iTunes 8 running in wine recognizing an iPod

UPDATE: 6/18/2009: I am not actively working on this project but you are welcome to check out the resources.

UPDATE: 12/7/2008: I have documented the method and am actively soliciting help to get this working at http://www.huanix.com/sync-in-linux/index.php/ITunes_8_through_modified_Wine

I am not sure if anyone else has accomplished this yet – i know some people have run iTunes 8 in wine, but tonight I was able to get iTunes 8 running in Wine to recognize an iPod. I saw that this was kind of possible with iTunes 7.6, but it was infeasible because of incredibly slow and erroneous transfer speeds.

Anyway, I have been hammering away at this constantly for more 40 hours now and I believe I am getting closer. To tell the truth, since this screenshot I have not been able to replicate the connection (okay, i just figured out how to replicate it). And there happens to be this tiny little secret… I’ve never really used Wine before last week and I really don’t know what I’m doing.

My ultimate goal, however unlikely it may seem, is to sync my iPhone in iTunes through wine without complication. This will allow many of us to finally get rid of the windows install that has been slowing us down!

Update 11/13/2008: I was asked how I would distribute this if it works; It will be distributed as a free shell script under GPL to give complete transparency to the process. The fix will likely require kernel driver modifications as well as Wine source modifications. Any potential fix will free; but let’s be realistic about the chances (slim).

Update 11/14/2008: If you were reading the comments you’ll note that I was stuck on the iPhone hash algorithm, and I referred to http://bluwiki.com/go/Ipodhash. Unfortunately, that site has received a takedown notice from Apple while attempting to decrypt the algorithm. While I don’t agree with laws that reduce the flow of information, I do honor them.  I think I’m moving on, but i’m also realizing that the search was probably a red herring. I’m not trying to decrypt the iTunes algorithm, I need to get the usb interface to communicate properly…

Incoming search terms:

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wine-116-itunes-no-devices.sh
(right-click the link to download this script)

to run it:
save the script to your desktop or home folder
open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal), navigate to the same directory as the script.
type: chmod 777 wine-116-itunes-no-devices.sh (hit enter)
then type: ./wine-116-itunes-no-devices.sh (hit enter)

This script will build a custom version of wine 1.1.6 that will run iTunes 8.0.1 on Ubuntu 8.10. The resulting installation of wine will *NOT* (?) recognize iPhones or iPods. This installation will NOT conflict with your existing wine installation – it is separate!!!

Expect to download 500+ mb of stuff and compile for 2+ hours. I may find a way to simplify it later, but my goal now is to get it working reliably and predictably for everyone running Ubuntu 8.10.

Please leave detailed feedback including your operating system and version of iTunes as well as other information (i expect people to try lots of different things). “it worked” or “it didn’t work” are not useful comments!!
As far as getting devices to work, my best shot was Marteen  Lankhorst’s rejected patches (http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-patches/2008-May/054483.html), but i haven’t gotten them to work with iTunes 8 (not sure why). Just in case you weren’t clear: This version WILL run iTunes 8, but it will NOT recognize your iPod/iPhone.  My current solution for that is with VirtualBox: http://www.huanix.com/2008/11/03/fixing-usb-on-virtualbox-to-allow-iphone-sync-with-an-ubuntu-host-running-windows-xp/

For the latest developments on this, go to the wiki at : http://www.huanix.com/sync-in-linux/index.php/ITunes_8_through_modified_Wine

Incoming search terms:

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