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View Full Version : Filenames too long?

ShnikeJSB
08-27-2005, 11:38 PM
Hello all! As some of you may or may not know, I bought a Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 a couple months ago to replace my aging Apple PowerBook G4 Titanium 667. I have been a Mac guy my whole life, but I needed more power than the current crappy PowerBooks offered. Anyways, my problem is, I want to transfer my music over from my Mac to my XPS. Thing is, I get an error that a lot of my filenames are too long. Obviously Windows sucks and can't support the 256-character filename limit of Mac OS X. I don't want to go one-by-one through my iTunes folder and find what is too long individually.

So, what I am asking, is if there is a program out there for Windows XP that I can use to batch rename the files as they are being transferred over, or some way, any way, through software that can make the process non-painstaking and automated. BTW, I have about 15GB of music. Thanks! -JB
Yoob@NBF
08-27-2005, 11:49 PM
I believe if you burn them to a cd or a dvd you can have the MAC make the disc windows compatible by reducing the filenames for you but you will have to rename them anyway since you will have the issues where th efile name would be cut off and substituted with (Filename~1)
ShnikeJSB
08-28-2005, 12:11 AM
So, um, in otherwords, I am boned?
mich43L
08-28-2005, 12:21 AM
http://www.webxpace.net/software/software.html#FileRenamer

but it runs on windows :P
MitchellO
08-28-2005, 05:30 AM
On a side note, nice specs ShnikeJSB!!!
ShnikeJSB
08-29-2005, 02:22 AM
Thanks! Saved up quite a long time for this thing. People STILL can't believe the performance I get outta it! And then they die when I told them how much I spent on it... LOL!
Revenent
08-29-2005, 02:29 AM
It might not be the file name that's too long - but the total path.

Due to backward compatibility reasons, a path string is limited to about 260 characters.
ShnikeJSB
08-29-2005, 11:50 AM
So, what can I do then? I have 15 gigs of music waiting to b e transferred, and I can't even update my iPod, which it hasn't been updated in like 4 months! ARGH!!! Plus, this stupid Dell doesn't even have the right firewire port, just one of those mini ones... Did you have a suggestion as to what I can do? Thanks for everyone's help :o)
Andevian
08-29-2005, 12:39 PM
Don't put them in a subfolder. Transfer them directly to the root of the drive. Then the total path available to you will be about 256 characters and it might work.

Most laptops don't have a six pin firewire port because it wastes the laptop's limited power. Apple is stupid for building the iPod with a 6 pin instead of a 4 pin or at least including a converter, since it has its own power supply and doesn't need a supplied line. Get a 4 to 6-pin converter.
ShnikeJSB
08-29-2005, 10:50 PM
Don't put them in a subfolder. Transfer them directly to the root of the drive. Then the total path available to you will be about 256 characters and it might work.

Most laptops don't have a six pin firewire port because it wastes the laptop's limited power. Apple is stupid for building the iPod with a 6 pin instead of a 4 pin or at least including a converter, since it has its own power supply and doesn't need a supplied line. Get a 4 to 6-pin converter.

Well, they are all already in subfolders since I use iTunes... So that is kinda a problem for me.

Also, Apple is NOT stupid for doing that, since I had an external Firewire Hard Drive and CD Burner that used the 6-pin, as do most external things like that. I have yet to see anything use the 4-pin actually, except maybe a camcorder.
Revenent
08-29-2005, 11:22 PM
Can you use your Powerbook and copy it over to your XPS using SMB shares?

That way, you can get the files over and then run the renaming utilites.
MitchellO
08-30-2005, 02:05 AM
Also, Apple is NOT stupid for doing that, since I had an external Firewire Hard Drive and CD Burner that used the 6-pin, as do most external things like that. I have yet to see anything use the 4-pin actually, except maybe a camcorder.

I have both a HDD (two in fact) and a DVD-Burner using firewire, and both can be connected using 4-pin cables.

And I haven't seen a DVC that uses a 6-pin firewire.
Andevian
08-30-2005, 12:19 PM
I don't actually think Apple is stupid for doing it, I just hated to see everyone BUT Apple get blamed for this issue.

There's nothing stupid about Windows capping file/path lengths to 260 characters. It keeps the partition tables clean and the environment memory usage down. I don't see anything especially limiting about it anyway, since I've been working with computers for 22 years and have probably never once used a filename over 60 characters. However, you got cranky with them for not foreseeing your specific need and therefore determined that "Windows sucks". There are things about Windows that do suck indeed, but this... ?? Even the Macophiles at my last job never brought that one up, and I never saw them miss any opportunity to bash on Windows.

There's also nothing stupid about Dell using 4-pin firewire connectors on laptops, since it's the standard on portable computers in general. Once again, you said that "this stupid Dell doesn't even have the right firewire port", apparently because they didn't foresee your specific need either. I can't think of any other way to justify that statement. My Gateway laptop has a 4-pin firewire, my boss's Averatec has a 4-pin firewire, I saw an HP the other day with a 4-pin firewire... well it just seems to be all the rage on laptops.

Therefore, Apple is stupid for not foreseeing your specific problem and providing you with a 4-pin connector or a 4- to 6-pin adapter. Best Buy carries them though. You could probably also use your apparently much more intelligent Mac OS X to batch rename the files on the iPod, could you not?
Delvien
08-30-2005, 05:57 PM
Windows doesnt suck, only Mac fanboys suck
MitchellO
08-31-2005, 02:23 AM
There's also nothing stupid about Dell using 4-pin firewire connectors on laptops, since it's the standard on portable computers in general. Once again, you said that "this stupid Dell doesn't even have the right firewire port", apparently because they didn't foresee your specific need either. I can't think of any other way to justify that statement. My Gateway laptop has a 4-pin firewire, my boss's Averatec has a 4-pin firewire, I saw an HP the other day with a 4-pin firewire... well it just seems to be all the rage on laptops.

Therefore, Apple is stupid for not foreseeing your specific problem and providing you with a 4-pin connector or a 4- to 6-pin adapter. Best Buy carries them though. You could probably also use your apparently much more intelligent Mac OS X to batch rename the files on the iPod, could you not?


Yep, most laptops use the 4-pin port.