Playlists Won't Stay in Folders

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Alonzo Mosley

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Zero feedback on Apple's forums, so I'll give y'all a try!

Have a 7th Gen Nano, running iTunes on Win12. Been updating all along (except for the latest).

I have several folders on my ipod, and keep the playlists sorted.

About 70 percent of my playlists were no longer in their folders. So I logged into iTunes, moved everything back, and next time I went to my playlists - same thing. So I repeated, being double-damn-sure to have properly synced. And it seemed OK when I used my iPod THAT day. The next day, BOOM - they're all out of the folders again. The folders are still there, but the playlists are under the main "Playlist" drop down....

I did a factory reset on my iPod and re-added Playlists, a few at a time. (Add a few, sync-and-disconnect, add a few, sync-and-disconnect).

Now, once I hit critical mass.... 70 percent of the G-D playlists are out of their folders.

WTH?
 

cjmnews

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I have a similar setup. iTunes 12 on Windows, iPod Nano 7th gen, playlists in folders.

Where are you looking at these playlists? The iPod itself or a device connected to the iPod?

Are you using automatic sync or manual management?

What do your folders look like in iTunes?
Mine are generally:
His Music\Playlist1
His Music\Playlist2
Her Music\Playlist3
Supporting Playlists\Playlist4

You said you did a factory reset, have you tried to Restore the iPod? It sounds like there is a problem in the iPod itself. A restore will wipe everything off of it, put the OS back on and then load your playlists.
 

Alonzo Mosley

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Yes that's exactly what I did - the "restore your ipod" option in iTunes, which basically resets everything back to the factory default ("Set Your Language", etc.). Then I added playlists back, which would be OK once and then fail.

My iTunes is - and always has - been set up to manually sync.

It would appear incorrect on both the ipod and iTunes (once it was plugged in, of course).

I would set it up to appear (and it should remain):
Artist Lists/Great 60s Band/Playlist 1
Artist Lists/Great 60s Band/Playlist 2
Artist Lists/Great 60s Band/Playlist 3
Artist Lists/Great 60s Band/Playlist 4
Artist Lists/Great 70s Band/Playlist 5
Artist Lists/Great 70s Band/Playlist 6
Artist Lists/Great 70s Band/Playlist 7
Artist Lists/Great Modern Band/Playlist 8
Artist Lists/Great Modern Band/Playlist 9
Artist Lists/Great Modern Band/Playlist 10
Artist Lists/Playlist 11
Artist Lists/Playlist 12
Artist Lists/Playlist 13
Artist Lists/Playlist 14
Artist Lists/Playlist 15
Instrumental Lists/Symphony/Playlist 16
Instrumental Lists/Symphony/Playlist 17
Instrumental Lists/Symphony/Playlist 18
Instrumental Lists/Opera/Playlist 19
Instrumental Lists/Opera/Playlist 20
And what I'm getting - after a few syncs - is
Artist Lists/Great 60s Band/Playlist 1
Artist Lists/Great 60s Band/Playlist 2
Instrumental Lists/Symphony/Playlist 17
Audiobooks
Playlist 3
Playlist 4
Playlist 5
Playlist 6
Playlist 7
Playlist 8
Playlist 9
Playlist 10
Playlist 11
Playlist 12
Playlist 13
Playlist 14
Playlist 15
Playlist 16
Playlist 18
Playlist 19
Playlist 20​

And, yes, that's a mystery playlist showing up called "Audiobooks"
 

cjmnews

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When you put the playlists onto the iPod, are you dragging the top level folder or the subfolder or the playlist?

My guess is playlist. I am guessing that iTunes is stupid and does not always remember the hierarchy of the playlists with manual management. I see several posts around where the folders don't usually work at all with manual management.

If you want to use folders, I recommend automatic sync by playlist (select the playlists you want to sync) instead of manually managed. My folders have never been lost with automatic management.

The Audiobooks playlist is probably because you have an audiobook with the Media Type of Music somewhere in your library.
 

Alonzo Mosley

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Don't guess. I have been doing this for years, and it has just started acting up.

I create the playlist in iTunes. I create the folder on the iPod. I drag the playlist onto the iPod. Then I drag it into the folder on the iPod. I use manual management because I manage all of the family's iPods on one iTunes install. Until recently, my folders have never been fouled up with manual management. (And they're not lost. The folders are there. But most of the playlists move out of them).

Audiobooks should show up as their own "Media Kind". Regardless, I do not have any audiobooks on the iPod. And it should not create a Playlist called "Audiobooks" (or anything else for that matter).
 

cjmnews

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I also have multiple people using 1 iTunes, 7 Devices, 3 people. We all just auto-sync playlists that we create for ourselves.

I saw a number of posts where manual management did not work with playlist folders with similar results as to what you are seeing on the Apple boards. But you have been successful, for a while, so perhaps their issues are not your issues.

This method of managing an iPod is painfully slow to me. Anyway, I have 6 top level folders, 2 of which have nested folders, 1 of the nested has another nested folder. 18 playlists, and a full iPod.

Removed and added with eject several times, no issues, removed and added without eject (not good) with no issues.

I can't reproduce the problem yet. Still thinking about it.
 

Alonzo Mosley

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OK I had a long reply that looks like it disappeared into the ether.

Short answer: Thanks. Am doing another factory reset.
 

cjmnews

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In the original post, you said you Sync and Disconnect.

What are you syncing? Since you use manual management, there should be nothing to sync.
 

Alonzo Mosley

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Right. It's a manual sync. When you drag something over, it syncs with the iPod.

That's the difference between a manual sync and an auto-sync.

And, yes, there's a disconnect button right at the very top of the screen.
 

cjmnews

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I know that manual syncs when dropping songs, but I was clarifying what you meant by "sync-and-disconnect".

As stated before I cannot reproduce the problem.
 
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