iTunes and ROKR mobile phone - found a way of making it all work !fixed!

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Level 1

10 points

iTunes and ROKR mobile phone - found a way of making it all work !fixed!

I struggled for two evenings trying to get my daughters Christmas present working. iTunes and the Motorola ROKR phone would not exchange music files.

What I quickly realised is that iTunes on the Motorola does not work as if it were a Window application and so is impossible to manipulate. Hence the reason it requires a specific version of iTunes on the PC to make the whole thing work.

In short. Newer versions of iTunes installed on a PC do not comply with the rules required by iTunes on your Motorola.

So the answer is to have two versions of iTunes on my Windows PC. One version for my oldest daughter's iPod and another one for my youngest daughter's Motorola. This means that there are two seperate iTune libraries in the My Music folder. This is a bit inconvenient but as my daughters have totally different music tastes it is not a big problem for me. My daughters can share music files by using Windows to copy files between the two different libraries.

To see how I got this far read the next posting where I have explained

iTunes for ROKR, Windows XP, Motorola ROKR E1

Posted on Dec 29, 2005 6:27 PM

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Answer 1

sandy7m Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 29, 2005 6:28 PM in response to sandy7m

Ok folks

Like me you have been pulling your hair out trying to get your music from iTunes to your Motorola. I have at last got something that works and hope that this method will work for all of you.

My environement -
Operating system: Windows Home XP
PC connection: 4 port USB hub connected to USB 1.1
Mobile: Motorola ROKR E1

I have used the naming conventions
iTunes_safe
and
iTunesROKR
You can use any other name in there place.

Read through the whole process once before commencing.

If you already have iTunes on your PC then you will first have to protect your music collection. Go to MyDocuments\My Music. Rename the folder
iTunes
to
iTunes_safe

Next you will have to creat a new folder in My Music called
iTunesROKR

Before commencing the remainder of the process ensure the Motorola is not plugged in to the PC and that all other programs and windows are closed.

Now take the iTunes installation disc that came with your Motorola and start installing the program to your PC. When the installation process asks which folder you want to place the iTunes program in do not take the suggested destination which is
Program Files/iTunes
Change the destination to
Program Files/iTunesROKR

Now continue with the installation until it is complete. Do not restart your PC just yet.

If you took the option of having a short cut placed in your desk top you will need to edit it so that it can be used for the Motorola/iTunes program. Rename the short cut to
iTunesROKR

Next, right click on the shortcut and click on the Shortcut tab. Check that the Target reads
"C:\Programme files\iTunesROKR\iTunes.exe"
Edit the target if it does not show this. Click on Apply then OK.

Now double click the short cut to ensure it starts up iTunesROKR

When iTunes opens click on the Edit tab, then Preferences, then Advanced. Click on Change to open the small browser window and click on the iTunesROKR folder in My Music. Click OK to save these changes.

It might be a good idea at this time to hard save all these changes by restarting your PC.

When the PC has restarted and the hard drive has stopped spinning connect the Motoral to your PC. Wait for Windows to finish the "Found New Device" process.

Next use the iTunesROKR short cut to open iTunesROKR.exe

Your Motorola and iTunes will immediately start communicating. The iTunes program will run very slow to start with as it sets up new folders for your music collection. You may see a message Window in iTunes prompting you to start a new library for the phone, accept this by clicking yes.

Now close down iTunes.

Use Windows to return to My Documents\My Music
Delete the folder iTunes and rename the folder
iTunes_safe
back to
iTunes

You can now follow the instructions as per the Motorola instruction Manual.

There have been a few hiccups after I carried out this process. I find that deleting the file
iTunes Library.itl
in the version of iTunes that is causing the problem fixes this problem. You can find this file inside the My Music folder

Three days have passed and so far no more problems. Daughter is now delited with her Motorola and iTunes. I am investing in a wig 🙂

Windows XP

Windows XP

Windows XP

Reply

Answer 2

sandy7m Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 29, 2005 7:10 PM in response to sandy7m

Ok folks

Like me you have been pulling your hair out trying to get your music from iTunes to your Motorola. I have at last got something that works and hope that this method will work for all of you.

My environement -
Operating system: Windows Home XP
PC connection: 4 port USB hub connected to USB 1.1
Mobile: Motorola ROKR E1

I have used the naming conventions
iTunes_safe
and
iTunesROKR
You can use any other name in there place.

Read through the whole process once before commencing.

If you already have iTunes on your PC then you will first have to protect your music collection. Go to MyDocuments\My Music. Rename the folder
iTunes
to
iTunes_safe

Next you will have to creat a new folder in My Music called
iTunesROKR

Before commencing the remainder of the process ensure the Motorola is not plugged in to the PC and that all other programs and windows are closed.

Now take the iTunes installation disc that came with your Motorola and start installing the program to your PC. When the installation process asks which folder you want to place the iTunes program in do not take the suggested destination which is
Program Files/iTunes
Change the destination to
Program Files/iTunesROKR

Now continue with the installation until it is complete. Do not restart your PC just yet.

If you took the option of having a short cut placed in your desk top you will need to edit it so that it can be used for the Motorola/iTunes program. Rename the short cut to
iTunesROKR

Next, right click on the shortcut and click on the Shortcut tab. Check that the Target reads
"C:\Programme files\iTunesROKR\iTunes.exe"
Edit the target if it does not show this. Click on Apply then OK.

Now double click the short cut to ensure it starts up iTunesROKR

When iTunes opens click on the Edit tab, then Preferences, then Advanced. Click on Change to open the small browser window and click on the iTunesROKR folder in My Music. Click OK to save these changes.

It might be a good idea at this time to hard save all these changes by restarting your PC.

When the PC has restarted and the hard drive has stopped spinning connect the Motoral to your PC. Wait for Windows to finish the "Found New Device" process.

Next use the iTunesROKR short cut to open iTunesROKR.exe

Your Motorola and iTunes will immediately start communicating. The iTunes program will run very slow to start with as it sets up new folders for your music collection. You may see a message Window in iTunes prompting you to start a new library for the phone, accept this by clicking yes.

Now close down iTunes.

Use Windows to return to My Documents\My Music
Delete the folder iTunes and rename the folder
iTunes_safe
back to
iTunes

You can now follow the instructions as per the Motorola instruction Manual.

There have been a few hiccups after I carried out this process. I find that deleting the file
iTunes Library.itl
in the version of iTunes that is causing the problem fixes this problem. You can find this file inside the My Music folder

Three days have passed and so far no more problems. Daughter is now delited with her Motorola and iTunes. I am investing in a wig 🙂

Windows XP

Windows XP

Windows XP

Reply