How to merge Mac "Contacts" and iTunes music on iPhone 5 (iOS 6)

Fidelio1st

Member
Oct 5, 2012
7
0
0
Visit site
So I kind of have a mess here and any help in solving my issues would be much appreciated. I just got an iPhone 5, and I'm trying to figure out contacts and music. I thought it wouldn't be a problem because I have a iMac G5 at home with 10.4.11, thinking I could upgrade the OSX, but now I'm being told I can't and basically my iPhone just won't work with that computer. I also have another home computer running Ubuntu 8.04 with Windows Vista running in Virtualbox. Here's what I need to do:

1) Take my 1500 work contacts from an iMac OSX 10.8.1 in the new "Contacts" program (formerly Address Book on older Macs) and put them on my iPhone 5, and possibly my home computer as well, however not really necessary.

2) I want to keep my personal 500 contacts on my iPhone (which were transfered from my old cell phone) - the 1500 can be merged on the iPhone, that's fine. But I can't plug in the iPhone to the iMac OSX 10.8.1 because then it will merge my personal 500 contacts on the iMac, and I can't do that because other iPhones are accessing these contacts on the iMac, and I don't want the 500 personal contacts on the other phones.

The 500 personal contacts I will be updating periodically on my phone, so they don't actually need to be in a computer (however I would like to back them up). The 1500 work contacts I will be updating periodically on the iMAC, therefore, say once a month, I will need to reupload the 1500 contacts to my iPhone so it is up-to-date.

So is there a way I can do this on Ubuntu or through Windows Vista in virtualbox?


3) I want to be able to take my iTunes music (some of it not from iTunes, for instance, some of it I turned from personal CD's into music files) and put it on my iPhone. I believe I can just use the iTunes program in Windows Vista on Virtualbox for this, correct? And will iTunes allow me to change .m4a files into a playable file in iTunes?


I'm basically trying to figure out if keeping the iPhone 5 is worth it, or if I should trade it in for something else. My whole reason for getting it was for contacts and music. I thought I had it figured out because of the old Mac computer at home, but it has a PC Power Processor which won't upgrade to Leopard OS, therefore it won't read my new iPhone 5.

If anyone has suggestions how I can accomplish this, it would be most appreciated.
 

rayz336

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2011
2,645
13
0
Visit site
You can put all of your music files into iTunes and that will work. As for contacts, if you can get them into a .csv file or anything that iCloud will accept then you could upload them to iCloud.com and when you put in your iCloud account on your iPhone 5 it will put those contacts on your iPhone.
 

Just_Me_D

Ambassador Team Leader, Senior Moderator
Moderator
Jan 8, 2012
59,707
632
113
Visit site
In regard to your contacts, if you do not have Yahoo!, Google, Windows Live/Hotmail/Outlook, AOL or an iCloud email account, simply export your contacts from your computer and import them into one of the above mentioned email services you may have. Afterwards, configure your iPhone 5 to access that account so that your contacts will automatically sync to it. If you do not have any of the above, I recommend you create an iCloud email account. You can do it right from your iPhone 5.

In regard to your music, you should be able to sync it over to your iPhone 5 via iTunes. If not, I think your device shows up as a drive via Windows and you can simply drag and drop. Don't quote me on this because it has been a long time since I've used a Windows machine.
 

Fidelio1st

Member
Oct 5, 2012
7
0
0
Visit site
Thank you, this is very helpful.

So is there a way for me to separate the 500 personal contacts and the 1500 work contacts - and keep a backup of the 500 separate?

For instance, when I sign into my iCloud account and go to contacts, I currently have the 500 there that are on my phone. So I created a group, calling it "My Contacts" and put the 500 in there. When I try to export it as vCards, it wants to put them in the "Contacts" program on the iMac, and this is where I have the 1500 that I don't want to merge on the iMac. Is there a way to export from iCloud as vCard file that I can then just save as a backup on my computer?

If I import the 1500 vCard file into iCloud contacts, it's going to merge them into the other 500, right? I.e. I would like to create a separate group called "Work Contacts" but how do I keep those 1500 separate from the 500 personal in order to do this?

I could try this through Gmail as well as you suggested, just create a new gmail account... but would I have the same problem?
 

Fidelio1st

Member
Oct 5, 2012
7
0
0
Visit site
Or is there a way I can just upload the 1500 contacts as a group? If so, then I think I'm good. Problem: I can export those 1500 as a vCards file or .abbu file, but I don't believe vCards saves the group, only the .abbu file. But iCloud only lets you import a vCards file, right? I don't see another option in the drop down to import another type.

And I don't think I can simply connect to iCloud from the iMac Contacts program where the 1500 contacts are, because we have a separate work iCloud account for that... or can I sign out of one iCloud acct and sign into another iCloud acct without messing things up?

Trying my best to think of workarounds for all this....
 

Just_Me_D

Ambassador Team Leader, Senior Moderator
Moderator
Jan 8, 2012
59,707
632
113
Visit site
YES. Login to www.icloud.com and then click on the contacts icon. Afterwards, select CTRL+V or whatever the combination keyboard shortcut that allows you to select all. Now click on the mechanical icon at the bottom left corner of the screen. Select "Export vCard" and go from there.
 

Fidelio1st

Member
Oct 5, 2012
7
0
0
Visit site
When I do that, it automatically opens the Contacts program on the iMac and asks "Are you sure you want to import 500 cards" which I don't want to do.

The main thing is, is there a way to get the 1500 into a group separate from the 500... and get that group onto my iPhone (or iCloud acct).
 

Just_Me_D

Ambassador Team Leader, Senior Moderator
Moderator
Jan 8, 2012
59,707
632
113
Visit site
When I do that, it automatically opens the Contacts program on the iMac and asks "Are you sure you want to import 500 cards" which I don't want to do.

The main thing is, is there a way to get the 1500 into a group separate from the 500... and get that group onto my iPhone (or iCloud acct).

Can you import the 1500 into a gmail, yahoo, AOL, or hotmail type account? If so, you could then configure your device for that account and then enable it to sync those contacts.
 

CycloneFW

Well-known member
Oct 1, 2010
72
0
0
Visit site
You can create more than one iCloud account. Have the work iMac sync it's 1500 to one account and go online with your personal iMac to sync your 500 contacts to another iCloud account (or Google, or Yahoo!, etc). Then on your iPhone, add both accounts. Your phone will have 2000 contact under All Contacts, or you can use the menus to look at the contacts for each account individual. In either case, syncing and updating of the contacts will remain on separate accounts, so the other users of the iMac won't get your personal stuff.
 

Fidelio1st

Member
Oct 5, 2012
7
0
0
Visit site
Thank you. I got my contacts figured out.

Now onto iTunes. So my iPhone just won't connect to the old iMac G5. So I have to try and do it with iTunes in Windows Vista running in Virtualbox in Ubuntu 8.04 (Linux) OS.

So it looks like Windows Vista running in virtualbox sees my iPhone - it shows it under the USB devices icon on the bottom. But I need internet connection for iTunes Store or for iTunes to see my iPhone.

So how can I connect to the internet through Windows Vista running in Virtualbox (in Ubuntu)? I can't seem to figure it out - I've tried right clicking on the internet icon, and then "connect to a network", but then it says "Windows cannot find any networks".

I'm trying to connect through the same wifi I am connected to in Ubuntu.
 

Fidelio1st

Member
Oct 5, 2012
7
0
0
Visit site
I got internet working on Vista (running in Virtualbox in Ubuntu) - Now I can't get iTunes to see my iPhone.

Now what I'm trying to do is get my entire music library onto my iphone. I was able to transfer a test folder over into iTunes and it's now in my music library. However, when I play the music through Vista iTunes, it doesn't play well, almost like it's skipping or slowed down a bit (in the end this doesn't matter because I won't be playing music from my computer, but just not sure if there is a problem with the files or not, they are .m4a files).

I have iTunes 10.7.0.21, most up to date version. In Virtualbox, when I go to devices/USB devices, it shows my iPhone 5. However, iTunes is not showing my iPhone on the left bar and I can't figure out how to access the iPhone through iTunes in Vitualbox/Vista. I've shut down and restarted iTunes several times, and then I shut down and restarted Vista.

I ran a device connectivity test through iTunes and everything checks out under ports, except "no iPod, iPhone, or iPad found". Below is the entire diagnostic (I replaced some #'s with [NA] as I wasn't sure if I should post on a public form).

If I must, I'll update Ubuntu to 12 and Virtualbox to the most recent, it's just I'm afraid I'll have problems getting certain programs to work (or just that I'll have to refigure them out) and since most my stuff works now except for this, still trying to make this work. So please let me know if you have any suggestions for getting iTunes in Windows Vista to read my iPhone, thanks. (Also, Vista does not see the iPhone as a drive, so I can't just drop the music in there).


DIAGNOSTIC


Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition (Build 6000)
innotek GmbH VirtualBox
iTunes 10.7.0.21
QuickTime not available
FairPlay 2.2.19
Apple Application Support 2.2.2
iPod Updater Library 10.0d2
CD Driver 2.2.3.0
CD Driver DLL 2.1.3.1
Apple Mobile Device 6.0.0.59
Apple Mobile Device Driver 1.62.0.0
Bonjour 3.0.0.10 (333.10)
Gracenote SDK 1.9.6.502
Gracenote MusicID 1.9.6.115
Gracenote Submit 1.9.6.143
Gracenote DSP 1.9.6.45

iTunes Serial Number [NA]

Current user is not an administrator.
The current local date and time is 2012-10-14 15:40:15.
iTunes is not running in safe mode.
WebKit accelerated compositing is disabled.
HDCP is not supported.
Core Media is not supported. (16002)

Video Display Information

Oracle Corporation, VirtualBox Graphics Adapter


**** External Plug-ins Information ****

No external plug-ins installed.

**** Network Connectivity Tests ****

Network Adapter Information

Adapter Name: { [NA]}
Description: Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Desktop Adapter
IP Address: [NA]
Subnet Mask: [NA]
Default Gateway: [NA]
DHCP Enabled: Yes
DHCP Server: [NA]
Lease Obtained: Sun Oct 14 15:02:01 2012

Lease Expires: Mon Oct 15 15:02:01 2012

DNS Servers: [NA]
[NA]

Active Connection: LAN Connection
Connected: Yes
Online: Yes
Using Modem: No
Using LAN: Yes
Using Proxy: No

Firewall Information

Windows Firewall is on.
iTunes is NOT enabled in Windows Firewall.

Connection attempt to Apple web site was successful.
Connection attempt to browsing iTunes Store was successful.
Connection attempt to purchasing from iTunes Store was successful.
Connection attempt to iPhone activation server was successful.
Connection attempt to firmware update server was successful.
Connection attempt to Gracenote server was successful.
Last successful iTunes Store access was 2012-10-14 15:32:21.


**** Device Connectivity Tests ****

iPodService 10.7.0.21 is currently running.
iTunesHelper 10.7.0.21 is currently running.
Apple Mobile Device service 3.3.0.0 is currently running.

Universal Serial Bus Controllers:

Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller. Device is working properly.

No FireWire (IEEE 1394) Host Controller found.

**** Device Sync Tests ****

No iPod, iPhone, or iPad found.
 

rayz336

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2011
2,645
13
0
Visit site
Try checking services in Windows and restarting Apple Mobile Device Sync (or something similar). When iTunes has issues seeing my devices, restarting that service usually fixes my problems.
 

Trending Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
260,001
Messages
1,765,289
Members
441,220
Latest member
waeriyadh