iPod question

[ForeverAutumn]

I have a 32 gig iPod touch that has reached maximum capacity. I want to remove some songs and add new ones. But I can't get the old stuff to come off. I unticked the songs that I don't want, on iTunes. But each time I try to sync I still get a message that there is not enough space. The old songs won't come off to make room for the new songs.

Hubby said that he had the same problem with his Nano and had to delete songs from iTunes on his computer to make it sync. But there has to be a way to do this without actually deleting songs from my computer.

I have two iPods that I sync on the same computer. One is 32gig and one is 80gig. How can I do the following:

1. Remove songs from the 32gig so that I can add new songs.
2. Set things up so that only certain songs sync on the 32 gig. and all songs still sync on the 80 gig.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Deleting songs from iTunes on your computer doesn't equate to deleting them from your computer's hard drive. I've had this situation arise before also, but I'm not recalling off the top of my head exactly what I did to remey the problem. Sorry.

[GMichael]

I have the same issue. I hope someone has an answer.

[Hyfi]

did you try this

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1855

or this

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Remove-Songs-From-Your-iPod---Just-Follow-My-Simple-Instructions-And-Youre-Done!&id=750357

or this

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...3150129AA7zbpV

http://technology.solveyourproblem.c...rom-ipod.shtml

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you..._off_your_iPod

but maybe you have tried all that and since I don't have one and just learned what a google search is...........

[3LB]

My churlins both have Ipods, small one (4g) and I got around this problem by not using Ipod as mechanism for ripping. I use WMP and rip songs to a file, and then I import those songs to Itunes. I don't let WMP sync nuthin, set-up playlists or anything like that. Now, as for the stuff they've purchased from Itunes, I think you can save that to a flash drive, or on a partitioned section of your hard drive so you can use it later.

I tried using an Ipod for a while and to me, it just reeks of effort. I like telling my electronic devices what to do, not vice-versa.

[Troy]

Without looking at all those links . . .

When you plug the pod into the computer, turn off "sync" and delete and add songs manually.

[MindGoneHaywire]

Does that erase everything from the iPod if you do it that way?

Eventually one would have to do that...I've always had mine on manual & after I lost my first iPod somewhere I have kept a list of everything I keep on my current one...and having way more music in my iTunes library than would fit on any iPod, syncing is not an option...

ripping directly to iPod never made sense to me, as it makes things way too difficult to manage properly...

[Troy]

Does that erase everything from the iPod if you do it that way?

No, it does not. Everything that's on there from when you sync'd remains until you delete it manually.

You should rip to the HD in your computer, not the iPod. The pod is too easy to lose or break. Lose it and all that work you did ripping the music and building playlists is gone too. The iPod should simply mirror (all of, if snyc'd, some of, if not) your iTunes on your HD.

3LB:
Isn't it easier to use one software for all your music needs? Why make extra work for yourself? If you gotta use iTunes because of the iTunes purchases, why not use iTunes to rip too? That way your directories are less complicated. You don't have music files all over the place in your HD that way. You don't HAVE TO sync the iPod with iTunes. Like others here, my iPod is smaller than my entire library, so I have to manually choose what goes on it too.

Rich:
If you delete from the iTunes library, the songs are deleted from your computer. If you delete them from any other playlist, they remain on your HD and in the library. If you delete them from your root folder on your HD they will still appear in iTunes listings, but will have a ! next to the title indicating that the file can't be found.

[Rich-n-Texas]

No, it does not. Everything that's on there from when you sync'd remains until you delete it manually.

You should rip to the HD in your computer, not the iPod. The pod is too easy to lose or break. Lose it and all that work you did ripping the music and building playlists is gone too. The iPod should simply mirror (all of, if snyc'd, some of, if not) your iTunes on your HD.

3LB:
Isn't it easier to use one software for all your music needs? Why make extra work for yourself? If you gotta use iTunes because of the iTunes purchases, why not use iTunes to rip too? That way your directories are less complicated. You don't have music files all over the place in your HD that way. You don't HAVE TO sync the iPod with iTunes. Like others here, my iPod is smaller than my entire library, so I have to manually choose what goes on it too.

Rich:
If you delete from the iTunes library, the songs are deleted from your computer. If you delete them from any other playlist, they remain on your HD and in the library. If you delete them from your root folder on your HD they will still appear in iTunes listings, but will have a ! next to the title indicating that the file can't be found.

Guess I mis-understood then. I thought you'd have the option to delete the song from your HD (message box pops up asking if you want to delete from your HD too) when you choose to delete the song from within the iTunes program.

[3LB]

Isn't it easier to use one software for all your music needs?

Yes, which is why I don't use Ipod/Itunes anymore.

[MindGoneHaywire]

>If you delete from the iTunes library, the songs are deleted from your computer.

Not exactly...actually, no. If you delete from the iTunes library they're still on your HD. When I want to delete something, I delete from HD first, then go to play the file (actually, I play the file prior to the one, or group, that I've deleted, and the little exclamation point pops up), and then deleting it is easier. They don't exactly make it easy to actually delete something, but I guess that's done from the point of view of not making it easy for people to lose files they want.

I do wish there was a way to highlight more than one file at a time for bulk deletes as you can do using the alt/option key in Mail. I guess the check boxes might address that, but I think all my files in iTunes are checked by default, so I delete manually. I do think there is probably a better way to do this, one of these days I'll spend more time poking around on the iTunes support/forums section of Apple's site.


>I use WMP and rip songs to a file, and then I import those songs to Itunes.

>Yes, which is why I don't use Ipod/Itunes anymore.

There is a contradiction here.

[nightflier]

Just wondering: is there a third-party or commercial application that does everything iTunes does but has a more intuitive interface? I would pay for something like that.

I know iTunes is popular with a lot of people, but it's the fact that it does not work on a folder/file management basis that it is so difficult to get used to for Windows & Unix users. Frankly, we now have three iPods at home and we use them a lot less than we probably would if iTunes was more intuitive.

[Troy]

Me>If you delete from the iTunes library, the songs are deleted from your computer. Not exactly...actually, no. If you delete from the iTunes library they're still on your HD.

That's just not true. If you delete from the library you get a message saying "You sure you wanna delete that, you can't undo it, you know" and the file disappears from your HD. But if you delete from any other directory in iTunes it just disappears. This is how it works on a Mac, maybe on a PC it's different, but I don't think so . . .

Guess I mis-understood then. I thought you'd have the option to delete the song from your HD (message box pops up asking if you want to delete from your HD too) when you choose to delete the song from within the iTunes program.

But that's what I've been saying all along! Note that it only deletes from the HD when deleting from the Library.

3LB>I use WMP and rip songs to a file, and then I import those songs to Itunes.

3LB>Yes, which is why I don't use Ipod/Itunes anymore.

MGH>There is a contradiction here.

Yeah, if the end result is to use iTunes, why not use it to rip?

To everyone: It's important to understant that you NEVER need to go to the root file storage area to delete music from your HD. It can all be done from the iTunes pane.

[Troy]

I do wish there was a way to highlight more than one file at a time for bulk deletes as you can do using the alt/option key in Mail. I guess the check boxes might address that, but I think all my files in iTunes are checked by default, so I delete manually. I do think there is probably a better way to do this, one of these days I'll spend more time poking around on the iTunes support/forums section of Apple's site.

Click one item in the list, hold the shift key and click further down the list and everything between will select too. Hit delete and they will all delete. You can gang select a non-contiguous number of files by holding the command key (option on PC?).

This works in every program and the HD directories.

[Troy]

Just wondering: is there a third-party or commercial application that does everything iTunes does but has a more intuitive interface? I would pay for something like that.

I know iTunes is popular with a lot of people, but it's the fact that it does not work on a folder/file management basis that it is so difficult to get used to for Windows & Unix users. Frankly, we now have three iPods at home and we use them a lot less than we probably would if iTunes was more intuitive.

There's no music-handling software on the market more intuitive than iTunes. I can't stress that enough for anyone in this thread.

Do the tutorials here: http://www.apple.com/itunes/how-to/ and once you master how iTunes works you will then know how everything on the Mac OS works, because Apple was smart enough to use a similar interface for all it's programs.

[Slosh]

There's no music-handling software on the market more intuitive than iTunes. I can't stress that enough for anyone in this thread.

Maybe not for Macs but PC users have the option of the much better, easier to use MediaMonkey (free). And yes, it'll sync iPods (along with most other brands of mp3 players). Album art always shows up on the iPod, you can add album art to entire albums instead of the stupid drag-n-drop every goddamn song method iTunes uses, plus it plays way, way more formats.

[ForeverAutumn]

My iPod problem has been rectified. I was able to remove the stuff I don't listen to anymore and add the new stuff. It's kind of a drag that I have to do it all manually now. But I knew that I'd outgrow my iPod eventually...it was bound to happen.

Thanks for your help Troy and Hyfi.

[MindGoneHaywire]

>That's just not true. If you delete from the library you get a message saying "You sure you wanna delete that, you can't undo it, you know" and the file disappears from your HD.

Not on my iMac or my MacBook. There may be something odd going on in my settings, but I deleted a song from the iTunes library just for the heck of it before I put that post up, so I would be able to say with confidence how it works on my system. I had done this before. I have to delete using Finder to get it off the system, deleting it in iTunes only removes it from iTunes, not the HD, whether it's the onboard HD or an external.

>Click one item in the list, hold the shift key and click further down the list and everything between will select too. Hit delete and they will all delete. You can gang select a non-contiguous number of files by holding the command key (option on PC?).

This does not happen on either my machines. So I've been deleting manually when necssary, and it's one of the very few things about the Mac that is quite frankly a pain in the butt. But, it's worth it because

>There's no music-handling software on the market more intuitive than iTunes. I can't stress that enough for anyone in this thread.

even with the pain in the butt that it's been for me, that's very true. One day I'll figure out how to do these things that don't quite work exactly as I gather they're supposed to, but even with that being the case, the Mac is still, for me, an unbelievable machine & I'll never buy a Windows machine again.

Which is something I can't stress enough, myself.

[Troy]

Glad you're up and running FA!

Maybe not for Macs but PC users have the option of the much better, easier to use MediaMonkey (free). And yes, it'll sync iPods (along with most other brands of mp3 players). Album art always shows up on the iPod, you can add album art to entire albums instead of the stupid drag-n-drop every goddamn song method iTunes uses, plus it plays way, way more formats.

Mediamonkey is simply a copy of iTunes that's been streamlined and optimized for use on the PC. See also Firefox, which is a knock off of Apple's Safari, but optimized for the PC. It's funny how few PC users understand that neither of these programs would exist without Apple inventing the technology and architecture for them. But anyway . . . iTunes automatically finds and installs the cover art for the album online. Doesn't mediamonkey do that, or do you always have to go find and install it? I'm with you on the monkey playing more formats, but it's never been an issue for me. Mp3, mp4, aiff and wav are all anybody really uses anyway and all are iTunes compatible.

Me>That's just not true. If you delete from the library you get a message saying "You sure you wanna delete that, you can't undo it, you know" and the file disappears from your HD.
MGH>Not on my iMac or my MacBook.

Just to be sure, from "Music" in the library listing it won't delete, eh?

Ok, try this. Go to iTunes preferences> advanced. Do you have the media folder location at "Users/you/music/iTunes/iTunes music", which is the default if you hit reset there? If not, then iTunes may not know to go there when deleting the files. "Keep folder organized" and "copy files to iTunes folder" should both be checked too. That way iTunes is taking care of all the organization of the root folders. iTunes works MUCH more efficiently if you let it do it's thing.

Me>Click one item in the list, hold the shift key and click further down the list and everything between will select too. Hit delete and they will all delete. You can gang select a non-contiguous number of files by holding the command key (option on PC?).

MGH>This does not happen on either my machines. So I've been deleting manually when necssary, and it's one of the very few things about the Mac that is quite frankly a pain in the butt. But, it's worth it because

WFT? Try this:
Have iTunes in list mode. Click on a song so that it's highlighted. Hold down the command key and click on another song. Both tracks should now be selected. You can select as many as you want doing that.

Now click with no keys held down and everything will deselect except the one you just clicked on. How hold down the shift key and click another track 5 songs down the list. Now all the tracks between the 2 points should be selected. This works in every apple program.

[MindGoneHaywire]

>See also Firefox, which is a knock off of Apple's Safari, but optimized for the PC.

This is incorrect. Firefox came from Netscape, which spawned Mozilla. One of the guys who created Firefox now works for Apple, but Apple had nothing to do with Firefox. And Firefox was around as a beta months before Safari's initial beta was released. Firefox uses Gecko for rendering, as opposed to Safari using WebKit.


>Just to be sure, from "Music" in the library listing it won't delete, eh?

Yep.

>Do you have the media folder location at "Users/you/music/iTunes/iTunes music",

Can't do that on my iMac, as my iTunes music folder is larger than the stock HD even if there were nothing else in it. Right now I've got more than 55,000 files in my music library, not counting at least another 5,000+ that still need to be dragged & dropped in there that I haven't gotten to in the three years I have the iMac.

However, that is indeed the setting on the MacBook, and I had to manually delete from the HD there as well. Mind you, I'm not complaining about that. But I read when I first switched that this was something that iTunes does not do, it is not supposed to remove the files from your HD. It was a discussion on a Mac blog, if I recall.

When I first got the iMac I didn't even realize that the default setting for ripping converted the song into an AAC file. Which is fine by me--I don't see myself buying a Zune anytime soon. But while I recently switched back, especially for ripping of the Beatles In Mono box (which I ripped in Apple Lossless, not that my ear can really tell the difference), I just realized why I had gone with MP3, albeit at a relatively decent (192) bit rate. I put some files on a DVD to give to a friend with no computer and just a boombox for a stereo; he listens to stuff I give him once in awhile with his DVD player, through his television. Pathetic, huh? But I don't think his DVD player will play AAC files! I'm not 100% on that, but he's lucky he's got something that will even touch an MP3. I can't manage my music based around his inability to function like a normal human being, mind you, but who am I to say? I do understand that AAC is a far more efficient format, with a rip rate of 128 probably equivalent to 160 or 192 for MP3.

I took a look at the file size for one of the songs from the Please Please Me album on the Mono box that I ripped in Apple Lossless. Song was 2 1/2 minutes, that would've probably yielded an MP3 file around 3 mb or so. The resulting file was 13 mb. Ha! Well, for this one thing, I figured what the hell.


>iTunes works MUCH more efficiently if you let it do it's thing.

When I got the iMac there was an issue with migrating my iTunes library. I don't remember what it was but I think the Applecare person I got made a mistake. I was lucky to recover my playlists. Three years later, I still have at least a couple hundred playlists where the music files never made it in. I have limited time at that machine, so I do what I can to put the library in order, when I can. Lots of files in the library, not properly assigned to playlists I created on my old Windows machine. And plenty of files, like I said, that I ripped on the old machine that never even made it into iTunes. One of these days...


>Have iTunes in list mode. Click on a song so that it's highlighted. Hold down the command key and click on another song. Both tracks should now be selected. You can select as many as you want doing that.

I only ever use List Mode. I'm not really into Cover Flow and besides, let's be real: Leopard is buggy for this stuff. They're not serious bugs, and I don't need the album artwork anyway. But I do think that Snow Leopard is supposed to address this. I've brought it up with a couple of Applecare people and they acknowledged that Leopard wasn't ready for prime time in a few areas--this was due to the push to get the iPhone to market in the same time frame that had been planned for Leopard, but they had to back Leopard up. Even so, Time Machine was well worth having to wait. But as much as I love the Mac, it's not above criticism. I'm not really into the argument that Safari is faster than Firefox. Bullcrap. Maybe if you allow ads, but if you use the Blocker that Firefox enables...no way.

This suggestion works. Good stuff, thanks.


>How hold down the shift key and click another track 5 songs down the list. Now all the tracks between the 2 points should be selected. This works in every apple program.

This works even better. Great stuff. I knew there was a way to optimize what I've been doing manually for awhile, but the way I select items in Mail was the way I figured it was supposed to work in iTunes & every combination of actions I tried just didn't work. Like I said, I knew one day I'd come across it, and there it is. I would've asked the next time I go to the Apple Store, but even though there's two of 'em less than two miles away, I am there only rarely. This is great, though.

[Rich-n-Texas]

My iPod problem has been rectified. I was able to remove the stuff I don't listen to anymore and add the new stuff. It's kind of a drag that I have to do it all manually now. But I knew that I'd outgrow my iPod eventually...it was bound to happen.

Thanks for your help Troy and Hyfi.

That's good. Now run along Sally, we've got serious issues to work out here.

[ForeverAutumn]

Hey Troy,
Since you're being so helpful, I have another question. When I used iTunes on my PC it always downloaded the album art automatically wheneven I added new music. But on my Mac it doesn't do that. I have to manually ask it to d/l the album art. I've searched the settings and I just don't see where the setting for the automatic d/l is. Do you know?

Yeah I could look it up, but why bother when I've got such a great resource here!

Just wait until I start working with Garage Band. Then you'll be in BIG trouble. LOL.

[Finch Platte]

This thread reminds me of a joke.

A bear walks into a bar and says to the bartender, "I would like a bourbon and a.......... coke."

The bartender says, "What's up with the long pause?"

The bear says "Oh, these? I've always had them."

[Troy]

Glad to help, you guys. I've been using Macs for 15 years, so I've had plenty of time to pick up a lot of tricks.

MGH:
Firefox's use of tabbed browsing, spell checking, incremental find, live bookmarking, download manager, private browsing, location-aware browsing (aka "geolocation") based exclusively on a Google service and an integrated search system that uses Google by default are all copies of Safari/Apple concepts. Yeah, you're right, architecturally they are different, but the slick user interface and increased usability over other PC browsers? That all comes from Apple's Safari, which was released a full year before Firefox.

FA:
Preferences> Store> check the box that says "automatically download missing artwork."

[Rich-n-Texas]

A kinder, gentler Troy...

:vomit: