Gimme Ipods without ITUNES!!! nothing works...

anyone figgered out how to use iPods [which I love... mine is an early Touch model] without iTunes? [which I hate].

There are endless blurbs on this same topic on the web, and for the last three days off and on I have tried every trick folks claim to work, and none do. Kudos to Apple for making everything anti-opensource! Non-Fail it is.

most of the things that teeny hackers suggest are dependent on iTunes [which they conveniently don't mention]

supposedly mi_Ipod for Winamp "works like a charm".
well, no it doesn't. doesn't work at all as best I can tell, unless you run iTunes simultaneously, then its just a bad iTunes imitator. wankers!

this may be why:

Releasenotes for ml_ipod 3.06
Fixes for iPhone and iPod touch
Handling of these devices has been even more improved; but firmware 2.x is still not supported. This is due to Apple’s protection, not our fault…
.

well... so it might work if everyone downgrades their iPod Touch! :-D

so - six ways to do it eh?
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/137702-itunes-lite-guide/

blah blah

maybe Win7 64bit just hates iTunes as much as I do. I think it worked once, but then died. iTunes finds ways to prevent every logical thing that a user would naturally want to do. like add music. FAIL.
So, to help folks out with their "easy to use" Apple software, some redemptive soul wrote a short guide "For ITunes Beginners".
its FOURTEEN PAGES LONG.
I ask: WHY are there beginners? If its so easy to use, there are no Beginners, and certainly no need for Fourteen pages of drivel

 

how 'bout if I say "please"

how 'bout this: anyone know a way to just turn this into a storage device?

 

Check out http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1163207.html

Also Google iTunes substitute for heaps more links.
Let us know if you find something you really like.

Bazza

 

i tried those measures. none work for these reasons:
- all are dependent on itunes or the drivers themselves, which apparently cannot be installed any longer sans itunes. or,
- extract just the ipod wad from the hairball and try to install its msi. the install fails.. dunno why. Win7 ultimate 64 perhaps doesn't allow?
- or the plugin/applet fails after install. this is the case with the winamp standard plugin and the supposedly 'better' one available. it can't see the ipod. says does not support firmware 2.0 & up

finally, i tried to install the alleged 64bit itunes. it failed. previously I had it wobbly but up and running, until i tried to add a couple of songs to my ipod touch, it wouldn't allow, then it quit and couldn't be restarted. so even though [i guess] the drivers are installed, none of the aftermarket widgets can work.

i tried all the hacks and quacks to make the ipod appear as a usb storage device, but they are also dependent on itunes. [for the touch... anyway]