iPod Backup Solutions

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  • 09-06-2007, 09:14 AM
    toddamo
    iPod Backup Solutions
    I'm still having lots of fun with my (now dated) 80GB iPod. :-)

    As I'm starting to fill up the little guy (about half full now), I'm increasingly
    thinking that I would really like to backup my data at some point.

    Relating to that topic...

    If anyone is still in the market for a free program to take your music
    OFF your iPod...I've been very happy with iDump:

    http://www.softpedia.com/get/IPOD-TO...ls/iDump.shtml

    But...I don't want to exactly fill up my home computer's HD with 80GB worth of music!

    What do folks do in this situation?

    One idea I thought of is to buy another 80GB HD and just keep that for iPod backup.

    If Apple (or a 3rd party) invented it...I would pay $50 or so for a stand alone device
    that just backs up your iPod data. They could keep it secure by only transferring
    back and forth to the iPod with the same serial #. (To appease the copyright gods)

    I don't know if something like this already exists.

    A gal in my office had her iPod die out of the blue...all data lost...and that thought
    really gave me the chills.

    I've spent SO much time labeling and organizing my iPod. (I collect live concerts from
    places like archive.org...1000's of free concerts there, btw!)

    Ok...that's where I'm at. I'm curious if any of you folks have any backup solutions
    in place or in mind...

    Thanks for your input!

    -todd amodeo

    http://toddamodeo.com
  • 09-21-2007, 04:13 AM
    Slosh
    You don't need any after-market software to copy the iPod music files to a computer (with Windows, at least). Connect the iPod and find it in Windows Explorer. Open it and in preferences check "show hidden files and folders". Then find your way to the music folder and copy it to your HDD.

    As far as storing music on your computer, why wouldn't you want to? If (actually, make that when) your iPod breaks you'll lose everything. Plus HDDs are dirt cheap now. Recently I got an external 320GB Western Digital HDD for $89 and that's not even that good of a deal. Nice thing about an external HDD is it will work with just about any computer regardless of the o/s so I can connect it up to friends' PCs and Macs if they want to snag some of my music. Also USB 2 has even faster data transfer than SATA, so really there is no downside to going external that I can see.
  • 09-21-2007, 05:14 AM
    noddin0ff
    HOLY PIRACY Bat-Slosh!

    As per your post, I thought I'd try something similar on my Mac. You can totally copy tunes from the iPod to the hard drive on your mac using the Terminal application and simple unix commands!

    Open the Terminal. Change directory (cd) to /Volumes/IPOD_NAME/iPod_Control/Music/

    type ls -a to see all directories. You'll see F00, F01, etc
    type cd F## to enter the directory, type ls -a to see the files.

    They've all been renamed to four letter names but the meta-tags are still there.

    copy (cp) to whatever directory you want. e.g. "cp KHND.m4a ~/KHND.m4a"

    I did this with non-DRM files. Perhaps DRM files are locked somehow, but I don't have any to test.

    Be curious to know.
  • 09-21-2007, 05:39 AM
    Rich-n-Texas
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slosh
    You don't need any after-market software to copy the iPod music files to a computer (with Windows, at least). Connect the iPod and find it in Windows Explorer. Open it and in preferences check "show hidden files and folders". Then find your way to the music folder and copy it to your HDD...
    I think you have to "Enable Disk Use" in the iTunes s/w first don't ya?
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slosh
    Plus HDDs are dirt cheap now. Recently I got an external 320GB Western Digital HDD for $89 and that's not even that good of a deal.
    I bought a WD 60 gig Passport USB 2.0 and it was only $23 cheaper than your 320, so IMO you got a good deal. The Passport is very easy and convenient to use. Power is supplied by the cable, and the drive is quite speedy.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slosh
    Nice thing about an external HDD is it will work with just about any computer regardless of the o/s so I can connect it up to friends' PCs and Macs if they want to snag some of my music. Also USB 2 has even faster data transfer than SATA, so really there is no downside to going external that I can see.
    I agree 100%.
  • 09-21-2007, 07:06 AM
    Slosh
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rich-n-Texas
    I think you have to "Enable Disk Use" in the iTunes s/w first don't ya?
    Yeah, forgot about that. My iPod broke again a few months ago so I forgot about that step.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rich-n-Texas
    I bought a WD 60 gig Passport USB 2.0 and it was only $23 cheaper than your 320, so IMO you got a good deal.
    Well, I originally went into Best Buy to get a 750GB WD drive for $179 so my perspective is a bit skewed :) I currently have 81.1GB on that HDD (3224 songs, all lossless) so even 320GB is plenty.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by noddin0ff
    You'll see F01, F02, etc
    Yeah, that makes it a PITA if you're only after a couple of songs. I much prefer the way my gigabeat S-30 stores music (Artist folder>Album folder>Song title, and nothing hidden either).
  • 09-21-2007, 07:36 AM
    noddin0ff
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slosh
    Yeah, that makes it a PITA if you're only after a couple of songs. I much prefer the way my gigabeat S-30 stores music (Artist folder>Album folder>Song title, and nothing hidden either).
    I think I'll have to begrudgingly concede an advantage here to the PC. The Mac formatted iPod uses the PITA coding system (at least that's what my Nano does, maybe the Giga-Pods are different). No workaround for that, however, like I said, the iTunes metadata is there so all is not lost. I think each F## folder is an album, but I'm not sure.

    I did find the appropriate commands to allow one to see all the hidden files in the Finder. This allows you to drag-and-drop copy files from your iPod to your hard-drive on a Mac the normal user friendly way. For those interested, follow the link. Be warned that allowing you to see invisible files allows you to mess with invisible files, which could allow you to dink up your computer. Don't be stupid.

    http://www.osxfaq.com/DailyTips/02-2005/02-01.ws
  • 09-21-2007, 07:41 AM
    Rich-n-Texas
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slosh
    ...Well, I originally went into Best Buy to get a 750GB WD drive for $179 so my perspective is a bit skewed :) ...
    :yikes: 750GB? My 60 gig is already half full, now I wonder if a bought a big enough drive. I only have a 2 gig Nano so I was scaling the external drive to that size more or less.

    Isn't it amazing though that you can now buy gigabytes for pennies on the dollar? :thumbsup:
  • 09-21-2007, 07:59 AM
    noddin0ff
    Heh,

    I just filled up my 320G with lossless (well, actually I have 1.3Gb left). 38days, 7hours, 17mins of no repeat music. Time to go shopping again...I'm hoping 500G will last for a couple more years. If Slosh posts another comp, my resulting purchasing binge will put me over the top!
  • 09-21-2007, 09:32 AM
    Rich-n-Texas
    No problems for you if stuck on a desert island huh? At least not for a month or so.
  • 09-21-2007, 09:18 PM
    PeruvianSkies
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rich-n-Texas
    :yikes: 750GB? My 60 gig is already half full, now I wonder if a bought a big enough drive. I only have a 2 gig Nano so I was scaling the external drive to that size more or less.

    Isn't it amazing though that you can now buy gigabytes for pennies on the dollar? :thumbsup:
    My Pro Mac machine that I just got has the ability to go up to 3TB worth of storage. How many songs is that? Lol.