Using iPod Mini with Mac and PC

Has anyone had any experience switching back and forth between a Mac and a PC with the iPod? I've only used a Mac with my iPod Mini, but I will be taking a business trip and will be taking my PC laptop. I'd like to be able to recharge the iPod battery and access the playlists located on the PC while traveling, but when the iPod was connected to the laptop, I got a message stating that the iPod would need to be reformatted--something I hadn't thought about before. I didn't reformat it, because I wanted to check to see if anyone had any experiences with problems due to back and forth reformatting. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks so much for the info! I wasn't aware of that.
iMac G5 20 inch 2GHz 1 GB DDR SDRAM Mac OS X (10.4.3)

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Ipod sync with mac and PC?

When my old PC died at Christmas I chose to replace it with a MacBook. I have transferred all my music onto my new Mac, but all of the .wmp files, of course, won't play in itunes. I thought I could use my IPOD as a hard disc to save all these songs, take them to my PC at work and upload them into itunes, which will automatically convert them into workable files (.avi?). I could then resave them in this new format on my IPOD, and then upload them back onto my Mac. Will this work??? Can an Ipod be used interchangeably with a Mac and a PC?
Thanks so much!
New to Macs and loving it!

Can an Ipod be used interchangeably with a Mac and a PC?
Yes, when the iPod is formatted for the PC. Note that the Windows version of iTunes will not convert protected WMA content.
(28496)

I used ipod between a Mac and a PC - oops

I have been using my 5th gen video iPod (firmware 1.3) with my PC running XP and iTunes 7.2.6.9. Recently I purchased a Macbook and wanted to load my tunes onto it, so I plugged in my iPod and transferred purchases. For several weeks I was able to do this with no problem. I manually managed the songs on the Mac while using my PC as my primary (synching) computer for the iPod. But now suddenly my iPod will not sync with the PC. It has given me a variety of boo-boo boxes as I've tried to correct it by restoring and updating and such. Diagnostics say the connection is fine and the device is working properly. But basically it's saying it can no longer write to the iPod disk. Is there anything else I can do?

Understandable. I was suggesting that to see if it's an issue with the iPod or with your PC. In your post when you said that you attempted to fix the issue via restore, did the restore complete successfully or did you receive an error message?
Try the steps in this article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1207
CG

Use iPod speaker with mac mini

I've inherited a legacy system. I would like to have the sound I'm playing on my mac mini come out of the Brookstone speaker I have for my iPod.
Yes, the Brookston is connected to my Mac mini.

If the Brookstone speakers are bluetooth then just pair them with the Mini and select output to the speakers.
You may have to reset/unpair the speakers from the iPod first.

URGENT!! How can I use ipod both on mac and windows

im using the new 5th gen video ipod. I have ibook and ipod is formated for mac but i need to use to atleast store data from windows pc in college how should i do that?? when connecvted to win Pc it says it needs to be formated. please help??

Install a program such as this one on the PC; you can then transfer files to the iPod on the PC.
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What format to use for compatibility with Mac and PC

Hi!
Just created an HD video in FCPX v10.1.
Is there a sharing option that I can use to get a video file that can be read both on a Mac (Quicktime) and on a PC (Windows Media Player)?
Thanks
Yvon

Avid has a free codec called DNxHD. Sort of an alternative to ProRes. It's the only usable one I've found for jumping between PC and Mac systems. It makes very large files however, which is a hassle but not a deal-breaker. (You can control the file size: 8-bit vs 10-bit, etc.).
I use it for workflow issues, before final render, however. If you just want to render a final product that is used on all systems, then h264 / mp4 is your best bet, like others have said.
If you really need a final version that is uncompressed, then DNxHD works. But the codec has to be installed on the user's computer.

Ipod mini with OS 9

Just bought an ipod mini for my daughter's birthday thinking if I had itunes it should work in spite of not having OS X. I was wrong. I currently have OS 9.2.2. Does anyone have suggestions for a fix other than what I'm doing now, taking it to work to download from a PC (how embarassing, attaching a Mac product to a PC) or upgrading to OS X? Please help.

You can't use an iPod mini with Mac OS 9. First and second generation full-size iPods will work with Mac OS 9's iTunes, as will third generation full-size iPods which are running version 2.0x of the firmware.
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How to format flash drive to be compatible with Mac and PC

Hey guys, I was stupid and formatted my 8G flash drive to a different format by accident. Not FAT32 which it was originally. It originally worked find with my Mac and PC. I can't get it back now. I went into Disk Utility and the only way I can format it back is to MS-DOS(FAT) and all the other Apple formats. When I erase it to MS-DOS(FAT) and plug it into my PC it comes up and wants to format it to a 200MB FAT32 patition?? How can I solve this? Thanks

Hi,
FAT32 (called MS-DOS in OSX Disk Utility) is the file system to use for compatibility with Mac and PC.
The "200MB partition" message you get also indicates that you changed the partition scheme on the flash drive to GPT (GUID Partition Table).
Use Disk Utility to verify this and if needed change the partition scheme back to MBR (Master Boot Record).
Regards
Stefan

Ipod mini for mac to pc

hello everybody i apology in advance for my question but ive read through the forum and i cant find an answer.
i have ipod mini for mac and im going to give it as a present to my cousin, now she has a pc and i dont know if it will work..can anybody tell me?
thanks

I'm not really sure why they asked you that question really.
There's a difference in file systems between Mac and PC and Windows cannot read the Mac system, hence the need to reformat it.
When the mini was first realeased it could be that iPods were pre formatted for each system (I can't really remember), so that's why they asked you.
Nowadays, they're all Windows formatted out of the box.

IPod mini with lost/damaged firmware... and cannot be restored.

My iPod mini is messed-up, but I've figured some things out. I get the exclamation folder but only when it is unplugged. It still shows up as an iPod mini in iTunes and I can still load it with files. I tried to restore it using the updater and it says it has the latest update, 1.4.1. But when I try to use it on its own I get the exlamation point folder, which means a software/firmware problem. I tried simply restoring it, but that didn't help. I erased it using the disk utility and then restored it but again works fine as a recognized iPod in iTunes but shows me the folder when unplugged. My guess is that the firware that runs the actual playing of the files has been removed or corrupted, but the part of the iPod that remembers which version was last updated in order for iTunes to know know whether or not to update is still intact.
My bet is that all I need to do is re-install the firmware but it won't let me because it says the iPod is up to date. I even tried re-installing iTunes, and removing the iPodDriver.kext file so that the iPod would not have a history on my computer but for some reason the brilliant updater wanted to install the wrong update; it was for a really old firewire iPod.
I know that something is missing because my iPod, as a drive, when viewed in a windows does not have those "contact" and "calendar" folders anymore.
I could just wait for a new update but that will probably be months away.
Any adivice would be appreciated.
iPod Mini 4GB Mac OS X (10.4.7)

mnd,
Make sure you only have the latest version of the iPod Updater on your computer. They are usually found in Applications -> Utilities -> iPod Software Updater. Use the latest 2006-06-28 updater in that folder and even if it says it is 'up to date' click Restore.
Nikki

Old iPod mini with a new iMac using a different iTunes library

I just bought a new iMac (never before owned one). I have an iPod mini with a bunch of music on it that I downloaded from a library on an IBM, which I no longer have. How can I transfer all of the music that is currently on my iPod mini to the library in iTunes of my brand new iMac? I can't seem to find any options that allow me to do this. It looks like I can only erase my iPod memory and replace with the Library on my iMac, which is currently empty. Please tell me that I don't have to re-create a new libray on my iMac.
Thanks for your help.

Thanks for the information. I just got done with the iPod. I was able to use Senuti to dowload all of the contents of my iPod into iTunes and then update my iPod mini's software and reload all of the songs back onto the iPod. It was freakin' awesome!!
You really saved me a huge headache and a boatload of time!!
Thanks again!!!

I burnt a dvd from a file I exported from quicktime using the share with apple and pc option. It was burnt directly from the finder. The dvd works perfectly on my mac, and also runs in my windows, but the sound in my windows pc is stammered.

This is file I created in SnapzPro (which was saved as a Quicktime mov - Animation) of a Powerpoint Presentation.

Jon, how do I re-compress the Snapz data for dvd playback?
That depends on your specific work flow strategy. I normally perform the processing in two stages if editing is involved or in a single stage if I don't plan to trim, title, add a narration track, add special effects, and/or add filters to the Snapz Pro X captured screen data.
In the two-stage process you export the captured data to an intermediate low-compression, high-quality fomat. (This can be the default settings for Snaps Pro X or a more modern editing specific format like ProRes 422/Linear PCM depending on the codec components for which your system is configured and your personal editing preferences.) The Snapz Pro X intermediate file is then edited in the application of your choice and the results are re-compressed to your final target compression format.
In any case, whether you are re-compressing the data using QT 7 Pro, iMovie, GarageBand, MPEG Streamclip, Snapz Pro X, or similar third-party app that accesses the built-in OS X QT routines, the export process is essentially the same. Whether you use a "Movie to MPEG-4" or "Movie to QT Movie" export, you must export to a data rate limited, multi-pass H.264/AAC compression combination to take advantage of the "Optimize of CD/DVD" option. Specific data rate limits depend on the playback dimensions of the file you are creating, the minimum level of quality you will accept, and the playback speed of the hardware to be used. (I normally target 4X-8X settings for SD content but if you know the recipient has a higher rated optical drive and your content is HD, then you can use higher encode settings for improved quality.)
I captured the slideshow again in Snapz, and saved it as H264/AAC. Is this good enough?
If you did not specifically use the "Optimize for..." feature, then the file is automatically targeted for "Computer" playback which assumes playback is from an hard drive which has greater bandwidth/faster throughput than an optical media player. If the target display dimensions are resonably small, the the contextual nature of the H.264 video encoder may or may not be within the playback limitations of an optical drive usually depending on the encode matrix dimensions, graphic complexity of the source data, overall brightness of the scenes, and limitations you may have place on the target file—i.e., the larger the encoding dimensions, the faster the data date and the less likely the file will be compatible with optical drive playback without having to constantly interrupt playback to cache/rebuffer additional data. However, you can always tell the recipient that if this happens, he or she should simply copy the movie file from the CD/DVD to their hard drive for playback.
What now? Do I open it in Quicktime and use the "share for mac and pc", then right-click on it in the finder and "burn to disc?"
What you do next depends on how you plan to burn the file. The steps explained above allows you to create a file that is compatible with playback from an optical drive in a QT Player app but is not authored for playback from a commercial DVD Player. Your next step is to burn that file to an optical disc that can be read by your recipient's computer. I my case, I normally burn the disc using a hybrid (HFS Plus/ISO 9660) format which supports HFS Plus, ISO-9660, Rock Ridge, and Joliet with Rock Ridge file systems. How you do this is up to you. You can, for instance, use a third-party app like Toast or Dragon Burn to create a data disc; create/burn an image file with your Disk Utility app (this is a good option if you plan to burn several discs now and/or in the future); create a named "Burn" folder, drop the file to it, and press the burn button; or simply insert a blank optical media disc into you optical drive, change the default disc name to whatever you want, drop your file to the blank media's Finder window, and press the "Burn" button. (NOTE: Burn options may differ depending on the software installed on your system and/or the version of OS X under which you may be operating.)
Dont see any specs re playback from an optical disc drive? The slideshow is only 3 min long, and I want to avoid turning it into a video DVD using iDVD, iMovie etc, as the quality of the pictures and type degrades badly. Thanks for the help. Been struggling with this for weeks.
As noted above, this is an encode setting that only becomes active when you are targeting your H.264/AAC encode for multi-pass/data rate limited compression. When active, the "Optimize for..." pop-up allows you to select "computer" (targets playback from a hard drive), "CD/DVD" (targets playback from optical media), or "Streaming" (targets playback from a realtime streaming server) options. This option prevents data rate excursions from exceeding limits normally associated with each of the named types of playback. This option has nothing to do with the file system used to burn the media disc which determines which platforms/OS can read the disc and the file it contains.

Using my iPod on a Mac and a PC in parallel - is it possible?

Is it possible to use the same iPod nano on two computers, one a Mac, the other a PC (Vista)? I was using my iPod till now on my Mac but got recently a PC. I've downloaded iTunes on the PC and it does recognize my iPod when connected, but tells me that I should reconfigure it for Windows. However, I don't want to loose the possibility of using my iPod with my Mac.....

Macs will recognize iPods formatted for Mac and for Windows. Windows will ONLY recognize iPods formatted for Windows. So, you could always restore your iPod on your Windows computer (which would delete everything on it and reformat it for Windows) and still use it on your Mac. You would need to manually manage your content. The only potential drawback to this is that all software/firmware updates would need to be done on the Windows computer.
Best of luck.

Can I use a Ipod Mini with the Nike running chip?!

I'm looking at buying a Ipod Mini, but I was told that it might not work with the chip in my running shoes from Nike! Is there anyone who knows if this is true or not!!

Can I use a Ipod Mini with the Nike running chip?!
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When syncing ipod touch with mac, where are my contacts and notes stored on the computer?

I lost all the notes on my ipod touch..
When syncing the ipod touch with mac, where are these files stored.
i.e. contacts and notes?

It's all stored here.
User > Library > Application Support > MobileSync > Backup
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Using iPod Mini with Mac and PC

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