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The Free iPod + iPhone Book4

Ask iLounge 3-30-06

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By Jerrod H.

Contributing Editor, iLounge
Published: Thursday, March 30, 2006
Category: Ask iLounge

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: Aside from simply disconnecting from the internet while importing, is there a way to disable iTunes’ CDDB track information feature? I’m not happy with the quality of the tags I’ve been receiving, and I’d like to begin tagging on my own, from scratch.

- Sean

A: Before version 5.0, there was an option in iTunes’ preferences to prevent iTunes from connecting to the internet when needed, but this option no longer exists.

To prevent iTunes from accessing CDDB in version 5.0 or higher, you must block data traffic to CDDB’s website using a firewall.

On Windows XP, this can be accomplished using a third-party outgoing-traffic firewall such as ZoneAlarm or Sunbelt Keiro. Configure the firewall to block access to “http://service.gracenote.com”. Note that Windows XP’s built-in Firewall cannot block outgoing traffic.

On MacOS, you can use this AppleScript from Doug’s AppleScripts for iTunes to configure the built-in firewall service to do the same task in one click.

Note that, in either case, this will only work for new CDs that iTunes encounters, as iTunes caches CDDB information as it receives it.

Q: I have a 12” iBook, and I often find its 1024x768 resolution too small to efficiently visualize the many data fields iTunes can display in the main Library window. In iTunes’ preferences, I found a font size setting, and can switch between “Large” and “Small” text, but even using “Small,” I find myself scrolling horizontally too often. Is there any way to see more of iTunes’ data at once?

- Anonymous

A: Sure - there are a few things you can do:

On either a Mac or PC, you can browse playlists (read: not your Library) in a separate window that doesn’t have the “Source” column, increasing the effective horizontal width of display. To do this, simply double-click on the playlist, and a new window will open, dedicated to it. Note that this also works for the Music Store, Radio, Podcasts, Party Shuffle, and Videos.

Second, you could export your Library’s data to another program that’s more flexible at data display, like Microsoft Excel. See this Ask iLounge column to find out how.

Finally - and this one only works on MacOS X 10.4 and above - you can scale the entire iTunes user interface down by a certain factor, using a somewhat hidden capability of the Mac’s Quartz Extreme rendering engine. To do so, first quit iTunes. Then, open “Terminal” from your Mac’s “Applications → Utilities” folder, type or copy in this line of text at the prompt, and hit enter when you’re done: 

defaults write com.apple.iTunes AppleDisplayScaleFactor -string "0.5"

When relaunched, iTunes will scale to half its normal height and width, as shown below:

While this 50% scale is impressive and allows much more data to fit on the screen, many would certainly consider it a bit beyond the realm of usability. In our testing, we’ve found that 75% works best for readability and the functionality of all of iTunes’ features, but there are still plenty of bugs: using this trick makes the Mac’s menu bar render awkwardly as you switch from one application to another, and Exposé doesn’t properly understand the scaled window. If you’re comfortable with these compromises, a moderate scale factor adjustment can be helpful. If not, simply revert to standard behavior by re-running the above command in Terminal, changing the final part to a “1.0” scale factor.

Q: The plastic plate on the bottom of my iPod mini has fallen off, and I’ve lost it. I’d hate to have to replace my iPod for something so simple; if I could just find a replacement part, it’s obvious that I could easily pop it in myself. Do you know of any sources for replacement iPod parts?

- Lauren

A: Several companies do indeed offer replacement iPod parts - of varying complexities and prices - for self-service repairs. Simply browse through the “Repair” companies listed in iLounge’s Company Directory to compare their offerings. As a quick example, iPodMods offers precisely the part you’re looking for for $10.

Q: Is it possible to delete unwanted genres from iTunes’ pull-down genre selection menu? I currently have 51 genres in this list, but I only use a small set of them. Can this list be reduced? Some of them I want to remove are simply misspellings that I’ve done before (Clasical, Harcore), but others are genres I simply have no interest in. Thanks!

- Chandler

A: The current versions of iTunes remove any genre from the list for which there are no songs currently in your library. Thus, your misspelled genres should disappear from the list as soon as you fix the songs that belong to them in your Music Library. However, the genres which come standard in iTunes’ list cannot be edited out.

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Ask iLounge Archives:

8-22-08: Cleaning up applications in iTunes, Playing back all songs on iPod, Excluding podcasts from Smart Playlists, Bookmarking tracks, Playing tracks back at a consistent volume level

8-15-08: Transferring play counts back to iTunes, Playing iPod while charging, Customizing iPhone alerts, Syncing movies to iPod nano, iTunes not recognizing new CDs, Sudoku reviews

8-8-08: iPhone and SIM card contacts, Syncing iPhone contacts, Hiding SMS previews on iPhone, Playing iPod touch on secondary computer, Syncing photos to iPod, Resuming interrupted iTunes WiFI Store downloads

8-8-08: iLounge Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Horwitz responds to reader questions on all things iLounge, including technical issues related to iPhone 3G, and behind-the-scenes editorial issues

8-1-08: iPhone Edition: Switching between apps, Car charging accessories, Activating older iPhone models, Sending MMS, App Store in wrong language, Excel and A2DP support

See the rest of the Archives...

Shop in the loungeStore for iPod + iPhone Accessories.

Next: Requiem for a UMDream: PSP movies flop, with lessons for Apple

Previous: Limiting Your iPod's Maximum Volume

Comments

1

re: deleting genres.

Just select all the genres you don’t use (apple-click/right-click to do several at once) and then hit apple+I (or “get Info” from the File menu) and then hit the check-mark next to the “genre” box that pops up. This will strip the genre data from all these files. The only genres that will show up now are the ones you actually use, everything else will be ‘genre-less’.

Posted by december in Boston/Toronto on March 30, 2006 at 9:04 PM (PDT)

2

scrap my previous comment - i see the query was about something else.

Posted by december in Boston/Toronto on March 30, 2006 at 9:06 PM (PDT)

3

Am trying to find a DVD ripper that runs on MAC OS 9 anyone has ideas on what and where I can find these?

Thanks.

Posted by new@mac on March 31, 2006 at 2:16 AM (PDT)

4

I have tried a few different ways to import videos to my ipod but I still have no sound and only video on my ipod.  I have tried to use DVD Decrypter with Videora Ipod Convertor and same results.  Any suggestions? Thanks!!!

Posted by andream on April 3, 2006 at 8:15 AM (PDT)

5

Im going to get a new digital music player, and I’ve decited between the 5G 30gb iPod, and the creative ZEN microPhoto. The zen is cheaper ($230) and has more features< except for video>, but iPods are cooler. If I were older, I would go with ZEN, but the choice is hard for someone thats in still school. Thanks!
P.S. being that this is ILOUNGE, this is kind of one sided, but honestly, whats the best choice!?!

Posted by mmike on April 3, 2006 at 2:33 PM (PDT)

6

my i pod has like a big stain on the screen so i took it to the apple store and they said it must’ve been because there was huge pression on the screen but i dont know how could that happen. so how can i get it fixed? where should i take it to?

Posted by karli* on April 5, 2006 at 1:14 PM (PDT)

7

my ipod has liek a big stain on the screen so i took it to the apple store and they said it must;ve been because somthing aplyed lots of presure on it but i dont know how could it happen. So how can i get it fixes? where should i take it to?

Posted by karli* on April 5, 2006 at 1:35 PM (PDT)

8

Any suggestions for an IPOD mini that is suddenly playing out of one headphone?

Posted by jsantist2001 on April 6, 2006 at 7:16 AM (PDT)

9

my ipod has disk with exclamation mark on it.
Ive tried reseting it but still wont go
away. Everytime I try to restore factory settings using ipod updater it keeps telling me that I can’t mount ipod.  Any help would be greatly appreciated, Its like losing a leg with the ipod

Thanks

Posted by gedmonds on April 6, 2006 at 8:30 AM (PDT)

10

gedmonds,

I had the same problem with my 4g 20gig ipod a while back. The screen would display either the exlamation mark or a little picture of an unhappy ipod face. Seriously, this was very upsetting. It took a lot of time to figure out that there was nothing that I could do. I tried everything. I tried wiping the hard drive and reloading the software. I eventually had to take it to the apple store in Nashville (which was a three hour drive from Knoxville where I live) It was a hassel but I found that it was still in warranty so apple gave me a new one. I hope that this is not the case for you, but you might try contacting them anyway.

Posted by camerack on April 6, 2006 at 11:34 AM (PDT)

11

My 30 gig vid ipod has about 250 songs on it. I got it for christmas from my wife only 3 months ago and im ready to smash it. It keeps freezing up on me. The most it will go is about 5 or 6 songs and it freezes before i have to reset it. Ive done the updates etc, can someone please help me or tell me what to do? Can I just take to any apple store and trade it for a new one. never been dropped or anything.

Posted by spacepilgrim on April 8, 2006 at 8:33 AM (PDT)

If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.

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