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iPod Should I convert iPod to Mac format?

B

bryantlc

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 17, 2007
36
0
I just made the switch to mac with the new refresh. Should I reformat my 80gb ipod to Mac format from PC format? Is there a benefit to do so or drawback not to do so?
 
I like having my iPod in Windows format (FAT32) as I use my iPod in disk mode often enough across platform. If it's in HFS+ then Windows machines hate your iPod. But if you only use it for doing music and video there's no harm in making it HFS+ (Mac).
 
I wish I had kept mine in windows format because I could go between PC and Mac. So I double the "if you are switching between PC and Mac a lot, then keep it FAT32" idea.
 
Re format back to FAT 32, that way you can use your iPod as a portable HD under Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

And Solaris etc. if you want to be really exotic.
 
I didn't realize there was seperate formats to each one. I am switching to a Mac in the very near future and from that point on I will be using a Mac exclusively. So how do I go about formatting it into a Mac format?
 
bonafide said:
I didn't realize there was seperate formats to each one. I am switching to a Mac in the very near future and from that point on I will be using a Mac exclusively. So how do I go about formatting it into a Mac format?
Click to expand...

Be prepared to lose everything on the iPod: music, contacts, calendar will all be gone.

You should be able to do the switch within iTunes 7, having it do a reset. I used the manual iPod updater to switch it but that's been almost 3 years.
 
bonafide said:
I didn't realize there was seperate formats to each one. I am switching to a Mac in the very near future and from that point on I will be using a Mac exclusively. So how do I go about formatting it into a Mac format?
Click to expand...

Not worth the effort, keep it as FAT 32 and it will be much more useful.

Can't remember if you can boot from a USB iPod, like you could with an older Firewire version.
 
I've never tried this before.

So if I go mac all the way, can I stll sync my ipod with the mac and leave it on fat32?

I currently sync my ipod with XP.
 
bonafide said:
What do you mean more useful? Whats the difference?
Click to expand...

iPod have an option entitled "Enable Disc Mode", or something im running from memory here.

When its enabled, your iPod will appear to any computer it is connected to as just another external hard drive, so you can read and write to it independantly of your iTunes music, videos, settings etc.

Which means you can use your iPod on any Mac, any PC (be that Windows or Linux) or something more exotic and rare such as Solaris or Amiga OS.

Did you know that peter Jackson used his iPod to transfer rough unedited, footage of the Rings Trilogy from his studio to his home for exec's to watch?

80GB is a good size for an external unpowered USB hard drive you know. :)
 
combatcolin said:
Didn't know that, he would have been skinned alive by New Line if he did lose it!
Click to expand...

Pre-release sequences from The Lord of the Rings nearly fell into the wrong hands when Duncan Nimmo, the IT manager of Peter Jackson's production company Three Foot Six, was chased by muggers in Soho.

Mr Nimmo was carrying the film on his iPod pocket computer when he was approached by two big blokes in London's Soho district at 5am, he told MIS magazine.

"I walked faster and they walked faster, then I broke into a jog and they started running. I could not have the iPod with the film taken off me, so I ran and got away."
 
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