Ipod Touch

Benedict_White · 2010-11-03 00:10:42

OK, here is the scenario...

I work in IT, and use Linux quite a bit. When I get home, I may need access to a working computer, and I really don't want to have to fix it, especially if the kids have just broken it.

So... all the computers in my house run Linux. IPCop on the firewall, and Arch on the mailserver and desktop.

Now my oldest son wants an Ipod touch for Christmas, and his grandfather may well buy it for him.

What software compatibility issues am I likely to have to deal with?

I do not want to go WiFi (that can be hacked) but I may well need access to Itunes,

GogglesGuy · 2010-11-03 00:35:09

Difficult scenario.

If it's just for listening to music, perhaps a more linux friendly device may suffice. Like the cowons: http://www.jetaudio.com/, which have better audio playback quality as well. Amazon MP3 provides a nice alternative to buy digital music and works well with Linux. Other stores exists as well, like www.livephish.com.

Personally I would have bought an ipod long ago if Apple only allowed people to put their music on the device without requiring itunes. But since they didn't, I went with a cowon.

But I'm guessing your son is also interested in the other uses of the ipod touch (gaming, app store access, web browsing). In that case, the ipod touch is the only viable option.

Syncing music from Linux will probably work depending on the firmware version of the device with http://www.libimobiledevice.org/.

Now here comes the bad part (correct me if I'm wrong). You still need iTunes.

Which means you still need access to Windows or Mac. You cannot update the device firmware without i-tunes and I believe you still need to activate the device as well through i-tunes. You may get around it by putting Windows on a virtual machine. Same story with the iPad. They married the devices to i-tunes, thus force you to use Windows or Mac.

Last edited by GogglesGuy (2010-11-03 00:35:22)

tomk · 2010-11-03 06:46:46

iTunes in a Windows VM works fine - I sync my Ipad that way, running XP in Virtualbox on Arch.

Benedict_White · 2010-11-03 08:57:04

So what we are saying is that Apple sucks (after all who are they to tell us what we can run on our computers) and I should get him to think very carefully and preferably get something else.

I suspect its the apps he wants.

tomk · 2010-11-03 09:30:28

It seems to be fashionable around here to say Apple sucks, if that's what you mean. The other way of looking at it is that Apple is a company with some phenomenally successful products, and this is the business model that they have chosen. I'd be the first to say that having to use iTunes is a major pain in the ass, but linux users like us are not their target market.

valvet · 2010-11-03 09:43:46

tomk wrote:

iTunes in a Windows VM works fine - I sync my Ipad that way, running XP in Virtualbox on Arch.

Syncing works fine, yes - but I do recall that updating your iPhone/iPod through Qemu/vbox/etc. breaks it because of some usb passthrough in Linux? Worth investigating - but then again, how many times do you actually update your iPhone/iPod.

If you need to update, you could always fine some random Windows PC anyway.

Last edited by valvet (2010-11-03 09:44:13)

tomk · 2010-11-03 10:24:45

Everything works fine for me, including OS updates. Of course, you have to make sure that your chosen VM app supports USB, and that no linux drivers take over the device when it's plugged in.

Benedict_White · 2010-11-03 10:29:53

TomK, whilst we are not their target market, my son is!

So I could run a virtual box, and use it as a sandbox? (I don't want the kids to use anything other than Linux at home, that way it works when I get home!)

tomk · 2010-11-03 11:31:05

Clearly, Apple needs to rethink their strategy - they have not allowed for the possibility that dedicated linux users might have kids.

Yes, virtualbox works fine for this purpose.

Benedict_White · 2010-11-03 11:43:22

LOL! That made me smile!

GogglesGuy · 2010-11-03 12:33:54

tomk wrote:

It seems to be fashionable around here to say Apple sucks, if that's what you mean. The other way of looking at it is that Apple is a company with some phenomenally successful products, and this is the business model that they have chosen. I'd be the first to say that having to use iTunes is a major pain in the ass, but linux users like us are not their target market.

Well, they do, but that's besides the point. Running Windows in a VM is probably the best solution.
But what if you don't own a copy of Windows. Your ipod suddenly became $200 more expensive (non-upgrade copy of Windows 7). And then we're lucky there are now free VMs available. Otherwise you would probably be shelling out an extra $100 for that as well. Pretty damn expensive.

ChoK · 2010-11-03 13:08:34

Gtkpod works nice for music/video/photos stuff, but for app you need itunes. Did you look into wine and itunes co;patibility?

Benedict_White · 2010-11-03 14:26:02

i have never played with Wine. Is it any good?

anonymous_user · 2010-11-03 22:01:32

iirc USB devices (like the iPod) cannot connect through Wine. The VM is a better option anyhow.

Last edited by anonymous_user (2010-11-03 22:01:53)

foxmike · 2010-11-10 17:17:23

Beware that the latest round of idevices are quite badly supported right now, so that for any syncing (music, videos, etc) it requires a VM, at least until the great libgpod get updated. On another hand, when the music is transferred (on a 32 GB for me at least, all my music is now on the ipod), there is no need to hook it in a computer, really. All apps and other files can be transferred over the air (using google/dropbox accounts) and app installation can be done directly on the ipod.

I must say, Apple might have crappy policies, they really make awesome devices!

Good luck!

e_tank · 2010-11-13 04:59:59

thought i'd add that the latest versions of itunes require your cpu support virtualization extensions in order to run it in a vm, you can use the following command to check if your processor is supported:

grep -E '^flags.*(vmx|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo

tomk · 2010-11-13 10:04:37

e_tank, that's no longer the case. iTunes 10 works fine here in a virtualbox WinXP VM without the extensions. iTunes 9.2 was the problem, and even then only under virtualbox - it always worked under vmware.

e_tank · 2010-11-14 03:29:11

@tomk: that's great news to me, thank you for the info!

Unia · 2010-11-14 13:09:17

I've been using an iPod touch 3G w/ iOS 4.2 with Linux for sometime now and it works fine.
I sync my music through GTKpod, the syncing is quite slow though, but not too slow. (take a look at the Wiki to see how to get it working)

For installing applications you don't necessarily need iTunes, one can install applications through the App store which is on the device.

I haven't synced any videos with my iPod, because I don't need to, but I heard this too can be done through GTKpod (converting with FFMPEG should do the trick for converting to .mp4 iPod compatible files)

Updating the iOS is something I haven't done yet and don't know if this can be done through Linux - as the matter of fact I'm still dual booting with Windows and have iTunes on there as a back up in case my iPod decides to stop working.

Other than that, using an iPod Touch with Linux isn't such a hassle as what it used to be and it's do-able.

EDIT: Just remembered you need access to iTunes to be able to set up the device when you first run it.

Last edited by Unia (2010-11-14 13:10:35)

Tux the penguin · 2010-11-14 14:05:13

I know this really doesn't answer your question, but maybe he could get something like a sony walkman x series which seems to have many features of the itouch, not sure about apps and games, though. Maybe an Android tablet would work or the microsoft zune.
In rhythmbox under the edit menu go to plugins and there is a "Portable Players - iPod" plugin. I don't know if it works or not, though. Here is a link http://wiki.winehq.org/USB for usb device support in Wine. Hope that helps.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-11-03 00:10:42

Ipod Touch

#2 2010-11-03 00:35:09

Re: Ipod Touch

#3 2010-11-03 06:46:46

Re: Ipod Touch

#4 2010-11-03 08:57:04

Re: Ipod Touch

#5 2010-11-03 09:30:28

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#6 2010-11-03 09:43:46

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#7 2010-11-03 10:24:45

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#8 2010-11-03 10:29:53

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#9 2010-11-03 11:31:05

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#10 2010-11-03 11:43:22

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#11 2010-11-03 12:33:54

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#12 2010-11-03 13:08:34

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#15 2010-11-10 17:17:23

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#16 2010-11-13 04:59:59

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#17 2010-11-13 10:04:37

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#18 2010-11-14 03:29:11

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