Retro Action in 5 Easy Steps
Several people have recently suggested downgrading to iTunes 6 as a stopgap solution until the new version of OurTunes is working. To that end I have found a simple guide to getting rid of iTunes 7 and reinstalling iTunes 6.
But wait, there is more.
I put together a nice little zip file with OurTunes, iTunes 6 and the instructions on how to downgrade! Get it here (I could use some mirrors for those of you with websites, the file is just about 36 MB and that adds up pretty quickly)
Pretty sweet eh?
How to Downgrade
Step 1: Backup
Back up your iTunes 7 settings, so that you can keep them around in case you want to go back.Go into your My Documents folder, then your My Music folder. Copy the iTunes folder inside there to somewhere else. That’ll save your settings.
Note: That’s the default location, if you’ve moved things around it’ll be somewhere else. If you need help finding it, search for files ending in .itl on your hard drive.
Step 2: Uninstall iTunes 7
Now, uninstall iTunes 7. Go to your Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, iTunes and hit Uninstall.Reboot as it asks you to when it’s done.
Step 3: Install iTunes 6.0.5
Install iTunes 6 by running the installer.Step 4: Try to run iTunes 6
You should get this error message:
The file “iTunes Library.itl” cannot be read because it was created by a newer version of iTunes.Step 5: Restore your old library
Go back into My Documents/My Music. Now go into the iTunes folder. Rename your iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library.itl.old. Go into the Previous iTunes Libraries folder (which would be in MyDocuments\MyMusic\Previous iTunes Libraries). Take the newest file (for me this was iTunes Library 2006-09-14.itl) and copy it back up to the iTunes folder. Rename it iTunes Library.itl. Run iTunes 6 and you should be all set, with your library restored.
Thanks to blog.dominik.net for the original downgrade instructions.
April 9th, 2007 22:20
i think i’m confused… doesn’t it only matter what version of itunes is running on the target computer? ex: if i’m trying to use ourtunes to get music from bob’s computer, it doesn’t matter what version of itunes i’m running, but it does matter what version of itunes bob is running. if bob is running itunes ≤6 then ourtunes will work. if bob is running itunes 7, then ourtunes won’t work. is that correct?
April 10th, 2007 09:44
OurTunes is a client piece of software. That means that whatever computer you want to move music from (download) has to be running iTunes 6 (for now). So if my laptop has OurTunes on it and my desktop is running iTunes 6 then ourTunes will work fine!
April 10th, 2007 09:46
To answer your question baronopium, you are correct. Several people have asked me for this package though.
April 12th, 2007 07:59
I hate to be downer but isnt the whole point of this project to have ourtunes work on iTunes 7. Plus I’m pretty sure an iPod won’t work with iTunes 6 anymore, or at least the new ones.
April 12th, 2007 08:35
True but I am just doing something that I have received numerous requests for…
April 12th, 2007 13:14
…or use the open-source Firefly Media Server, which also doesn’t have the silly 5-connections-per-day limit!
April 18th, 2007 08:47
just out of interest then, if I downgrade to iTunes 6, can I download music (using ourtunes) from computers with iTunes 7?
April 19th, 2007 03:48
just out of interest, can you use iTunes6 to download music (with ourtunes) from computers using iTunes7 then? cheers
April 20th, 2007 19:57
I have a 2nd partition on my drive, one with 6, one with 7 for just this idea. Thing is, there are never any users still running 6 to connect to. On a different note, weren’t some of the developers planning to give us an update on this main page? Looks like nothin will happen before summer break by what’s been posted so far. say it ain’t so!