Syncing iPod to iTunes in VMWare Windows Guest

**phillywize** · January 15th, 2008

Originally Posted by airtonix

curious: you guys doing this becuase you like the user interface of appleOS on ipod? or you need the extras like vcard, ical and snazzy photo transitions?

i've replaced mine with rockbox, only thing todo now is to get the rockbox dev team making a vcard viewer and ical viewer.

wont need anything to do with apple apart from the ipod itself then.

ps: rockbox can zoom into jpeg images, whereas the appleOS cant.

as far as a i can see, only thing the appleOs has going for it is :

battery usage is efficient,
has vcard viewer
has ical viewer
photo viewer has transitions.
user interface feels like osx (tiger?)

Battery usage is a big issue for me.
Also, I use my 5.5G for video, which, as I understand it, is not smoothly or natively supported by Rockbox (though if I'm wrong, I'm wrong). Overall, I like the way iTunes works, and I like the way my iPod's native OS works. Also, I have some itunes downloads that won't work under Rockbox--though this wouldn't be a deal breaker. Finally, I really don't like Amarok, Banshee, gtkpod, etc. -- I don't like how they manage my collection...at all.

And while I'm thinking about it: most of my collection is in aac, and I'd like to stick with it, if only because of momentum. Not about to flip over to ogg, though I have nothing against it. The iTunes AAC encoder is pretty much the best consumer-level aac encoder out there, and moreover, FAAC-encoded AAC's have all kinds of compatibility issues...namely, the aac files that it produces don't have a quicktime envelope, and so aren't compatible with itunes or ipod (or something like that -- either way, faac aac's don't work in itunes)

I'm just plain happier with the closed-source itunes and ipod os.

**it_self** · January 26th, 2008

Hey, a bit late, but the idea just dawned on me a couple of days ago. Here's my situation:
I was dual booting XP and Ubuntu (7.10 now), but had internet issues. XP couldn't handle the usb 2.0 pcmcia card I put it, and therefore could not get on the net with the wifi card I was using. It would always overheat and die. Ubuntu could handle it, but couldn't sync with my iPod touch, nor activate it making it impossible for me to use youtube and other features.
Well, after some finagling, I managed to get XP corporate installed as a guest OS using VMWare's Workstation. I'm just using the 30 trial to set it up, and then the player should be able to manage everything from there. I haven't had any issues with windows to see the iPod. Aside from my old laptop taking a beating while processing a few things (it got up to 90 degree centigrade once), everything working like a charm and I'll be deleting that XP partition pretty soon. Not sad in the least to see it go.
Wonderful post, thanks for the info!

**rpkehoe** · January 26th, 2008

Hmmm, I wonder is there is better support in VMWare workstation for Ipods. If that is the case, I would suspect you might have trouble once you start using VMWare player or Server. I can't speak for everyone, but I think we have all been using Server since it is free.

I would suggest trying to boot your XP image in player before your workstation trial runs out. Let us know how it goes.

**phillywize** · February 3rd, 2008

So here's my sad story: that 5.5G I mentioned earlier, the one I had working with Win2k in VB...well, I went to get my drivers license renewed AND LEFT THE THING AT THE STATE OFFICE! AGH! I'M SUCH A MORON!

Anyhow, replaced it with a shiny new 6G...of course this is my cascade of misfortune: as detailed above, I was using 7.3.x.y in Windows 2000 because that's the last version of iTunes compatible with Win2k (I can grouse a bit about that, but understandable since it IS almost 10 years old). Well, the 6G's don't roll with 7.3...they require 7.4+.

After 7.4, iTunes doesn't work in Win2k.

And as I've said a few times here, can't get an iPod to sync under Win XP in VB or VM Server.

So there it is. I'm out of this game until VM or VB or whoever comes up with a fix.

In the meantime, I'm using Amarok to syn natively under linux. It's just not the same. You need a degree in computer science (which I do not have) to get it to work right. For cryin' out loud, I had to compile a library and manually link it to get my 6G to work under Amarok. That's no way to carry on with a glorified mp3 player. But I guess we're all going through the same kind of absurdity with trying to get iPods to sync on a virtual windows machine.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't...

I'm not going to dual boot windows just for my iPod though. At least not yet. Too much trouble.

**rpkehoe** · February 3rd, 2008

Sorry to hear about that, nothing like giving a few hundred more dollars to the DMV. Hopefully we will have more luck under VMWare 2, but for now I have found my solution. I have an old box on XP that I am VNC'nig into. Seems really silly to use a computer just for itunes, but that is where I am at right now.

**phillywize** · February 5th, 2008

Originally Posted by rpkehoe

Sorry to hear about that, nothing like giving a few hundred more dollars to the DMV. Hopefully we will have more luck under VMWare 2, but for now I have found my solution. I have an old box on XP that I am VNC'nig into. Seems really silly to use a computer just for itunes, but that is where I am at right now.

Yeah, I'm pretty much a sucker here. Is there any redeeming value to making a person's day by giving them an easy opportunity for petty dishonesty? On the one hand, I'd be pretty psyched to pick up an ipod for free; on the other, I'd like to think I'd turn it in. But hello...this is reality we live in. And come to think of it, I got my first ipod free, although I came by it honestly...one of those white 4G's from right around when they went from merely popular to legendary. So what goes around comes around. Can't get too upset about it.

Anyhow, I am going to haul out my old laptop, which is running XP natively, put vnc server on it, toss somewhere convenient, and do the same as you. I really can't stand another day of Amarok. I don't know what all the fuss is about -- it's probably good if you want to put some mp3's and a podcast or two on your mp3 player and only occasionally update it, but for me, with the way I'm accustomed to using my ipod, too many things don't quite work right, or don't work at all. To wit: video, photos, podcasts, synchronization, and (gasp) fairplay are all a problem with Amarok. I could live without the drm support, since it's mostly one-off impulse purchases from the itunes store, but the rest is important to me. Amarok isn't a disaster with podcasts, but it is clunky, and I follow dozens of podcasts and video podcasts (news junky). But enough.

I'll just keep my fingers crossed along with everyone else on this thread for a solution from VM, VB, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

**phillywize** · February 5th, 2008

Originally Posted by rpkehoe

Hmmm, I wonder is there is better support in VMWare workstation for Ipods. If that is the case, I would suspect you might have trouble once you start using VMWare player or Server. I can't speak for everyone, but I think we have all been using Server since it is free.

I would suggest trying to boot your XP image in player before your workstation trial runs out. Let us know how it goes.

While I'm at it...I have been VMWare using server (in addition to VBox). Tried the new beta version of server that's out -- the one that's all browser-based -- and went screaming back to 1.0.4. That browser interface is a bear. Hopefully the production version will be more refined. As I recall, I didn't have any luck syncing under it, either.

This workstation thing is intriguing though. I think there are many who haven't had any luck with it, however. Over on the VMWare forums, a band of iPod/iPhone users are pretty much in open revolt over VMWare's ongoing failure to release a fix. The scuttlebutt is that the company has a fix internally, but that the fix hasn't wended its way through the system. Posters have been getting nasty about the whole thing. Not sure what to make of it.

So it goes.