
Hacker par excellence Cleverboy, aka Dudley, has pretty much figured out what makes ringtones ringtones as far as iTunes is concerned. He discovered an atom in the m4a metadata that identifies the file's role. He downloaded a copy of AtomicParsley, the command-line metadata editor, and after a bit of hacking discovered that setting the "stik" metadata to 14 turned any aac file into a ringtone. He writes, "The file immediately appeared in my ringtone list, and after syncing, it appeared on my phone without one iota of complaint. --NONE".
The command in question is as follows:
AtomicParsley mmbop.m4a --stik value=14













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-12-2007 @ 12:44PM
Johnny Thrash said...
I can only say, "WOOT!"
Reply
9-12-2007 @ 12:47PM
Fraser Drew said...
I just want to know how you can get the ringtones list up without an iPhone! so i can prepare!
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9-12-2007 @ 12:51PM
Joe said...
I can only say, "mmbop"?
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9-12-2007 @ 12:58PM
Praveen said...
Never cease to be amazed by all you iphone hackers.
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9-12-2007 @ 1:02PM
Pablo said...
...and Apple figures out how to disable this hack in five, four, three...
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9-12-2007 @ 1:03PM
Macroy said...
Now, how might I go about making this into an Automator/Applescript app/thingy?
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9-12-2007 @ 1:09PM
sterling said...
Apple is either going to release an update that totally reworks ringtones, thus completely breaking all these workarounds, or this is just another example of them just not caring.
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9-12-2007 @ 1:13PM
ExUrbanKevin said...
What I want to know is are these ringtones only for an iPhone, and if not, how do other phones access them?
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9-12-2007 @ 1:16PM
Cleverboy said...
Yes, it was custom recorded. I don't actually have "mmbop" in my personal music catalog. Shoot me. And Erica, you're being far too kind, but thanks.
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9-12-2007 @ 1:39PM
Bryan said...
Rich Gee
I've been having the same problem for two days now. Apple can't seem to help me! Any luck on your end? Feel free to send an email to me at carl@peggin.com or here if you'd like.
Thanks
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9-12-2007 @ 1:54PM
Bryan said...
I know this isn't the right blog to post, but thought Rich Gee (and others) would want to know. I just received an email from Apple, here it is:
"I'm sorry you ran into an error when you were trying to check for purchases on the iTunes Store. This error was caused by a temporary issue with the iTunes Store that should be resolved now. Please check the iTunes Store again. All features should be working well."
Don't know if it works yet, haven't checked. I really hope it works cause I've spent a lot of money and can't get any of my songs!
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9-12-2007 @ 2:12PM
Kyle Cameron said...
Here's to free use of music
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9-12-2007 @ 2:15PM
Craig said...
I too would like to know if these ringtones will work on non iPhones. I have an A900M Samsung from Sprint and would like more ringers..... Thx.
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9-12-2007 @ 2:23PM
mini said...
have others tried this out? Running this command doesn't change my "stick" value...it still says 'Normal'. Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong?
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9-12-2007 @ 2:24PM
unteins said...
I imagine Apple will plug the ringtone holes as often as it can, since being able to create ringtones deprives them of revenue.
I don't think they'll work too hard to purposefully break the unlock and 3rd party apps because those generate revenue by getting sales they wouldn't otherwise be able to get.
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9-12-2007 @ 2:29PM
Rich Gee said...
Is the iTunes store down? Cannot receive my purchased tracks.
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9-12-2007 @ 2:31PM
Aron Trimble said...
Why would someone use this instead of just using MakeiPhoneRingtone.app? Is there something wrong with it; my DSL at home still does not work and I haven't gotten the chance to test it?
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9-12-2007 @ 3:28PM
Yvo said...
sterling... oh they care it took 'em what... 12 hours to come out with the initial fix. I think your first guess is right; they are probably reworking the entire system.
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9-12-2007 @ 3:48PM
Alex said...
@mini
it's "stik" without the C.
that should help?
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9-12-2007 @ 4:07PM
Christian said...
Cue a GUI applet that accomplishes this in 3... 2... 1...
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