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[Tim Harvey]

Ok, this is probably an FAQ but I've poked around for 20 mins and have not found a straight answer so here goes:

Someone gave my mother in law an ipod for her birthday and I've been tasked (unfortunately) with putting music on it for her.  I have a pretty extensive mp3 collection that I use MC11 with and I've used several mp3 players that support simple drag-n-drop via usb mass storage device configurations... no brainer.  Now I get this iPod, which I really hate, and I can't figure out how to get music on it without installing iTunes.  I do not want iTunes on my system (heck you can't even install it without registering) or hers (as I'm not going to support it).

I've installed the MC11 iPod plugin but its not really clear what that does.  I'm by no means a power user with MC11... I use it as a player on a headless windows box with NetRemote as our in-home stereo system and it works like a charm.

Can anyone give me a real simple how-to for getting songs onto the iPod using MC11 and making them playable via the iPod standalone?

Thanks,

Tim

[datdude]

I didn't even know there was an Ipod plugin.  All I do is connect my Ipod to my computer and MC recognizes it as a 'handheld' device.  I think you first need to initialize the database with MC by right clicking on the ipod drive in the tree view.  From there you need to hit the 'handheld' link in the action window, click synchronize and then select which playlists MC will use to upload music in the 'synchronize' action window.  After that just hit transfer and your good to go.

If only MC could do dyniamic playlists on the Ipod itself.  That would be sweet!

[BlueGlow]

The iPod plugin is included with MC 11, so you may have installed an older version. I would re-install MC first.

I never tested this without using iTunes first, but it should work...
- Start Media Center
- Attach/dock the iPod
- The iPod should be detected automatically and show up as a node in the left hand panel tree view under "Drives & Devices".  It can take up to a minute to connect and detect. The iPod should display the message "Do not disconnect" and show up as a removable drive in Windows Explorer/My Computer.
- Right click the iPod icon under "Drives & Devices" in the tree view and select "Initialize iPod". This option is only available from the right-click iPod menu in the tree view. It's not available with the Handheld Device icon in the action window.
  Initialize iPod deletes any existing music files in the hidden Ipod_Control directory and resets the iPod database files to zero so your iPod will be ready to use with MC.
- After the initialize completes, then click the Handheld Device menu item in the Action Window (the small pane on the lower left corner of MC) and click Synchronize to see the options for sending MC playlists to the iPod.
- The help file should be able to get you through the rest.
- The "Drop Files Here" option is for a one time music file copy to the iPod. I don't use it since it doesn't work well with the sync option.

Good luck!

[Tim Harvey]

thanks to both of you... great instructions!

I got a little confused because of the fact I tried to install the iPod plugin and MC claimed it installed ok but never showed it in the Plugin Manager.  I suppose if its because its 'built in' then it should have given me some indication of this and let me know why it didn't actually install.  Additionally I believe the fact that I installed the plugin caused problems as I did not get any menu with 'Initialize' in it when I right clicked on the iPod device.  Uninstalling and reinstalling MC 11 solved the problem.  Once I did that, simply plugging in the iPOD to the USB port popped up a dialog in MC and gave me the option to intialize.

Once I ran into difficulty I consulted the MC help file and searched for 'iPod' and the only hits were in the features description and to a page that had a dead web link for instructions.

I have a friend with an iPOD that is not happy with iTunes and I'm trying to get him to switch to MC.  Will he have to initialize his iPOD or is there some way for MC to sync up with the intial state of the iPOD?

Thanks!

Tim

[BlueGlow]

Glad to hear that things are working now.
The help file does seem to be missing a few steps. I'll repost some set up tips to the handheld forum.

Your friend will need to initialize his iPod before syncing with MC.

[SteveG]

BG,

Thanks for taking this under your wing.

Steve

[Tim Harvey]

Ok, a couple more quick questions:

 - can you use MC and iTunes interchangeably without having to reinitialize the database each time?  I've seen conflicting reports of this.

 - why exactly does MC need to initialize the database?  If MC understands how to create a database why can't it simply use the one iTunes created?

Thanks,

Tim

[BlueGlow]

BG,

Thanks for taking this under your wing.

Steve

Happy to help, Steve. Thanks for all the hard work.

[BlueGlow]

- can you use MC and iTunes interchangeably without having to reinitialize the database each time?  I've seen conflicting reports of this.
 - why exactly does MC need to initialize the database?  If MC understands how to create a database why can't it simply use the one iTunes created?

I don't know the exact reason, but MC and iTunes can not are not recommended to be used interchangeably with an iPod. You will have to should use either MC or iTunes exclusively to sync your iPod. I occasionally use Ephpod, a free utility, to copy tracks from my iPod to other computers. I just don't let it write the database.

[SteveG]

In regards to iTunes MC and iPod, they can be used together but we do not claim that they are fully compatible and can be used interchangeably.

[BlueGlow]

In regards to iTunes MC and iPod, they can be used together but we do not claim that they are fully compatible and can be used interchangeably.

Interesting, what will iTunes and MC do to objects they didn't create?
Would iTunes delete all of my MC created playlists, for example?

[SteveG]

It depends. This is not fully tested  at this point.