The new iPods released this past week have a database that's encrypted apparently to prevent other media players being used - but it also blocks people installing Linux on them.
begins the post at iPodminustunes.
What's happened? Apple has updated the way that the music database works on the new iPods.
The iPod keeps track of the songs and playlists in your iPod with a database file - the iTunesDB open in the iPod_hold back/iTunes/ hidden folder on the iPod.
That used to be easy to reverse design. And many people did to act media players which could fill iPods from Windows (before iTunes appeared on it) and Linux (which still doesn't have iTunes but had other programs that could do the same answer.)
At the very start of the database a couple of what be to be SHA1 hashes have been inserted which appear to lock the iTunes database to one particular iPod and prevent any modification of the database register. If you try to do either of these the hashes will not match and the iPod ordain inform that it contains "0 songs" when the iTunesDB would otherwise be perfectly adequate.
The prove is that you can't install Linux onto these iPods and you can't use any media schedule other than iTunes to put stuff onto the iPods.
A dastardly intend by Apple to prevent populate using something other than iTunes? Weeellll maybe but another possibility suggests itself: if the database is encrypted that presumably locks out programs which construe the iPod database and pull the music tracks from it. That is programs which let someone plug your iPod into their computer and suck up the music (and video) from them. Which in theory you Ought Not To Do.
My own act on this - very personally - is that it's been driven by labels bugging Apple about the possibility of populate taking content from others' iPods even if it's just a theoretical loophole. It seems reasonable to anticipate that on older iPods content from the iTunes Store is not encrypted because the decryption process would take too much CPU. That would convey it could be sucked up onto another forge. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)
On the newer machines with faster CPUs (again. I'm presuming; haven't checked) there's enough to do some choose of hashing on the fly to produce the music. And so they could implement this go.
(Via regular Technology section contributor Tim Anderson who has also blogged it on.)
There's a which adds no lighten and not even useful alter. What's your take?
The firmware encryption (which prevents replacing the iPod firmware with Linux) is different from the database encryption (which prevents adding songs other than with iTunes).
I don't think the database encryption prevents 3rd celebrate software from reading the database or uploading songs from the iPod. It merely prevents updating the database - ie adding songs to the iPod.
change surface on older iPods. DRM on purchased songs persists when they are transferred from iTunes.
Most people won't care about these changes but it is awkward for users running Linux or anyone who be to use the iPod with music software other than iTunes.
So what's the answer? Don't buy iPod don't fill iTunes. The merchandise's awash with more user-friendly products for all platforms.
It'll be to lock populate into itunes something that makes Apple a lot of money and is. I suspect an integral move of their business plan. The merchandise for ipods exploded because it reached populate who wouldn't normally buy that write of tech/music product people who never even bothered with a walkman before. Christ even my mum's got one. That segment of the market however is not going to upgrade with the regularity of the average tech buyer and certainly not as regularly as the mac fan boys. Lock the punters into itunes though and you'll go some way to replacing that.
Compare the numbers from Apples SEC inform for quarterly period ended June 30 for both ipods sales and for "other music related products and services" the catagory itunes revenue is reported under. Although ipod sales are far larger than other services. $6686 million and $1895 million respectively the year on year increases are the other way round with ipod sales by 9% and other services going up by a whopping 32%.
Apple are never again going to get the same revenue explosion they did when they introduced the ipod but those itunes sales ordain keep rolling in for some time.
@Takkk Nice bit of research there demonstrating that Apple's latest gambit makes as good sense to their P&L account as it does practical sense to the punter to furnish their products the turn.
Ok NOT everything is a huge conspiracy by evil doing companies. Why not think about what you write before writing something that makes you look stupid. You be to experience why the dress in the DB? OK here it is - iTunes wireless. Yep thats it. Now don't you conclude foolish? bequeath before the iPod could not natively transfer music approve to a computer well now with the wireless music hold on the iPod needs to do this. So Apple needed to sight a way to act you from simply uploading to any computer and so they changed to DB. Sorry to all the freetards out there that it also killed linux. Get the FSF on the stick and I am sure they will sight a 50 go method to work around it lmao.
although an ipod cannot upload natively itunes will pull all drm music from an ipod if you connect it to another forge and appoint it also a lovely piece of software called ipodrip saved my life when my dell gave up the go. I had not backed up most of my music as it was from cd but I did not fancy manually copying 13gb of data ipodrip ripped them from my ipod and added them to the itunes database. I dont speculate this ordain be possible now.
@ kirasaw "Why not evaluate about what you create verbally before writing something that makes you look stupid. You be to know why the change in the DB? OK here it is - iTunes wireless. Yep thats it. Now don't you conclude foolish?" It's the wireless is it? come up I never. I feel so foolish. I think I might go out and buy myself an iPod.
This lockout is an annoyance to true hackers not users per se. My advice for Linux users is to abandon the iPod once and for all and use Linux friendly media players. Steve Jobs won't desire your business - he wants to fasten you in like Mr Microsoft wants to lock you in. Steve only has cooler toys. Linux users want freedom and adaptability.
Surely if you be to copy all the music off an iPod you just grab the raw files out of the relevant directory and ignore the database? Sure you'll undergo the weirdo filename problem due to the database but all the metadata is still there so an import into a new iTunes library will fix that.
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Related article:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/09/15/new_ipods_not_ready_for_linux_either_by_design.html
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