which shows me I have to plug it into the mains and then the PC will not recognise it at all. Done this twice now and same result, I really need to get it working with my huge library on my PC not the small one on my Mac, how the **** do I just re-format it from the PC?

cheers

Gary

ScoobyDoo555

IIRC IPods aren't really meant to be used with multiple computers, as they get conflict in ITunes.
YOu can get around it

As you've found out, the Ipod is formatted for Mac, but basically you've got to reformat the whole thing with PC.

Can't really help more than that, as mine's on a Mac only.

I'm sure others will be along soon to help

Dan

messiah

Had to reformat my new 30gb ipod photo as soon as i got it on my pc. been trying to use the updater though without any joy as the ipod is 1.0 and the latest software is 1.2 to allow for podcasts. can't get the thing to update though as it says the ipod isn't connected

Things are starting to sound a lot better since fiddling with the equaliser though

GaryK

well just download xplay which can change itunes on the pc to read mac format ipods, trouble is having done the restore Im fooked until I get home and plug it back into my mac, pc wont recognise it all, I'll let you know how I get on.

Gary

ozzy

When you perform the restore, it MUST be plugged directly into the mains. I forgot that bit and had to wait 'til I got home; bl00dy annoying.

At home I have all my MP3's on a shared PC hidden away in a cupboard. iTunes on my main PC would copy the MP3's to it's local folders, so it ended up duplicating stuff. I also use it at work, with a copy of my MP3's stored on a server.

I was getting so frustrated with iTunes, I've given up on it completely. I now use EphPod as I can simply manage the iPod directly without worrying about multiple PC's or multiple MP3 collections.

Stefan

messiah

Would be nice if the iPod could update iTunes...

ozzy

Yeah, there's loads of backup programs kicking around that do just that iPod -> PC, but most only do that function. EphPod is the only thing I've found that works pretty well and is free.

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/ looks cool as it allows you to access the iPod over any network via a web browser and stream tracks.

Stefan

GaryK

Thanks for that ozzy thats what I need to do!

Anyway you live and learn! I am happy with it although the first one I got sent was second hand so had to replace it, first day I used it in anger managed to lock it up so had to wait till the batteries run down before I could do anything I have had a couple of hiccups but nothing to spoil the fun <just waiting for the iriver owners to say told you so!>

Gary

ozzy

I've had mine replaced; the ****** broke a couple of days before I headed off for 5 weeks holiday

iTunes has screwed it up a couple of times while updating music, so I've done a few restores. Not had any more issues since installing the latest iPod software (touch wood).

angrynorth

If you format it for PC it will work on both without the need for 3rd party apps.

Markus

What you are seeing is normal behavior of the iPod, it's why you get Macintosh and PC versions of it.

It's all do to with the disk format and Apple being funny.

Macs use HFS+ (Hierachical Filing System) PC's use FAT16/32/NTFS (depends on OS version). A PC does not understand the Mac formatting of the ipod, so you won't see it as a disk.

Plus Apple has decided to force you to restore your iPod when you plug it into a PC.

I was in the same boat as you. I had a Mac (over here) and a PC (in the UK) I went back at xmas to rip my CD's to my iPod. Problem was, it was a PC, hmm, what to do. Well, there's a few options...

Backup your music, and reformat the iPod on the PC. The macintosh will understand the PC format of the disk, and I am pretty sure it'll still see it as an iPod. So you should be able to put music on it from the PC, pop it over to the Mac and put on other music.

Another option would be to use something like mediafour's XPlay software, it has some MacDrive component (think you can get just that part) and that allows a PC to see a mac drive, so you could simply install that, pop the iPod onto the PC and copy the music over, and still keep it formatted as a Mac iPod.

Really does depend on what machine you're going to use it on mainly.

If you keep it mac format, and ever want to copy the music off, I'd highy recommend Podworks. Lovely application, very handy indeed.