How To: Mount iPhone / iPod Touch With Newer Firmware [LMDE]
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:29 pm
After I had successfully gotten my friend's iPhone 4 to mount on LMDE, I have had a few people asking me to help them mount their iPhone or iPod touch with 4.x.x firmware on their Linux computer. Since I first did this with Linux Mint Debian Edition, I am writing this tutorial assuming you are using the Debian edition. If you are using regular Linux Mint, some things either won't be necessary or won't work.
This tutorial was written assuming you're logged into a root Terminal (type su).
add-apt-repository Script
To install the required libraries, you will have to add a PPA repository. The normal way to do this is to use the add-apt-repository command, but that command only comes with Ubuntu-like distros. Fortunately for us, Anant Shrivastava the Techno Enthusiast wrote a script that allows us to use this command. So change directory to /usr/bin/
Download the script (I decided to host it myself since some are unable to wget from original source)
Rename it
Change the permissions to make it executable
Change the owner to root so not just anyone can run the command
Now whenever you need to use it, you can just run add-apt-repository <ppa:ppa name> no matter what directory you're in.
Add the PPA Repository and Install Packages From It
Now that you are able to add a PPA repository, add ppa:pmcenery/ppa by running
PPA repositories need a key. So download http://ppa.launchpad.net/pmcenery/ppa/u ... elease.gpg and save it wherever. Open up the Software Sources settings window. For users using the default Linux Mint GNOME layout with the mintMenu, go to mintMenu --> Control Center --> System --> Software Sources. For users using the traditional GNOME layout with the GNOME-menubar, go to System --> Administration --> Software Sources. Click on the Authentication tab. Click the Import Key File button and navigate to the Release.gpg file you just downloaded. Close the window, go back to your root terminal, and type
If you get errors then something went wrong with either adding the repository or authenticating it, depending on the errors you get.
Now that that's over with, lets get to adding the packages required for mounting your iPhone or iPod Touch. First check the update manager to update any packages you already have installed with the newer ones from the repository you just added. Now install the following packages
You will be told that some of the packages have been replaced by others but that didn't seem to be a problem for me. If you run into problems try adding the packages it said replaced the other ones. After this you should be able to mount the iPod and open the pictures in F-Spot.
iFuse
iFuse is one of the packages you just installed that allows you to read the music off of the iPod with Rhythmbox (and some other music players, I assume). But by default only root is allowed to use iFuse so you must change this. Open /etc/fuse.conf with the text editor of your choice (I prefer vim)
Uncomment the line that says #user_allow_other. So change it from
to
Now we need to add your user to the fuse group. For users using the Linux Mint default GNOME setup, mintMenu -> Control Center -> System (section) -> Users and Groups. If you're using the GNOME menu bar like I am, go to System -> Administration -> Users and Groups. Click "Manage Groups". Scroll through the list until you find the "fuse" group. Double-click it and check the box next to your name. You may be prompted for your password. Close all dialogs. You should now be in the "fuse" group.
The End
Reboot the computer and the iPod should show up in Rhythmbox the next time you try to mount it.
Remember, always unmount your iPod and any other portable storage device by right-clicking on its desktop icon and clicking "Safely Remove Drive". And NEVER unplug the iPod while it's busy syncing its media.
I hope this tutorial helps all the people using the iPhone or iPod Touch with Linux. Reply to this thread if you have any problems. I may or may not be able to help you, but I'm sure someone lurking these boards can. If I see a common problem, I'll try to make an amendment to my tutorial. Good luck to you all.
This tutorial was written assuming you're logged into a root Terminal (type su).
add-apt-repository Script
To install the required libraries, you will have to add a PPA repository. The normal way to do this is to use the add-apt-repository command, but that command only comes with Ubuntu-like distros. Fortunately for us, Anant Shrivastava the Techno Enthusiast wrote a script that allows us to use this command. So change directory to /usr/bin/
Code: Select all
cd /usr/bin/
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wget http://loud-mouth.net/add-apt-repository.sh.txt
Code: Select all
mv add-apt-repository.sh.txt add-apt-repository
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chmod o+x /usr/bin/add-apt-repository
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chown root:root /usr/bin/add-apt-repository
Add the PPA Repository and Install Packages From It
Now that you are able to add a PPA repository, add ppa:pmcenery/ppa by running
Code: Select all
add-apt-repository ppa:pmcenery/ppa
Code: Select all
apt-get update
Now that that's over with, lets get to adding the packages required for mounting your iPhone or iPod Touch. First check the update manager to update any packages you already have installed with the newer ones from the repository you just added. Now install the following packages
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apt-get install gvfs gvfs-backends gvfs-bin gvfs-fuse libgvfscommon0 ifuse libgpod-dev libgpod-common libiphone-utils libiphone0 python-iphone libplist++1 libplist-utils python-plist libusb-1.0-0 libusb-1.0-0-dev libusbmuxd1 usbmuxd
iFuse
iFuse is one of the packages you just installed that allows you to read the music off of the iPod with Rhythmbox (and some other music players, I assume). But by default only root is allowed to use iFuse so you must change this. Open /etc/fuse.conf with the text editor of your choice (I prefer vim)
Code: Select all
vim /etc/fuse.conf
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#user_allow_other
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user_allow_other
The End
Reboot the computer and the iPod should show up in Rhythmbox the next time you try to mount it.
Remember, always unmount your iPod and any other portable storage device by right-clicking on its desktop icon and clicking "Safely Remove Drive". And NEVER unplug the iPod while it's busy syncing its media.
I hope this tutorial helps all the people using the iPhone or iPod Touch with Linux. Reply to this thread if you have any problems. I may or may not be able to help you, but I'm sure someone lurking these boards can. If I see a common problem, I'll try to make an amendment to my tutorial. Good luck to you all.