Managing your Ipod on Ubuntu

Ipod's in Ubuntu

Well, you will be happy to know that Ubuntu does iPods, even Nanos.  You will also be happy to know that using your iPod on your Ubuntu system is quite easy.  All you have to do is plug your iPod into one of your computer's USB ports, after which Ubuntu will automatically mount it and place an iPod icon on your desktop (Figure 16-1).  Yes, no longer do you have to mess around with mount and unmount commands or editing system tables.  Just plug in your pod, and Ubuntu will do the rest.

For the purposes of this piece, I am assuming your ipod is formatted in fat32.

Rhythmbox

Rhythmbox is set as the default application for iPods in Ubuntu, and as such it will automatically appear once your iPod is connected to your machine and mounted by your system.  All you have to do then is click the IPOD icon in the left pane of the Rhythmbox window, and you can see the contents of your iPod.  Click the small arrow to the right of the IPOD icon in the left pane, and you can also see your collection of playlists.  But other than all that seeing, there isn't much more you can do with your iPod via Rhythmbox.

Yamipod

Using YamiPod for Your iPod File Management Needs

A relative newcomer to the iPod file management arena is YamiPod.  YamiPod, which also comes in Mac and Windows versions, looks like a cleaned-up version of gtkpod; YamiPod's layout is more straightforward, making it easier to use in many ways.  It also allows audio-direct, helper-less playback (which gtkpod doesn't), and it is easier to deal with in terms of playlist creation and handling.

Downloading, Installing, and Running YamiPod

To get YamiPod, you'll need to download it yourself from the project's website at www.yamipod.com.  Just go the site's Downloads page, and then download YamiPod to your hard disk.  The file will appear on your disk as a tarball, so first extract the tarball, and then move the yam-linux folder, which is the product of that extraction, to your home folder.  Once you've done that, there is one small chore you need to perform before you can run the application: copying the libfmodex file within the yam-linux folder to the /usr/lib folder.  Since /usr/lib is in protected territory, you will have to use the sudo command to perform the copy procedure.

Here are the steps:

As YamiPod itself is an executable binary file, you don't have to install it to put it to work, and you are now ready to step into action.  To get things under way, plug your iPod into one of your USB ports, and then double-click the YamiPod file within the yam-linux folder.  YamiPod will appear as a small window until it reads the contents of your iPod, after which the window should expand into something like this:

   

Working with YamiPod

Working with YamiPod is very simple.  To add songs to your iPod, just drag tracks or folders from your Music folder to the bottom pane of the YamiPod interface or to any open playlist in the playlist pane.  An Add To Ipod window will appear, showing the tag information for each of the songs you've just dragged over.  In that window you can edit the tags for each of the songs, if you'd like to, before adding them to the library.  When you've finished making your changes, just click the Add All button, and the songs will be immediately added to your iPod's library.

To create a playlist, click the + button near the top-right corner of the window, and name your list in the New Playlist window that appears.  Once you've made your choice, click OK.  You can then drag the tracks you want to add to the list from the main library pane in the bottom half of the window.  You can also drag files directly from your Music folder to the Playlist pane, thereby adding those tracks to the playlist and your iPod's library at the same time.

If you would like to remove a track from the library, just right-click the track in question, and then select Delete song in the popup menu.  To remove a playlist, just select the targeted list from the drop-down menu button at the right-top corner of the window, and then click the - button to the right of that.

Finishing Up with YamiPod

Since YamiPod performs changes to your iPod in real time as you perform those changes within the YamiPod window, wrapping things up is quite simple.  Just click the small, circular eject button at the very bottom-right corner of the YamiPod window.  YamiPod will then close, and your iPod will be automatically unmounted.

Exporting Files from Your iPod with YamiPod

Like gtkpod, YamiPod allows you to export files from your iPod to your hard disk.  To copy songs from the library in YamiPod, select the tracks you want to copy in the main library pane (and hold down the ctrl key while doing so if you are making multiple selections), right-click any one of the selected files, and then select Copy song to in the popup menu.

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