iTunes for Rockbox music Management?

[donjworks]

Hello,

I like the ease of iTunes, but I also like Rockbox. Is there a way I can use iTunes to put music on my iPod in a folder that Rockbox can find?

Thanks

Donald J
2 gig Nano 1st Gen
Newest version of iTunes (Whatever it is)

[Febs]

Yes, use the Database.  See Chapter 4.2 of the Rockbox Manual.

[meesterbrian]

Yes, use the Database.  See Chapter 4.2 of the Rockbox Manual.

section 4.2 doesn't mention anything about using iTunes to transfer music and still have it be visible to rockbox.  are you saying that when database is initialized in rockbox it will read the itunes folder structure and translate it?

[bascule]

Yes. Then see the link in my sig

[meesterbrian]

sweet. reading up now..

are the playlists that itunes transfers also viewable in rockbox? perhaps under the catalog in the playlist options?

i just started messing with rockbox yesterday and already i'm beginning to see the beauty in it.. i love all of the extra settings it opens up. especially crossfading.  it's great to see info like bitrate, add'l tag info, next song, battery meter in h/m format.. it's really fantastic. i would like the time to be displayed on the now playing screen however.. didin't see that option anywhere

[meesterbrian]

you know, on second thought there is a great benefit to the traditional file tree structure the files are in right now (without itunes).  it's a nice second backup and makes it extremely simple to move files around.. sharing some creative commons mp3s with friends for example.

i think i'll stick with winamp for synching for now and keep my system free of itunes bloat.

i also miss the convenience of that "shuffle" on the regular ipod main menu.. you can't have everything though.. and i much prefer al of the extras rockbox allows

[mightybrick]

You can create a playlist to shuffle for your entire library.  From the main music folder, hold select, and then the playlist menu, and create a playlist, recursively inserting the folders.  Then you can turn on shuffle, and play your entire library in shuffle mode.

[PHK Brasil]

are the playlists that itunes transfers also viewable in rockbox? perhaps under the catalog in the playlist options?

No, the playlists you created on iTunes/iPod are not compatible to Rockbox. You can try a limited trick to this http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=8348.msg65046#msg65046

i would like the time to be displayed on the now playing screen however.. didin't see that option anywhere

There is no option in Rockbox to display or not time on WPS.  You have to choice a WPS theme on gallery that displays the time, if you want. It depends of the WPS theme you use.
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/WpsIpodNano

i also miss the convenience of that "shuffle" on the regular ipod main menu.. you can't have everything though.. and i much prefer al of the extras rockbox allows

Hold MENU when in WPS/file navigation, then a Quick Menu will appears, with instantly options to Shuffle, Repeat and File View.

♪

[bascule]

i also miss the convenience of that "shuffle" on the regular ipod main menu.. you can't have everything though.. and i much prefer al of the extras rockbox allows

You can also enter the context menu from the While Playing Screen and select Reshuffle, which will, obviously, reshuffle the current playlist, but without altering your 'Shuffle' setting.

you know, on second thought there is a great benefit to the traditional file tree structure the files are in right now (without itunes).  

You can have both

I use the Database all the time because it's fantastic, but I still drop into the file browser for editing files or moving/deleting them or to select a file such as a custom keyboard that's not accessible through the Main Menu.

[meesterbrian]

what do you mean when you say you can use both?  i assume you mean on the ipod you can switch between file tree browse method and database method.

you're not saysing that the files on the ipod itself can be "viewed" both way s are you?

[knight4led]

Well technically you can view files added by iTunes in the filetree view if you change your view options to View All. However good luck making sense of them since iTunes obscures file paths and names. They are there though, just look in the iPod_Control folder.

I believe what the previous poster was saying is that he organizes the files himself for filetree view, but also builds a database. There are benefits to both systems. I use both frequently.

[bascule]

I assume you mean on the ipod you can switch between file tree browse method and database method.

I believe what the previous poster was saying is that he organizes the files himself for filetree view, but also builds a database. There are benefits to both systems. I use both frequently.

Exactly what I was trying to say...

[Flid]

A very minor point, but you "could" use Rockbox menu to display the current time via the "status bar" in WPS by default. This is what you will most likely see at the top of the screen in file browser mode, and can be displayed in the WPS. However, most themes cfg files overwrite this option (ie. disable status bar), so that you can have a graphical display of battery, shuffle etc icons instead.

Menu > General Settings > Display > Status/ScrollBar > Status Bar > ...

Most of the themes from the gallery will show time anyway, so just use one of them.

[ell1ps1s]

No, the playlists you created on iTunes/iPod are not compatible to Rockbox. You can try a limited trick to this http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=8348.msg65046#msg65046

This workaround assumes that you don't want to use the 'Composer' field for its intended purpose. (And if that's not a problem, it should work fine.)

If you're on a Mac, it's not too difficult to make an AppleScript to extract playlists from the iTunes database into .m3u8 files, but this technology isn't available in iTunes for Windows; I don't know if there's an equivalent solution for Windows users.

[saratoga]

Theres GPLed software out there for reading the ipod database.  Maybe someone will port it to rockbox so that the database can read iTunes files.   IMO this hasn't happened because most developers don't use itunes, but maybe someday.