How do I use an iPOD?

[Soapy Sam]

A work colleague here in Kazakhstan just got a 120GB iPOD.
Having loaded some mp3 files onto it from her pc, she is unable even to find them on the beast. She asked me for help, but I know nothing of iPODs or Apple hardware of any sort.

I know there is software named iTunes, which seems to act as an OS / advertising agent / sales agent for apple gadgets. Surely this is already installed on a new iPOD? If so, we couldn't find it.

Do these things play any music files like mp3 or wav- or must it have a proprietary Apple format?

There seems to be no manual with the thing, either printed or electronic.
Is all Apple hardware this user-hostile?

Anyone out there with some basic help for two total iPOD virgins?

[Hokulele]

I believe the link to the iPod Classic is the manual you need.

http://support.apple.com/manuals/#ipod

It is a pretty large PDF, so it may take a while to download on a slower connection.

[roger]

Err, how did she "load some mp3s"?

I ask because the normal way is to use iTunes, which is an application that resides on the PC, not the iPod. Since you mention not finding iTunes, I wonder how she loaded the mp3s. There is a way to treat the iPod as a disk from your PC. If she did that, and just dragged the mp3s over, then no, you won't see the music files.

The basic technique:
1. Run iTunes on your PC.
2. one way or the other, get some mp3 files into iTunes (buy them from the apple store, rip a CD, or import from an mp3 file you already have).
3. Plug your iPod into the computer. iTunes will detect it, and "sync" the iPod - copy all music and videos that iTunes knows about onto the iPod. Essentially, iTunes is a database management system for you that runs on the PC. You import new songs, rip CDs, buy things on the apple store, and subscribe to podcasts using iTunes on your PC. All this data is stored on your hard drive. When you plug in the iPod, that database is copied over to the iPod. If you delete something from iTunes, the next time you plug in your iPod it will delete it from your iPod as well.

4. To find the music on the iPod, select the "music" menu selection. From there you can browse to find the song/album that you want to listen to. This menu will contain all the music you 'synced' from iTunes when you plugged it in.

[Rolfe]

I understand the problem. I loaded an mp3 which was being discussed on the Forum onto my iPod and then couldn't find the file - still haven't. I'm in a bit of a muddle with iTunes as well, but I know that's my fault for not paying attention (compounded by the fact that iTunes doesn't really seem friendly to people who want to play classical music, with all the buzz-words being pop-music oriented).

Roger, what you described does not work if the user has simply copied an mp3 file to the iPod from the computer. There's something else you have to do before the software will let you see that file.

The manual is probably what you want, but someone gave me a link to an excellent Q&A web page that had a lot of good answers on it too - does anyone have the link?

Rolfe.

[Wudang]

I think Rolfe refers to post #3 in http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=135522

Personally I found iTunes very unintuitive.

[Rolfe]

Yes, indeed. It's the unintuitive nature of it that I'm having trouble with. Once you've figured out what the hell it's doing, things get simpler. But then they update the software and I'm back to square 1.

Rolfe.

[rjh01]

Roger's post is good. He just left out one thing. You need to get iTunes first. Download it from here http://www.apple.com/downloads/ . Then follow Roger's instructions.

It is all very simple to use.

[stateofgrace]

I found itunes very user unfriendly, being used to drag and drop. I am a member of an AV forum and asked the question over there a while ago and got nothing but a few snotty answers, unlike here, so decided to spend a few hours mucking around with it. Once I got my head around what one is supposed to do I actually found it pretty straight forward.

Put music into specific folder, add music to itune library and then sync ipod to library. That's how I do it, it maybe right maybe wrong bit at least I can get music on and off it now.

[Soapy Sam]

Thanks folks.
We can't access the official Apple sites because this is a company computer (and a customer's at that!) and has innumerable (and illogical) blocks set. Most commercial sites are out.
We did get iTunes though and loaded that on a stand-alone PC and she has found her files, so she's happy.
She was worried that she was a lot stupider than she had believed, but I told her if something confuses Rolfe, she's in pretty smart company.

And so to bed. Alone again, naturally. (Sigh).

[roger]

Roger, what you described does not work if the user has simply copied an mp3 file to the iPod from the computer. There's something else you have to do before the software will let you see that file.What I described involves copying the data over using iTunes. I'm aware of no way to see the files on the iPod if you "simply" copy them over.

This thread is a wonderful companion thread to the apple products thread currently running, filled with testimonies to how intuitive and easy Apple products are. I'm with the posters on this thread - it's not easy, the linked manuals are a abomination (tell us how to play music before telling us how to get music on the iPod!?!?!?!!! Kind of backwards, ain't it?)

[Fredrik]

What I described involves copying the data over using iTunes. I'm aware of no way to see the files on the iPod if you "simply" copy them over.

I'm not aware of any way to just transfer files to an iPod that doesn't involve hacking it first. But I'm only familiar with the iPod Touch and the iPhone. (I hate that about my iPhone. There's no (legal) way to use it as a USB memory stick).

[roger]

I'm not aware of any way to just transfer files to an iPod that doesn't involve hacking it first. But I'm only familiar with the iPod Touch and the iPhone. (I hate that about my iPhone. There's no (legal) way to use it as a USB memory stick).I've only used the classic. When you first plug it in it gives you the choice to access it as a disk.

[Terry]

iTunes sucks, and I say that as someone who by and large likes and admires Apple products. I'm sad that gtkpod doesn't work with my iPhone.

[jimtron]

I like iTunes fine, but for those that don't like it you might try the open source Songbird.
http://www.getsongbird.com/

[I Ratant]

A couple years back I got an iPod for Xmas.
It was preloaded with a lot of stuff from my nephew's experiences in the Marine Corps.
Going on line to register it, the registration procedure DELETED all that stuff!
I haven't touched it since.

[elgarak]

Just to be clear:

1) You can use iPods as USB memory sticks. It's called "Enable Disk Use". However, you cannot use it to transfer media files (which are not part of the iTunes library) onto it.

2) You can use drag'n'drop to transfer media files onto the iPod within iTunes. It's called "Manage Music Manually".

3) If you connect an iPod with pre-loaded media to an iTunes which does not have those media files in its library, the media will be deleted. However, iTunes asks BEFORE this deletion to transfer the media back into iTunes (though it may be confusing since the question only refers to "Purchased" files).

[Hokulele]

My husband and I each have our own iPod, but I agree with the majority that iTunes is nothing but a necessary evil. For listening to music on my laptop (with an Internet connection), Pandora is very nice.

[Rolfe]

I'm not aware of any way to just transfer files to an iPod that doesn't involve hacking it first. But I'm only familiar with the iPod Touch and the iPhone. (I hate that about my iPhone. There's no (legal) way to use it as a USB memory stick).


Huh? It appears in "My Computer" just like any other external disc drive and you can drag and drop anything you like onto it. I quite often use mine as a memory stick if I've forgotten the actual memory stick, and I have an iPod with a dud screen that's good for little else. I wish I'd known about that way to use it when my last computer HD was toasting and I thought I didn't have any backup medium.

Clearly that was the mistake I made with the mp3 - I just dragged and dropped. I still haven't figured out how to listen to it.

Rolfe.

[Fredrik]

Huh? It appears in "My Computer" just like any other external disc drive

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that.


and you can drag and drop anything you like onto it.

I just tried to drag a text file onto it, and nothing happened. I tried to "copy" the file intending to "paste" it, but the "paste" item was grayed out on the right-click menu. There is a file there already (a photo of my couch :)) and I can view it just fine, so it's like the file system is read only.

[rjh01]

Huh? It appears in "My Computer" just like any other external disc drive and you can drag and drop anything you like onto it. I quite often use mine as a memory stick if I've forgotten the actual memory stick, and I have an iPod with a dud screen that's good for little else. I wish I'd known about that way to use it when my last computer HD was toasting and I thought I didn't have any backup medium.

Clearly that was the mistake I made with the mp3 - I just dragged and dropped. I still haven't figured out how to listen to it.

Rolfe.

It is a very expensive memory stick. In iTunes if you click on the iPod device there are several tick boxes at the bottom of the page. The last one is Enable Disc use. If this is ticked then it will appear in My Computers and will behave as described.

Also check out the tabs at the top of the page. They allow you to copy your photos, movies, etc.

[jimtron]

My husband and I each have our own iPod, but I agree with the majority that iTunes is nothing but a necessary evil. For listening to music on my laptop (with an Internet connection), Pandora is very nice.

Have you tried Songbird? You can use an iPod without using iTunes.

[Kestrel]

A work colleague here in Kazakhstan just got a 120GB iPOD.
Having loaded some mp3 files onto it from her pc, she is unable even to find them on the beast. She asked me for help, but I know nothing of iPODs or Apple hardware of any sort.

I know there is software named iTunes, which seems to act as an OS / advertising agent / sales agent for apple gadgets. Surely this is already installed on a new iPOD? If so, we couldn't find it.

Do these things play any music files like mp3 or wav- or must it have a proprietary Apple format?

There seems to be no manual with the thing, either printed or electronic.
Is all Apple hardware this user-hostile?

Anyone out there with some basic help for two total iPOD virgins?

iTunes is the software that runs on your Mac or PC for managing an iPod. It can also update the firmware that runs on the iPod itself. There are also third party applications that can manage an iPod if you don't like iTunes.

An iPod can play files in MP3, AAC and several other formats, but not the proprietary formats used by Microsoft Windows.

The iLounge tutorials (http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/tutorials/) have detailed instructions on how to do just about anything with an iPod.

[Hokulele]

Have you tried Songbird? You can use an iPod without using iTunes.


I saw your link and it looks very tempting. I will probably give it a whirl on a computer that can be fudged with and keep iTunes on the work computer (gotta use up those birthday gift cards!).

[Yalius]

Huh? It appears in "My Computer" just like any other external disc drive and you can drag and drop anything you like onto it.

This is true for all iPods with the specific exception of the Touch and iPhone. Those are stupidly and intentionally blocked from being used as mass storage devices. They show up as a camera(?!?!) and WIA target when plugged into a machine without iTunes.

[Ducky]

I like iTunes fine, but for those that don't like it you might try the open source Songbird.
http://www.getsongbird.com/

This.

[jimtron]

And if you don't like the iPod there's the Zune{:p} and many other portable MP3 players. No matter what player you use, you don't need to buy songs from the iTunes store if you don't want to; Amazon.com has a good selection and they're all DRM-free.

[moopet]

I second songbird as being the current #1 media plaer/manager. For some ipoddy things it's just not as good as itunes though (audiobooks and podcasts being the main offenders, which it can't put into the right sections on the ipod)

If you want to use your ipod as a drive, for it to appear in My Computer, you have to select the "enable disk access" and probably "manage this thing manually" (I may be paraphrasing, no itunes here) options from the screen you get when you select "jo bloggs' ipod" from the source list on the left.

As to the problem with not finding files, if the songs you had in itunes have missing information (Album name, genre or artist name) they often copy to the ipod fine, but never appear in the menus, even if you select "all songs". Make sure they have something in all those fields, even if you set Album to "apple suck".

If you have a 120Gb ipod and 121Gb of media, btw, itunes will not have a clue what to do, will copy randomly what it can and then throw errors.Every time you plug in the ipod. This is clearly ideal. It's much more of a problem if you have a nano, of course. This is why I always manage music manually. A way around it is to manually make a playlist with what you want to sync, then just update that.

They don't give you a manual with the product deliberately. It's to make you realise how little you need a manual for Apple products, to reinforce how obvious everything is.

[Rolfe]

It is a very expensive memory stick.


Well, there's spare capacity on it, so if I've left my memory stick behind and I want to swipe a file, then it doesn't cost me anything to do that. Just copy the file to where I want it then delete it from the iPod again. No sweat.

Also (and this was the expensive bit) I put my original iPod through the washing machine. Its screen no longer functions. It would cost about £50 to get this fixed, which doesn't seem to be worth it, but without the screen it's extremely difficult to navigate the menus.

At least it still functions as a memory storage device though.

Rolfe.

[Almo]

You can use the iPod as a memory stick, as people have said. But the iPod OS won't show you any of those files. It only plays media put in through iTunes.

This means it's not possible to easily use an iPod/iTunes to share music around, which made the RIAA happy, I would guess.

So back when music from iTunes had DRM, iTunes kept track of that. One iPod could sync to one iTunes, but one iTunes could sync to any number of iPods. That meant you could buy music, and your whole family could have it on each iPod. But since you can't then take that iPod to another iTunes and upload, the record companies were ok with the license system.

Personally I've been very happy with the system, with the exception of when I stream music from my Mac to my PS3. The PS3 won't play the DRM stuff. So most of the time, I thought it was fine.

Since I'm a power user, I stripped the DRM so I could play my stuff on the PS3. :)

[Ysidro]

What, no one pipped up with a useless "get a real player" comment yet? Yinz are slacking!

[richardm]

Have you tried Songbird? You can use an iPod without using iTunes.

So what does Songbird offer that iTunes doesn't? It looks very similar to iTunes, but apparently without the ability to handle podcasts or rip CDs (that latter can't be right surely? Do they expect everyone to download all their music?)

[Ducky]

So what does Songbird offer that iTunes doesn't? It looks very similar to iTunes, but apparently without the ability to handle podcasts or rip CDs (that latter can't be right surely? Do they expect everyone to download all their music?)

Incorrect. They're not called "podcasts" but you can subscribe to any RSS fed audio or video feed.

Go to 'File' >> 'New Subscription . . .' >> Type in the URL of a website or add an RSS feed >> Point to a folder >> Hit 'OK'

Podcasts are handled. You can rip cd's. The plugin architecture allows for many things itunes can't do, like last.fm, etc. Plugins extensively cover anythng you want, and on mac or windows machines can even use the existing itunes install to play your itunes DRM music.

In fact, here's 10 things Songbird does that iTunes can't:

http://blog.audiojungle.net/resources/10-things-songbird-does-that-itunes-cant/

[Fredrik]

Well, there's spare capacity on it, so if I've left my memory stick behind and I want to swipe a file, then it doesn't cost me anything to do that. Just copy the file to where I want it then delete it from the iPod again. No sweat.

But you don't have an iPod touch or an iPhone, right? As far as I can tell, Yalius is right. They designed them to make sure that you won't be able to use them as memory sticks. That's the second most annoying thing about the iPhone. The most annoying thing is that it won't let you download maps in advance. This makes the GPS and the maps useless when you're in a foreign country, which is the only time you really need them.

[Rolfe]

Mmm, I'm glad I decided I'd wait till I found out what the drawbacks were before I considered buying either of these....

I'm pretty happy with my iPod, but I find iTunes non-intuitive. I also have trouble with the file naming, which is wildly inconsistent and things can be in any forder or none. Then if you try to rationalise this, the files don't recognise the album titles or artwork. Sigh.

But it plays the music and that's the main thing.

[Goes back to the B minor Mass, smiling blissfully....]

Rolfe.

[Ducky]

Mmm, I'm glad I decided I'd wait till I found out what the drawbacks were before I considered buying either of these....

I'm pretty happy with my iPod, but I find iTunes non-intuitive. I also have trouble with the file naming, which is wildly inconsistent and things can be in any forder or none. Then if you try to rationalise this, the files don't recognise the album titles or artwork. Sigh.

But it plays the music and that's the main thing.

[Goes back to the B minor Mass, smiling blissfully....]

Rolfe.

To fix mp3 tagging/artwork, I use this to great success:

http://musicbrainz.org/

[richardm]

Podcasts are handled. You can rip cd's.

Then I'm confused as to why their development roadmap (http://wiki.songbirdnest.com/Roadmap) says:

CD Ripping Allows users to import music from CD directly into Songbird Not Started
Podcast Support Full support for podcast downloads and subscriptions Not Started


http://blog.audiojungle.net/resources/10-things-songbird-does-that-itunes-cant/Thanks :) I should probably just download it and have a play.

[Ducky]

Then I'm confused as to why their development roadmap (http://wiki.songbirdnest.com/Roadmap) says:

CD Ripping Allows users to import music from CD directly into Songbird Not Started
Podcast Support Full support for podcast downloads and subscriptions Not Started
Thanks :) I should probably just download it and have a play.

The podcast thing is out of date, I'd imagine. I use the rss function for several podcasts.

As for CD ripping...start looking at plugins. There's tons of them. I do remember seeing one that rips cds.

[moopet]

Songbird can understand podcasts, but can't save them to an ipod _as_ a podcast. They just appear under "music" as an mp3, so you lose out on the categorisation and bookmarking and speed settings.

[Rolfe]

Now I know you can save a YouTube clip to an iPod, because my accursed mate did one for me when I first got the thing. However she failed to show me how it was done.

I want this. Badly. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS8oF1XxCmc)

Rolfe.

[jimtron]

Now I know you can save a YouTube clip to an iPod, because my accursed mate did one for me when I first got the thing. However she failed to show me how it was done.

I want this. Badly. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS8oF1XxCmc)

Rolfe.

You can use the Firefox add-on, Download Helper. Then you'll probably have to convert the file, which you can do with Quicktime Player (maybe) or the free Mpegstreamclip or the free Handbrake.

[pgwenthold]

My biggest problem with iTunes is that I don't understand the difference between "importing songs" and "copying songs" or whatever those options are. I just happen to have these mp3 files on my PC and I want to load them onto the iPod, am I supposed to "import" them or "copy" them or what? I just start trying things until something works, and never remember which one did in the end.

Once there, I find no problem with the layout and format of iTunes. I actually appreciate some of its resources, particularly the ability to recognize commercial CDs that are imported so I don't have to fill in all the information myself.

[jimtron]

My biggest problem with iTunes is that I don't understand the difference between "importing songs" and "copying songs" or whatever those options are. I just happen to have these mp3 files on my PC and I want to load them onto the iPod, am I supposed to "import" them or "copy" them or what? I just start trying things until something works, and never remember which one did in the end.

Once there, I find no problem with the layout and format of iTunes. I actually appreciate some of its resources, particularly the ability to recognize commercial CDs that are imported so I don't have to fill in all the information myself.

New user's guide to iTunes: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1367

[dtugg]

My biggest problem with iTunes is that I don't understand the difference between "importing songs" and "copying songs" or whatever those options are. I just happen to have these mp3 files on my PC and I want to load them onto the iPod, am I supposed to "import" them or "copy" them or what? I just start trying things until something works, and never remember which one did in the end.

Once there, I find no problem with the layout and format of iTunes. I actually appreciate some of its resources, particularly the ability to recognize commercial CDs that are imported so I don't have to fill in all the information myself.

If you're music is already in iTunes, all you have to do is drag it to your iPod (on the left where it says devices). This can be individual songs, albums, or playlists. You can also have it so iTunes automatically syncs its library to your iPod. It'll give you that option if you click on you iPod on the left of the screen. I would do that if your iPod's capacity is greater than the size of you iTunes library.

If your music isn't on iTunes yet, you must add it before you can put any music on your iPod. To do that go to file>add file (or folder to add a whole folder) and select what you want to add.

[realpaladin]

Well, you charge it up for half a day and then, watch out for the prongs so you don't shock yourself, and then you go up to the cow and.... wait iPOD.... not iPROD.... sorry... can't help you.

[pgwenthold]

If your music isn't on iTunes yet, you must add it before you can put any music on your iPod. To do that go to file>add file (or folder to add a whole folder) and select what you want to add.


But do you add or import? That's the part I get mixed up (yes, I know now it is add, but what is the function of the "import" option? That is never clear to me)

Don't get me wrong, as I said I generally have no problems with iTunes. It is just cluttered in ways.

[dtugg]

But do you add or import? That's the part I get mixed up (yes, I know now it is add, but what is the function of the "import" option? That is never clear to me)

Don't get me wrong, as I said I generally have no problems with iTunes. It is just cluttered in ways.

I think you're running an older version of iTunes. The only "import" function that I see that you could be talking about is file>library>import playlist. Which is to well, import a playlist. I think older versions of iTunes had file>import, which probably did the same thing.

The latest version of iTunes is 8.2. You can check what version you have by going help>about iTunes. If you want to upgrade, go to help>check for updates.

[pgwenthold]

I think you're running an older version of iTunes. The only "import" function that I see that you could be talking about is file>library>import playlist. Which is to well, import a playlist. I think older versions of iTunes had file>import, which probably did the same thing..

See? Even the folks at iTunes realized that it didn't make any sense :)

[Wudang]

Now I know you can save a YouTube clip to an iPod, because my accursed mate did one for me when I first got the thing. However she failed to show me how it was done.

I want this. Badly. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS8oF1XxCmc)

Rolfe.

Just did it in a couple of minutes. I used the FlashGot firefox add-on to download - when you go to youtube etc and start a video a little icon appears in the bottom right corner of firefox -click to start the download.
I then used Handbrake with its ipod setting to convert.