IMPORTANT -- Manual Mode Changes in iTunes 7

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I just got bit by a change in iTunes 7's behaviour that may be less than intuitive...

In previous versions of iTunes, the preferences for syncing your iPod were controlled through the normal iTunes Preferences pane. There were three options... Automatically update all of my songs and playlists, Automatically update selected playlists only, and manually manage my songs and playlists. These options basically controlled whether the iPod was in manual or automatic sync mode.

With iTunes 7, the iPod preferences are now shown in the main screen when you select your iPod from the source tree. A number of tabs appear across the top of the screen for the various content types (ie, Music, Movies, TV Shows, etc). On each of these tabs is a check-box to select whether or not you want to sync that content, followed by another setting to determine whether to sync all of it, or only selected items.

Note that this "Sync" checkbox does NOT control manual mode. DE-selecting this checkbox tells iTunes that you want that content to be REMOVED from your iPod on the next sync.

To set your iPod to manual mode, you have to choose the option, Manually Manage My Music and Videos on the Summary tab. This is a global setting for both music and video content.
 

silvery

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Thanks a million for posting this and saving me a potential headache and thanks to the person that made it a sticky. iLounge rocks as always, also big thanks to the writers that put up the info on the new ipods and new iTunes on the main site.

I also noticed that if you uncheck some of the playlists (if only load selected playlists), then it starts updating the pod after you click the Apply button, not immediately as in previous versions of iTunes.
 
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silvery said:
I also noticed that if you uncheck some of the playlists (if only load selected playlists), then it starts updating the pod after you click the Apply button, not immediately as in previous versions of iTunes.
If you think about it, that behaviour actually hasn't changed.... In iTunes 6 you would adjust these settings through a preferences dialog box, and nothing would update until you hit "OK" Now you adjust them in the main screen, and of course have to hit "Apply" before the update starts.
 

silvery

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Yeah I guess you're right. But in previous versions - 2 versions ago and before, simply hitting ok didn't do it for me, I then had to right click the ipod in the source window and select update (now sync), of course I have the 60g photo pod, so maybe that was why, 80g vid pod here I come. :D
 

BoDEAN

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Even with it set to manually, i drag mp3s over to my ipod, says copying, yet they dont show up on the ipod. Go Figure
 

Patster

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Hi, newbie here... but I used to right-click on my ipod in the source window to (manually)sync it... but now (iTunes 7) I have to drag-and-drop each song from my library... is there an easier way? it gets quite annoying... thanks
 
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Actually, if you were right-clicking your iPod and choosing "Update" (which would now be "Sync" in iTunes 7), that was actually still automatic mode -- you were just manually starting an automatic update.

"Manual mode" in this case refers to the drag-and-drop method that you describe. If you want to go back to syncing your content to your iPod automatically (ie, having it mirror your iTunes library on your computer), then UNcheck the "Manually Manage" check-box.
 

Nonie3234

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jhollington said:
Note that this "Sync" checkbox does NOT control manual mode. DE-selecting this checkbox tells iTunes that you want that content to be REMOVED from your iPod on the next sync. To set your iPod to manual mode, you have to choose the option, Manually Manage My Music and Videos on the Summary tab. This is a global setting for both music and video content.
Well - this SUCKS! I am accustomed to having my Podcasts synced every morning before I leave for work, but I always leave the rest of the Pod alone (songs, videos, photos) because they are all just as I like them and they do not need to be updated.

The last few days I got so frustrated with iTunes updating my entire library each time that I "deselected" everything but the Podcasts this morning.

Imagine my shock when I get to work and the ONLY thing on the Pod is Podcasts. What the heck???

Now I read your post and I am really disappointed. So - it's either sync EVERYTHING or sync NOTHING??? That's just stoopid.

Does anyone have a workaround that will allow me to sync ONLY the Podcasts, and leave the rest intact?

Thanks!
 
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Actually, podcasts can still be auto-synced. The "Manually manage music and videos" selection does not include or affect Podcasts, Photos, Contacts/Calendars, or Games.

You'll notice that if you enable "Manually manage", the sync option on the first three tabs (Music, Movies, and TV Shows) becomes de-selected, but Podcasts will remain selected (if it was before).

Additionally, turning on the "Sync" option for Music/Movies/TV will disable the "Manual" checkbox. The Podcasts Sync is independent of this as well.
 

Nonie3234

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jhollington said:
Actually, podcasts can still be auto-synced. The "Manually manage music and videos" selection does not include or affect Podcasts, Photos, Contacts/Calendars, or Games.
OH WOW!!!!
Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you SO MUCH!
 

Nonie3234

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Psht - you gotta wait for your MINI to reload?
I gotta wait for my 60gb to reload....

ZZZZzzzz
(heck with it - I'm going to bed)
 

Zeep Zorp

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joining the haters

I don't know who the bigger idiot is....me, because I had to erase all of my 30 GB then half again to figure out the problem...or the person that thought unchecking "sync music" would mean that I would want to delete everything from my ipod. I'm rendered nearly speechless by how stupid this is. I mean, I really like to have everything updated for me but I also like to sort through my stuff to see what's new or find a song that played on shuffle the other day. Bottom line...find me the person who has ever wanted to delete their entire ipod and I'll show you a person in need of a headbutt...or at the very least some self esteem lowering...alright, sorry...I feel better though.
 

brandonjp

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quick question to make sure i understand it all before i do something i regret...

#1 - if i have the ipod loaded they way i want it & i have itunes set to the global manual mode, then i right click on the iPod device in the left list and select "sync"...will it start from scratch or just update with new tunes? or will it even 'sync'?

#2 - i have a smart playlist of the tunes i actually want on the iPod - is there a way to set it so that it's not automatic, but so that it will just update with new tunes from that list when i tell it to? this is my main goal because i have a load of audio files for my work that i don't want on the ipod

sorry - this is my first week with an ipod - i just so nervous!
--bp
 
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If you're using manual mode, the settings under the Music, Movies, and TV Shows tabs should all be disabled. Re-enabling any of these will also disable manual mode and return you to automatic synchronization.

In manual mode, right-clicking on the iPod and choosing sync will do nothing with music, movies, or TV shows. It will, however, still sync podcasts, photos, contacts/calendars, and games (if you have any of these set to sync). These always sync automatically (if set to do so) independently of the manual setting.

If you want to use a smart playlist to load your iPod, you shouldn't use manual mode, but should rather use automatic synchronization of selected playlists. Just go to the "Music" tab, enable Sync, and choose "Selected Playlists" and the playlists that you want to sync to your iPod. Only songs contained in those particularly playlists (smart or otherwise) will be transferred to the iPod. A similar method can be used for video content as well.
 

johnnycab

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How do I view what is on my ipod rather than the settings/preference tabs? - I do not want to see these. In the earlier version if you clicked on your iPod you could see the 'greyed' out library and view which tracks were getting updated in a list format.

Please help
 

johnnycab

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studogvetmed said:
Click on the arrow next to the iPod to open up a list of music, video, podcasts, and playlists on the iPods. Select whatever one you want to look at.
Thanks - clicked just about everything, never thought of clicking on that arrow.
 
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