Control Your iPod from Multiple PCs with Winamp
Challenge: iPods are pretty famous for taking the liberty of wiping themselves out when you plug them into a computer other than the one you set it up on in the first place. It’s got a bad case of “are you my mommy?” that makes it hostile to other PCs but you really want to be able to manage the music on more than one PC using your iPod. What to do?
The Hypothesis: A bit of research turned up a plugin for Winamp that replaces the natural iPod management capabilities found in current versions of Nullsoft’s media management software. Some intrepid folks had developed an advanced iPod management plugin. Using this as an iTunes alternative, the theory was that by using this plugin with Winamp to manage an iPod, it could be used on more than one PC without any serious issues. Additionally, based on c|net’s user reviews of iTunes 7 versus the user reviews of Winamp 5.23 and in this showdown it appears the leaner, more experienced software put out by Nullsoft is the preferred media management and playback software.
Tools used for this for Experiment:
To test my hypothesis, I used the following items I had at my disposal.
2 - Windows PCs (both running Windows XP in this case) with music files on them
2 - copies of Winamp 5.3 (untested on newer versions)
1 - iPod Nano 2nd gen usb cable
1 - copy of iTunes7
2 - copies of ml_ipod from mlipod.com
Experiment Procedure:
Step 1 - Downloaded a copy of iTunes 7. I realize this seems counter-productive, but it’s only a temporary measure. This is only necessary because the 2nd Generation iPod Nano must be controlled via iTunes 7.
Step 2 - Plugged in the iPod Nano and turned on iTunes 7. Made sure the firmware on the Nano was up to date, and turned on the “Enable Disk Use” feature. Closed iTunes, left iPod plugged in. Note: If you have to use iTunes 7 to control your iPod, once you’ve done that step, you may close and discard iTunes 7 at your leisure. If you DON’T have to use iTunes 7 to control your iPod, I don’t recommend downloading it; I’d especially avoid it if you’re concerned iTunes 7 might hang your machine.
Step 3 - Downloaded and installed the latest copy of the ml_ipod installer kit from the mlipod sourceforge page.
Step 4 - Opened up Winamp and checked the Media Library for a menu marked “Devices”. Success! The Devices menu was there, and so was the iPod. Added a bunch of music to the iPod and tested the plugin-based eject function. The music chosen uploaded to the iPod quickly and the eject function worked flawlessly.
Step 5 - Installed Winamp, and the mlipod plugin on the second PC. Plugged in the iPod to the second PC and verified that I could see the “Devices” menu in the Winamp Media Library. The iPod was there, and did not automatically request that I add, remove, or change anything. It just acknowledged that it was plugged in, and awaited command.
Step 9 - Added music from PC #2 to the iPod. Success! This proves the basics of the hypothesis. It is possible to use this plugin to add music from more than one PC without the iPod’s contents being erased.
Step 10 - Ejected the iPod from PC #2 and brought it back to PC #1, the PC it was set up on. Plugged in the iPod. Note: I still had iTunes 7 installed and it did not open automatically when I plugged the iPod into the machine.
Step 11 - Checked for the device in the Winamp Media Library. Winamp once again recognized the device, and didn’t attempt to add, remove, or change anything automatically. I also discovered at that time that I could transfer songs from PC#2 to PC#1 by pulling it off of the iPod. It’s a really nice feature of mlipod.
Conclusion: Hypothesis confirmed! You can control an iPod using this plugin. You can also control the iPod from multiple computers, and transfer files from one machine to the other. The plugin adds a category called “iPod Support” in the Preferences menu of Winamp. If you’re going to move files from one machine to another using your iPod and Winamp, I recommend checking out this menu and setting your preferences. Mlipod has a Wiki packed with information about this plugin software that’s worth checking out if you need more help. Including a lot of screencapture references of some of the things talked about in this experiment. If you get stuck trying to set this up, check them out. It’s a really well put together support wiki.
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iPod, iTunes, software, winamp, Plugin
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