iTunes 7.4.1 ringtones re-rename workaround discovered
By Ryan Block 
posted September 8th 2007 1:21PM
posted September 8th 2007 1:21PM
First, follow the steps of the original method
- Create your ringtone, save it as an AAC file.
- Rename the m4a extension to m4r.
- Double-click to play in iTunes.
- Go back and re-rename that m4r file back to m4a. That's it.
- Plug in your iPhone and that ringtone will be added to your syncable ringtones list -- and it won't pop up the error from before.
- Play your ringtones constantly for the next 10 hours until 7.4.2 comes out.
If you're going to feed the trolls, at least do it in a way that doesn't annoy me when I have to scroll over that much crap.
Jeez...a second workaround already?
tick tock tick tock, i bet apple are working at it right now.
yeah, you're probably right.
I hear iToner 1.0.1 actually works with 7.4.1.
What's with all the hype over a software release ending the free ringtones? What if you keep the older version of iTunes on the computer, along with the new iTunes? They can both be synced to the same library, and you just use the older iTunes for ringtones.
I've tried this "workaround" and it does NOT work for me. I'm on a windows xp pc. The version of itunes I'm using is 7.4.1.2 Now I am stuck with these ringtones listed under my ringtone tab and I can not remove them from here. Can anyone tell me how to remove these from the ringtone tab???
Oh ya, it's completely impossible for apple to do anything about it (rolls eyes). Wanna know a way they could do it? make it so the iphone can use any song on it as a ringtone. The iphone is NOT in itself the itunes marketplace so they'd be violating nothing by doing that. It's what just about every phone on the planet does now adays so theres no reason they can't. The fact is, apple makes money off of every sont purchase and even more with every song converted to a ringtone. So it IS apple's fault and it IS really lame.
ok, OK! for the love of GOD! everyone calm the hell down!
Look, itunes is not perfect, Window's media player not perfect, win amp-not perfect, I could go on but you get the point!
I use itunes on my pc at work and on my imac at home as well as my xp laptop.
I have had some problems from time to time with itunes, but someone please tell me of ANY software, os system or hell for that matter, cars, cameras, toasters anything to do with electronics or mechanical devices that does not EVENTUALLY have a problem?
I use both Macs & Pc's they both have there advantages & disadvantages.
Humans have been around a lot longer than any computer, and we still seem to be making more mistakes than ever! (sigh)
Here goes yet another Mac Vs. PC war...
First, ask yourself a question. "Do I own (or most often use) a Mac or Windows based computer?" Got that answer? Cool.
Now, ask yourself a second question. "Am I happy with what my computer is capable of with its' current OS?"
So, now that you know the answers to those questions, ask yourself one final question. "Does the market share have any affect on your computer itself?"
If you answered yes, than you're probably smart enough to know that starting a war over Mac Vs. PC is stupid. If you answered no, then what benefit do you receive for fighting over it?
Both OSes have their pros and cons; but fighting over which is better is like arguing between an SUV or a pickup truck, they both just happen to be good at their own jobs.
All I can say is that Apple has completely turned into a Sneaky Money Hungry SOB that's far worse than any company I've EVER seen.... Now that they have the dominance of the market.... they are starting to try to squeeze left and right for more money out of you... $0.99 for a lousy 30 sec ringtone?! Not to mention the secretly "lockdown" of TV-out unless you pay more premium... I was going to buy a new 160GB Classic.... But now....They can kiss my ass.....
Can anyone tell me why I don't even have a ringtones option on the left?
Why doesnt Apple just leave it be. I mean, for instance, when I get an iPhone, I'd like to take ringtones of some of my L'Arc~En~Ciel and YUI songs, but hey, iTunes doesnt even sell them, at least in the US.
And you cant use the Japanese store.
F***.
hmm, interesting...
Damn.....can the whining hater and the 'santa rosa after the jump gadgebois just stfu'? Really? It's like a BAD spike lee movie up in this place.
Microsoft has NOTHING to do with iTunes ringtones for the iPhone. It's an operating system. Sure, you can whimper about windows this and that suxors, but come on... GET A LIFE. It's about using the iPhone and iTunes regardless of the platform.
For real...after the jump...a few 100 free gadget giveaways later... mouthful of SJizz.
Apple is feeble as all hell for not letting you convert any file you have for use as a ringtone PERIOD.
Let's wax histroicallifically fo a second now...my steaming mound of fanboioboi weakness.
1) We been making ringtones from our own songs for a long time.
2) But only as long as our phones could actually play SONGS
3) THE ONLY MARKET FOR RINGTONES (unless you are a total unbelievable idiot) was when phones could only play some rinky dink fishchereher price ding dong 3 tone midi punk songs.
Pay for a song AND a ringtone? Lick Crazy frog's questionable genitals.
I mean DAMN. 'wow a workaround...for something that should be there anyways'.
Grow a pair.
Oh yeah...and it doesn't work w/ the latest version of iTunes.
Basically
'Hi, burned yah for $200.00'
'hahah, we thought all those people who bought iPhones bought them because they wanted to rub them in our faces'
'well no, we got them because we wanted a phone'
'ah well haha it cost you $200 and I'll make a point about it because I'm a jealous weird loser who thinks everybody else is keeping up with the joneseses'
'ok....wipe that white stuff off your chin bro'
damn...
just unbelievable.
I gots one, I like it, and I ain't paying a dime for a ringtone when I actually have over $40k in music..
Oh wait... nobody would legally fill up a 160gig iPod with music.
Actually, yeah they would. And the bigger the storage the better the quality. Just cause you're so young you can't last 10 minutes don't mean you won't eventually accumulate a bunch of CD's...unless they go to the all electronic version that DOES NOT confer you any 'KYR' *lol* to make ringtones.
Damn...
Stop being babies.
Same version as previous poster 7.4.1 (2) and this is not working....NOOOO!
Ringtones are one of the ONLY revenue streams record companies have that is still highly profitable to them (most bands make all their money from playing live and selling merch). Illegal downloading and sharing has made sure of that. Ringtones make the labels BILLIONS every year. So ask yourself this, why would they willingingly give away, or make it easy to get free verions of their main source of revenue?
if you comment doesn't have to do with the subject matter than it doesn't belong here.
why would you go out of your way to read over a hundred comments to say 'apple sucks!'? your opinion doesn't matter to me. get a life.
i assume we've all graduated high school, act like it.
yeah baby
Hey, heres an on-topic post! I tried it and it didnt work. Anyone have any luck with this method? I never tried it when it first worked before the 7.4.1 update - is that a requisite?
Please, no "os x sucks, itunes sucks, the iphone sucks etc" responses. How about we talk about something related to the post, thx.
Ummm... isn't everyone missing the point here? I mean, the original article was about a workaround for Apple trying to restrict users from using their own custom ring tones without paying Apple for the privilege. It had nothing to do with bugs or stability.
To return to the original point of the article... the reason I (and many others) do not like Apple is not because of the quality of their products (which is above average for the industry, in my opinion) but because of their philosophy of locking users into proprietary technologies and using DRM and monopolistic marketing techniques to extort even more money out of their users. On my Windows Mobile 5 based phone, I can download any MP3 that I want and use it as a ring tone, without any workarounds.
Please don't turn this into a Microsoft versus Apple flamewar... I realize that Microsoft also uses DRM and strongarm marketing tactics to protect their market share. I'm just saying that the reason I would never use an iPod or an iPhone is that once I started down that path, I would be locked into that technology forever and would not be able to take my content with me to another platform.
In the end, the ultimate wet dream would be iPhone/iPod/MacOS where everything was open and standardized, and there was a truly vibrant third-party community creating cool hardware and software to interoperate.
It's a shame that any useful info in this thread is buried under a mountain of bullshit.
There are some clear thinkers in here, and to you I recommend copy/paste all of the posts into a text file and use it for a quick credit in psychology class. This is absolute psych paydirt.
Does anyone know how to change the file extensions??? M4r to M4a?? and it what program must it be done in itunes??? thanxx
Bush is far worse than hitler, and I'm sure you supported him in his crusade to bomb schools+hospitals..
Well, I read this and realized that there is a version 7.4.1 and I was going to update but I guess I might as well give it a few hours and just skip it to 7.4.2!
You can do everything in iTunes for basic ringtone creation. If you want to add fade, crop it, etc. Get Audacity version 1.3.3. It is a free audio editor. It will allow you to crop, fade in and out, and change pretty much everything about your ringtone.
Once you have the ringtone, in any file format, add it to itunes. Then set your audio file preference to AAC (.m4a) in iTunes preferences, and then select your ringtone, and hit advanced--> convert to AAC. Now you have your ringtone as an AAC. Change the name of your ringtone now, as you can't later. Now, drag that ringtone to your desktop, and delete the file from iTunes.
Rename the ringtone on your desktop from .m4a to .m4r, and double click on it, it should bring up itunes, but it will not play anything. Now, if you have iTunes set to auto add files to its library, go to the iTunes Music folder, and then ringtones, and change the extension back to .m4a.
Plug in your iPhone, and under your iPhone, there is a ringtones tab. Your ringtone should be there. Hope this helps everyone who is having troubles.
After I change the file back to m4a, iTunes tells me that it can't put it on the phone, because it can no longer find the file, what am I doing wrong?
Today could be my day
Dave, you're either still in high school, or don't know a damn about Bush outside of what you've seen on Fox News. While I don't even like the guy (in fact, he's a complete moron IMO), to call him far worse than Hitler only goes to show how little you really know.
This is getting ridiculous. I hope Apple just realizes they'll never stop people from finding ways around their stupid tricks.
Why doesnt everyone thats having a problem just go back to 7.4.0
I can pretty much guarantee that the decision to charge for ringtones had very little to do with Apple and very much to do with AT&T, and it is a contractual compromise that was agreed upon early in the partnership. Apple went with AT&T in part because they allow much more data transfer freedom with their devices than many other carriers, but ringtones are still a big money maker for the carriers who are in a very competitive business where every $0.99 sale counts. I'm sure Apple would prefer that people could make their own ringtones from any song they own as it would make the iPhone even more attractive, but they had to sacrifice that to get some of the other features they wanted, like an unlimited data plan for web browsing and email.
How the hell are you guys even creating your ringtone?!! I can't create one in order to rename it! What the hell am I missing here?
I don't have a ringtone folder. I followed the instructions up until that point, but I don't have the rintone folder mentioned. I have the "tab" in my iPhone window but the rintone doesn't show up in there. What am I doing wrong? Am I completely stupid here or what?
I just tried it will iTunes 7.4.1 (2), and it will not work for me.
yup, not working for me either ... winxp, itunes 7.4.1.2
I find the easiest thing to do, is not use iTunes. I found MANY other legal ways to purchase music that I love and do so.
Don't buy Apple. Don't use Apple. Its that simple.
Couldn't you just burn the iTunes song onto a disc and then rip it back onto iTunes as a mp3?
Well i supported both MAc's and PC's in my time and i can say honestly that i'd take a PC any day. Supporting Mac's was a huge pain in the ass.
Don;t get me wrong. I think OSX etc.. looks great. But to be honest, thats about it in my opinion.
Availability of Apps is limited compared to PC's. and as for gaming they are useless
Well, it seems as though it's broken again -- I went through the steps, and when I did the double-click after renaming the file with the .m4r extension in iTunes, it automatically reverted to .m4a, and was exported out of the ringtunes folder into a new folder.
Any workarounds for the no longer working work around?