How do I install iTunes?

Question

I have an iPhone and run Ubuntu on all of my personal computers. Since I did not want to keep a separate partition with Windows on it for the sole purpose of running iTunes, I attempted to install It using Wine.

I installed Wine 1.4 from the Software Center and installed iTunes 10.6.3. When I tried to run it I got a slew of error messages. I hopped over to google where it was suggested that I install it through PlayOnLinux. I did so with the same result. Further googling revealed that iTunes 10.6.x is confirmed to work with Wine 1.5.1 and up.

I installed Wine 1.5.1 following the instructions I found and was unable to get it to open. I did the same with 1.5.9 with the same results. I opened the Package Manager and installed the Wine 1.5.9 packages through it, and it appears to have installed properly.

When trying to install iTunes I got he error "This iTunes installer requires Windows Vista 64 bit or later". Realizing that Wine uses XP as a default I ran winecfg and changed it to Windows 7. This changed nothing and I tried changing it through winetricks to no avail. I even changed it to Vista with the same results.

Does anyone know what is going wrong here and how to fix it? Thanks

Answer 1

Unfortunately Apple does not support the Linux platform when it comes to their products. Even if you manage to install iTunes with wine, it won't work like it would say on a Mac or Windows set up.

Rythmbox and many Linux media players (from personal experience) will be able to snyc and play your songs without a problem.

The best option for you is to install Virtualbox and install Windows XP as your guest OS. iTunes should install and work your iPhone.

Here is a guide on how to install Windows XP on Ubuntu with Virtualbox.

However (from personal experience) do not try updating the firmware of your phone with virtualbox as it does not work like on a native OS.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

To prevent iTunes from detecting a 64bit environment, see this guide: How to force Wine into acting like 32-bit Windows on 64-bit Ubuntu?

Basically:

• remove ~/.wine
• export WINEARCH=win32
• wine iTunesXYZSetup.exe

Answer 3

Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to go about it in a roundabout way.

Recently I came across imTOO Podworks Platinum and installed it on XP. It was an innovative piece of software to access my iPhone. So having spent many frustrating hours trying to install iTunes on my Ubuntu 12.04 on my laptop, I downloaded imTOO using Codeweavers' Crossover. The program loaded like a dream and then asked that install iTunes 10.6 64-bit version. So with despair I did, and that too loaded smoothly.

I restarted my laptop and started the imTOO software from the icon on my desktop. To my despair it asked me to load iTunes again, but in the Unity was the imToo logo. So I ignored the instructions and hit the Unity icon. Eureka, there was all my data, apps, photos and music on the screen. I could upload or download as I pleased, and it works with Rhythmbox. Give it a try.