Now that you’ve installed Amarok in Ubuntu, you’ll want to use it manage your iPod. This tutorial will take you through the steps to do just that, and it will also show you how to make Amarok the default program that launches when your iPod is connected.
Note: this post is part of the 10 Alternatives to iTunes for managing your iPod overview.
- When you plug your iPod into your computer, Rhythmbox will launch by default. Close it down, and open Amarok. Select Settings from the top menu and then Configure Amarok… from the drop-down list.
- Select Media Devices from the left column. In the Media Devices: section select Apple iPod Media Device from the Plugin: drop-down. Click Apply and then OK.
- Back in Amarok click the Devices tab from the left column (if it isn’t already displayed).
- To add files to your iPod, drag some from your collection to the iPod list. They’ll appear in a Transfer Queue window.
- Click the Transfer button from the top menu and the files will be loaded onto your iPod.
How to make Amarok the default software for your iPod
- Select System -> Preferences -> Removable Drives and Media.
- Select the Multimedia tab and then click the Browse… button in the Portable Music Players section.
- Assuming you installed Amarok in the default location, select File System from the Places column, then the usr folder and finally the bin folder. Scroll down to amarok, select it and then click the Open button.
- Back at the Removable Devices and Media Preferences window, click the Close button.
- The next time you plug in your iPod, Amarok will launch.
Another great tutorial, Thanks.
Dugg.
Nice how-to but it’s pretty ugly that brown and blue colour combination, it isn’t?
El Cerrajero -
Hahah yeah it is kinda ugly. For the sake of tutorials/overviews I leave all the defaults – the brown is Ubuntu’s default theme. The blue is Amarok’s default theme. When I’m not using Ubuntu for screenshots etc, I actually have Compiz enabled with a different theme.
Thanks for the help, but what about if you have an iPod Video. How do you get videos and photos on to it?
I always love the tips and tutorials I can find on this site, no wonder i’m a RSS subscriber and I think many more people should be too. Thanks for posting this and your other useful posts.
Thanks for the great guide, I would like to see more articles like this!
Does it handle OGG? I mean the iPod itself doesn’t handle OGG – I know that, but a friend of mine has a music collection where more than half of it is on OGG. I have not yet found a Linux program that can convert OGG files on the fly when you transfer them, and converting them by hand is not really a good option.
I will have to try it out. If it can convert OGG’s on the fly, that would be awesome.
“Thanks for the help, but what about if you have an iPod Video. How do you get videos and photos on to it?”
Then you can use gtkpod.
http://www.gtkpod.org/about.html
Dapilot1 – what Mike said (thanks Mike!)
Jordan – Songbird is up next, then yamipod, then gtkpod then a few others. Eventually I’ll be doing a “x alternatives to using iTunes to manage your iPod” type of post, with summaries of all the alternatives (the free/open source ones anyway). And thanks for the compliment!
Bios – assuming you’re not a spam bot, thanks!
What do you use to manage your music?
this is great, however, do you know of any plug-ins or adaptations that allow for mainstream music mp3 purchases… such as iTMS?
Thanks,
THANKS!!! My Ipod was a rejected from Itunes. Simply no comunication between them in windows. I was about to send it to service, and since Apple has no store in my town, there was about 30 dolars delivery and a 15 days waiting period. But now Amarok made it sound perfectly!
Thaks to the one that wrote the tutorail.
David Corona, from Chetumal, Mexico
Nice Tutorial! Infact I use Amarok for music transfer to my Video iPod. However, the feature in iTunes which I love and which Amarok doesn’t seem to have, is that you can create playlists. Is there a way to do that , in amarok?
Are there any solution to load mp4 in ipod using amarok?
When I connect ipod in my ubuntu is recognized as a digital camera and I can not connect to the ipod folder, can anybody help me?
Great tutorial. It is sites like this that making the transition to Linux from Windows worth it. Thanks.
Sup-erb tutorial – read several ‘HOW TO’s’ and this is the best – simple and clear with great screenshots.
It seems like in Hardy Heron the System Preferences->Removable Devices and Media doesn’t have a multimedia tab any longer.
@joe:
I’ll scare up my old iPod and give it a run in Hardy
I found two possible places where it could be set in Hardy:
1. System Preferences -> Preferred Applications -> Multimedia where you can choose a Custom Multimedia Player, I set this to amarok, but it still launches Rhythmbox on insert
2. Nautalus edit->Preferences->Media has a bunch of options for opening Rhythmbox for music player, but doesn’t let you specify an alternative!
Maybe I didn’t make it clear in my previous comment, both of those places *do not work*
no es necesario el amarok tan nuevo, con el 1.4.6 es mas que suficiente..
sobre la gestion de caratulas, amarok 1.4.8 ya configura las caratuals tranquilamente
sobre actualizar el ipod cuando se pierde la lista no hay que hacer tanto alboroto con sysinfo, la libreria nueva 0.6.0 y 0.6.1(cvs) ofrecen un simple comando que solo se debe ejecutar una vez llamado readsysinfo..
aqui estan lospaquetes mas actualizados tanto de amarok como de libgpod, y tambien como instalarlos
paquetes y comandos ipod debian correctos
for debian users in few days here are the packages for xandros-sarge, and etch:
paquetes y comandos ipod debian correctos
amarok 1.4.8 and libgpod 0.6.0
I found Rhytmbox easier to use with the ipod.
For videos/ipod Banshee 1.0 is excelent.
Thanks for the guide!
J
I’ve got my iPod working great on Ubuntu, but there is a nagging issue for me. In iTunes you can sync your iPod so that it deletes files that you’ve deleted from your library and add files that you’ve added. Is there any way to do this in Amarok?
Yes, it seems the multimedia tab is missing from System Preferences->Removable Devices and Media. Is there any way to get it back??
I’m also curious about this missing multimedia tab in the System Preferences->Removable Devices and Media.
Has anyone figured out what causes this? It’s rather annoying having Rhythmbox keep popping up (and sometimes crashing).
Have found the answer to a question that a lot of you have been asking.
David Roundy 08.10.08 at 2:08 pm
I’m also curious about this missing multimedia tab in the System Preferences->Removable Devices and Media.
It has move to: System Preferences->Preferred Applications
Click the multimedia tab, scroll down to Custom player
then add: /urs/bin/amarok
It should now open amarok as your default player.
Cheers RC.
as stated above my Joe, the System Preferences -> Preferred Applications -> Custom Multimedia option doesnt open amarok by default, im still getting rhythmbox to launch automatically even though i have amarok set as the preferred app.
im guessing its coded somewhere else or that an ipod isnt considered a “multimedia player” by hardy.
it wont be long till i nuke gnome anyways, but if i find a solution in the mean-time, ill be sure to post it.
Regards,
Dan
oh, and excellent tutorial, cheers m8
Have the same issue with Hardy and Rhythmbox, any answers?
Hi I have a problem with the new Ipod Touch 8GB. It is not recognised in either Ubuntu 8.04 or SUSE 11. When I go into amarok settings configure media devices it is not recognised. I run dccop kded mediamanager fullList and it is not seen. It is not seen by fdisk -l. Any ideas?
Hi, I was trying to follow the steps to make amarok the default media player for music, however when I get into System>>Preferences>>Removable Drive and Media I don’t see the multimedia tab that you’re using to default iPods opening in Amarok.
bueno, me pasa algo de lo mas raro que no me deja avanzar
sencillamente no tengo la opcion de media devices en mi settings panel.
no se como continuar….
por favor, una ayudita vendria muy bien
gracias
While this will work for those who have the outdated Amarok 1.4x, iPod handling is much simpler in Amarok 2.2x. You just see your device in the collection once it’s mounted. You can move files from your HD to your device and back in MTP mode.