iPod Accessing ipod music files in finder (Has this method been discussed before?)

[swiftaw]

I was playing around with trying to access my ipod's mp3's in finder and i found a way.

First a bit of background, the mp3's are stored on the ipod in several hidden folders labeled F00, F01, F02,... etc. these folders are found in /ipod_control/music/ on the ipod. The problem is that all these folders are hidden and hence don't show up in finder.

However, they do show up in terminal. You can access them in terminal by navigating to /Volumes/ipodname/iPod_Control/Music/F**/ where ** is some 2 digit number.

So now, I thought, why can't I use the unix ln command to create an os x alias in a folder that finder can see.

So, from my home folder in terminal i did ln -s /Volumes/ipodname/iPod_Control/Music/F00/ Music1 and then i checked in finder, and wouldn't you know in my home folder is an alias called Music1, and opening it showed me all the mp3 files that are stored in folder F00 on my ipod.

The only bad thing is that you would need to create an alias for each one of the 'F** folders' on the ipod, which can be quiet a few.

I tried using ln to create an alias one level up, i.e. of /Volumes/ipodname/iPod_Control/Music/ which contains all the F** folders but this appears empty is finder as though the F** folders are hidden.

Anyways, just wondering if people had stumbled across this method before.

 

[pdpfilms]

That's a pretty nice find... I'm sure someone could take that info and make a SIMPLE finder plugin so that you wouldn't need any software whatsoever to transfer music from the ipod. A simple installable scrip that would make those files visible. Maybe even an iTunes plugin to easily drag and drop within the application....

Any bites?

 

[Sedulous]

Or maybe someone could make an automator script? I've been looking for an excuse to try it out.

 

[swiftaw]

Or maybe someone could make an automator script? I've been looking for an excuse to try it out.

I managed to get the whole thing down to a two stage process.

Stage 1: A unix script run in terminal to create all the alias folders in finder
Stage 2: An automator workflow that searches through these alias folders and imports all the mp3's into itunes.

(I am very pleased with myself, a very productive afternoon in the office )

 

[Cybernanga]

Isn't this how all the shareware/freeware ipod extration utilities do this anyway?

 

[pdpfilms]

swiftaw
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sedulous
Or maybe someone could make an automator script? I've been looking for an excuse to try it out.


I managed to get the whole thing down to a two stage process.

Stage 1: A unix script run in terminal to create all the alias folders in finder
Stage 2: An automator workflow that searches through these alias folders and imports all the mp3's into itunes.

(I am very pleased with myself, a very productive afternoon in the office )

Good job! Now is it possible to make a script that hides all these F folders and replaces them with an organized library?

 

[swiftaw]

Good job! Now is it possible to make a script that hides all these F folders and replaces them with an organized library?

Well, if you have the "Copy music to itunes music folder" checked in itunes preferences then all the music will be copies there and then you can just delete all the aliases.

However, if you want to run your entire library from the ipod rather than copying to the HD then I think you are stuck with the F-folder aliases.

 

[swiftaw]

Isn't this how all the shareware/freeware ipod extration utilities do this anyway?

Way to rain on my parade! Only kidding, I imagine that they probably do - but I am happy that I figured it out myself.