How to install an IPOD

[svero]

Well this isn't indie related but man... Installing my ipod was such a nightmare I thought I'd share.. Rant mode on..

Ok. Well I had some tunes n such in Itunes and decided to get an ipod. I had an older mp3 player but it didnt support itunes format.

So anyway.. Apparently I've really missed the mark on what Mac is supposed to be about, because installing and getting this ipod to work was about 10x harder than installing and running medical diagnostic beta equipment to say... sequence the human genome. I guess I need a phd in ipod informatics or something before I attempt something like this again. But here's the process as I personally understand it...

1) Ignore CD that came with ipod because of course it has software that's at least a zillion years old compared the the latest greatest software available

2) Go to apple and look for anything called an ipod driver. Doesn't exist. So I get something called an ipod software updater. Install that and restart my computer for some reason I don't understand and then plug the ipod in and nothing...

3) Read the support help and discover that ipods on a laptop require special tweaking of the windows device manager. Tweak power settings for 8 USB hubs and restart laptop.

4) With the new super duper l33t power settings setup, Ipod still not recognized... follow instructions and reset ipod, reinstall updater, itunes, restart computer etc.. ad infinitum.. No go. Not recongnized. Plug it in .. nothing happens.

5) Give up on web software and try the cd which tells me after 15 minutes of loading 700mb of useless installshield garbage into memory that the version of itunes i have is newer (see point 1) and it cant proceed, but hey we'll just restart your computer automatically anyway... (I think im at about 6 reboots or so...)

6) Check ipod support pages again.. Ohhhhhhh.... not that reset.. THE OTHER reset. I stupidly selected the reset option in the menus when really I was suppose to toggle the hold switch and then hold down the menu + select button (which is of course not labeled but just a white seamless button requiring you to guess what they mean by select button) .. Ok.. Device regognized...

7) Hrmm.. seems its in the wrong Mac format.. gotta reformat the ipod... Reformat.

8) run itunes... ipod now says "do not disconnect" at all times. This means that of course you have to use the special dismount feature to unplug from USB because the ipod can be used as a hard drive.

I can't imagine what this process would be like for a regular person who doesn't already have a degree in computer science. I guess it would involve mailing the ipod to an apple service office only to be told its not broken or some such....

[Fost]

I have to say, it's your own fault for being so fashionable!

Pretty much any other mp3 player allows you to have it show up as another drive, but Apple desperately want to force feed you via iTunes.

For my niece's birthday, my brother and I bought her an iPod (She's a girl, and so has an excuse for being a fashion victim ;) ). He then spent two weeks secretly ripping her entire CD collection to it. The first thing she did was install iTunes, which asked her if she'd like to 'keep her music in sync', she said yes, this apparently means - "make sure your Ipod contains the same music as your iTunes music folder". In this case, there was nothing on the computer, so it deleted everything on the iPod.

So, as far as Apple are concerned, 'keeping music in sync', means 'delete everything off your iPod'. :(

[svero]

I wasnt trying to be fasionable. The online reviews etc.. i read said the player was the one all others were judged against etc.. In truth the player itself is a good little machine so far. Nice interface etc... The problems are all software related. Itunes is a piece of crap software as well. I dont know if all apple software is this bad, but my experience so far hasn't got me clammering to get my hands on osx. The hardware itself im ok with so far.

[MacMan45]

I would say yours was a one off experiance.
I had zero trouble using my iPod on my windows or mac computer.
I also regularly use my ipod to transfer large files from home to uni, on computers we have no install rights on & don't possess iTunes, and i have simple drive functionality without an issue.

[electronicStar]

IPod software is good only if you have a mac.

[KNau]

Like Adobe Acrobat :)

[LilGames]

Step 1: Ignore CD.

That was your choice and therefore your fault.

[Pyabo]

Yep... iTunes sucks rocks. This is one of the reasons I *didn't* buy an iPod. I got an iRiver H320 instead.

1) Plug in.
2) Windows recognizes it as a USB hard drive.
3) Drag "Music" folder over to hard drive.

Done. :)

The thing I *really* don't like about the iPod is the way it forces you to organize your music via artist/track tags. That is bullshit. Let me browse the file folder... I am a big boy, and I've already organized my music the why I want it.

[undersan]

svero, if it makes you feel any better, I had an equally horrible experience with my Creative MuVo Micro N200. The player worked fine initially, but then one day it stopped playing protected songs purchased from Napster, presumably because Napster had updated/changed something.

Here is how I fixed everything:

- Figure out which of Creative's 1,001 different models I actually own. "MuVo Micro N200" isn't actually written anywhere on the player itself or its user manual.
- Update to latest version of Creative's "MediaSource" media organizer software (used to transfer songs to the player).
- Update the MuVo Micro N200 plugin for MediaSource.
- Update the driver for the N200.
- Update the firmware for the N200.

BTW, these four downloads aren't conveniently placed in one location at the Creative support site, oh no! It was like a scavenger hunt. A horrible, horrible scavenger hunt.

Pyabo, if you're able to transfer protected songs to your iRiver simply through File Explorer, then I'm genuinely impressed, and jealous!

[Diragor]

I guess I got lucky, or svero got unlucky. I plugged mine in, used the CD, everything worked perfectly. I updated the software after it was working. But yeah, iTunes isn't that great.

This time around after a system reload (failed primary hard drive) I decided to skip iTunes and I gave Anapod Explorer (http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/) a try. Liked it, bought it. It sure beats iTunes.

[MiceHead]

You're not actually expected to be technically inclined when you set up an iPod. Double-check the first line of instructions that came with it:

- Just do what we say, and nobody gets hurt.

My sister tried installing an iPod, and made the mistake of assuming it'd be plug-and-play. A friend of mine tried setting it up, thinking it would act like an external USB HD. When I went to install mine, I played Denny the Dunce, and just followed the instructions to the letter.

Easy as cake!

(Now that you have yours set up, of course, don't forget to subscribe to the Indie Superstar Video Podcast (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=181833322&s=143441&i=9343970). Not safe for work, as it does not contain nudity.)

[luggage]

Shouldn't really need to be that complicated though. I use a Creative Micro something or another and have never 'set it up'. Just plug it in and away you go. If even a few people are having issues then that's bad thing.

[Pyabo]

Pyabo, if you're able to transfer protected songs to your iRiver simply through File Explorer, then I'm genuinely impressed, and jealous!

Protected songs? Yet another reason to not by an iPod...

I just ripped my CD collection into MP3.