Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[TAJ-767]

I'm back with another noob question.  I have just recently installed MC27 and ported over my music library.

I built a playlist of podcasts to sync with an iPod Nano 5th G.

I connected my iPod for the first time, and it said it needed to build a database and delete everything from the iPod.
I clicked okay.  The device was recognized.  I went to tools>options>handheld, set it up to copy the playlist and delete everything else.

I pressed sync, waited for the progress bar to turn blue and MC to say "finished"

I ejected the iPod, scrolled through...nothing had changed.  All the old files were still there, none of the new ones were.

I connected again, started the sync again, and found a window that let me watch each file get uploaded to the iPod or deleted from the iPod.  When the progress bar showed finished and all the files were uploaded or downloaded, I ejected the iPod, and ... same thing.  No new files, all the old files.

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? 

Is there a page somewhere in the wiki or here on the forum that gives the instructions for iPod synchronization?  I can't imagine I'm the only person trying to sync an iPod to MC27, but while I find a lot of posts on the forum with "iPod" in them, I haven't figured out how to search for this specific problem, and I don't know what to do with information that is 15 years old - is it all still the same?  Is MC27 different from MC11 in important ways?

Tips on how to better frame a forum search for support on these kinds of issues, and how to assess the value of really, really old postings is welcomed.

[TAJ-767]

Some updates.

In the forum, I found some items about sync'ing to an iPhone or Touch using something called playlist sync to iTunes in the forum, but labeled "Export to iTunes and iPhone" in MC.

Here's what I did to make it work.
1) I moved my iTunes library files to a backup location. The reason I quit iTunes was that the library was so large that the software became painfully slow (90 seconds of latency any time I changed something on a 4.2GHz machine running off SDDs).  So the only way I was going to use that lousy software again was on an empty library.
2) I opened iTunes.  I tried with iTunes not running because of the latency problem - loading the software took about 5 min before I cleared the database.  When I tried this with iTunes not running, I got an error message that said the iTunes SDK couldn't be loaded and the software wouldn't work without iTunes installed.  You may want to change that error message: iTunes is installed, the software won't work unless iTunes is running.  At least, not on my machine - Win10, MC27, iTunes 12.10)
3) I opened MC27
4) I attached the iPod Nano 5thG I had previously gotten MC27 to recognize the iPod and pretend to update it.  MC27 pretended to update it again.
5) I highlighted the playlist I wanted to transfer.
6) I selected File>Export to iTunes and iPhone
7) In the window that popped up, I selected the iTunes Library.  The window also shows the iPod and I tried selecting the iPod only, but got this error message:  "Please select one or more destinations" - you may want to update this error message to read "Please select the iTunes destination, because even though we are showing the iPod as a destination, we don't accept it as a destination."  I can't figure out how to insert an image, or I would show you the error message on top of the checked destination.
8) The playlist and file locations were imported into iTunes. 
9) I used iTunes to update the iPod.

That's a fairly painful process, although with an empty iTunes database, and an 8Gb iPod, I can live with it.  I'm dreading the next step of trying to do the same thing with my 128Mb iPod Classic.  I'm hoping that only the first time will be really painful.  For podcasts, I don't care - listen and dispose - but for the music, I'm trying to manage play counts and ratings.  I'm assuming, since those are tags in the MP3 files, that when I sync the iPod to iTunes, iTunes will update the files and MC27 will see that.  Can anyone confirm? 

*** Further updates ***

The sync process does not work correctly.  Playcounts and ratings are not being updated at all in iTunes from the iPod, and they are being updated incorrectly in MC (attached to the wrong files).  I have a separate thread with the details.
--------------
I tried updating an iPod Classic, 5thG.

It loaded files up to the iPod (it did not remove files from the iPod) and it correctly adjusted the playcount and the ratings when I sync'd again - both tracks that I uploaded and tracks that were already on the device.  (Thanks RoderickGI)


********************

I hope that this is helpful for anyone else new to MC and struggling with the same things.  Please feel free to tell me what I'm doing wrong or make suggestions and I'll update my workflow in this message.

Thanks

           -T

[RoderickGI]

You will be pleased to know that MC can sync music to an iPod Classic directly using the MC Handheld Sync functionality, because an iPod Classic connects and displays itself to Windows as if it was just a hard drive or USB stick.

Also, as I understand it, the iPod Classic will update the Number of Plays tag, and MC can read that tag and update its Library during the next sync. There are setting for this.

Note however, I don't have an iPod Classic so I am going by what other users have said. Search the forum for discussion regarding iPod Classics.