HaveBlue

Hey all!
I searched Google but didn't really find what I was looking for.

Does anyone know of a way I can hack my Ipod Nano so it isn't proprietary? In other words, I would like to be able to use it with Windows Media instead of strictly iTunes. If not, does anyone have any other suggestions for uses of a 4GB Ipod Nano? My dad bought it for me last Christmas. It works fine, but I've gotten used to using my 40GB Toshiba Gigabeat more.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Alan

ebelen1

I don't know if you can do this but what you can do is manually have Itunes convert your wma files to mp3 or aac format. It's as easy as dragging and dropping your wma files into Itunes. Itunes does all the work.

By doing this manually, you do not mess up your original files; just create new files.

04 Rocko Taco

Give it to me?

HaveBlue

Except for purchased/protected music. It won't let me convert those. So, out of frustration, I formatted the whole thing and wiped it clean. I may just use it as a storage device.

ScubaDuck

$20 program lets you re-record purchased music into MP3 format for use on ipods.

www.tunebite.com

I decline to comment on legal issues.

-Scubaduck

goatboy22382

I believe that there is also a freeware program that will strip play for sure DRM. you should be able to find something on google.

KyleT

BURN TO CD, then use an mp3 rip program to rip from cd to mp3, then add to itunes. other than a detagging program, this seems to be the only way. i dont remember the name of the program though

midiwall

Ummm... this is a REALLY edgy topic for YT. Yes, you paid for it, yes you should be able to use it how you want to, but there are other places on the 'net that are better suited for finding this info.

That said, I might suggest that folks wander over to the Doom9 forums, and maybe wander the threads in the Decrypting forum, and then maybe happen to find a thread titled "FairUse4WM".

Here's a head start:
http://forum.doom9.org/forumdisplay.php?f=9

Elvota

Try this software:

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/

I have used it and it works pretty well. Had problems on a Windows 98Se desktop computer... but the I-Pod I have already has a bigger hard drive then the ancient desktop in question... so I can't really complain.

I will say, their customer service is absolutely non-existent. I have sent several E-Mails with questions and never had a response. They do have a free trialware version to give you an idea what it can do.

It uploads any Mp3, photo, or data to your I-Pod. You then can create playlists, slideshows, etc just like normal. I used the software to backup my desktop, add all my songs as well as pics.

tulsa_97SR5

you can load a different firmware on there, rockbox. I just did this with a 2gb nano my dad gave up on trying to figure out. The firmware is open source, so it's under constant development. I've had a few hiccups so far. It won't work with any of the proprietary music services, but plays just about any format, mp3, ogg, flac, etc. It will show up on about any pc as usb storage also. They are working on video.

If you follow the install instructions it has you back up the ipod firmware first, in case you ever want to revert to itunes etc.

Oh, and it comes with a bunch of games, including doom.

midiwall

fwiw...

• Rockbox is here: http://www.rockbox.org
  
  
• They JUST got real DualBoot working on the iRiver H10. Given that the core processor and OS is the same as the iPod, it should migrate to that port fairly quick. Point being that having a backup of the original image won't be a requirement for ever.
  
  
• Video will be interesting.. We couldn't get enough throughput out of the chip when we did the original OS to do anything reasonable. But...
  
  
• ...but, getting video to work will hinge on them really firing up the 2nd core, which they're also working on.
  
  
• There are VERY FEW people working on the ports. They have a priority schedule that's based on getting the core running on more platforms/processors versus tweaking the bajeezus out of the ports that exist.
  
  
• DRM support (for AAC and WMA) is coming - but see the previous point regarding priority.

These guys are doing some amazing work. It's really wild to watch then undo what took us a year+ to create - and we had full dev support. They're learning without the hardware docs and only through reverse engineering.


edit: "we" is PortalPlayer. I and 5 other guys wrote the core OS for the chip that's in the iPod, various iRiver boxes, Creative boxes, Samsung boxes, etc...

tulsa_97SR5

not too hijack, at least not too much, but DAMN props to you midi. I think iriver has put out the best media player so far, I love my H320. It just stinks that apple has such a monopoly that all the other players are giving up and heading to other countries.

midiwall

thanks!

fwiw #2, I did the database engine from scratch; part of the core file system; designed the ID3 & WMA tag reader; did some of the "internationalization" code and worked on the core OS interrupt framework.

Apple specific: we had "a lot" of the core components running when Apple came to us in May of "That Year", and they shipped the iPod in time for the Christmas rush. It was a helluva schedule to hit. A good buddy of mine was The Guy (as in, THE guy) that wrote the original code to make the iPod wheel what it is today.