How can I hook an Apple iPod MP3 player up to a Windows or Linux-based PC?

For Windows, the only solution seems to be Mediafour's products, MacDrive and 
XPlay (a preview version).

"If you want to simply use the iPod as a hard drive, and be able to play iPod 
music on your Windows PC, our popular 
MacDrive product will do the trick, and it's available right now."

(from http://www.mediafour.com/products/xpod/)


If you need more than that, you should check out the prerelease version of 
XPlay (formerly known as XPod).

"Cross-platform computing is what Mediafour does best, so we're readying an 
affordable new software package 
called XPlay.  XPlay enables iPod owners using Windows Me, 98SE, 2000 and XP to 
use the iPod for cross-platform 
file transfer, play their iPod songs under Windows, and transfer their PC-based 
MP3 collections to the iPod for 
on-the-go listening.

A public preview is now available.  All you need is an iPod and a Windows Me, 
98SE, 2000 or XP computer with a 
FireWire port."
(from http://www.mediafour.com/products/xpod/)


As far as Linux goes, there doesn't seem to be any ready-to-use solution.

There is at least one person who is working on a solution, though. See 
http://neuron.com/~jason/ipod.html

Jason just posted on Slashdot with that very question (see 
http://slashdot.org/apple/02/03/18/1349222.shtml?tid=176), 
and there haven't been any really useful answers.

The only advice was to look at a Sourceforge project called HFS+ for Linux 
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-hfsplus
), and try to use that software. HFS+ is the Mac OS Extended Volume format.

There is a related discussion on MacSlash, where someone explains that HFS+ for 
Linux is all you need to be
able to use iPod on Linux.

From http://www.macslash.com/articles/02/03/11/2327208.shtml:
"Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't the iPod just a 5GB HFS+ disk with a hidden 
directory 
(.music or something) for the MP3 files that appear in the playlist? If so, 
adding support for it 
to Linux would be as simple as adding HFS+ filesystem support and allowing 
access to the hidden 
directory (preferable though a nice KDE app :-D)"

I hope this is of some help.

or ..... Get the new Ipod and windows PC with Bluetooth?
Jonathan

Apple upgrades iPod, shows Bluetooth 
Thu Mar 21, 7:43 PM ET 
By Matthew Broersma, ZDNet News 

As expected, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs (news - web sites) unveiled a new 
iPod music player and a larger flat-panel display at Macworld Expo (news - web 
sites) Tokyo on Thursday. He also demonstrated Bluetooth hardware and software 
for the Mac, which will arrive in preview form next month. 

The new iPod has a 10GB storage capacity, double that of the original 
introduced last year, and includes software allowing it to store and manage up 
to 1,000 contacts. The software, available for download from Apple's Web site 
for earlier iPods, can transfer contacts from Microsoft Entourage, Palm Desktop 
or Mac OS X (news - web sites)'s Address Book into the iPod Contacts folder. 

The software includes 20 new equalizer presets adapting to different music 
genres. 

New iPods are available with customized names or messages laser-engraved onto 
the back, Jobs said. The new device can store up to 2,000 CD-quality songs, 
something Jobs may have found handy while travelling to the Japanese show. "You 
can listen to your music continuously on six round-trip flights between San 
Francisco and Tokyo and never hear the same song twice," he said in the show's 
opening keynote. 

The new iPod costs $499, while the original model is still selling for $399. 

Jobs unveiled a larger version of the Cinema Display for Power Macs, a 23-inch 
active-matrix liquid crystal display with a 1920x1200 pixel resolution called 
the Cinema HD Display. The monitor, which sells for $3,400, is expected to be 
popular with those creating video content for High Definition Television (HDTV) 
in its original resolution. 

It is less than two inches thick, displays 16.7 million colors and features a 
wide 16:10 aspect ratio and a 160-degree viewing angle. The Cinema HD Display 
requires a Power Mac G4 with a digital ADC connector. 

Jobs also demonstrated Bluetooth software and USB Bluetooth connector providing 
short-range wireless connectivity for Mac OS 10.1.3, the first time Bluetooth 
has been announced for the Mac. 

Apple isn't the first to popularize Bluetooth as a way of connecting mobile 
devices and peripherals to a desktop computer, but it aims to simplify a 
potentially confusing technology for end users. "Apple was the first to build 
in Ethernet, one of the first to build in USB, the first to build in FireWire, 
and the first to build in 802.11 wireless networking," Jobs said at the 
keynote. "Now we're offering a Bluetooth solution that actually works and is 
easy to use." 

Apple helped popularize USB by making it the standard interface for the iMac in 
1998, and was an early adopter of 802.11 wireless LAN, with its AirPort 
wireless peripherals. 

Apple is offering a USB adapter from D-Link on its Web site for $49, and in 
April will make a preview version of the USB software available on its Web 
site. At Macworld Expo Jobs demonstrated synchronizing a PDA wirelessly with a 
Mac. 

The company has also announced that it has raised prices on its popular new 
iMac computers by $100 because of price rises for flat-panel displays. Demand 
for the computers has been stronger than expected and Apple has had 
difficulties filling orders.

There is also <a href=http://www.ephpod.com/>EphPod</a> which seems to be moving along nicely.