Using an iPod Classic 160GB with Linux
Posted in computers, music on April 29th, 2011 by karrthSo I recently decided that I needed to buckle down and get an mp3 player that would hold a large portion of my library. I went with an Apple iPod Classic 160gb, because of the historical ability to sync iPods with media managers like Banshee and Amarok on linux. Unfortunately, this is not the case with this model. So after many hours of trial and tribulation, here is my final solution. Scroll down further if you’d like to see all of the methods I tried.
My Setup
- iPod Classic 160gb, Model: A1238, fresh out of the box
- 64bit Arch Linux
The Process
- Plug your iPod into your computer with the USB cable
- Install VirtualBox. If you are also running Arch, I’d highly recommend checking out the wiki page.
- Setup a Windows machine in VirtualBox. Personally, I already had a WindowsXP virtual machine (VM) setup, so that is what I used. If you are unfamiliar with this process, check out this tutorial.
- After you have Windows setup in VirtualBox, you need to enable the USB and add a filter for your iPod. First, make sure your VM is powered off so that you can change the settings. Then right click on the machine in the manager, and hit Settings. Under settings, click on the USB category on the left. You should have a screen that looks like this:
On the right hand side, click on the button with the green plus. It says “Add Filter From Device” when you mouse over it. From there, select your iPod – it will say something like “Apple Inc. iPod [0001]“. If you have USB 2.0, you’ll want to check the “Enable USB 2.0 Controller” box above the filter list. Your screen should look like this now (I have USB 2.0, so I checked the box): - Now boot your VM. Once it is booted, you’ll want to install foobar2000, which is an amazing music player if you are a Windows user. But we’re just going to use it since it’s much faster than iTunes. If you’re unfamiliar with this process, check out this tutorial, which also includes the steps of getting foobar2000 to sync with your iPod
- WARNING: If you have a fresh-out-of-the-box iPod, you’ll have to install iTunes first so that you can go through the License Agreements and such, otherwise you can’t do anything with your iPod.
- After installing foobar2000, you’ll also need to download the iPod plugin (I used the most recent stable, which was 0.6.8.9 as of this writing) and the Nero ACC Codec if you want to have foobar2000 automatically convert songs that are not iPod compatible.
- To install the iPod plugin, simply unzip the file you downloaded and place the “foo_dop.dll” file in the plugin folder (default is C:\Program Files\foobar2000\components\)
- To install the Nero ACC Codec, unzip the file and place the win32\neroAccEnc.exe file in the foobar2000 install folder. If you put the exe here, foobar2000 will automatically pick it up. If it didn’t, or you want to keep the exe somewhere else, go to Preference/iPod Manager/Conversion in foobar2000 and locate the exe for it
- Now to share your library with your VM – at the top of your VM, you should have the VirtualBox menus (They include Machine, Devices, and Help). Click on Devices/Shared Folders. Then click the folder with the green plus on the right hand side, and browse to your music. Make sure you check the “Auto-mount” and “Make Permanent” options so that your folder will always be connected whenever you boot your VM. Once that is complete, you can find your shared folder under \\VBOXSVR on your VM. For convenience’s sake, right click on your music folder and hit “Map Network Drive” and then “Finish”. Your shared music should now show up as a network drive under My Computer.
- Now to add your library to foobar2000 – in foobar2000, hit Library/Configure. Then click Add, click on the drive we just mapped in My Computer, then click OK.
- foobar2000 will now start processing your library. When it’s done (or even while it’s still processing), you can then right click on an artist, album, or individual song, go to iPod/Send to iPod. You can also have it sync a playlist with your iPod under File/iPod (among many other options).
- BAM! You’re done! :)
Things I tried that didn’t work
- gtkpod, Banshee, and Amarok on my linux install
- iTunes (kept freezing on processing artwork and the gapless crap), yamipod, froddlepod and poddox in my WindowsXP VM
Back when I was a Windows user oh-so-long-ago and had an iPod (the 60gb photo when it first came out), I was a big fan of YamiPod, but it didn’t like this 160gb model.
Good luck!
