SOLVED (more or less) ipod and Amrok

[plant17]

I have Kubuntu 9.10, Amarock 2.2.0. and an i-Pod nano 8Gb. Can I safely use Amorok to transfer music files to the pod? What extra file do I need first. I have searched the web but get hits from earlier versions which don't quite add up.
Could someone please go through this step by step. Bear with me I am a newcomer to Kubuntu and not particularly computer savvy. But the philosophy of Open Source appeals to me, so I am trying hard.

Thanks.

John

[mintlars]

Re: ipod and Amrok

Depends what you mean with "safely". I'm a full time amarok user and haven't used itunes in a long time. However, last time I used itunes it freaked out when I plugged my ipod in and wanted to recover the whole thing. I think it didn't like that I had copied music from amarok to my ipod.

But if you're not planning on using itunes for a long while, it should be safe to copy music from amarok. It's been working like a charm for me since years.

[plant17]

Re: ipod and Amrok

Thanks for the reassuring words, I would like to take iTunes out of my life. Could you please tell me how to do it step by step.

I plug in Pod, nothing happens
In Playlist in select add media, Find Pod click OK and then
There are no tunes on my Pod (did a full restore after an earlier Amarock attempt) so playlist of course finds nothing.
How do I get tunes from my Hard disc to the Pod?

As I said, please step by little step and button by button, I am a bit lost here.

Thanks
John

[Snowhog]

Re: ipod and Amrok

Media Device plugin for all Apple iPod models, iPhone and iTunes phones.

[plant17]

Re: ipod and Amrok

Sorry to be dense but I had already seen that page and it still doesn't say how I transfer a file from my hard drive to the iPod. Can someone explain it to me in complete sentences? Bear with me, I am trying.

John

[katoiam]

Re: ipod and Amrok

hello mate,
so first things first, have you been using your ipod on windows or a mac? I have recently been ahving to deal with my little brother and sisters ipods that were mac formatted, and I had probems which took me ages to figure out but know I have the know how, I can help you (possibly) if it is mac formatted!

Any way, so you plug your ipod in, it appears in you devices plugged in widget (the little computer screen like thing with a usb symbol on it on your taskbar next to the system tray) click on it so it gets mounted, it will open dolphin, but you dont need it as you cant acces your files that way, so you can close it after its opened (its just to make sure its mounted) Then you can open amarok, your ipod should appear on the left hand side next to the music on your computer, with the name of your ipod ie john's iPod, click on it to see your music. You can delete stuff from hear by right clicking on the file or folder you want to remove, and it will give you other options too.
So if you want to add something from your collection right click (in amarok) on the file or folder, and in the menu that appears go to copy to or move to (depending!) and find the name of your ipod and click on it and it should start to transfer the music.
I hope that helps and doesnt confuse you more, Ill check back later to see if it helped you
ciao

[Snowhog]

Re: ipod and Amrok

gtkpod

What is gtkpod?
gtkpod is a platform independent Graphical User Interface for Apple's iPod using GTK2. It supports the first to fifth Generation including the iPod mini, iPod Photo, iPod Shuffle, iPod nano, and iPod Video..

What can gtkpod do?
gtkpod allows you to
Read your existing iTunesDB (i.e. import the existing contents of your iPod including playcounts, ratings and on-the-go playlists).
Add MP3, WAV, M4A (non-protected AAC), M4B (audio book), podcasts, and various video files (single files, directories or existing playlists) to the iPod. You need a third party product to download podcasts, like 'bashpodder' or 'gpodder'
View, add and modify Cover Art
Browse the contents of your local harddisk by album/artist/genre by adding all your songs to the 'local' database. From there the tracks can be dragged over to the iPod/Shuffle easily.
Create and modify playlists, including smart playlists.
You can choose the charset the ID3 tags are encoded in from within gtkpod. The default is the charset currently used by your locale setting.
Extract tag information (artist, album, title...) from the filename if you supply a template.
Detect duplicates when adding songs (optional).
Remove and export tracks from your iPod.
Modify ID3 tags -- changes are also updated in the original file (optional).
Refresh ID3 tags from file (if you have changed the tags in the original file).
Sync directories.
Normalize the volume of your tracks (uses mp3gain or the replay-gain tag)
Write the updated iTunesDB and added songs to your iPod.
Work offline and synchronize your new playlists / songs with the iPod at a later time.
Export your korganizer/kaddressbook/thunderbird/evocalendar/evolution/webcalendar... data to the iPod (scripts for other programs can be added).

[plant17]

Re: ipod and Amrok

Thanks for a lucid reply Katoaim.

-First things first, been using it on Windows, had a disaster the first time I tried to use it on Amarok so had to do a full restore (it has no music on it)
-plug it in and nothing happens, no little widget. Open Dolphin for a look and it is there. Good.
-Open Amarok and see no iPod.
-left panel>home>files>click on litlle house (home but not the top home, the one below) and see the pod.
-get back to files, choose one>copy to pod.
-look at pod again, nothing there
-go to top menu amarok>add media> find my pod, right click and eject it

Still have do not disconnect

Shut down computer
Disconnect iPod
Find one song ( I loaded a file with 6)
it plays
When I go to shufle songs, I get the others but I can't see them

??

Close to giving up.

John

[IndianKamikaze]

Re: ipod and Amrok

i suggest gtkpod, try it. when one uses and ipod on linux, shoudlnt forget to mount it b4 going to the software.

[katoiam]

Re: ipod and Amrok

im sure this is a stupid question but, you are using kde4 and amarok 2? cause if your using kde3.5 with amarok 1 its all different!

[plant17]

Re: ipod and Amrok

Katoim:
Yes I have KDE 4 and Amarock 2 (not a silly question, I am floundering around and need this sort of guidance)
IndianKamikaze
Thanks for the tip, I will give it a stab, see what happens.

[katoiam]

Re: ipod and Amrok

so when you plug your ipod in nothing happens! even after a minute or two? nothing appears in your 'last plugged in widget (the thing that looks like the computer monitor with a cd coming out of the top, next to the system tray and the little white letter thing)? for me the ipod doesn't appear in amarok till i click on it there, but once I do it appears automatically! tell me what happens in the 'last plugged in' widget after you plug your ipod in?

[plant17]

Re: ipod and Amrok

The Last thing plugged in widget was not there so I installed it. Device notifier. Now with the pod plugged in it has a little USB symbol in it.
Have a look and my iPod is there.
Open Amarock. Same old.......
Go to the left side where it says Browsers
Select "house" then Files
I see iPod with four files. All the same as before. If I load music, it gets there but I don't see it. I can play it with the shuffle songs command but have no control over whats coming.
No way to disconnect it without just ripping it out when the do not disconnet screen is displayed.

Think I might try gtkpod

Thanks

John

[katoiam]

Re: ipod and Amrok

when you see it in the recently plugged devices, do you click on it to make dolphin open it? also to remove it you go to the same widget and click on the eject symbol which will apear once you hover the mouse over it (if you have already mounted it by clicking on it the first time!)

[monte48lowes]

Re: ipod and Amrok

Do you have all of you music files properly tagged? I know the iPod will not show them in the Music directory if they are not properly tagged.

Mike