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Topic: iPod manager (Read 2214719 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4025
Hi musicmusic,

Thank you for your reply.

It seems that I have found the song limit for a least the 20 GB 4th gen iPod. On the drive there are 50 folders (F00-F49) which each can be filled with 512 songs which amounts to 25600. When filling the iPod to this limit it does not show any songs anymore (so you can't listen to them). If I try to fill more songs on the iPod with the foo_dop plugin for foobar it gives the error "Gave up looking for a suitable filename" - I don't know yet how iTunes would react. Going in reverse I was able to achieve having 24000 songs working on it.

Maybe you could add this information to your page. I am using a PNY Elite 256 GB Card. The write speed on the iPod in disk mode is ~4 MB/s - it should be a lot faster if I write to it directly.

Cheers
Nikolai

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4026
Hi again,

that does not seem to have been the only issue. Now with less songs on, I still can not send some albums to the iPod:



Any Ideas? There are not necessarily special characters in the filenames.

Cheers
Nikolai

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4027
The error and no songs showing up should not be directly related. The 'Gave up looking for suitable filename' error is a result of how this component names files when transferred to the iPod. File names are first truncated and converted to ASCII (due to iPod limitations, with accents etc. being removed, and other characters converted to underscores). The Fxx directory with the lowest number of files is picked. If the new file name exists in there, it is truncated again and '(0)' appended. While the file name exists, that repeats until it gets to '(99)' when it then gives up if the file still exists. The intention was to attempt to preserve the original file names as much as possible.

iTunes on the other hand did something like pick four random letters for the file name, so conflicts would be rare. The algorithm used by this component could be made smarter, but no one reported encountering that error before. Hence it would be useful to have some idea of what your (original) file names look like, and what the contents of one of your Fxx directories looks like.

[Edit:] Check how many files you have in total in the Fxx directories and how many you actually in the device's database (e.g. using 'Load library').
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Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4028
Ah you nailed it! I have 1.(0) - 1.(99) in and then it is not able to copy the filename anymore. Is there a possibility to change the renaming pattern? I guess in the source you published.

I had some odd behaviour again:
Now I had a working database and tried to add sth - it would complain about the filename again with the same error. After this I did not see any songs. Then I deleted sth from the iPod view (and thus also the iPod) and they showed up!

At the moment with the working configuration I have 23864 files and also as many songs in the foobar iPod view.

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4029
That makes sense – it would take the first eight characters and '01 - 01' isn't very unique. I can make it a bit smarter to avoid these kind of conflicts.

Probably you've found a hard limit on what your iPod model can handle, and it may be related to the database size. I did a quick search online and didn't find anything about the iPod 4G, but found this about the iPod 5G:
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/50726/Highest+possible+capacity+for+a+30gb+iPod+5th+gen#answer88383
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Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4030
I didn't know you are still working on the code - I am happy enough that you reply to questions in this thread!

As for the song limit I have read about it and I was completely unsure how it would appear. My iPod is not rebooting endlessly but just doesn't show the songs. I will fiddle around a bit more. It is weird that sometimes it would show the tracks and sometimes not  - even when I don't add or remove lots of songs. But I guess that in this case this is what is considered "unstable".

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4031
I didn't know you are still working on the code - I am happy enough that you reply to questions in this thread!
I haven't been, but I don't anticipate it being a large change.

As for the song limit I have read about it and I was completely unsure how it would appear. My iPod is not rebooting endlessly but just doesn't show the songs. I will fiddle around a bit more. It is weird that sometimes it would show the tracks and sometimes not  - even when I don't add or remove lots of songs. But I guess that in this case this is what is considered "unstable".
How large is your iTunesDB?
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Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4032
nvm

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4033
Hi everybody,

due to the stop of any further production of iPod Nano i've decided to buy a last one. I own an almost 2 year old Nano 7G which i've downgraded to firmware version 1.0.2 to get it working with this great plugin.

Well, i thought i can do this with the iPod i've got a few days ago as well, but unfortunately iTunes tells me that the firmware 1.0.2 is not compatible - on the new iPod firmware 1.1.2 is installed.

Is this just a lousy warning or is the new iPod really not able to run the 1.0.2 firmware - as it's not a major up/down-grade i thought there could be a way to get this 1.0.2 firmware on my iPod without bricking it.

Is there anybody who can help me out with some information if and how?

Many thanks in advance

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4034
I don't have a definitive answer for you, but it's not inconceivable. If there is a recovery mode, you could try that (but, well, you might still run the risk of bricking it).

It seems unlikely that what's stopping the component from working with newer iPod nano software versions is a big deal. No promises, but I'll try and pick up one and see what I can find out.
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Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4035
That would be really great if you could make the plugin compatible with the latest nano software. Our whole family has bought iPods in reserve and we are all used to using Foobar with your plugin.

That would be a huge relief in the future not to have to resort to alternative software. The only working workaround at the moment is CopyTransManager, but unfortunately no comparison to the usability of Foobar in connection with your plugin.

Since no more iPod-versions will be released on the market, this solution would probably last forever. If I can be of any help, let me know.

Thank you very much in advance for all your efforts - and of course thanks for the great relief during the last years with this great tool.

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4036
OK, I've got my iPod nano and it came with software version 1.1.1.

First point, some quick Googling suggests that newer (possibly post-2015-refresh) iPod nano 7Gs use software 1.1.x while older ones use 1.0.x.

Second point, my first observation was that there have been some (probably minor) schema changes to the SQLite database. This component supports schema version 22 while my iPod supports 25 and 26.

I haven't been able to fully check what else is different yet.

What would be useful from you actually is a copy of the output of the 'Raw properties' command (accessible from Shift + File/iPod/Raw properties) for 1.0.2 (and any other 1.0.x software version you have access to if possible). PM it to me as it will contain serial numbers and similar stuff.
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Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4037
If I just change some tags in an album. i.e One new album has "Pink" instead of "P!nk". There is a way to do this w/o having to "Synchronize" the entire collection?

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4038
@Nanonyma Thanks for the file. Good news – I've got syncing working with Nano 7G software versions 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 locally. I've got a few other bits to update, but there should be a new version out in a few days or so.

@TheEmpathicEar If you mean changing the tags directly on the iPod, then yes, you can run 'Load library', edit tags directly on the tracks displayed and then right-click on them and run 'iPod/Update metadata'. However, if you mean updating tracks locally, then you'll have to resync.
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Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4039
That sounds really fantastic. I downloaded your code a few days ago and tried to read in a little bit - but to be honest: that's a bit more than my scripting skills allow ;) So I'm really glad you found a solution^^.

If you're about to rediscover your work, may I give you a request for a small update: would it be possible to add one or two fallbacks to the artwork source script? So that the plugin searches one after the other (for example "cover; folder; front") and integrates what is found first as artwork. But please don't feel obliged, that would be the only point I noticed in the handling. Otherwise the plugin is just perfect, the on-the-fly-conversion is absolutely ingenious.

I'm looking forward to managing the new ipod as easy and fast as all its previos ones :))

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4040
@musicmusicmusic
Let's start over. I am confused.
1. I am just changing some tags in one album in my music collection on my hard drive. Normally, if I added/deleted music to it, then I would use "Synchronize" to add/delete music on the iPod.
2. I thought that I only changed tags in my music collection, then it was possible to make those corresponding changes to the same music in my iPod? Correct me if am wrong about this?
3. I always thought that the "Synchronize" function was rather slow because it has to check EVERYTHING in your music collection and then reflect those changes on the iPod.
4. Anyway, I thought it was possible to just change some tags in the IPod that correspond to those changed in the music collection? IOW, w/o having to a complete "Synchronize" to the iPod?

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4041
@TheEmpathicEar: You don't have to synchronisze anything. You can just files "send to ipod" or "delete from ipod". That's one of the great benefits of this tool.

If you change meta in your hdd-collection and want them to be changed on your iPod as well, you have to resync these files. But you can also change meta directly on your iPod, and to make these changes visible you have to "update metadata".

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4042
@TheEmpathicEar: You don't have to synchronisze anything. You can just files "send to ipod" or "delete from ipod". That's one of the great benefits of this tool.

If you change meta in your hdd-collection and want them to be changed on your iPod as well, you have to resync these files. But you can also change meta directly on your iPod, and to make these changes visible you have to "update metadata".
Ok. I thought there might be a way to avoid "Synchronizing" the entire collection - that is, if you only change "meta" as you put it. "
Synchronize", adds/deletes, music files, as I understand it.

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4043
2. I thought that I only changed tags in my music collection, then it was possible to make those corresponding changes to the same music in my iPod? Correct me if am wrong about this?
AFAIR no, when you sync only the updated files (since the previous sync) are actually transferred.

Unfortunately I'm unable to check as I've had no success using this plugin with the latest iPhone generations. Maybe if musicmusic is resuming his work on foo_dop I can hope... :)

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4044
Hello
I have the iPod nano 7th gen. I use this software to manage the iPod as I find iTunes quite annoying really.
I also use Foobar2000 to play music but I add them with iTunes (as i noticed some tracks skipped if they weren't imported via itunes)
I have the software version version 1.0.2 installed on the nano as the 1.0.4 appears not to be compatible with Foobar.
Recently though, i've noticed that my Smart playlists created on the ipod have very wrong Play-Counts. They were reading values well into the million and billion range. I don't know what caused this. Perhaps playing songs in Foobar which has its own play_count statistics or something. This obviously just messed up my playlists (as I have smart playlists that keep track of my Top 10 and top 100 and so on..)
What could be wrong? Is version 1.0.4 now compatible with foobar? Is there any other way around this issue?
Also, is there a way i can use the "genius" feature on the ipod without allowing iTunes to manage the iPod?
Thanks in advance to any tips, suggestions or ideas. (:

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4045
Unfortunately I'm unable to check as I've had no success using this plugin with the latest iPhone generations. Maybe if musicmusic is resuming his work on foo_dop I can hope... :)
Unfortunately the status of iOS 5+ support remains along the lines of previous messages. It's not just supporting the new sync protocol – it's also fixing the fact the component doesn't work with the 64-bit versions of the iTunes libraries.

Hello
I have the iPod nano 7th gen. I use this software to manage the iPod as I find iTunes quite annoying really.
I also use Foobar2000 to play music but I add them with iTunes (as i noticed some tracks skipped if they weren't imported via itunes)
I have the software version version 1.0.2 installed on the nano as the 1.0.4 appears not to be compatible with Foobar.
Recently though, i've noticed that my Smart playlists created on the ipod have very wrong Play-Counts. They were reading values well into the million and billion range. I don't know what caused this. Perhaps playing songs in Foobar which has its own play_count statistics or something. This obviously just messed up my playlists (as I have smart playlists that keep track of my Top 10 and top 100 and so on..)
What could be wrong? Is version 1.0.4 now compatible with foobar? Is there any other way around this issue?
Also, is there a way i can use the "genius" feature on the ipod without allowing iTunes to manage the iPod?
Thanks in advance to any tips, suggestions or ideas. (:
I expect 1.0.4 will work with the new version coming out soon.

Interesting about the smart playlist/play counts problem. I don't immediately see anything odd about play counts – there could be something wrong on the smart playlists side, but that sounds like an odd symptom. Could you share a picture so I'm clear on what you're seeing? If you open File/iPod/Manage contents, find one of the problematic files and right-click and select Item details, does it show the wrong info?

No support for genius I'm afraid. It's a bit of a non-starter as the database was thought to be encrypted. Even then, one would need a source for the data to power it.
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Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4046
If you're about to rediscover your work, may I give you a request for a small update: would it be possible to add one or two fallbacks to the artwork source script? So that the plugin searches one after the other (for example "cover; folder; front") and integrates what is found first as artwork.
There's the option to use the built-in foobar2000 artwork reader – does that not give you more flexibility?
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Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4047
@musicmusic::

The built-in foobar2000 artwork reader is activated, but I have never really put this feature to the acid test. Thanks for the tip. Even if the order may not be the desired one (in Foobar the picture with the highest resolution is the prioritized one, which will lead to useless wasting of space on the iPod) it may be easier than renaming the artwork manually every time.

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4048
Unfortunately the status of iOS 5+ support remains along the lines of previous messages. It's not just supporting the new sync protocol
I see; bummer, cause I really liked the friendliness of your plugin.

Long shot (and probably OT here) but now that there's a fb2k mobile version and, AFAIK, it can read iTunes db AND the "documents folder", would it be a lot of work to modify foo_dop (or write a new plugin) to manage that folder?

Re: [seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #4049
It's so nice to watch musicmusic working on the plugin at GitHub and to follow piece by piece what's going on.

Press F5 and see the salvation coming closer and closer... ^^