No playback, artist/album/sometimes file unknown

[Ark]

Ipod Mini 2nd generation. Rockbox is installed just fine, and all artists, albums, and song names show up in the database. However, when I go to play something, it sits on 0.00 and does not play. Depending on the song, it may show the song name as 4 random letters, and it will always show the artist and album as unknown. The "next coming" display shows "(root).

I would reinitialize the database, but the manual thoughtfully doesn't show how to do that.

[Llorean]

What format are the songs, and what tool and settings did you use to encode them?

[Ark]

They're all AAC, and I used iTunes to install them.

[Llorean]

I said "encode" not "install." Are they purchased from iTunes, did you use iTunes to rip them from a CD, or what?

[Ark]

None are purchased from iTunes. A few were encoded from CDs, the rest were downloaded off the net as MP3s then converted to AAC through iTunes.

EDIT: Might I also mention, they play fine when I boot it up with the regular iPod software.  

[Febs]

I would reinitialize the database, but the manual thoughtfully doesn't show how to do that.

Yes it does.  Read the entry for "Initialize Now":  

Initialize Now.
    You can force Rockbox to rescan your disk for tagged files by using the Initialize Now function in the Database Menu.

    Warning: Initialize Now removes all database files (removing runtimedb data also) and rebuilds the database from scratch.