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View Full Version : Quest to get iPod to work on Linux


sraphim
06-19-2003, 01:45 AM
A few days ago, I finally got an iPod (10GB model, not too fanatical about the accessories), but apparently, the challenge was not really getting the money to purchase it, but rather, to transfer the songs onto it. This was a nightmarish scenario that proved to be even more frustrating than most people with MMJB.

I tried using the instructions on how to get the iPod working on Linux with EphPod - here (http://www.cs.duke.edu/~geha/ipod/)

First of all, I'm using a relatively old version of Linux (SuSE 7.3, Kernel version 2.4.10), and it has _very_ poor FireWire support, where it dosen't even identify the iPod as a mass storage device. Each time I tried to load the SBP2 module (it lets you mount the iPod), the system would freeze, and I would have to log in remotely to kill the insmod process.

Then, I tried using the newest version, 2.4.21. It seemed to work, and it had really good FireWire support, however, the SBP2 module was so messed up that it just would not work all the way. It detects the device fine, however, it never mounts the device as an SCSI hard disk (which is required for this to work)

After trying over like 6 times, enabling and disabling options as I recompiled the kernel (each time takes nearly an hour to do a complete configuration + compiliation), I decided to use the kernel that the person on the aforementioned page was using, 2.4.19. After configuring it... again, it compiled, booted, and worked perfectly. The SBP2 module worked well, so did FireWire support. I then used WINE (windows emulator) to run EphPod, and everything went smoothly from there, nearly 12 hours of working time later.

The moral of the story is, that getting an iPod to work on Linux isn't really that difficult, that is, if you're using an up to date distribution, like RedHat 8.0, SuSE 8.2, or Mandrake 9. It is also ironic how newer versions of the Linux kernel screw up things that were fixed in the previous versions.

Now, does that sound like a worse or less painful ordeal than getting iPod to work with MMJB?

RollerMog
06-19-2003, 01:43 PM
MMJB is the devil. I'm a computer idiot, and I'd rather go through getting a 'pod to work on Linux than with MMJB. Thank god for EphPod! Good post, sraphim!

plattypus1
06-25-2003, 07:41 PM
Hi! I'm a Linux user, Slackware 9, kernel v. 2.4.20 and I want to buy an iPod. However, I can't stand WINE... are there native tools to copy/edit files on the iPod?

sraphim
06-29-2003, 12:51 AM
Originally posted by plattypus1
Hi! I'm a Linux user, Slackware 9, kernel v. 2.4.20 and I want to buy an iPod. However, I can't stand WINE... are there native tools to copy/edit files on the iPod?

Yeah, there are many out there. If your'e for simplicity and just want a couple of console utilities, use Gnupod, which is avaliable at http://www.gnu.org/software/gnupod/

There are two other GUI based software titles for Linux as well:
GTKpod - http://gtkpod.sourceforge.net/
GUIpod (QT based) - http://guipod.sourceforge.net/

and then there's even a java based one, which should be usable on a number of platforms -
http://mypod.sourceforge.net/

There are many more titles for Linux that let you sync with the iPod, but after going around, I think that EphPod is probably the best. Though its not that reliable under WINE (then again, what is?), and even though it's slower than the others, I like the interface more, and it downloads the news and puts them in notes as well. I don't think I found any other piece of software that can do that.