Ipod Help

[OohFeeshy]

Situation- Somehow Dad managed to delete all the music on Itunes. Nothing on there, nowt, zip, etc. Luckilly, the music's still all on the Ipod. But how in the Multiverse can I get it back without having to manually reload it all? Urm... 8 gig nano, software version 1.1.2, Itunes version 7 ish.

 

[for_my_fish]

no idea. but try the forum on ilounge.com

there are some ipod wizards on there.

 

[Danno]

According to Apple "there isn't a way to get it off", if ya know what I mean. What you will want to do is download an extra program off of the internet that strips all of the music off of it. Go to www.downloads.com and type in "iPod Software" and you should be able to get the information off of the iPod. Some of the software there is really nice. Just make a backup of your music next time.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Fingers crossed, I've found a way to do it that should be as good as any. Gone into the hidden files in Ipod, found a 'Music' folder full of gobbledegook AAC or ACC music files. Imported a couple to Itunes, sure enough, they magically went back to normal songs. So copied all the folders to My Documents, un-hid all the folders, imported all to Itunes... Slow, but so would any method be. Then when it's finished, just to check everything seems to be there, delete the My Documents stuff (unless that would screw it up again?), bobs your uncle. I hope.

 

[nmonks]

As has been mentioned, there isn't an official way to copy the music from the iPod to another computer. That's a restriction placed on Apple by the RIAA, if I recall correctly. To prevent people stealing/sharing music.

What you're doing is the longhand approach. There are various Mac and PC shareware/freeware hacks that do the same thing a bit more easily. But your main problem will be losing playlists and so on. But life is easier if you backup your iTunes library periodically.

Cheers, Neale

 

[for_my_fish]

did the file names go back to something sensible (always annoyed me how they are renamed on the actual ipod). I don't actuall run itunes on my 5th gen ipod any more I use rockbox http/www.rockbox.org/ with this I just drag and drop music folders onto the ipod. I only use the itunes for podcasts, thats one thing apple have made way too easy

not for the faint hearted (but you also get to play doom and stuff)

 

[OohFeeshy]

Well, I've now decided Apple software is officially a royal pain in the backside. It seems nothing on there bothered to tell me you can access the music on your Ipod from Itunes, regardless of what's in the library. Meh. So anyway, I've decided it is easier on me just to keep the library bit to store music before it's transferred. Meh.

 

[nmonks]

You can't blame the Apple software for honouring the legal contract between the iTunes Music Store and the RIAA. The iTunes software is amazingly good at what it does. But it doesn't let you break the contract you agree to when you open your iPod (the EULA no-one ever reads!). The iPod is designed explicitly to work just one way, from a host computer to the iPod, so that people only load it with music they own. If a person loses the data on their iPod, it is *assumed* they have the CDs to re-encode that music again. If they don't, and they stole the music from the web or from a CD he or she borrowed from the library, then they're breaking the law and there's no reason Apple should make life easy for them.

What you should be doing is creating a Smart Playlist that adds music that you tag with a Comment like "Don't have CD" or something. Then once that playlist reaches a certain size, e.g. 600 MB, you back up to a recordable CD. Un-tag those songs, and start adding that tag to any new music you import. Repeat as required. You should certainly be doing this with music and TV shows from the iTunes Music Store as a matter of course, because you cannot re-download purchased music. Alternatively you can do what I do and place any purchased music and video on at least two different computers. You can authorise up to 5 computers, so there's really no problems making enough backups that way.

Cheers, Neale

Well, I've now decided Apple software is officially a royal pain in the backside. It seems nothing on there bothered to tell me you can access the music on your Ipod from Itunes, regardless of what's in the library. Meh. So anyway, I've decided it is easier on me just to keep the library bit to store music before it's transferred. Meh.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

You can't blame the Apple software for honouring the legal contract between the iTunes Music Store and the RIAA. The iTunes software is amazingly good at what it does. But it doesn't let you break the contract you agree to when you open your iPod (the EULA no-one ever reads!). The iPod is designed explicitly to work just one way, from a host computer to the iPod, so that people only load it with music they own. If a person loses the data on their iPod, it is *assumed* they have the CDs to re-encode that music again. If they don't, and they stole the music from the web or from a CD he or she borrowed from the library, then they're breaking the law and there's no reason Apple should make life easy for them.

What you should be doing is creating a Smart Playlist that adds music that you tag with a Comment like "Don't have CD" or something. Then once that playlist reaches a certain size, e.g. 600 MB, you back up to a recordable CD. Un-tag those songs, and start adding that tag to any new music you import. Repeat as required. You should certainly be doing this with music and TV shows from the iTunes Music Store as a matter of course, because you cannot re-download purchased music. Alternatively you can do what I do and place any purchased music and video on at least two different computers. You can authorise up to 5 computers, so there's really no problems making enough backups that way.

Cheers, Neale

Well, I've now decided Apple software is officially a royal pain in the backside. It seems nothing on there bothered to tell me you can access the music on your Ipod from Itunes, regardless of what's in the library. Meh. So anyway, I've decided it is easier on me just to keep the library bit to store music before it's transferred. Meh.

oo, good tip!

 

[afireinside]

The same thing happened to me. Sorry, but I had to manually put all the music back on. What I would do, is every time you add new files to your iTunes, make a back up of the library (normally found in the folder My Music). Then, I just copy it to a different location.

First off, there are 2 files you need to copy. iTunes Library, and iTunes Music Library. Keep them in the same place, preferably in the desktop. Now, the iTunes Music Library happens to be an XML file of the directory of your music. So, if you ever loose the files again, go into iTunes and click on: File -> Import. Then, import the iTunes Music Library XML file. That's what I did when I changed users on my computer.

 

[Leopard-danio]

I have a completely different folder for my tunes, i download any tunes from my friends into the library then drag n drop the tune into the tunes document, saves any faffin around, if my library does get wiped (quite often cus i share the library with my bro's ipod aswell) so i jus use that back up folder, i wud be in a sticky situation if my computer crashed n lost all it's memory, maybe wud b a good idea to back it all up on my memory stick aswell

I also had my ipod freeze so i had to wipe everything n put it bk to factory status, not fun, had to manually import everything cus i dint have a back up folder at the time ¬.¬ pain in teh butt.

 

[spAcE mOnkEy]

Theres tons of free software you can download to manage your ipod. This software allows you to copy songs from your ipod to the computer, add songs to the ipod, etc. It's so much easier than searching through the hidden folders of the ipod, in which every song is titled in a different ipod language.... random letters....
I use linux, so i have a different program than you. On windows you can use yamipod, http/www.yamipod.com/main/modules/home/ . Download that. follow instructions, and everything should work well. In linux i use Rhythmbox music player.