What is the oldest version of iTunes on which one can update an iPod and does it run on pre-Intel Macs?

1. It depends on the iPod.

2. iTunes 10.6.3 and earlier will run on PowerPC Macs.

(138965)

What is the actual question? Are you thinking about getting a iPod (new or used), to use with an older Mac?

My PowerPC Mac with OS X Leopard (10.5.8) has iTunes 10.6.3. My PowerPC Mac with OS X Tiger (10.4.11) has iTunes 9.6.3. They are the latest iTunes for those versions of OS X, and none of the currently sold iPod models are supported. However, iPods go back all the way to 2001; a few models were around when Mac OS 9 was still supported for iTunes.

Apple stops supporting hardware after 5 years (that's official). So basically it stopped supporting software for PPC computers roughly back in 2010. Some features of iTunes for PPC may still work with Apple services but that's more or less luck. Old iTunes will work with old iPods but if they are calling upon current Apple services such as software installers even those old iPods are likely falling off the support map if they are older than 5 years. As for the G4, Apple stopped supporting those back in 2010 and stopped supporting Tiger OS even before then.

There is apparently an issue with Intel processors and the boards on the 4G Classics...

I have a 4th gen iPod, with a 64GB CF card on an adapter. I use an Intel Mac mini with the latest OS X and lTunes. I don't have a problem with completing a Restore on that iPod.

using Firewire cables of course

If you are using FireWire to connect a 4th gen iPod to your Mac, when doing a Restore, it will not ask you connect it to a power adapter at all. It only does that if you are using USB to connect your 4th gen iPod, when doing the Restore.

But on to what appears to the the actual problem...

Selecting "Check for Updates" or "Restore" always results in this error message: "iPod software update server could not be contacted"... Does Apple still support iPod Update and Restore functions on pre-Intel hardware?

I recently did a Restore using my PowerPC Mac with Leopard on my even older 3rd gen iPod (also with 64GB CF card); I use my PowerPC Mac for that Restore because 3rd gen iPod must connect with FireWire for doing a Restore. It worked, but my iTunes is 10.6.3.

That's not necessarily true. The current version of OS X is officially supported for the 2007 iMac, and other Mac models older than 5 years. iTunes Match is officially supported back to the version of iTunes ("10.5.2 or later") that works with PowerPC Macs running Leopard. iTunes Match also works with on my iPhone 3GS (from 2009) running iOS 6.x ("iOS 5.0.1 or later"). A better statement is that Apple typically supports hardware for at least 5 years.

Also, even if something is not "officially" supported anymore, that does not mean it stops working... 🙂

Vintage and obsolete products - https://support.apple.com/HT201624

Hardware can have an effective lifespan of about 10 years. Apple's OS upgrades will stretch back 5 years. Other Apple software will often but not always stretch back to OS versions about 5 years. So my G4 made in 2002 for OS9/10.0 could continue to update OS up to 10.5 which was replaced by OSX 10.6 in 2009. iTunes support for OSX 10.5 continues through to iTunes 10.6.3. Apple stopped all support for that in 2014 but iTunes 10.7 was released in 2011 so if I had bought an iPod in 2011 I could not expect it to work with my G4 since Apple typically makes i-devices require whatever iTunes version is current at the time of sale. Anyway, that's about 9 years effective lifespan as long as a person was able to update. I also kind of feel this timespan has shortened with newer computers. Certainly we just saw a spate where all owners of mid-2008 and earlier computers were cut off from iTunes 12.3 and iOS9 present on all new devices requires 12.3. That's 7 years, down from 9. Newer computers have soldered in components and cannot be upgraded as easily as older machines to meet the requirements of newer OS versions even if technically they can run it. I was given a MacBook with 2GB RAM running Mavericks and when I checked "About This Mac" it said I had about enough RAM left to run TextEdit and that's it. Fortunately I was about to upgrade and that computer is now happily running 8 years after manufacture but I don't think we will be seeing as many newer computers doing that.

However, not all software is as supportive as iTunes and Apple's official policy is hardware support for 5 years so while one often gets more time there's no guarantee that all support features will be available for that duration. It seems to me not long ago a bunch of iPad owners were fussing that a new iOS version cut off their 4 year old iPads.

That document is about hardware servicing (as in repairs). The first sentence says, "Owners of iPhone, iPad, iPod, or Mac products may obtain service and parts from Apple or Apple service providers for 5 years after the product is no longer manufactured." That is irrelevant for this topic.

For software, support can go in either direction. Software support is mostly based on the ability of the hardware to adequately run the software, not some arbitrary time limit. My examples in last post show examples when Apple is officially supporting hardware for MUCH longer than five years. The latest OS X officially runs on the 2007 iMac because it can. But it can be much shorter than five years too. For example, some iPhones models are sold as NEW for three years. I can still buy an iPhone 5S (released in 2013) as a new iPhone (in 2016). That does not mean the latest version of iOS in 2021 will run on an iPhone 5S, because Apple has some "official policy." It may; it may not. Apple will provide service to fix my new iPhone for at least 5 years, but that's unrelated to software support. iPhone 3G was sold as new until June 2010. The last version of iOS that supports it is 4.2.1, release in November 2010. iOS 4.3, release in March 2011, does not support iPhone 3G. That's less than one year, probably the shortest time that a new Apple computing product was supported with the latest version of OS.

For your PowerPC Mac running Leopard and iTunes 10.3.1... That error message usually means there is a server-related problem. The service may have been down at Apple's end when you tried. Have you tried again since then? NOTE: Restore may have worked on your Intel-based Mac for the shuffle, because the iPod's software package was previously downloaded, so it was not necessary to access Apple's servers this time.

4th Classics work well with this system as too - update and restore work but you can't fully restore the device.

You should be able to fully Restore using your Intel-based Mac. Is this the problem you described, where the iPod does not complete the Restore process when connected to a power adapter? Are you using an Apple power adapter? It can be USB or FireWire. However, third-party power adapters often do not work for this purpose (although normal charging works). If that final step is the problem, try this... Connect a 4th gen iPod to your Intel-based Mac and do a Restore. When the iPod's screen says to connect it to a power adapter, connect it to your PowerPC Mac using a FireWire connection instead. Since a FireWire connection does not require the connect to power adapter step during Restore, you should be able to move pasted that screen.

It's encouraging to hear someone has had success with this project (the iPod/CF card).

On that other topic, I think your choice of 32GB CF card may be a better fit for these older iPods. I occasionally have a problem, when playing the iPod, where songs start to skip continuously (current song to next song to next song...). I have to use the "sleep" command (press-hold Play/Pause button) to make it stop doing that, and work properly again (after I wake it up). I wanted 64GB so that my complete iTunes library, currently a bit over 50GB, would fit.

My current theory for cause is the amount of RAM the iPod has for operation. The iPod's software creates an index of all songs (including the song's information like name, artist, album, etc.) that it keeps in active memory, which it uses during operation. Because there are significantly more songs than expected for an originally 20GB iPod, the total song data needed for operation (sometimes) exceeds the limits of the iPod's RAM and that index becomes corrupted in some way. I may experiment, where I keep a progressively lower number of songs on iPod, to see if this problem goes away. The difficulty is that the problem occurs only occasionally (which I suppose is a good thing).

Previously, back when CF cards were much more expensive, I did testing on the setup (and adapter) using an 8GB CF card (as my "proof of concept" before buying a more expensive CF card). I actually used it that way for more than one year. I never encountered this problem.

I have a "parts donor" iPod that is 4th gen. I put a working 15GB hard drive in it, connected it to my PowerMac G5 running Leopard and iTunes 10.6.3 (last supported version for PowerPC), using a FireWire connection. I was able to Restore it. Then, I realized iTunes probably had access to a previously downloaded iPod software package for 4th gen iPod. So I removed those files and tried Restore again. This time, iTunes clearly downloaded the iPod's software package, and proceeded to perform the Restore, which completed successfully. Because the connection was FireWire, there was no need to connect iPod to a power adapter to complete the process.

If you want to try copying the downloaded iPod software package from your Intel Mac to the PowerPC Mac running Leopard, the files are located at

[startup disk]/Users/[user account name]/Library/iTunes/iPod Software Updates/

NOTE: In current OS X, the user's Library folder is hidden. To go there, from Finder's menu bar, Go -> Go to Folder, and enter ~/Library. Then follow rest of the path.

After completing the Restore, these were the files at that location (on my Power Mac G5). The second one may have been generated on the Mac when I performed the Restore (not something that was downloaded from Apple).

iPod_10.3.1.1.ipsw

iPod_10.3.1.1.ipsw.signature

If you can find these files (or at least the first one) on your Intel Mac and copy them to the PowerPC Mac to the same location, you may be able to perform the Restore on your 4th gen iPod without connecting to Apple to download.

the CF-installed 4th iPod will not finish the process, whether plugged into a Firewire adapter or one of the Firewire ports on my PowerBook.

It should work with your Intel Mac, and it seems like the Mac is doing its part. Perhaps it's the CF modification that is causing the problem. If you do the same thing using one of your other 4th gen iPods (that has its stock hard drive), does it still not work on that last connect to power adapter step of the Restore?

Glad it finally worked... 🙂