iPod and generic mp3 player support in Edgy and Dapper

[Damien Hull]

I've got an iPod and both GTKPod and Banshee didn't work. I ran into the 
HFS+ Problem. Got a friends iPod with a fat 32 file system. GTKPod 
didn't even see the iPod.

The iPod with the fat 32 file system came that way. Apparently some 
iPods have an HFS+ file system and some have fat 32. This can be changed 
with the software on the CD.

I would like to see the iPod supported under Linux but based on my 
experience it doesn't work. I currently run the open source software 
Rockbox. It works well with my mp3 and ogg music collection. However, it 
doesn't support iTunes. This is where a lot of people are getting their 
music and video's from.

http://www.rockbox.org/


Sean Hammond wrote:
> It seems we ran afoul of this bug:
>
> https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.15/+bug/49052
>
> The Dapper kernel has no support for the journalling option of the
> iPods HFS+ filesystem. In order for any application to be able to
> write to iPods in Linux (at least with the Dapper  kernel) journalling
> must be turned off on the iPod, which as far as we know can only be
> achieved with OS X.
>
> Once journalling is off, the combination of Rhythmbox (play files from
> iPod) and GTKPod (moves files to/from iPod) works well in Dapper, at
> least with the ipod we tested. This is what we'll recommend to people
> with Dapper.  Banshee seems to be buggy -- displays the name of the
> ipod wrong, and we found the UI least intuitive. We did not try
> Amarok.
>
> Still, I'm interested to know what the state of ipod support is in
> edgy, and also how the generic mp3 player support in rhythmbox works
> in dapper and edgy, particularly will it convert oggs to mp3?
>
> On 10/9/06, Sean Hammond <sean.hammond at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> No, we'll try Amarok.
>>
>> I also found this launchpad entry:
>>
>> https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/rhythmbox-ipod
>>
>> which says that ipod support for rhythmbox in dapper was 'deferred.'
>> Since we know rhythmbox could play from ipod in dapper, I assume the
>> entry is about full support.
>>
>> And this wiki page:
>>
>> https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/rhythmbox-ipod
>>
>> which says iPods work with Banshee, GTKPod and Amarok in Dapper,
>> though we know from our own testing that Banshee and GTKPod are buggy
>> (both crashed).
>>
>> Neither page has info about Edgy.
>>
>> It seems that if journalling is enabled on the iPods HFS+ filesystem
>> then Linux (in Dapper) mounts the iPod as read only, which may explain
>> banshee and gtkpod crashing. You can disable journalling on the ipod
>> via OSX, though probably not via WinXP or Ubuntu. We are going to find
>> out if disabling journalling fixes things.
>>
>> On 10/9/06, Patrick Carey <paddycarey at gmail.com> wrote:
>>     
>>> i always found the ipod support in amarok to be pretty good, even in
>>> breezy, but better in dapper and edgy, have you tried that?
>>>
>>> On Mon, 2006-10-09 at 13:58 +0100, Sean Hammond wrote:
>>>       
>>>> Ah, actually it seems GTKPod does not work on Dapper, it tries to sync
>>>> the changes to the iPod before exiting:
>>>>
>>>> Error opening '/media/ipod/iPod_Control/Music/F04/gtkpod424116.mp3'
>>>> for writing (Read-only file system).
>>>>
>>>> Error opening '/media/ipod/iPod_Control/Music/F05/gtkpod302268.mp3'
>>>> for writing (Read-only file system).
>>>>
>>>> It looks as if iPod support, via Rhythmbox, Banshee or GTKPod is
>>>> pretty dodgy on both Breezy and Dapper. What about Edgy?
>>>>
>>>> On 10/9/06, Sean Hammond <sean.hammond at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>         
>>>>> More info, my Ubuntu Breezy user reported to me that GTKPod didn't
>>>>> work. My friend running Dapper who found that Rhythmbox and Banshee
>>>>> failed tells me GTKPod does work. Any info on the status of GTKPod?
>>>>>
>>>>> On 10/9/06, Sean Hammond <sean.hammond at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>           
>>>>>> So, among the people I have installed Ubuntu Breezy for I have:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> * Someone with an iPod who had mixed results using it with GTKPod and
>>>>>> Banshee, Rhythmbox didn't use it at all apparently
>>>>>>
>>>>>> * Someone who ripped a load of music into OGG then went out and bought
>>>>>> an mp3 player
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So, I wanted to know what the support for these devices is like on
>>>>>> Edgy and  Dapper, but I can't try them myself since I don't own any,
>>>>>> although I have some info about ipods and Dapper from a friend:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> * Rhythmbox can play music from iPod, but that's all (can't move music
>>>>>> on or off the ipod)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> * Banshee seems to support moving music on and off the iPod, but crashes
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So what is the status of iPod support in Rhythmbox and Banshee on
>>>>>> Dapper and Edgy?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> And I've heard the Rhythmbox ipod plugin does OGG-mp3 conversion. How
>>>>>> does the Generic MP3 player plugin in Rhythmbox work? Will it
>>>>>> automatically convert OGGs to MP3 when you drag them onto the MP3
>>>>>> player? On Dapper? On Edgy?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So I can figure out how best to help these embattled users at some
>>>>>> point in the future.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>             
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>
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