[wolfen68]

Can I do the following with an ipod? I want my files backed up with no DRM issues....

1. Load my music on an ipod like everyone else does.

2. Then hook up the ipod as a regular removable harddrive and create a backup folder for all of my digital pictures....but ALSO include a full backup of my music files (with the normal windows directory tree structure) using drag and drop.

3. Use the ipod at some later date (as a removable hard drive) to restore my pictures and music back to my pc (drag and drop back again).

I know the music would be on there twice, but if the drive is big enough, who cares? Would I be allowed to return the .mp3 backups back to a pc at a later date...or would the DRM protection not let the "non-databased" .mp3 files be off-loaded?

 

[bangraman]

Yes you can do that.

 

[blessingx]

I'm a little confused by the DRM and MP3 connection, but if you're referring to how the iPod hides your music (DRM or not), then yes you should be able to copy files of any type over to the standard directory (drive mode) including music. I've never tried this myself though, but I believe your music files are usually hidden, because of where they are stored, not because they're of a music type.

 

[br--]

If you do not download songs from the iTunes music store then there is no DRM. This isn't a Sony device. All of your songs get directly transferred to the iPod with no conversion. You can access the files directly in I:\iPod_Control\Music then the directories F00-F19 will have your mp3s in them. The music is not sorted in proper directories but rather scattered randomly.

Lets say your hard drive in your computer dies and you want to restore your music off the iPod. You would load the free EphPod on your computer and set it to copy the files back to your new hard drive in a directory structure that you specify.

 

[wolfen68]

Quote:

Originally posted by blessingx I'm a little confused by the DRM and MP3 connection, but if you're referring to how the iPod hides your music (DRM or not), then yes you should be able to copy files of any type over to the standard directory (drive mode) including music. I've never tried this myself though, but I believe your music files are usually hidden, because of where they are stored, not because they're of a music type.

Mp3 does not innately have DRM...however, from my understanding, the great minds at Apple have crippled the ipod by not allowing music to be shared from your ipod back to your pc (particularly through itunes, but maybe not at all). For this reason, several hacks exist on the internet to allow you to do this (such as the shareware PodUtil 2.0). My thought was to bypass this issue by keeping an extra (separate) set of music backup data on an ipod and not let the DRM programming recognize it through the database tags that the ipod is using. Therefore, later if needed, a simple drag and drop has me in action again. No hacks, and no jumbled up restored files as occurs with some efforts to do this.

BTW, data backup is my concern, not illegal sharing. If I can figure this out, and reconcile the fact that an ipod is always ON, and the battery goes dead whether you use it or not (really dumb if you ask me...what do you do if you're away from an outlet for a week, but you want to get your eight hours of listening time out of it?)....it may float to the top of my wish list.

 

[blessingx]

Quote:

Originally posted by wolfen68 BTW, data backup is my concern, not illegal sharing. If I can figure this out, and reconcile the fact that an ipod is always ON, and the battery goes dead whether you use it or not (really dumb if you ask me...what do you do if you're away from an outlet for a week, but you want to get your eight hours of listening time out of it?)....it may float to the top of my wish list.

Always on showed up with the first gens with introduction of calendar features. Basically if you want a clock and the PDA functionality of the iPod, it needs at least a little power.

To get legitimately around DRM on the iPod, see my PlayFair thread.