Itunes and Windows - NOT user friendly...

[foulmouthedleon]

Ok, first of all I am new but I did search around, because invariably there'll be some senior member who'll respond to my question by saying "Search is your friend".

So with that said, I'm finding it very difficult to transfer songs and videos to my iPod 5G. I've successfully gotten it to work, but there's about five duplicates of every playlist that I have and I've no idea how to "make" my iPod update what's in my library. It used the library before, now I don't know what it uses to update (a playlist?).

If someone knows of a dumbed down tutorial on this site, I'm all ears - from my 30+ minutes of searching I've failed to find an answer.

Thanks in advance for any help someone can give...

[jhollington]

Hi and welcome to iLounge!

Can you describe what the process you're currently following is? Do you know if you're using automatic or manual mode? (go into Edit->Preferences->iPod to see what the setting is)

In automatic mode the iPod should just sync whatever is in your library as soon as you connect it. However, if you're in manual mode you need to drag-and-drop tracks and playlists to your iPod manually, and manage the content on it directly.

If you can give us some more information on what steps you're currently taking I'm sure we can help you out.

[foulmouthedleon]

Hi and thank you for your quick response. Currently I have my ipod set at "Automatically Update Set Playlists Only" and then there's a drop down menu with all of my playlists listed and none are checked. I did try to check the playlist that I wanted it to import and it acted like it was importing, but none of the files showed up on the unit.

So right now, on my desktop, let's say I have a playlist named sample.txt that has some songs and a couple of videos on it. I went in and checked the box that said "sample" and then from the drop down menu selected "Update". It "thought" for about ten seconds but was still the same as before.

I know this is MY error, because when I got this a few days ago, it was updating via the library and doing it fine. I tried to get fancy and use playlists, hence my problem...

Hope that helps some...

[jhollington]

What happens if you set your iPod preference to "Automatically Update All Songs and Playlists"?

This may not be an option if you don't have room for your entire library on your iPod, but it might ensure that things get properly resynced.

It sounds to be like the iTunes and iPod databases have fallen out of sync somehow, as this should not normally be that complicated.

Another option would also be to try setting your iPod to "Manually Manage My Songs and Playlists" and clear off the playlists that are already on the iPod (once you're in Manual mode you can expand the iPod as a folder structure and erase the playlists from it directly).

[foulmouthedleon]

It sounds to be like the iTunes and iPod databases have fallen out of sync somehow

That was the assessement I came up with as well. I'll try to just delete everything (there was only 1 CD on my iPod anyway) and try to get them resynched.

I'm sure with enough messing around, I'll get a method down that will work.

Thanks for your help!