July 22, 2005 12:09 AM PDT

iPod Special Report: Extracting files from an iPod to a Mac

by CNET staff

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There are several shareware and freeware utilities that are for the purpose of extracting music and other files from an iPod to your Mac. They include:

While some of these tools offer extra features like the ability to generate XML and PDF files that can contain clickable URLs linked to the songs on your iPod, there are two other basic ways of directly accessing these files:.

First you can use the Terminal and type:

cd /Volumes/(id of iPod)/iPod_Control

then type:

cp -r music /Users/(userid)/desktop

This will directly copy the files. Alternatively, you can continue navigating in the Terminal to select specific files.

MacFixIt reader James Reffner reports another method:

"Run an FTP server (I use CrushFTP) and set it up to allow access to your iPod (put the iPod in disk mode). Then use an FTP client (I use Transmit) that can utilize Rendezvous to connect to the FTP server app and then access the ipod from within your FTP client. That's it. Copy the files you want from your iPod over to your Mac.

"I realize that there are many applications to extract he music, but this method will also allow you to get your iTunes database file, contacts, calendar, notes, many different preferences, etc. You'll also notice that the audio files are not structured as they are on your drive, but a least you can get them back if you loose the ones on your Mac."

Using invisible file tools You can also use an invisible file browsing tool like Invisible Finder to navigate directly to the iPod_Control folder on the iPod volume. From here, you can copy whatever you want - from a single music file to everything - just as you would with any other external volume mounted in the Finder.

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