Slashdot Mirror
iTunes Disables MusicMatch
spooza writes "If you own an iPod and use it with MusicMatch on a Windows machine and then install iTunes, strange things happen: after the installation, MusicMatch is unable to communicate or even find the iPod anymore. Of course this might be a coincidence or bad programming on the Apple side, but since MusicMatch also introduced a pay-per-download service it seems not too farfetched to suspect that Apple simply took the opportunity to knock out an opponent. The funny thing is, Apple and MusicMatch cooperated before, because Apple wanted to have software that was able to work with iPod and thus not lose potential customers that want to buy an iPod but have only Windows." MusicMatch recommends deleting, then downloading and reinstalling, the MusicMatch software to reenable it.
Even with the registry patch for xplay almost every time I fire up iTunes afterwards I get a blank xplay folder. EphPod seems to work fine no matter what. I wonder how they are able to overcome this.
Apple said fairly upfront that if you installed iTunes for windows, iTunes would be the only way to load your iPod anymore.
I don't even have an iPod and yet i know this.
If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
They go through several lengthy notices when you move to download iTunes, and then to install it, that if you are already on Windows your MusicMatch software will no longer function.
MusicMatch was a bandaid for Apple when they did not have a Windows software client.
Game on.
Funny, I remember when installing iTunes on my laptop, it WARNED your that this would happen.
While I see MusicMatch not being happy about this, it isn't like it wasn't an expected result of the iTunes installer.
Strange. I would have thought this behavior was a feature of the operating system ;)
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
[fud]
i was an employee of lyndon johnson in the early 60's so am therefore posting under a pseudonym. johnson had kennedy killed to further his political career. the assassin has since been let go. [/fud]
now give me my mod points.
I prefer MusicMatch. Problems with iTunes: Will not downsample when moving to iPod - I ripped my MP3s at 256k, but I want them at 128k on my iPod. iTunes forces you to have song name in the first column of the library. I want artist - you cannot change this in iTunes. iTunes is slow at ripping MP3s - MusicMatch is 50% faster at ripping than iTunes. iTunes is SSSSSLLLLLLOOOOOOWWWW iTunes music store is unavailable to 95% of the population of planet earth. I live in Canada so I can't use this service.
If you want to use xpod or musicmatch with the ipod, you just have to terminate (kill) the iTunesHelper.exe process. That will allow xpod and musicmatch, and most likely any other ipod software to work.
See this discussion over at Ars Technica for more details.
Bottom line : iTunes or GEAR removes vital registry keys that prevent audio CDs from playing once you've uninstalled the software. I had to manually hack my registry to restore functionality.
Bad Apple. No Cookie.
After purchasing a 15gig iPod and charging it up (4hrs), I went to hook it up to my USB 2.0 port on my PC, doh! No USB cable comes with the iPod! Back to Frys, purchased the cable for 20bucks... Back home, hooked up the iPod to my PC via USB 2.0 and everything was going just fine, except its UNABLE TO CHARGE WHILE CONNECTED TO USB. Ummm... Would have thought Apple would have a seperate connection for persons using USB ,so the iPod could charge while you're downloading music it. Instead I had to download 2gigs at a time, recharge the iPod (2-4 hours) and then do it all over again....and again.. It tooknearly 2 days to fill the iPod to capacity.
Keep this in mind...
If you have a PC make sure you have a firewire card (charges while downloading); otherwise, you're in for a real heacache.
Take it easy. BWJ
"Simplify, simplify, simplify!" Thoreau
I highly recommend using Ephpod (http://www.ephpod.com/) with an iPod under Windows. When my SO gave me my iPod as a present last year and I installed MusicMatch on my work laptop MM was dogslow and often didn't finish syncing with the iPod. The free alternative Ephpod is simple to use and has always worked perfectly for me.
regards,
Heiko
Not true. There were and are tons of alternatives to Music Match on Windows.
My very own vPod is one of them.
Users of XPlay (third-party iPod software) may be familiar with a similar problem. If you have XPlay installed and then install the MusicMatch which comes with your iPod (I prefer XPlay to MusicMatch for interfacing with my iPod, but love MusicMatch's tagging utilities) XPlay will no longer see the iPod at all.
Nothing really suprising here. There is only one driver for the iPod on the machine and when you install software that uses accesses the driver it will register itself as the default application.
The "damn thing" was Soundjam, and it's what Apple purchased and turned into iTunes.
Umm, the point is that you shouldn't have to choose one over the other, you should be able to use both.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
iTunes warns during install that it will disable Musicmatch. You're choices are a) iTunes for the iPod with Musicmatch not using it, or b) Musicmatch only. And Explorer most definately "diddles" with default browser settings. Hell, I ran the Word demo on my new Powerbook and suddenly Explorer was my default browser and I had never even launched it.
Just because you don't like the choices doesn't mean they aren't there. Since iTunes likely launches when an iPod is plugged in having Musicmatch also recognize it probably causes problems. While one might lament that Apple had somehow worked it out that you could choose each time, I'd argue that they had no real motivation to and from an ease-of-use point of view went for iTunes taking over the iPod completely.
R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
You DO have a choice. Simply cancel the installation when it warns you about disabling Musicmatch.
And if you're already happy with Musicmatch, you can go on your merry way.
A little strong-handed in forcing the choice? Yeah. But far better than what IE/Office has pulled on me over the years. And yes, IE/Office sure have switched settings behind my back without so much as a simple AfxMessageBox() telling me I've just been screwed.
When I installed iTunes (Mac and PC) there was a checkbox asking you for permission to reorganize your files. (Organize library). If you didn't check it, there was no problems! It would just leave the files alone. iTunes doesn't need to reorganize your files to work. If you install iTunes and check it, allow it, to organize your files, then it's only doing what you tell it to do!
GPL Deconstructed
iTunes for Mac can deal with a FAT32 iPod, but iTunes for Windows cannot deal with an HFS iPod. This is true even if you've got XPlay installed, which includes the HFS driver. iTunes/Win requires a Windows formatted iPod. Period.
I know this because until that fateful Thursday, I had a Mac iPod and used XPlay to use it on Windows, and felt all sick and dirty having to reformat my precious to FAT32... My Macs (running OSX 10.2.6/10.3) were all perfectly happy with a FAT32 iPod after the reformat, BTW.
Disclaimer: I never installed MM, so I don't know what fun bits it added to the equation here, but I doubt it does anything interesting. AFAIK, MM needs a FAT32 iPod (no HFS drivers included).
Where the value of X-Mailer: is the true measure of a man...
> The thing is, you ought to have the choice of using whatever program you want.
> Internet Explorer doesn't diddle the network settings of Mozilla or Netscape
> when it installs so that they will no longer be able to communicate with the
> www.
Um, yes it does.
Go install IE. It will change the windows settings to make IE the default.
iTunes does the same, it installs a new driver that MM doesnt work with.
When you install mozilla it does the same thing. Same as netscape.
Slashdot really needs a -1 'Not based on facts'
Read this: Red Chair Software's statement on changes made to the iPod software. According to them, there was no intent to harm and the needed changes can be made by competent programmers.