iPod 4G - Database is empty

[Kalinda]

Hello,

I installed Rockbox successfully and then proceeded to initialize my iPod music (which I originally loaded using GTK Pod and Winamp, not iTubes but I assume it works the same). It says it is successful, although it doesn't take very long despite my having thousands of files. Then I reboot and when I go into database it's empty. If I check the original firmware, all my music is still there.

I searched the forums and Google and couldn't find any info. Does anyone know why it won't move my music? Was it because I used GTK Pod/Winamp instead of iTunes?

Any help appreciated; thanks!

[yapper]

If you go to Files instead of Database, do you see any of your music?

It's possible that you have put your files inside the .rockbox directory, which (I think) has the database.ignore file in there as standard, which would effectively tell the database to NOT add any files in that directory.

[Kalinda]

No, it's not under the files thing. I've just got Calendars, Notes, and Playlists. If I try to resume playback it says "Nothing to resume".

And, alas, I can't find my music, or any music, in the .rockbox folder.

[yapper]

Your music is probably in the iPod_Control directory, which is where iTunes generally places files.

Hold down Menu until you see a menu with three options (Shuffle, Show Files and Repeat), and then press Play until Show Files is set to All.

Press Menu again and then go back and check Files again. You should see the iPod_Control directory, and inside that will be a Music directory, and then you will find a number of directories F00, F01 etc that contain your music. You will also notice that the filenames are odd - welcome to Apple's world!

[Kalinda]

Alrighty; I see it... Thanks!

Unfortunately, even after I re-initiated the database, I still can't see anything under Database. What should I do now?

Thanks

[yapper]

Starting in the F00 folder and working up to the root, make sure none of the folders contain a file called database.ignore. If you find a file with that name, see this thread for a possible solution http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=15326.0

If you don't find a database.ignore file, the problem lies elsewhere.

[Kalinda]

Nope; there's no database.ignore file. I'm beginning to think this is because I used GTK Pod and Winamp instead of iTunes.... maybe I should just wipe the iPod and put all my music back on using iTunes... or Rockbox, although I'll have to figure out how to impot my .m3u playlists.

ERA: Okay, I think the database is just screwed up. I added some files to the iPod for Rockbox (on the iPod's root) and updated the database, but it still doesn't see anything.

[Chronon]

What revision of Rockbox are you using?  Has this behavior persisted across multiple builds?

[Kalinda]

I'm using the latest version. I installed it via the install utility in Linux and it worked like a charm. I only just started using it the day I posted this topic.

Another thing I noticed is that when I access and play the music in my ipod_control folder, Rockbox reads the tags properly, so it's just the database that doesn't work.

[yapper]

Take a look at this thread for a few more things to try : http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=15901.0

[Kalinda]

*looks* Okay, that guy's problem isn't the same as mine... my database actually does finish the scan and then when I reboot the iPod it doesn't ask me to scan all over again, it just shows a blank page when I go to the database.

Also, how can I even find out if my music has embedded album art? Sometimes Amarok shows me album art for my music, other times it doesn't... the music I put on the iPod's root, which I can see under the files section in Rockbox, has no album art in Amarok, but Rockbox's database still won't see it.

Maybe I should just kill everything and upload my music to the iPod with iTunes instead of gtkpod/Winamp.

[yapper]

There is an application here: http://vcardenasblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/ipod-album-art-extracter-for-rockbox.html although I'm not sure if it actually deletes any embeded album art or just copies it. However it does appear to show how many items were found without album art, so it might help.

If you do decide to copy your music to the iPod again, you don't need iTunes - you can simply drag and drop files from your PC to the iPod.

[Llorean]

If you get a completely blank page, something is wrong. You should always get to the database page that allows you to search it, the "tagnavi".

What SVN revision are you using. "Latest" doesn't mean anything specific.

[Kalinda]

I was unaware I'm using the SVN, since I jsut got the Install Utility through the instructions on the page for the iPod 4G.

But I checked it says it's the version is "r18007-080710".

I guess I should use the download utility and upgrade, maybe that'll fix things...

ETA: Woohoo! It works! I just needed to update. Thanks, everyone!