iTfW 7 - MacDrive - Mac-formatted iPod

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Level 6

13,426 points

iTfW 7 - MacDrive - Mac-formatted iPod

Well, I've encountered an unfortunate "bug" with iTunes for Windows.
With iTunes 6, I was able to use my Mac-formatted iPod on my Windows machine with the help of MacDrive.

Seems that iTunes 7 is no longer happy with this arrangement.
iTunes 7 throws up an error saying the iPod is Mac-formatted and can't be used with Windows until it is restored.

I've updated MacDrive to 6.1.4 and re-installed it. No luck so far.

Hopefully Apple and/or MacDrive can find a suitable "fix" for this scenario.
I know a lot of users have purchased MacDrive in order to use their Mac-formatted iPods with Windows. There will be a lot of disappointed users if this isn't resolved soon.

My fingers are crossed.

Posted on Sep 12, 2006 11:51 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 12, 2006 3:29 PM in response to Rich Fleming

I can can confirm this. I have the same problem.

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Answer 2

oznerol

Level 1

8 points

Sep 12, 2006 3:55 PM in response to Randall Bjorensen

Mediafour has released a hotfix for xplay that will supposedly fix the issue. I tried it, but still get the error.

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Answer 3

Chris CA

Level 10

82,525 points

Sep 12, 2006 3:57 PM in response to Rich Fleming

Is there any reason you are keeping your iPod formatted for Mac?

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Answer 4

Rich Fleming Author

Level 6

13,426 points

Sep 12, 2006 4:55 PM in response to Chris CA

Yes. I have a bootable clone of iMac on it.

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Answer 5

Chris CA

Level 10

82,525 points

Sep 12, 2006 6:08 PM in response to Rich Fleming

Didn't even notice it was you, Rich.

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Answer 6

Rich Fleming Author

Level 6

13,426 points

Sep 13, 2006 3:49 AM in response to Chris CA

No problem. It was still a valid question 🙂

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Answer 7

Sep 13, 2006 5:02 AM in response to Rich Fleming

Same problem with the "hotfix".

Why should iTunes CARE which format the iPod is in?

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Answer 8

Sep 13, 2006 5:16 AM in response to Chris CA

Mac at home, Windows at work. If I format it for Windows, then I can't update the iPod at home if I have to.

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Answer 9

feelo

Level 1

0 points

Sep 13, 2006 5:20 AM in response to Rich Fleming

Same problem here, glad I'm not the only one...

I'm running XP and Macdrive at work and OSX at home.

Macbook & iMac Mac OS X (10.4.7)

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Answer 10

Rich Fleming Author

Level 6

13,426 points

Sep 13, 2006 5:31 AM in response to Michael Gaines

Well, it shouldn't care at all. I have a feeling that this "problem" is the result of having the iPod Updater features built into iTunes now.

Since a Windows machine can not do a firmware update on a Mac-formatted iPod (even with MacDrive), it seems that iTunes is getting a bit "confused" as to what exactly it should do with a Mac-formatted iPod.

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Answer 11

Sep 13, 2006 5:37 AM in response to Rich Fleming

Oh, I know. It was a rhetorical question. I said to a friend of mine last night that iTunes is now too smart for itself. Why can't they allow Mac-formatted iPods to work and just say "oops, sorry, you can't UPDATE this iPod?" I think that would be a better solution. Now I have to decide to revert back to iTunes 6 so I can listen to my iPod at work.

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Answer 12

Rich Fleming Author

Level 6

13,426 points

Sep 13, 2006 5:45 AM in response to Michael Gaines

Oh, I know. It was a rhetorical question.
Got it. Something always gets lost in the translation from speech --> forum post. 🙂

Now I have to decide to revert back to iTunes 6 so I can listen to my iPod at work.
I will most likely do the same.

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Answer 13

Sep 13, 2006 6:08 AM in response to Rich Fleming

I WAS able to click on the "Xplay Folder" and play the tracks from there. They came up as odd track names in iTunes ("NVMR"), but they worked.

EDIT: The tracks with the odd names were WAV files. MP3s and AAC files had the correct titles.

EDIT 2: I was also able to directly drag the files from the Xplay folder into an iTunes playlist!

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Answer 14

Rich Fleming Author

Level 6

13,426 points

Sep 13, 2006 6:16 AM in response to Michael Gaines

Oooh... progress!
Nice work.

(I don't have Xplay, however.)

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Answer 15

Sep 13, 2006 6:20 AM in response to Rich Fleming

It's the best workaround I could thing of. Not the best solution, but it allows people to still use iTunes 7 and Xplay until a proper solution comes along.

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