[SGVLUG] Ipod on Linux

[Emerson, Tom (*IC)]

> -----Original Message----- Of Michael Proctor-Smith
> On 6/4/07, Emerson, Tom (*IC) <Tom.Emerson at wbconsultant.com> wrote:
[...]
> > will screw things up [iTunes, in particular, is a little 
> weird -- if 
> > you connect your iPod to multiple computers w/iTunes, each copy of 
> > iTunes will overwrite what's on your iPod with it's own database of 
> > files]
> 
> This is acctually not true, there is a setting that you set 
> in iTunes that controls this or at least there used to be a 
> setting that controlled that. But it actually makes sense 
> from a stop piracy point of view.

Yes and no -- on the home page for iTunes it now proudly proclaims
"syncs in both directions", but when you get down to the fine print, it
really means that "items PURCHASED from the iTunes store can be
transported between "authorized" computers using an iPod; items you did
NOT purchase can only be written to the ipod, not read"  If you "rip"
your own CD, or download a "legally unencumbered" mp3 file, you cannot
use the ipod as a transport mechanism (but see below)

>From the "just did this" category, I've hooked up my iPod here at work
-- when iTunes starts up, the following appears in a dialog box:

   "the iPod <name> is synced with another iTunes Library.  An
    iPod can be synced with only one itunes library at a time.
    What would you like to do?

    "erase and sync": replaces the contents of the iPod with the 
     contents of this library

    "transfer purchases": copies iTunes store purchases that this 
    computer is authorised to play from the iPod to the library"

    [and, of course, "cancel"]

It turns out there are a couple of settings involved:

  1) open iTunes when ipod is connected -- when on, plugging in the iPod
causes iTunes to launch, and depending on the next setting, eradicate
whatever is on the pod and replace it with your current iTunes DB

  2) manually manage [default: off] -- when on, erases the ipod [if
synced to a "different" library] and syncs either all items, or only the
items "checked" in the various pages [videos/pictures are managed
separately from music]

So, "by default", plugging in an iPod to "a different computer" will
cause it to be erased and reloaded from scratch.  Unchecking the first
item gives you the dialog I mentioned above, and checking the second
keeps it from deleting existing content.  

As I mentioned earlier, "purchased" content (usually) won't be trashed
-- since the first thing the computer will do is extract the purchased
items (if "authorized"), they will then be "in the library" so that
syncing it back up "to the iPod" will retain the song.  Not sure what
happens when you connect an iPod to the SIXTH different computer (since
you can only "authorise" up to 5 computers per account)  For songs
you've ripped or acquired outside of iTunes, you have to use the third
option: 

  3) enable disk use (mount as a HD) [default: off] -- when on, the iPod
appears as a removable storage device, however "data" that you place on
the iPod "when used as storage" is independent of the iPod player itself
-- the actual "music" part is "hidden" [sort of] and you cannot place
items on the iPod and then PLAY them from the iPod (unless you used
iTunes to "place" them on there via drag-n-drop, but then, by definition
those songs would have been "in" the iTunes DB on that computer in the
first place)

This "hiding" of music is partly via the standard "hidden files"
attribute, but more through intentional obfuscation.  When you mount the
iPod, the following directories are shown:

   calendars
   contacts
   lost music [not sure -- this might have been from gtkpod/yamipod's
"search for orphaned music" function]
   notes [contains a "lyrics" subdirectory; this might be a gtkpod
directory now that I think of it]
   Photos
   Videos

There is a "hidden" directory called "ipod_control" -- this contains:
   artwork, device, gamedata_rw, games_ro, gamestats_wo, iTunes, Music
-- all as "hidden" folders
   Yamipod - non-hidden folder [and, obviously, only if you've used
yamipod...]

Of these, two are of particular interest:

  iTunes -- contains the "database" of what is on the device
  Music -- contains hidden subfolders of the form "f00" through "f49";
within these folders are files of the form "ABCD.mp3" [remember what I
was saying about "tinyurl"?]  windows does, at least, allow you to
customize the listing by selecting various "attribute" columns to
display and sort, of which "title" gives you the actual title of the
piece

However, searching for a given item is rather difficult -- each "f##"
directory holds a portion of your overall music library, and there is no
obvious relationship between the folder and it's contents -- any given
song could be in any one of the 50 "f##" directories.  (or to put it
another way, if you had a dozen songs by a given artist and/or from the
same album, they won't all be in the same "directory".)

Now that I think about it, "so long as you use some sort of 'tool' to
manage your collection", the underlying filename is not all that
important.  This means that under windows, you'd use either iTunes or
media player; in Linux, perhaps Amarok (and/or ???)  If you want to
transfer the files to "someone else" or otherwise intelligently deal
with your collection, having the obfuscated/tinyurl style names pretty
much sucks.