3rd Gen iPod

[tristy]

Ive just brought an old iPod 3rd gen (the red led button one) from ebay as I used to love these iPods.

Technology has moved on a bit since then. Will this iPod sync over USB with my MacBook Pro running OSX Lion?

Also does this iPod play Apple Lossless files and Music from the iTunes store?

Thanks

[kern27615]

3rd gens only sync via firewire.

[yinyang]

As the above poster has mentioned, you'll need a firewire port to sync with the iPod. And it will play lossless files though I vaguely remember that they could tax the battery life a bit more than normal size music files. I haven't used mine in a very long time, though it does still work...! Those red LEDs were so cool

[kornchild2002]

There used to be a USB cable for syncing the 3G iPod. It actually went from a male 30-pin dock connector to a male USB 2.0 port and a male 6-pin FireWire port. It would sync through USB but the FireWire was for charging. I don't think the newer 30-pin dock connectors that go just to USB 2.0 will work with the 3G iPod.

It will also playback lossless files but, as previously mentioned, battery life is drastically decreased. Apple rated the 3G iPod for 8 hours of continuous playback but it would normally achieve about 5-6 hours in the real world. I remember testing lossless files once and it dropped the iPod's playback time down to a little under 3 hours. Lossless isn't required on a portable player anyway.

[Jesse Hollington]

Actually, you should be able to sync via USB with any Dock Connector cable -- the pins are all the same -- but you won't be able to actually charge the device without a FireWire cable or older charging dock.

The cable that kornchild2002 is referring to is described in Apple's Support Knowledgebase here. Unfortunately, Apple no longer sells it, but you may be able to find one if you shop around a bit on sites like eBay or other used electronics sites.

Failing that, you'll be pretty much stuck either having to go with a fully FireWire based solution (e.g. add a powered FireWire port to your computer), or charge and sync the iPod separately; use USB to sync it, and then plug it into a FireWire power source in order to charge it.

[kornchild2002]

I should also note that the USB+FireWire cable was a little different. You could use only one connection with the computer (USB), the FireWire portion went to a dedicated AC adapter that used a 6-pin FireWire port. Plugging both FireWire and USB ends of the cable into a computer would cause problems and I believe the iPod would sync and charge only through FireWire at that point.

[cayresc]

wow, perfect thread!

i too have resurrected an old 3rd gen ipod, and yes, usb-30pin adapter will transfer data, but not charge the device. when you compare its original firewire cable with a usb-30pin adapter, the fw's metal clip that seats into the ipod is taller than the newer usb-30pin metal clip. does that make sense?

anyway, i'm wanting to know if there is any way to run line out (bypass headphone amp) on this 3rd gen ipod while also charging it? any ideas?

think of those adapters that have a line out in addition to a mini usb port. but i'm assuming that would not work with this ipod - for one or more reasons.

anyone want to chime in?

[kornchild2002]

The newer mini-docks with USB connections should still work with the 3G iPod for outputting audio, you just won't be able to charge it. SendStation, the maker of the small black PocketDock that I currently use in my car (and it's been great), used to make the same thing but included a straight female 6-pin FireWire connection and line-out audio. I doubt they are making it anymore but you should be able to still find one online whether it is sold by a store (Amazon) or a person (Amazon Marketplace, eBay, etc.).

[Jesse Hollington]

Originally Posted by wilfredes

As the above poster has mentioned, you'll need a firewire port to sync with the iPod.

Actually, no... All iPods with a 30-pin Dock Connector have always supported USB for syncing. Only the first two generations of iPod were FireWire only, however these did not use a Dock Connector, but rather simply had an actual FireWire port directly on the device.

You need a FireWire port or power source to charge a third-generation iPod. There used to be a Dock Connector Y-cable available for the third-generation iPod that provided both a FireWire and USB connection; the FireWire for connecting to a wall adapter to charge the iPod and the USB end for syncing to a Windows PC (since most did not have FireWire ports).

Note also that it was not necessary to actually connect the third-generation iPod to an external power source merely to sync it, but the idea here was that many users would want to be able to charge and sync at the same time, rather than depleting the battery while syncing on a lot of tracks.

This cable was only ever necessary for the third-generation iPod, which was basically discontinued in 2004 with the release of the iPod mini and fourth-generation iPod models which supported FireWire and USB for both charging and syncing. Oddly enough, Apple only stopped selling the cable however in the past couple of years.

After that, FireWire support gradually made its departure from all iPod models, with the 2005 fifth-generation iPod and original iPod nano dropping FireWire sync support entirely, and the 2008 iPhone and iPod models dropping FireWire for charging. Today, only the iPod classic continues to charge over FireWire, and likely only because that particular device has remained almost unchanged since it was first released in 2007 -- the year before FireWire charging was dropped.