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[sthomp]

Since Apple has done something to prevent my new 6th generation Nano from syncing with Media Center, I want to get a 5th gen Nano for daily use. I'd like to know a couple of things first, though...

1. My wife's 5th gen Nano syncs fine with MC14 and 15, but I got the impression from some posts here that some people had problems. Those might have been early on, though, and maybe those issues have been resolved. Do 5th gen Nanos now sync pretty consistently with MC?

OOPS: My wife's Nano is a 4th generation, not 5th. Do 5th gen Nanos sync okay, or do I need to go back to a 4th gen to be sure?

2. Is the problem with syncing 6th gen Nanos something that can be resolved eventually, or is whatever Apple's done too fundamental to overcome?

Thanks for any info.

[glynor]

The problem with syncing to the new Nano and all Apple iOS devices is effectively this:

1. Apple encrypts something as part of the sync process with their newer devices (I'm not sure if this is the actual sync communications, or just the data on the actual iPod storage, or perhaps both).  Either way, they do this intentionally to make it difficult for 3rd Party applications to sync to their devices.  They want you to use iTunes.

2. It is technically possible to reverse engineer Apple's encryption (it isn't very strong, and doesn't matter anyway if you have access to "both sides" of the communication) and break it.  If JRiver spent the time to do this work, they could "fix" it.  Some other 3rd Party applications have done exactly this, but these are almost all open source tools not run by "companies".

3. It is possible that doing so would open J River to patent violation lawsuits.

4. Even if Apple never chose to sue.  They could easily "break" J River's sync by simply slightly tweaking the encryption or the sync process with a firmware update.  This would quickly lead to a cat-and-mouse game that J River has decided is not worth the time and energy.

I've proposed a possible solution here, but J River hasn't directly commented on it: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=57275.msg402345#msg402345

[broherpete]

Terrible.  I hate Apple for this...