Samad’s Blog

You can not downgrade firmware in iTunes 7.7, you will need to downgrade your iTunes first.

1. Download iTunes 7.5

2. XP: go to C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My Documents\My Music\iTunes

Vista: go to C:\Users\USERNAME\Music\iTunes

• Rename  the file iTunes Library.itl to old.itl.

2. UnInstall your current iTunes. Start>Control Panel>Uninstall programs

3. Once iTunes is uninstalled, reboot your PC. Install iTunes 7.5.

4. Plug in your iPod - You will get an  error says something like “iPod can not be used because it requires iTunes 7.7 or later.” Just click ok

5. Now Put your iPod into DFU mode.

• 1. Connect your iPod touch/iPhone to your computer with the USB cable.
• 2. Hold both power and home buttons at the same time and count to 10 (1 onethousand 2 onethousand etc. )
• 3. Let go of the Power button, continue to hold the home button until the iPod/iPhone connects back to iTunes.
  • Be patient it can take some time sometimes while holding the home button. Also if your iPod/iPhone shows the connect to itunes symbol, your are not in DFU mode. It should look like the device is off.

6. Once into DFU mode, hold the shift key then click restore and select the 1.1.4 firmware. ( if you do not have the 1.1.4 iPod firmware you can download it here) (iPhone users - search their site! :))

Once done upgrade back to iTunes 7.7 and delete the iTunes Library.itl and rename old.itl to iTunes Library.itl and you will have all your songs back.

Recently I decided to install Ubuntu linux on my laptop since Windows was giving me a lot of problems and it was getting to be about the time where I reformat all my computers to start out fresh. Instead of reinstalling Windows, I installed Linux.. but then realized that there is no iTunes for linux. WTF!! Searching around on Google, I found an alternate method to sync music to the iTouch wirelessly, however this “erased” all my artwork for my music. When I say “erased”, I mean it just took it out of the iTunes DB located on the iPod touch. I embed all of my artwork into the MP3/AAC files, so nothing is really ever lost unless I delete the song :). Thanks to commenter #34 (Zubin) on http://blog.adaniels.nl/articles/iphone-amarok/, I was able to retreive my artwork and restore it into the iTunes DB located on my iPod. Thanks for the tip!! Here is the comment, quoted below:

actually, artwork DOES work in amarok 1.4.8 (and 1.4.6) if you are using the latest libgpod3. Make sure you have selected the iphone from the Ipod drop-down list in the Devices tab, and then use the ‘update artwork’ option. I have confirmed that this works myself.

UPDATE: It looks like only the first song in an album has the cover art - the rest don’t. I ended up ditching Linux for iPod management and only use my Windows PC at home with iTunes. Hopefully one day they release an iTunes for Linux

A few posts ago, I wrote an article on how to download YouTube videos using Firefox with the GreaseMonkey add on. Now, we’ll cover how to download videos from Facebook. A lot of the text was similar, so instead of creating a completely original post I copied and edited my original post.
First, you will (obviously) need a Facebook account and you will need the Video application installed in order to watch any videos. The application is created by Facebook, so its a trustworthy application.

I’m not aware of any websites that you can use to download Facebook videos - you will need to go the software route. Personally I don’t see this as a downfall at all, because I can simply click “Download Video” while watching it without having to remember a lengthy URL of any sort. Also, I find it worthwhile because Facebook videos are generally better in quality (bit rate).

Let’s begin!

1. After installing Firefox, get the Grease Monkey add on - located here - you will need to restart Firefox after installing this add on.
2. Download and install the Facebook Video userscript - located here
3. Once the script has been installed, simply go to Facebook and find a video you like - underneath the player, to the right is a “Download Video” link (if it doesn’t show up, restart your browser). The link is located under the large “Share” button. Once you click the link, you will be offered an FLV file - find a place on your hard drive to save it and press OK. You’ve successfully downloaded your first video from Facebook!

But.. you can’t play this video in most players! You need some kind of FLV player, such as the one found here, or you need to convert it to a different format. I personally use Videora iPod converter to convert all types of video to iPod format, but you could easily use Quicktime Pro to convert or any other major conversion software. Just Google both programs to find the relevant websites. Once you’ve converted it, pop it into iTunes, transfer it to your iPod, and enjoy your new video!

I’ve recently started putting more videos on my iPod, and I’ve gotten tired of trying to find these videos on P2P programs and other various areas. As I frequent YouTube a lot, I thought there would be a way to download them from the site, however YouTube doesn’t offer a download service. So I decided to look around and find some way to download them, and I came across a bunch of crappy articles about it (though I must admit, a few were really good and helpful).

To sum it up, there are two ways to download.

A) Without any additional software - simply visit a site such as http://www.keepvid.com and you can download a YouTube video there in FLV format (you will need to rename the file you download). The only issue with this way is that if you frequently visit YouTube or other video hosting websites, its hard to keep track of all the URL’s. This is where the next way comes in handy.

B) With additional software. If you’re not using Firefox already, I suggest switching to it because its a LOT better than Internet Explorer.. and you need it for this method

1. After installing Firefox, get the Grease Monkey add on - located here - you will need to restart Firefox after installing this add on.
2. After completing step 1, you need to install the Download YouTube Video userscript located here
3. Once the script has been installed, simply go to YouTube and find a video you like - underneath the player is a “Download Now” link (if it doesn’t show up, restart your browser). If you click this link, it will offer the video to you with the extension .htm - just download it, and once it’s finished rename the file to have the .flv extension. You’ve successfully downloaded your first YouTube video!

But.. you can’t play this video in most players! You need some kind of FLV player, such as the one found here, or you need to convert it to a different format. I personally use Videora iPod converter to convert all types of video to iPod format, but you could easily use Quicktime Pro to convert or any other major conversion software. Just Google both programs to find the relevant websites.

That’s all you need to download and convert YouTube videos - next time, Facebook!