Ask iLounge 4-25-08

Article

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy music from my iPod onto my computer?

Click here for the answer.

The second most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I put DVDs on my iPod?

For converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and home movies to your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV, we have a three-part series outlining the best formats, settings, and various tools to use for converting all types of video content for use on these devices.

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Windows)

Top five questions most recently asked by iLounge readers:

Q: What are the best speakers to use with my iPod? (15, 76-79, and 90-92)

Q: What are the best headphones to use with my iPod? (10, 72-75, and 90-92)

Q: I really want to get a nice case for my iPod. Do you have any suggestions? (36-37, 54-67, and 90-92)

Q: How can I connect my iPod to my car stereo? (14, 32-35, 68-71, and 90-92)

Q: Are there any batteries that I can use to extend my iPod's battery life? (82-83 and 90-92)

A: Answers to these and many other questions can be found in two places. Our Free iPod Book 3.3 provides a complete report card to all of the iPod accessories we've reviewed as of summer 2007, as well as over 125 iTunes and iPod tips & tricks. Further, our new 2008 iPod & iPhone Buyers' Guide has accessory tutorials at the page numbers listed in parentheses above. These and other publications in our Library are free downloads, developed by the editors of iLounge!

And now, for this week's Ask iLounge column:

Q: The contents in one of my playlists have been duplicated somehow, not my doing. Do I manually delete each duplicate song or is there a better way?

- Valerie

A: If these are just a few songs in a given playlist, the simplest way is just to clean them up manually. Although iTunes won’t automatically remove duplicates for you, it can help you filter out the duplicates by listing only those entries that have duplicate tracks.

To do this, select View, Show Duplicates from your iTunes menu:

Your current track listing will then be filtered to show only those tracks that have duplicates. For this purpose, iTunes considers a track to be a duplicate if it has the same song and artist name, so if you have the same track on two or more albums by the same artist, these will also show up as duplicates, even if they are different mixes or variations.

Once in this view, however, you should easily be able to select those tracks that are duplicates and remove them from the current playlist.

Note that the “Show Duplicates” option is stored with the current view in iTunes, so if you turn it on for a given playlist, it will remain on when you return to that playlist. This can be confusing if you forget to turn it off, however an indicator does appear somewhat prominently at the bottom of the iTunes track listing to remind you that you are currently only viewing duplicate tracks:

To return to showing all items, select the “Show All” button at the bottom of the screen, or choose View, Show All from the iTunes menu.

Note as well that newer versions of iTunes will warn you when you attempt to add a track to a playlist that is already contained in that playlist:

Q: I just upgraded to iTunes 7.6.2.9 and now some of my music files that I have backed up on my computer appear to be M4P files (and when I click on them they attempt to open in Quick Time as video) instead of MP3 files. How can I undo or change this??

- Anonymous

A: The M4P extension refers to an AAC format audio track that was purchased from the iTunes Store. M4A is used by iTunes for standard AAC audio tracks, and M4P for iTunes purchased tracks.

In this case, the M4P extension is correct, and should be left as is—these files are not MP3 files, so they shouldn’t have an MP3 extension. Quicktime is the underlying playback engine used by iTunes itself, and is used to play both video and audio files. In this case, the problem is simply that your default association for these files is set to Quicktime rather than iTunes, in the same way that a TXT file is set to open in Notepad (Windows) or Textedit (Mac).

If you’re simply concerned about importing these files into iTunes, you can simply drag-and-drop them onto the iTunes window, or add them using the File, Add to Library menu option.

If you would like to re-associate this file extension so that you can double-click on these files and have them open in iTunes instead of Quicktime, you can do this through your operating system’s file association settings. This will be different depending upon whether you’re using Windows or Mac OS X.

If you’re using Windows, simply go to the Tools, Folder Options menu from any Windows Explorer window, and choose the “File Types” tab. Scroll down until you see the M4P extension, highlight it, and click the “Change” button:

You can then select iTunes as the preferred application for opening this type of file.

For Mac users, simply highlight the file and choose Get Info from the Finder menu.

From the file info dialog box, under “Open With” simply choose iTunes instead of Quicktime, and then click the “Change All” button to change this to be the default for all files of that type.

Q: Unfortunately my computer has had some serious probems and crashed several times necessitating reformatting the hard drive. Each time I have restored iTunes and reloaded my music tracks back from my iPod. I have serveral purchased songs which I now cannot play because iTunes tells me I have 5 machines already authorised. I cannot deauthorise these computers as they refer to the same machine that I have had to reformat the drives on. How can I now get this reformatted computer, which iTunes thinks is 5 other machines authorised, enabling me to play my purchased music?

- Norman

A: The problem here is that when you authorize a computer, iTunes downloads a specific set of authorization keys to that computer in the current configuration. When you reformat the computer, as you’ve discovered, this authorization information is lost, and the iTunes Store thinks that you’re using a completely different computer.

The proper way to avoid this situation is to always ensure that you DEauthorize your computer before reformatting it or reinstalling Windows by selecting Store, Deauthorize Computer from the iTunes menu. This will remove the authorization information from your computer, and reduce your authorization count by one, allowing you to REauthorize the computer after you’ve reinstalled it.

Note that making significant changes to your computer hardware may also require your computer to be reauthorized, using up an additional authorization count. For this reason, always deauthorize your computer before performing major hardware upgrades (such as installing a new motherboard), or taking it in for service.

In this situation, however, since you’ve reformatted your computer, there is no easy way to DEauthorize the individual computer. For users in this situation, however, iTunes does offer the ability to reset ALL of your authorizations once per year. You can find this option on your Apple Account Information page in iTunes, which is found by clicking on your iTunes Store userid which appears in the top-right corner of your iTunes window when browsing the store:

The section under “Computer Authorizations” will indicate how many computers you presently have authorized against this iTunes Store account. If you’ve reached your limit of five computers, a “Deauthorize All” button will appear immediately to the right of this. Clicking this button will reset your authorization count to zero, and you can then manually reauthorize any computers that you are using to play your purchased content simply by selecting Store, Authorize Computer in the iTunes menu.

Note that you can only do this after you’ve reached your limit of five computers, and only once per year. This method is provided as a convenient emergency fix, but should not be considered a substitute for manually DEauthorizing your computer before reinstalling, servicing or upgrading it.

Q: Is it possible to update the firmware on my first generation iPod nano to make use of voice recorders to record audio/voice memos?

- Igor

A: Unfortunately, no. Current voice recording accessories are only supported on the second-generation iPod nano, iPod nano (with video), fifth-generation iPod and iPod classic. The fourth-generation iPod also supported voice recording, but used a different type of recording accessory.

iPod firmware replacements such as Rockbox offer some voice recording capabilities for otherwise-unsupported iPod models, but these are complete replacements for your existing iPod firmware, and are recommended only for advanced users who understand what they are doing. Some compatibility with iTunes will definitely be lost in the process, and not all of the iPod’s other built-in features have necessarily been ported to Rockbox. Further, not all existing recording accessories are necessarily compatible with Rockbox. You can find more info about the Rockbox project at http://www.rockbox.org.

Q: I have a fifth-generation 30GB iPod, and my iTunes library has just exceeded 30GB. I tried syncing my ipod, and iTunes told me it couldn’t fit everything on the iPod. A popup dialog asked me if I wanted it to automatically load as much content as it could fit, but at that time I said no. Now I want to load the iPod with whatever it fits, but I cant find a way to do it. How do I get iTunes to ask me this question again, or otherwise automatically load my iPod to maximum capacity with only part of my library?

- Rafi

A: Depending upon the model of iPod and version of iTunes, you can reset any iPod-related dialog box prompts that you may have missed by right-clicking on your iPod in the iTunes source list and choosing the Reset Warnings menu option.

However, all this option actually does is automatically create a playlist with the name of your iPod and then set your iPod sync setings to only sync this playlist. The selection of content that goes into this playlist is not particularly intuitive, and it remains a static playlist.

A better option is to create a smart playlist or series of smart playlists to provide a better selection of your preferred content, and simply limit the smart playlist(s) to the total capacity of your iPod. For example, you could create a basic smart playlist to fill your 30GB iPod with your highest-rated content:

In this case, “Name does not contain (blank)” is used as a palceholder since there must be at least one criteria. However, no song title should ever be empty in iTunes, so this will by default match ALL items, subject to the 29GB limitation.

Note, however, that you can provide much more detailed criteria, and even create several smart playlists. For example, a smart playlist such as the following could be used to select 4GB from your “Rock” genre that you hadn’t listened to in at least one week, with priority given to the older tracks in your library ("Least recently added"):

Another useful tip is to use the “Rating” of a track, which can be set on the iPod itself, to automatically exclude tracks from being synchronized to your iPod. For example, the following Smart Playlist would exclude all tracks rated with only one star:

Then, as you’re listening to tracks on the iPod itself, if you come across a track that you don’t like and want it removed from your iPod, just go to the rating screen and give it a one-star rating. On the next sync, that track will be automatically removed from your iPod, and replaced with another higher-rated or un-rated track

Multiple Smart Playlists could be created to add up collectively to the capacity of your iPod. You would then tell iTunes to only synchronize these specific playlists to your iPod by connecting your iPod, selecting it in iTunes, and choosing the “Music” tab from the main window:

Choose “Sync Selected Playlists” and then just specify the playlists that you’ve created for transfer to your iPod and click the “Apply” button. Your iPod will be synced to ONLY include those specific playlists. However, since these are Smart Playlists, as information in your library changes, the content on the iPod will automatically be updated after each sync to reflect the new smart playlist content.

Q: I sometimes have two or three of the same album cover in my iTunes library with several tracks on each (i.e. if the album consists of more than 1 CD). This makes it difficult to locate tracks. Is there a way can I get them all to appear under one album cover?

- Suzanne

A: iTunes and the iPod group tracks based on their album and artist entries. Tracks with the same artist and album name are normally grouped under the same “cover.” In the case of multi-disc albums, however, often the information contained in the track’s album title will include a disk number for the album as part of the album title. In this case, the tracks will be treated as separate albums since the album title is in fact different.

Unless you actually want each disc to be treated as a separate album, the proper way to group multi-disc albums in iTunes is to set the album title for all tracks to only the album name, and then use the “Disc #” tag to identify each disc:

This will cause all of the tracks on both discs to be grouped as a single album when using Cover Flow or Grouping views:

Likewise, the tracks will also appear under a single album heading when viewed on the iPod itself.

Due to the “Disc #” field being filled in, the tracks will still be sorted in the proper order, since the disc number takes precedence over the individual track numbers when sorting.

Note that if you have multi-CD albums that have more than a single artist on them, they may still appear under separate album entries, since again iTunes uses both the artist and album name when deciding which tracks belong together. The “Album Artist” field can be filled in with a single artist name for albums with featured artists, but this does not work consistently on all models of iPod. Your better option is to use the “Part of a Compilation” tag to identify those tracks that belong to the same album. When “Part of a Compilation” is checked, and the “Compilations” setting is enabled in iTunes or on the iPod, the “Artist” tag is basically ignored when grouping tracks into albums. See our Dec 7, 2007 Ask iLounge column for more information on how the “Compilations” feature is used.

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Ask iLounge Archives:

5-9-08: About iPod battery life and charging, Using Apple FM Radio remote on older iPod models, Scan and Fix dialog using iPod on Windows Vista, Preserving iTunes metadata when reinstalling Windows, Importing multiple tracks into iTunes, About iTunes and ID3 tags

5-2-08: Transferring digital camera movies to iPod, Reordering and shuffling playlists, Transferring playlists between iTunes libraries, Importing audiobooks, Correcting tags on CD import, Burning CDs with longer gaps

4-25-08: Finding Duplicates in iTunes, Setting files to open in iTunes automatically, Resetting authorizations, 1G iPod nano and voice recording, Syncing a library larger than your iPod capacity, Grouping multi-disc albums

4-17-08: Ripping CDs to external hard drive, Zeppelin speakers and USB port, Bluetooth stereo on iPhone, Converting TV shows to iPod, Audio recording on iPod touch, Wireless security on iPod touch

4-10-08: Transferring LPs to iTunes, Movie Rentals and 5G iPod, New iPod models on older Macs, Maintaining Playback Position on iPod, Importing CDs on multiple computers

See the rest of the Archives...

4-3-08: Using several iPods on one computer, Renaming imported CD tracks, iM7 and iPod nano, Burning different CD types, Purchasing from iTunes while travelling, Importing CDs on MacBook Air, Sending photos from iPhone

3-28-08: iPod capacity and bit-rates, International iTunes Gift Cards, iPhone charging accessories, Moving iTunes purchases to another computer, iPod touch and third-party tools, iPod videos play only audio

3-21-08: Basic DVD conversion, 5G iPod and subtitles, Slideshows on iPod touch, Using the Voice Memo function, iPod classic TV output quality, iPod Dock Connector extender cables

3-14-08: About Skip Count, iPhone alarm clocks, 5G firmware updates, Cleaning up after a library move, Syncing new playlists to iPod nano, Authorization of multiple iTunes Store accounts

3-7-08: Transferring MP3 files to new iTunes library, iPhone ringtones on Windows, Wired remotes for iPod classic, Sharing iTunes with multiple users on one PC, iTunes library and Time Capsule, Chargers for 3G iPods

2-29-08: Finding iPhone Backups, Contact Display on iPhone, Automatic vs manual iPod management, iTunes CD burning restrictions, iTunes movie rental expiry on iPods, Downloading podcasts to iPhone

2-22-08: Upgrading your iPhone, Recovering data from corrupted iPod, Recreating default playlists, Syncing iPod Games from more than one computer, Problems playing purchased TV shows on iPod, Output settings when playing movies from iPod to TV

2-15-08: Setting up an AirTunes network, Shuffling music, Playing podcasts sequentially, Firewire support on modern iPods, Recovering Mac-formatted iPods on Windows, Recovering iTunes library from a virus

2-7-08: Transferring music from iPod touch, Voice recorders for 2007 iPods, Cover Flow on 5G iPod, Renaming your iPod, iTunes and iLife, Organizing music transferred from the iPod

1-31-08: Apple TV AirTunes Support, iPod Games on 5G and classic, Keeping videos only on iPod, Syncing iPod using checked songs, Charging with Universal Dock, International iPod and iTunes Store use

1-18-08: Macworld Expo 2008 Special Edition: Questions about the new iTunes Movie Rentals and Apple TV features, including Time Capsule and the Apple TV, Renting HD Movies from iTunes, Transferring rented movies to and from the iPod, Fifth-generation iPods and movie rental support, AirTunes support on Apple TV Take Two.

1-10-08: TV output quality, iPod windows driver installation errors, Connecting iPod to portable DVD player, Syncing games, iPhone charger compatibility, Reformatting iPod for Mac

1-3-08: 2007 iPod models and speakers, Video resolution vs bit-rate, Preventing auto-deletion of podcasts, Videos with no sound, Using iTunes Store when travelling abroad, Transferring videos to iPod, Importing Audiobooks

12-27-07: Your First iPod, Differences between iPod models, Accessory compatibility, Converting DVDs for iPod, New iPods and older computers, Earphone Recommendations, Troubleshooting iPod Problems

12-21-07: Other space on iPod, Search feature on iPod touch, Adding third-party ringtones to iPhone, iPod suddenly shows no content, TV Dock compatibility, Artists appearing more than once on iPod

12-14-07: New iPods - Buy now or wait? Transfer music from an old iPod, Convert MP3 to Lossless, Listening to videos and battery life, Bluetooth headphones for iPod nano, Universal Dock and line-out volume

12-7-07: Using Compilations settings, Re-syncing iPod after hard drive replacement, Locating iTunes Plus tracks, New iPod firmware - video output and iPod Hi-Fi support, Mac-formatted iPods, Cover Flow on iPod, iPhone screen goes blank when on a call

11-29-07: Photo resolution on the iPhone, Obtaining video content for the iPod touch, Restoring older iPod models, Sharing iTunes library on a single computer, Transferring iTunes via external hard drive, Auto-deleting played podcasts

11-22-07: Syncing games to iPod, Removing album artwork, Replacing files in iTunes library, Limiting volume on iPod, Preventing iPod sync when connecting with iTunes, Skipping audiobooks when shuffling songs

11-16-07: iTunes and Vista, iPod classic video output (revisited), Transferring iTunes from PC to Mac, Organizing Music Videos in iTunes, Using newer iPods with older OS X versions, Sorting photos on iPod

11-9-07: Editing calendar on iPod touch, Multiple iTunes libraries on one computer, Creating an iTunes Store account without a credit card, Burning CDs with track names, iPod/iPhone remote control, iPhone TV output from Safari

11-2-07: TV Docks for new iPod models, Calculate song file sizes, iPhone backup and restore, Sync selected content with iPhone, Universal Dock compatibility, Managing podcast synchronization

10-26-07: iTunes Plus, Play Slideshow on iPod nano, Activate TV out on new iPods, Recover Mac iPod in Windows, Add descriptions to TV shows, iTunes not opening when iPhone is connected

10-18-07: iPod and Windows Autoplay, Reinstalling iTunes, Manually Managing Videos, iPod charging accessories, iPod touch power and sleep modes, Resyncing recovered iPod content

10-11-07: Managing a class set of iPods, New firmware and older iPods, Windows ME support, Sorting artists by last name, 3G iPod car audio compatibility, Resetting iPod language

10-5-07: iTunes WiFi Store, Videos with no sound, Managing video content manually, Tagging TV Shows, Renaming iPod, Flash support on iPhone, Removing multiple artwork images, iPhone and multi-recipient SMS, US/UK iPod compatibility, Photo storage on iPod touch

9-27-07: iPod classic audio quality, New iPod models: features and accessory compatibility, Transferring music from iPod 5G to classic, iPod nano voice recording, Storing multiple bitrates in iTunes

9-7-07: Special Edition on the new iPod lineup - users most common questions answered about the new iPod lineup and new iTunes release, including accessory compatibility and new software features.

8-30-07: Playing single tracks, iPhone sleep timer, Deleting iPod content, TV shows do not appear on iPod, Manually sorting playlists, Fitting content onto audio CDs, Car line-out solutions

8-23-07: Set Video Kind within files, Authorization and iPod transfer, Chat Clients for iPhone, Importing CDs for gapless playback, Tethering iPhone, Burning Purchased Tracks

8-16-07: Managing podcasts, Bookmarking audiobooks, No artwork in Cover Flow, Storing iTunes content on two hard drives, Sleeping with an iPod, ROKR sunglasses and iPhone, Selling an iPod

8-9-07: Playing Podcast episodes in sequence, Recording radio in iTunes, New iPod with songs already on it, Authorized Computers, Sync iPod with a new computer, Transferring a Windows iPod to a MacBook

8-2-07: Syncing the iPhone to more than one computer, Transferring iTunes music to the Blackberry, Continuous video playback on the iPod, Problems editing track info in iTunes, Transferring content from iPhone to computer, Video playback from the iPhone, Sending MMS messages from the iPhone

7-26-07: Transferring photos from iPhone, Using iPhone speaker and dock, Song volume adjustments in iTunes, Transfer from a Mac-formatted iPod in Windows Vista, iTunes Other category and TV show syncing, Printing track lists from iTunes

7-19-07: Importing MP3 CDs, Using two iPods on one computer, Showing current track in Windows Messenger, iPod nano accessory compatibility, Keeping content only on the iPod, Transferring between two iTunes libraries

7-12-07: Sorting in iTunes 7.3, Joining CD tracks, Selecting TV Shows for sync, Recovering photos from iPod, Tagging multiple video tracks, iPhone activation requirements

7-5-07: Managing your iPod content with Smart Playlists, External hard drives and iTunes, Problems getting CD info from CDDB, Grouping by Album Artist, Using iPod as a removable hard drive

6-28-07: Manual mode and preventing auto-sync, Transferring iTunes library, Burning, ripping and sound check, Saving your place in multi-track audiobooks, Renaming your iPod, Resolving lost iPod content, Drivers and Software for 4G iPods

6-21-07: Smart Playlists for Podcasts, Incorrect track info when importing CDs, Deauthorizing computers revisited, Problems transferring purchased tracks, Transferring photos from iPod to computer, Deleting On-The-Go playlists, Songs not appearing under Artist name

6-14-07: Problems syncing re-ripped MP3s in iTunes 7.2, Grouping albums with multiple artists, Radio tuners for older iPod models, Managing Podcasts, Using an iPod on Mac and Windows, Selecting items for synchronization, iTunes not showing full iPod capacity

6-7-07: Using two iPods with the same library, Converting to AAC to Apple Lossless, Corrupt iPod errors, Sound Check and Crossfade, Exporting from iMovie to iPod and Apple TV formats, Copying from DVR to the iPod

5-31-07: iTunes Plus DRM-free music, Using iTunes songs in Windows Movie Maker, Storing notes on the iPod, Restoring the iPod, Synchronizing Watched TV Shows, Adding music from a second library, Viewing iPod menus on a TV screen

5-24-07: Storing artwork on an external hard drive, Nike+iPod kit and treadmills, Setting up a new iPod with an existing library, Using the iPod as an alarm clock, iTunes fails to transfer all tracks to the iPod, Syncing selected items to iPod, Identifying iPod models

5-17-07: Converting e-books for iPod, Problems Syncing Selected Playlists, Normalizing volume between tracks, iTunes truncating long filenames, Sorting tracks properly within albums, Pausing and remember playback position on the iPod

5-11-07: Video conversion: iPod vs Apple TV format, Automatically adding music to iTunes, Finding iPod-compatible music online, Organizing tracks on the iPod, Bluetooth speaker accessories, iHome speakers

5-3-07: Tagging content for your Apple TV, Organizing your Music Videos, Duplicate copies of your iTunes library files, Using the Universal Dock line-out, Problems restoring your iPod, Power adapter compatibility, Unlocking your iPod's volume limit

4-27-07: Transferring purchased content between iTunes accounts, FireWire/USB connections, External batteries, Problems turning off iPod, Sharing iPods on the same computer, Sorting tracks when importing CDs

4-19-07: iPod widescreen mode, Transcoding lossy formats, Locating missing music files, Assigning artwork to multiple tracks, Transferring iTunes purchases, Playing single tracks

4-12-07: Converting DVDs to iPod, Resetting Screen Lock, Moving an iTunes library to a new computer, Deleting songs manually from an iPod, Compatibility with overseas accessories, Finding accessories for the 5G iPod, Speakers for charging a 3G iPod

4-5-07: Playing iPod through iTunes, Preventing Apple Remote from controlling Universal Dock, Resetting iTunes authorizations, Transferring podcasts from a secondary computer, Finding music by composer tags, Sorting tracks on the iPod Shuffle

3-29-07: iPod photo transfer performance and accessories, Sorting photos on iPod, Syncing music and contacts from two different computers, iTunes video storage and formats, Converting AAC to MP3, Burning MP3 CDs

3-22-07: Album artwork and Other storage on the iPod, Storage size of iPod Games, Multiple iPods on the same computer, Etymotic Earjacks, Charging iPod while recording audio, Syncing TV Shows to iPod, Properly Tagging Albums

3-16-07: Converting Windows-formatted iPods for Mac use, Importing Calendar and Contacts from Outlook, Moving iTunes content to another hard drive, Recovering Playlists from iPod, Recording Lectures, Calculating iPod Storage

3-10-07: Understanding the new sort fields in iTunes 7.1, Smart playlists and rating preference, RSS feeds for new iTunes content, Checkboxes and synchronizing music to small iPods

2-22-07: Hiding the iTunes Store from view, Restoring iTunes' "Recently Played" smart playlist, Restoring an iPod's missing free space, Using third-party A/V cables, Apple TV and Wi-Fi network protocols, Authorizing iPod games

2-1-07: Windows Vista iTunes issues, Music Video organization in iTunes, Removing songs from Shuffle play, Sorting albums by year

1-17-07: iPhone Questions, Apple TV Stereo Connections, Car Stereos with USB ports, Now Playing screen on TV, Locating playlists a song belongs to, Playing podcasts sequentially

12-29-06: Charging iPod video with old AC adapter, Identifying iPod generations, Preventing iTunes from accessing the store, Accessing and playing video with DLO HomeDock Deluxe, Nike+iPod Sport Kit compatibility

12-14-06: Searching the comment field in iTunes, Buying an aux-in cable for the car, Making a recent top 25 playlist, Multiple genres per song, Radio Charts in iTunes

12-9-06: Gifting specific items from the iTunes Store, Linking to photos from the iPod's Notes feature, Properly listening to iPod music in loud places, Using Mac-formatted iPods with an XBOX 360

12-1-06: iTunes visualizers, Programs stored on iPod, Converting music en masse, Charging second-generation iPod shuffle, Adding chapter markers to videos

11-23-06: iPod deals, Continuously playing videos on iPod, Getting replacement iPod manuals, Finding size and playtime of a group of tracks, Fixing podcasts that reset iPod

11-16-06: Extracting audio from videos, Transferring albums to iPod easily, Using iTunes Store gift cards, Dealing with a scratched iPod backing, Recovering contacts from iPod

11-10-06: Volume limit on iPod shuffle, Preserving On-The-Go playlists between syncs, Storing Audiobooks in proper iTunes library, Apple Lossless on iPod shuffle

11-3-06: iTunes Store displayed in foreign language, All tracks begin where they were last stopped, Converting tracks to mono in iTunes, iPod wakes up and plays tunes on its own, Greatest Hits album won't show on iPod

10-26-06: Loading TiVo/DVR TV Shows on iPod, Accessing iTunes music with a Media Center PC, Leaving an iPod in the car, iPod Hi-Fi remote control, Tagging tracks just added to the library

10-20-06: Disc capacity & song quality tradeoff, iPod sleep behavior explained, Ordering albums by year on iPod, Using an iPod while charging via USB, Restoring a deleted playlist in iTunes

10-12-06: Displaying singles in iPod's Artists menu, Party Shuffle not advancing tracks, Two+ iPods on one computer - revisited, Finding songs not in any playlist, Returning to beginning of iPod shuffle playlist

10-5-06: Only one song plays at a time in iTunes, Playing interactive booklets, Resetting iPod's language, Shuffle anywhere on iPod, Isolating MP3 songs from AAC

9-28-06: Suppressing 'Explicit' tags in iTunes Library, Restoring the 'Purchased' playlist, Differentiating 5G 30GB models, Album Artist on iPod, Just for You in iTunes 7

9-21-06: Splitting "hidden" tracks from other songs, Multiple iTunes libraries, Movie trailers in the iTunes Store, iTunes-fetched artwork on iPod, Isolating Music Videos from songs in iTunes

9-13-06: iTunes 7 issues: Preserving library upon upgrade, Authorizing games for iPod, Audio severely distorted with static, Album artwork retrieval problems, Enhanced podcasts menu

9-7-06: Reverting to former iPod software updaters, iPod crashes and loses library, iPod not storing advertised song capacity, Cleaning out one's iTunes Library safely, Deleting Album Artwork en masse

8-30-06: Unchecked songs in smart playlist, Connecting iPod to car Aux-In jack, Deleting songs from iTunes, Filling iPods completely, Playing only one song in iTunes

8-25-06: Quickly erasing duplicate songs, Replacing iPod's front panel, Excluding videos from playlists, Using albums in smart playlists, Album art missing from iPod

8-17-06: Tags disappearing on play, Third party headphones on iPod, eAAC and eAAC+ codecs, Creating random batches of songs with smart playlists, Transferring iTunes Music Store tracks

8-9-06: Size of Smart Playlists, Changing an iPod's file system format, Backing up iTMS video purchases, iPod not automatically disconnecting, iPod shuffling problems

8-2-06: Airport Express not working under "Multiple Speakers", Tuning radio remote in 0.1 increments, Ordering albums properly, Video podcasts on older iPods, Multiple album artwork files per track on iPod

7-27-06: Exclamation marks near playlists, Artist column on far left of library?, Songs in multiple playlists, No options in for iPod slideshow music, Song numbering in iTunes' Library

7-20-06: Speaker icon next to currently-playing song, Sound lost in one headphone channel, Finding songs not in any playlist, iPod mini shuffling by album, Removing contacts and calendars from iPod

7-13-06: Maximizing battery life, Slideshows from an iPod nano, Trouble with iPod's volume meter, Powering two devices from one car power port, Smart playlists and sort order

7-6-06: Custom EQ on iPod, Viewing large text files on iPod, Buying an iPod from overseas, Finding iPod setup files online, Lossless vs. Lossy audio files

6-28-06: Unlocking an iPod, Creating a list of albums in iTunes, Restoring missing menu items on iPod, Converting video to iPod, Increasing the iPod's volume

6-21-06: Preserving select podcasts, Locating tracks in playlists, Automatically ejecting iPod after transfer, Microphone for iPod mini, Tracks missing when browsing via "Artist"

6-15-06: Backing up Smart Playlists, Using 4-pin Firewire ports, Viewing hidden data in iTunes, Recording direct to iPod from cassette, Synchronizing a folder of files between computers using iPod

6-7-06: Browsing albums by Genre, Fixing "Library Locked" message in Mac iTunes, Using generic AV cables for iPod TV display, Finding a simple iPod mount for the car, Transferring iTunes Library to a new Mac

5-31-06: Converting WMV video clips to iPod, Party Shuffle on iPod, Burning an MP3 CD from WAV files, Best iPod for running?, Identifying unknown track information

5-25-06: Independent left & right volume controls, Serial numbers on iPod installation?, Dealing with two-disc albums, iPod shuffle headphone jack problems, and the latest new iPod rumors

5-18-06: Organizing Compilations on iPod, Using the iPod's Notes features, Transferring large amounts of photos via iPod Camera Connector, Removing extra Album Art images from songs, Resolving discrepancies between iPod and iTunes smart playlists

5-11-06: Creating a simple, kid-friendly iPod interface, burning multiple playlists at once, viewing iPod photos on an Xbox 360, including multiple genres in one smart playlist

5-4-06: Videos not displaying on iPod, Using the iPod's power adapter overseas, Creating a "Most Played this Month" playlist, Editing iTunes-created playlists on the iPod

4-28-06: iLounge Week in Review podcasts, Creating iPod videos, Made For iPod, New and unpublicized additions to the iLounge site, Publicizing your company to the iLounge community

4-20-06: Shuffling podcasts, extracting files from iTunes, transferring Music Store downloads, battery life and high-bitrate formats, preventing repeated songs while shuffling

4-13-06: Protecting the iPod's Dock Connector, On-TV iPod menu navigation revisited, Contacts and calendars from PC to iPod, Dealing with the 5 iTunes account per iPod limit

4-6-06: Converting MIDI files for iPod, Purchasing iTunes tracks from another country, Unexpected track transfers on sync, Selling an iPod: with or without music, iPod prematurely advances track.

3-30-06: Disable CDDB track information, viewing more iTunes data on the screen at once, locating replacement iPod parts for self-repair, deleting genres from iTunes' pull-down menu

3-23-06: Browsing Composer-tagged classical music on the iPod, Cleaning iTunes' Source list with Folders and sorting, Setting the poster frame for a video file, Queueing TV episode conversion in HandBrake

3-16-06: Half-star ratings in iTunes, Importing photos from iPod Camera Connector, iTunes Videos on other devices, Preventing unchecked videos from syncing, playing a CD while importing

3-9-06: The easiest iPod for audiobooks, removing photos from iPod, determining iTunes library statistics, setting a specific song as an alarm

3-2-06: Removing intro/outro material from songs, Organizing Compilations in iTunes & iPod, Determining what playlists a song belongs to, Printing jewel case inserts from iTunes playlists.

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Comments

1

Just a minor quibble:

You don’t “reformat the computer,” you reformat the disk or the drive.

Thanks for a great column, week after week.

Posted by orgel on April 25, 2008 at 2:56 PM (PDT)

2

Is there any way to record dvd audio only onto a 4 g nano?

Posted by Dino on April 29, 2008 at 3:15 PM (PDT)

3

The screen on my classic ipod 80g says NOW PLAYING, but it is frozen. No matter what button I touch, the screen remains the same. please advise…

Posted by jen on May 1, 2008 at 10:12 AM (PDT)

4

Is there any way to hook up an external video monitor or display to an ipod touch? So you cna see o na minotr whatever is o nthe iPod touch’s screen?

Posted by patrick myers on May 1, 2008 at 2:02 PM (PDT)

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