iPod old iPod for Windows, but New PMAC. What do I do?

[hoya87eagle91]

Hello - i just plugged in my very first Mac. Awesome. How do I get my iPod that I have rigged for my Dell PC to work with this new Pmac with tiger and itunes preinstalled?

Can I just plug in my iPod and go, or do i have to start over with an empty iPod?

I haven't transferred any of my PC files to my Mac. Any and all help appreciated! thanks very much.
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[tobefirst ⚽️]

Nope, you can't just plug and go, unfortunately. You'll first have to get your tunes onto the mac, and then have your iPod sync with the new computer.

So, when you plug it in the first time, and it says that your iPod is paired with another computer and asks if you'd like to pair it with this one, click "no." You can get your tunes off the iPod any number of ways...I use Senuti. (do a search for it...) It's a great program that shows me what's already been downloaded and put into itunes, as well as shows me playlists. I haven't ever tried downloading a playlist, but I imagine you could just click on it and hit the down arrow...I'm not sure though.

If you want to keep playcounts and all that good stuff, you'll have to find the two files that iTunes uses to keep track of everything. One is an xml file storing song data, and the other one (I think) stores playlist information and all that good stuff. There was a topic on these forums I read today about which two files those are...it was called something like, "what do the 2 iTunes files do?" or something like that.

Once you have all the music on your new Mac (congrats by the way), then you can pair your iPod with the computer.

 

[840quadra]

If you are at all linux savvy you also have the option of using the age old cp command to copy the ipod files and directories into a folder on your macintosh, to later import into iTunes.

I use this all the time and dosen't require downloading any 3rd party programs. Granted spyware and viruses from 3rd party programs isn't an issue on a Macintosh, I still don't like the extra software I will never use again.

 

[Xenious]

Depending on the folder structure on your PC you may be able to just copy the itunes folder to your mac and run itunes. I was pleasantly surprised when that worked for me. All my meta data (play counts, etc) were there. Then I just formatted my ipod again and sync'd.

 

[nagromme]

Welcome!

Music on the Mac goes by default in your home folder > Music > iTunes. If you prefer it someplace else, just put that location into iTunes Preferences.

The songs won't show up though until iTunes has a database of them. Two ways to do that:

1. Build a fresh one. Just drag the iTunes folder into the iTunes window and drop it in. All of the songs will "import" into the database.

2. Copy it from another computer--to preserve your playcounts etc. On Mac, the database file goes in Music > iTunes EVEN if you've chosen to have your music files elsewhere.

I've done method 2 Mac-to-Mac, but I'm not sure if/how it works PC-to-Mac.

I do know that the relevant database file on Mac is simply called "iTunes 4 Music Library," while on Windows they add the extension ".itl"--but whether removing the .itl makes the Mac read that database I cannot say.

(Quit iTunes before changing the database file, then relaunch.)

When all done, you can synch your iPod from scratch again and be all set.

(There are also apps to let you copy your music from the iPod to the Mac, but you've got to copy your other data from the PC anyway, so it's probably not worth messing with. In the end you'd still have to re-synch the iPod.)

 

[hoya87eagle91]

Great ideas! Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'll let you know what methods work.