In my post about “Transfer ringtone to iPhone wirelessly using SSH“, I wrote about how you can use SSH to transfer ringtone file from your computer to iPhone through WiFi. User with certain technical background may find SSH useful. For general iPhone user, however, SSH may look weird. Recently, you can download Netatalk v2.0.3-4 on Cydia. Netatalk, which is an open-source implementation of AppleTalk, powers your iPhone to talk to your Mac. 
What it means is, with Netatalk, your iPhone can show up on Finder of your Mac as a shared device. You can then just drag & drop files onto the iPhone. Pretty great, right? Netatalk is a great alternative of SSH, especially it offers a more intuitive way for novice to connect your iPhone with your Mac.
Window User: You can use iPhoneBrowser to connect to your iPhone. I’ll write up another post about the connection procedures. Stay tune by subscribing to RSS or Email.
Installing Netatalk
- Launch Cydia. Tap “Sections”. You can find Netatalk under “Network” section
Connecting iPhone on your Mac
Netatalk should let you connect to your iPhone for both Mac OS 10.4 and 10.5. But, the connection procedures are somewhat different.
For Mac OS 10.5
If you’re using Mac OS 10.5, that’ll be great. The connection between your iPhone and Mac is seamless.
- Once you got Netatalk installed on your iPhone. Ensure the Wifi is turned on.
- You’ll then find your iPhone shown up on Finder window as shared device.
- Next, click “Connect As” button to logon as another user. You’ll be prompt to enter name/password.
- Type “root” or “mobile” for name and “alpine” for password. Then click “Connect”.
Now your iPhone is connected with your Mac. You should see a “mobile” folder and you can drag & drop file into the iPhone.
For Mac OS 10.4
As an older version of Mac OS X, it’s less intuitive to connect to iPhone even with Netatalk compared with that on Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard).
- Again, make sure your iPhone’s Wifi is turned on. But for Mac OS 10.4, you need to check the IP address of your iPhone. You can go to “Settings” -> Wi-Fi. Tap on “>” of your connected network. And you’ll see the IP address.
- Next, on your Mac, open Finder. Click “Go” -> “Connect to server…”. Fill in your iPhone’s IP address.
- You’ll then prompt to enter your name and password. Type “mobile” or “root” for name and “alpine” for password.
- Next, if you are successfully authenticated, you’ll be prompted to choose the volume. Just click OK to accept the default volume.
That’s it. You should now select a “mobile” device (that’s your iPhone) connected to your iPhone in Finder window. Get ready to drag & drop file onto your iPhone.
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hey, what a useful article
Thanks mate!
Well … it was a useful article really: I have a jailbroken / unlocked iPhone 1st Gen with iPhoneOS (fw) 2.1 … I can login through SSH with the usual “root” & “alpine” … however as I happily tried logging in via AFT (Netatalk) … surprise – nada … Wrong Password! … soooo … seems like Apple disabled AFP for user root in this wonderful release
Now I just have to do a little bit digging so I can find out what I need in order to reenable AFP for root …. 
If anyone has suggestions by all means do let me know t1_power at yahoo dot com ….
Pete, did you try “mobile” as username? The password is the same.
Does somebody know if netatalk waste more battery power? I’ve heard that open ssh sucks up a bunch of battery, so netatalk does also? Please if someone know about this, if netatalk sacrifices much hours of battery life, id rather uninstal it.. thanks for your help
I’m wondering the same thing. With SSH you can turn it on/off with BossPrefs or the SSH Enabler app, but has anyone written something like this for netatalk?
@Joshua & JOE
Netatalk does not use up battery in a noticeable way (whereas OpenSSH certainly does!) However, it would be good to have a GUI, or even a command line, to either turn it off or at least make the iPhone invisible. Basically, with netatalk your machine is always visible by any user in the wifi network you are in. Which means, if you use netatalk, you better change the password for mobile and root
hey there… my phone is not showing up in finder… i read the above and still doesnt show up… any ideas?
Make sure Appletalk is enabled in System Preferences -> Network
Same problem as Gene and “Make sure Appletalk is enabled in System Preferences -> Network” does not resolve the problem. I can’t see my iphone in the Finder. Sniffff
FW 2.2 with quickPwnage
What about transferring files as text files DOC files, PDF files from the iPhone to the Mac or to PC, via the USB cable?
hi!
since i am using my jailbraked iphone with firmware 2.2 i can’t connect to my iphone… Neither via ssh nor with netatalk (doesn’t show up in Finder and no connection possible via afp)… Does anyone know somekind of a hint?
hi ganjas,
try to reboot your iphone. after that you should be able to see your phone in finder. if not, try to reboot your mac and reboot your iphone again. this works for me.
Ok try this. System Preferences -> Network -> Click on Airport or Ethernet -> Click Advanced -> Click Apple Talk -> Check “Make Apple Talk Active”. Apply settings and your device should show up, follow instructions above to connect. Remember on 10.5.5 it will only let you be connected to apple talk on either Ethernet or Airport but not both. Hope that helps anyone.
The Netatalk is valid to those who jailbreak their iPhone.
I am looking for solutions to transfer files, as well as applications, from my iPhone to my iMacintel, and especially applications to be able to backup them.
THanks Drew,
I was already starting to get upset about something else that doesnt work.
Anybody know how I can get my videos from Cycorder on my computer? Thanks for any help
where are the images and mp3s located on the filesystem? I want to be able to transfer them off and on the phone
That would be private/var/mobile/Media/Videos for example…
hope that helps
I don’t see any files in those directories. I read elsewhere that all media is stored in a SQL database so there is no chance of simply copying pictures or videos or mp3s using netatalk. Is this right?
videos by a cracked software e.g. cycorder are stored in that folder. pictures i dont know really, but with my iphone when i connect it to my mac it automatically shows up as a camera. private(root)/var/mobile/Media/DCIM
is the folder i have for my pictures. music is found under root/var/mobile/media/music
sorry, its root/var/mobile/media/itunes control/music
however, its all in itunes language, which means all track names are just four letters. (AWGK.mp3) So yeah youll find its a real pain, when you play them on itunes it recogniezes them though…
I’ve jailbroken/installed various apps to my iphone.
The issue is that after installing various third party apps the standard ‘phone’ freezes when I attempt to access it directly. I can still call via ‘contacts’ but I have lost the ability to dial numbers and all other functions that are accessible direct through the standard ‘phone’ app. I’ve tried restarting it and syncing it to Itunes. Didn’t clear up the problem.
Can anyone provide a solution or have any insights into this issue?
One other quick question. How to install custom ringtones for text messages? I can do it for phone calls, but not for sms messages. thx
Nice guide. Helped me out!
Cheers again.
I couldn’t connect at first using the user and passwords for the iPhone above, but I could see my Phone in Finder. After I restarted my iPhone I could login and transfer files!