iPhone Sync

[know1uno]

I have a home computer which has almost all of my music on it and that is the computer I've used to connect to my new iPhone and it is a PC.

Right now, I'm out of town and got a MacBook Pro.

I can't control my iPhone from this MacBook Pro using iTunes. The iTunes program asks me if I want to sync my phone, and that would wipe out all the music currently on the iPhone.

I know I can add music to my iPod from either computer. Why can't I control my iPhone the same way?

I don't want to lose all the music I've already put on the phone, yet want to add a couple of songs that are on my laptop.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[acosmichippo]

on your ipod, you probably have the "manually manage music" option checked. that will allow you to add music from multiple places, and not have to wipe it clean every time you sync from another computer.

you can do that on your iphone too, but you would have to choose the option in itunes on your main computer first.

[know1uno]

I swear to gosh, I've got that checked on my Main (PC) computer at home and I always manage my music manually.

Is there nothing else I can do, since I'm on "the road" right now?

That stinks.

[acosmichippo]

The only thing I think you can do is use an application like senuti to transfer the music on your phone to your MBP, and then sync to the MBP.

[know1uno]

The only thing I think you can do is use an application like senuti to transfer the music on your phone to your MBP, and then sync to the MBP.

That stinks. I wonder why I cannot add music or control my iPhone with my Mac while I'm out on the road? This is driving me crazy.

[MrMike6by9]

Years ago, when I got my iPod, I remember reading that there is enough difference in the way iTunes creates files from a PC to the device versus how a Mac does it, that it was recommended to only use the same OS for each of the computers you wish to connect to. Thus, if changing from a PC to a Mac, one was advised to reload the iPod from the new machine.

YMMV

[MrMike6by9]

Using your iPod on more than one computer
...

The Manual Sync

Fortunately, iTunes is clever enough, in recent versions at least, to detect that your iPod has been setup on another computer. It will warn you that your iPod belongs to another computer, and ask you if you want to replace (that's right: read that carefully, it says replace) your iPod music content with the content from this computer's iTunes library.

Unless this is what you actually want to do, the appropriate answer to this question is NO.

Once you've said NO, your iPod should be set into "Manual" mode. If it isn't, you can go into Edit->Preferences->iPod and set the option to "Manually Manage Songs and Playlists".

This will allow you to play music from your iPod through iTunes, and load additional content onto your iPod from that computer. Ratings and playcounts will even be updated on your iPod while you're playing music from it in this mode.

Note that you cannot copy files from the iPod onto your computer through iTunes. There are many third-party programs that let you do this, but iTunes does not.

Also important to note is that if you make changes to playlists, or track information, this info is NOT synchronized back to iTunes on your home PC. So if you rename a bunch of your tracks, and create new playlists, and then return to your home PC to auto-sync, the content in iTunes will overwrite the changes you've made on your iPod (with the exception of playcounts, which are preserved).

...

proceed at your own risk.
YMMV

[know1uno]

Using your iPod on more than one computer
...

The Manual Sync

Fortunately, iTunes is clever enough, in recent versions at least, to detect that your iPod has been setup on another computer. It will warn you that your iPod belongs to another computer, and ask you if you want to replace (that's right: read that carefully, it says replace) your iPod music content with the content from this computer's iTunes library.

Unless this is what you actually want to do, the appropriate answer to this question is NO.

Once you've said NO, your iPod should be set into "Manual" mode. If it isn't, you can go into Edit->Preferences->iPod and set the option to "Manually Manage Songs and Playlists".

This will allow you to play music from your iPod through iTunes, and load additional content onto your iPod from that computer. Ratings and playcounts will even be updated on your iPod while you're playing music from it in this mode.

Note that you cannot copy files from the iPod onto your computer through iTunes. There are many third-party programs that let you do this, but iTunes does not.

Also important to note is that if you make changes to playlists, or track information, this info is NOT synchronized back to iTunes on your home PC. So if you rename a bunch of your tracks, and create new playlists, and then return to your home PC to auto-sync, the content in iTunes will overwrite the changes you've made on your iPod (with the exception of playcounts, which are preserved).

...

proceed at your own risk.
YMMV


I wonder if this applies to iPhones?

I've had 3 iPods and had no problems whatsoever using both my home PC or my Mac laptop and adding music, photos, etc.

But I can't get into the iPhone at all, on my Mac.

[acosmichippo]

right. because you have to check the option first. and the only way to do that is to sync with your MBP first, which will erase your phone.

[know1uno]

I don't think so.

I know that on my PC (the Master computer), I have checked the option of manually managing my music.

Yet I still can't do anything with my iPhone once attached to the Mac laptop.

I'll try it again when I get home this weekend, but I swear, my iPhone has already been given the option of letting me manually manage the music.

This is so frustrating.

[know1uno]

Okay, so I went to the Apple store today and had an appointment with a Genius there. I had to wait an extra 25 minutes past my scheduled appointment time because they were so slammed.

I told this Genius, who I've dealt with before and had great results, my problem. She immediately thought I was crazy that I couldn't communicate with my iPhone on my laptop since my iPhone was first matched up with my PC computer at home. I told her that I can add songs from any computer that has iTunes to my four different iPods that we own, in our family.

Sure enough, she puts in my iPhone into my Mac laptop, she sees the phone listed, and can't add any music to it, or anything. She was stumped. So, she then goes asks someone else about the problem.

They come back with the answer that when you "first" attach your iPhone to whatever computer you hook it up to, you need to tell the iTunes software that you want to "manually" manage your music. I remembered that when I first attached my iPhone to my home computer, which is a PC, iTunes automatically started syncing the iPhone without me being able to choose the manual mode. So the genius then tells me if I want to control the iPhone from more than one computer, I have to remove all the music from it and basically start over.

Well, I really didn't have that much music on this one, yet, about 180 songs, so I said, no problem.

I came home, backed up my phone numbers and contacts, etc......then I erased all the music and basically told iTunes I had a brand new iPhone and I wanted to "manually" manage the music. So with a "clean" phone, I added one song from my PC to the iPhone. I then ejected it and then attached it to my MacBook Pro.

Same story. I cannot control the iPhone, at all, from my Mac laptop, even though I wiped it clean and did everything she told me to do.

I truly think that the software on an iPhone is different than on an iPod in terms of the music control and I am either going to be stuck and have to use only my home PC to control my iPhone, as that is where my vast music collection in and just be resigned to the fact that I cannot add anything to my iPhone while I am out of town.

I don't like this news, at all.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

[acosmichippo]

i know i've tried the manual managing on my iphone before, but i don't recall if that was before i got my Mac...

[know1uno]

Why is the software different in terms of iTunes for the iPhone versus an iPod? If I've purchased the music, whether it is on my home PC or my MacBook Pro laptop, I should be able to load it onto my phone.

I'm contacting Apple directly to see if they can help me with this.