23rd Dec 2006
Getting music off of an iPod
I put this here just in case someone is Googling for it:
There is a simple way to upload music files from an iPod back to your Mac, and it doesn’t require any special utilities or software. You don’t need to download any utilities or install anything or pay for shareware. Just run a command from the Terminal.
Apple tries to discourage you from uploading songs from an iPod. Presumably they do this to placate record companies, who think you must be a criminal if you want to move data against the arrows. Not so: I had to restore music to my computer that was on my iPod, music from my own CDs that I purchased and ripped legitimately. These things happen.
Here are the two “security measures” they use to stop you from pulling music off an iPod:
- Uploading simply isn’t implemented as a feature in iTunes.
- The music files are on a hidden directory on the iPod drive, so you won’t see a folder in the user interface.
That’s it. We call this “speedbump DRM”: easily defeated, but it trips people up. It can be surprisingly effective. People are stopped from doing something, and often assume that it simply can’t be done. This is more effective than you might think, even in our modern age of Google and Wikipedia. Many people don’t even think to search for a remedy, because speedbump DRM is an act of misdirection. It fakes tough security, it fakes impossibility.
Anyway, here’s the remedy:
First make sure your iPod is enabled for disk use, and it is plugged in with the iPod icon on the desktop. Next, launch the Terminal (in Applications/Utilities) and run these commands:
$ cd; mkdir tunes
$ find /Volumes/MYiPOD/iPod_Control/Music -name "????.???" -exec cp {} ~/tunes \;
That second command should be all on one line. Replace MYiPOD with the actual name of your iPod. If you’re uncertain about the path to your iPod, just drag the iPod icon from the Desktop into your Terminal window. The pathname should appear. Or, begin the command “find /Volumes/” and hit the tab key.
Now, go to the tunes folder in your home directory, select all the music files, and drag them into iTunes. They should be imported and returned to their original state, complete with all track information.
Note, some of these files may be .m4p files. An “m4p” file is a protected AAC file, the kind you get when you buy music from the iTunes store. You can upload these from the iPod, but you can’t play them in iTunes without authenticating as the file’s owner. ITunes is happy to load them into your playlist, as long as you can provide the password when you want to play them.
So how do you “unprotect” an m4p file? Well, you log in as the rightful owner. M4p files are encrypted using AES, with the key stored in an encrypted block; you get the key for that block from Apple, when you provide the correct password for the iTunes account. That key will be stored in your computer and on your iPod, so they can play the music. If you have that key on your computer, JHymn may help you convert the m4p file to an m4a (unprotected) file.
If on the other hand you are trying to unprotect someone else’s m4p file, none of this will help you.
I put this here just in case someone is Googling for it:
There is a simple way to upload music files from an iPod back to your Mac, and it doesn’t require any special utilities or software. You don’t need to download any utilities or install anything or pay for shareware. Just run a command from the Terminal.
Apple tries to discourage you from uploading songs from an iPod. Presumably they do this to placate record companies, who think you must be a criminal if you want to move data against the arrows. Not so: I had to restore music to my computer that was on my iPod, music from my own CDs that I purchased and ripped legitimately. These things happen.
Here are the two “security measures” they use to stop you from pulling music off an iPod:
- Uploading simply isn’t implemented as a feature in iTunes.
- The music files are on a hidden directory on the iPod drive, so you won’t see a folder in the user interface.
That’s it. We call this “speedbump DRM”: easily defeated, but it trips people up. It can be surprisingly effective. People are stopped from doing something, and often assume that it simply can’t be done. This is more effective than you might think, even in our modern age of Google and Wikipedia. Many people don’t even think to search for a remedy, because speedbump DRM is an act of misdirection. It fakes tough security, it fakes impossibility.
Anyway, here’s the remedy:
First make sure your iPod is enabled for disk use, and it is plugged in with the iPod icon on the desktop. Next, launch the Terminal (in Applications/Utilities) and run these commands:
$ cd; mkdir tunes
$ find /Volumes/MYiPOD/iPod_Control/Music -name "????.???" -exec cp {} ~/tunes \;
That second command should be all on one line. Replace MYiPOD with the actual name of your iPod. If you’re uncertain about the path to your iPod, just drag the iPod icon from the Desktop into your Terminal window. The pathname should appear. Or, begin the command “find /Volumes/” and hit the tab key.
Now, go to the tunes folder in your home directory, select all the music files, and drag them into iTunes. They should be imported and returned to their original state, complete with all track information.
Note, some of these files may be .m4p files. An “m4p” file is a protected AAC file, the kind you get when you buy music from the iTunes store. You can upload these from the iPod, but you can’t play them in iTunes without authenticating as the file’s owner. ITunes is happy to load them into your playlist, as long as you can provide the password when you want to play them.
So how do you “unprotect” an m4p file? Well, you log in as the rightful owner. M4p files are encrypted using AES, with the key stored in an encrypted block; you get the key for that block from Apple, when you provide the correct password for the iTunes account. That key will be stored in your computer and on your iPod, so they can play the music. If you have that key on your computer, JHymn may help you convert the m4p file to an m4a (unprotected) file.
If on the other hand you are trying to unprotect someone else’s m4p file, none of this will help you.
Posted in Crypto and policy | Comments Off
