My lovely wife has just got an iPod shuffle
So I’ve got to load it up with music which is stored on the laptop. As an avid anti-Apple grumpy git who’s never played with one I’m looking for some help. I still want to be able to load my mp3 player

Are there any simple guides on how to do this without being trapped in iTunes hell forever?
Cheers

Hand it back to the wife and make her do it. Seriously, I tunes is the most unintuitive piece of rubbish ever. The best way to use it, is by forgetting everything you know about computers first. A lobotomy may just be he trick. Your wife or a 5 year old will make sense of it quicker than you or I.

Sent from my ipad that’s never been connected to iTunes. (And only because the wife’s already claimed my nexus 7)

It should appear on the left in the menu, then you can either auto-fill, or, preferably, just drag tracks from your listing across onto the pod where it shows on the menu. It’s always better to avoid auto-fill, unless you set up a list for it and drag tracks into that until it reaches capacity, then auto-fill from the list. Actually, that’s not such a bad way to do it with a Shuffle, because you can set up various lists with different music on each, then just erase and refill as your mood changes.
I always just drag tracks from my main listing until I have the device filled up, but I’ve only had Classics and a Nano.*
Having said that, my 160Gb Classic is set to auto-fill, because I don’t have that much music yet, so every time I rip new stuff, then connect the pod, just the new stuff transfers over. It’s now got about 144Gb in it, so not long until its full.
Bugger!
*And iPhones, and I never fill those, because of all the other crap like maps and stuff.

What is iTunes hell exactly?

I use one to listen to audio books. I worked in IT training for a bit and frankly the software is a nightmare in my personal opinion. You can see they have tried to do useful things with it but the result is a complex mess which makes it hard to attain many of the said useful aims.

I am not saying this to put you off, as once you have come to some kind of terms with it, the player is quite good. I just wish someone had told me when I was learning it that its the software thats the issue and not my (or anyone elses) learning ability. I know of a couple of other people who struggled with it too. Persevere, don’t let it get you down and don’t expect it to behave in helpful ways.

I suspect they are best used for loading a bunch of tracks on, then leaving well alone. Sadly that does not work for audio books as they are not something you wish to have played many times. Best hint if you use them for books is not to file them under the Audio books header as it is easier to use them if treated like an album.

You can use floola if you don’t want iTunes

http://www.floola.com/

What is iTunes hell exactly?

When all my music was wiped by an iTunes update.

You mean you made a mistake? My iTunes (on both PC and Mac) has never eaten music on updates.

I am sure you had a back-up though didn’t you?…

Yup i made a mistake in clicking install update.

Yes I did have a back up, I then had to reinstall it all. I really shouldn’t have to do that.

Pleased that it works for you personally I hate iTunes.

Hand it back to the wife and make her do it. Seriously, I tunes is the most unintuitive piece of rubbish ever

I really don’t understand this at all, and I’ve seen more than one person say it. iTunes is soooooooooo easy to use it makes my toaster look complicated. Put CD in or download music. Sync device, which happens automatically over wireless when device is charged. If you don’t want certain tracks, untick them.

Please (Honestly) tell me how that can be hard. I really cannot fathom it, unless you’re a bit dense……
🙂

Here’s a clue, it was developed for an OS that was NOT Windows. Ergo it does not work the same way as Windows software does.
It’s a similar difference to that between Shimano and Campagnolo gears. They do basically the same job and you CAN mix them but the results may not be all you hoped for, plus you have to learn some new tricks.

all my music was wiped by an iTunes update.

I’d be interested to now how/why this happened as I deploy iTunes to 1000s of sales people’s laptops to support their iPhones and Touches.
When an update installs, it removes old iTunes programs (iTunes, device support, updater etc) then installs the new version, if there is one.
Doesn’t do anything with the music database and definitely nothing to the music files referenced by the database.
At a loss to see how it could wipe music, but would be useful in case this happens to one of the sales folk. It hasn’t yet!

iPod virgin: how do I get mp3 onto it?

Good question. I have an iPod 3 or 4 whatever that is sitting here for the last one year. Brand new given to me by my niece and nephew. They got it as gift from the bank … for spending money.

Anyway, I got some mp3 files on my PC and now need to transfer to iPod … hhmmm … same question.

iTunes it really isn’t that bad.

At a loss to see how it could wipe music, but would be useful in case this happens to one of the sales folk. It hasn’t yet!

I did a Google and it appears that if it happens, it doesn’t wipe anything, it is an issue to do with naming conventions – but some people just assume all their music has gone and rather than look at how they can solve the issue, just deploy PANIC! and re-install from scratch.

Another one here who is baffled by the hate directed at iTunes. It’s far from perfect, but it doesn’t stand out from any other software I’ve used as being particularly monsterous.

A top tip though. Create a playlist called “my iPod” or similar and then sync that to the iPod. Anytime you want to add/remove something from your iPod, simply amend that playlist. When the iPod next syncs you’ll have the music you want. I find this handy because it makes it easier to add music to your iPod when your iPod is not actually connected i.e. “Ooh, I do like this new album, I’ll pop it on my iPod playlist so it appears on my iPod next time I sync”

Getting this image … it does nothing …

That means – get the USB cable – poke it through a hole in a CD. you’ll find the USB plug fits nicely through. When the CD is threaded onto the cable, spin the CD nice n fast. Music will then emerge from the iPod speaker.

The only way I ever got any sense out of it was to do what the Tortoisey one suggested, creating a playlist specifically for the device.

The thing with iTunes, I think, is that it only really ‘works’ if you let it take over and do what it wants with your music. If you harbour any wacky delusions about crazy concepts like wanting music in a folder structure of your own choosing, or treating music as files and copying them between devices, then you spend half your life battling with the bloody thing.

(Also, I’ve never used it on a Mac, but I expect its implementation on an Apple system and a Wintel system are two very different things.)

(Also, I’ve never used it on a Mac, but I expect its implementation on an Apple system and a Wintel system are two very different things.)

only if they employ muppets in development…

I see that this thread has descended into the usual STW bickering

Thanks to those that offered some useful advice.

If you harbour any wacky delusions about crazy concepts like wanting music in a folder structure of your own choosing, or treating music as files and copying them between devices, then you spend half your life battling with the bloody thing

To be fair Cougar, this could be said about iPhoto too, which is THE most irritating bit of software I’ve ever used until I gave in and used it the way it was designed. Now I think it’s pretty good and I don’t worry about folder structures which – as day to day use is concerned – are largely irrelevant. If you’re the kind of person who spends half their time in Windows Explorer copying and pasting files around, the Mac way will seem alien, but it can and does work.

I see that this thread has descended into the usual STW bickering

You started it:

…avid anti-Apple grumpy git…

..trapped in iTunes hell forever…

😆

Jesting aside, iTunes can and does work well – on Windows and Mac – so embrace it, use the very good online support and documentation and you might come to like it. Fight it and it WILL end in tears.

http://doubletwist.com/, then?

looks like I’ll have to give in and accept it’s my new boss
😕

Mass storage, oh it’s apple 😀

A mate does all sorts of fancy stuff with smart playlists, setting up new ones whenever he rips new music and listening through until its all been played, then setting up new ones, and similar things with least played, etc.
I’m too chuffing lazy, so the Classic just swallows anything that I’ve recently ripped the next time it gets connected, while the phone has a separate playlist which gets updated whenever I add new stuff to the phone, just in case I have to do a full factory reset and backup. Which I’ve not needed to do yet.
Or get a new phone.
Oh, and I’ve got a playlist set up for a little 32Gb drive that goes into my car stereo, that gets added to every so often..
I did lose my music once, trying to copy my entire 80Gb library from my laptop to an external drive. I only had about 5Gb of storage left, and for some reason it seemed to choke on it and the whole library vanished.
Fortunately, with the help of a nifty bit of software, disaster was averted by copying everything back off the iPod.
That caused me a degree of mental trauma, I can tell you!

If you harbour any wacky delusions about crazy concepts like wanting music in a folder structure of your own choosing, or treating music as files and copying them between devices, then you spend half your life battling with the bloody thing.

This^

Point it at a folder structure and it looses the plot. To make matters worse you can’t access the CDDB database unless you register and provide bank details first, something I’m not prepared to do.

I’ll stick with Windows Media Player and my trusty Sony thanks.

If you harbour any wacky delusions about crazy concepts like wanting music in a folder structure of your own choosing, or treating music as files and copying them between devices, then you spend half your life battling with the bloody thing.

I don’t even understand what you mean there, really. Surely the only ‘folders’ you need are artists, albums and playlists (if you use them. I don’t really) Why would you need to file anything any differently to how the average CD or record collection is filed?

Point it at a folder structure and it looses the plot. To make matters worse you can’t access the CDDB database unless you register and provide bank details first, something I’m not prepared to do.

Eh? Oh, you mean you’re never going to use iTunes to actually buy something. Personally, the small sacrifice of registering my bank details with an on-line retailer, that allows me to buy things easily that aren’t available in HMV far outweighs any misgivings I might have.
Can we assume that you never buy anything from Amazon or anyone else who has an online presence, like, for example, bike retailers?

Damn thing is still not working … plug & play … intuitive my foot!

Why would you need to file anything any differently to how the average CD or record collection is filed?

Because it’s my bloody music and I’ll file it how I like.