HOW-TO iPod with (Ubuntu) Linux

[KingOfNowhere]

Using an iPod with (Ubuntu) Linux
-----------------------------------------

By KingOfNowhere

This is a How-To for using the Apple iPod with Ubuntu Linux. For reference, my machine is an x86 running Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger). This How-To assumes that you are using USB to connect the iPod to your system and that the iPod is Windows Format (FAT32). Linux support for the iPod is still in its early stages and not all of the features of the iPod are usable. However, it is possible to use any iPod with Linux, but not all iPod models are created equally.

*UPDATE 2/22/06*
I have made some revisions to state the recent support changes.
*UPDATE 4/19/06*
Formatting Revisions

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1. LINUX IPOD CAPABILITIES
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Here are all the different iPod Models and thier features, along with the tool needed to use the feature.

1st - 4th Gen iPods, Mini iPods, iPod Shuffle (All iPods without color screens)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
These models have Linux Support.
FEATURE --> TOOL NEEDED

*Audio File Syncing (MP3,AAC,Audiobook)

--> gtkpod

*Podcast Subscribing/Syncing

--> iPodder / Amarok or a simalar program (to subscribe to the Podcast) and gtkpod (to sync to iPod)

*Calendar Syncing

--> any calendar program that can "Save As" iCal files (ex. Kontact, Ximian Evolution)

*Contact Syncing

--> any contact program that can "Save As" vCard files (ex. Kontact, Ximian Evolution)

-------------------------------------------------------

iPod Photo, iPod Nano
-----------------------------------------------------------------
These models also have Linux support.
FEATURE --> TOOL NEEDED

*Audio File Syncing (MP3,AAC,Audiobook)

--> gtkpod

*Album Artwork Syncing

--> gtkpod (cvs version)

*Photo Syncing

--> GPixPod or similar program

*Podcast Subscribing/Syncing

--> iPodder / Amarok or a simalar program (to subscribe to the Podcast) and gtkpod (to sync to iPod)

*Calendar Syncing

--> any calendar program that can "Save As" iCal files (ex. Kontact, Ximian Evolution)

*Contact Syncing

--> any contact program that can "Save As" vCard files (ex. Kontact, Ximian Evolution)

------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------

5th Gen iPod (iPod Video)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The newest model of iPod is finally usable with linux.
FEATURE --> TOOL NEEDED

*Audio File Syncing (MP3,AAC,Audiobook)

--> gtkpod

*Album Artwork Syncing

--> gtkpod (cvs version)

*Photo Syncing

--> GPixPod or similar program

*Podcast Subscribing/Syncing

--> iPodder / Amarok or a simalar program (to subscribe to the Podcast) and gtkpod (to sync to iPod)

*Calendar Syncing

--> any calendar program that can "Save As" iCal files (ex. Kontact, Ximian Evolution)

*Contact Syncing

--> any contact program that can "Save As" vCard files (ex. Kontact, Ximian Evolution)

*Video Syncing

--> gtkpod (cvs version)

-------------------------------------------------------

Okay, so this is what can be done with and iPod and a Linux box. If the desired feature you are looking for has no tool, check the bottom of this how-to in the "Additional Features" section.

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2. IPOD CONNECTIVITY
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Well, now that we know what can be done using Linux, the first step is gaining proper connectivity between the iPod and the Linux box.

- First -
Connect the iPod to the computer. If automount is running, your iPod may appear on the desktop, mounted, auto-magically. If this is the case, go ahead and skip to Section 3.
*Kubuntu NOTE: Kubuntu users (or KDE users) will need to install the kioslave for the ipod, then reconnect your ipod. This can be done with this command:

sudo apt-get install ipodslave

If you plug your iPod in and nothing happens, follow this section of the guide. As long as your iPod screen says do not disconnect or the Status Light is blinking (Shuffle) then the iPod has connectivity with the computer.

- Second -
type the following command:

dmesg

Toward the end of this command's output should be the device name of your iPod, it should look something like this:

[4301791.359000] usb 3-2: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
[4301791.461000] usb 3-2: configuration #1 chosen from 2 choices
[4301793.195000] SCSI subsystem initialized
[4301793.201000] Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
[4301793.204000] scsi0 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[4301793.206000] usb-storage: device found at 3
[4301793.206000] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[4301793.206000] usbcore: registered new driver usb-storage
[4301793.206000] USB Mass Storage support registered.
[4301798.206000]   Vendor: Apple     Model: iPod              Rev: 1.62
[4301798.206000]   Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 00
[4301798.216000] usb-storage: device scan complete
[4301798.385000] SCSI device sda: 117210240 512-byte hdwr sectors (60012 MB)
[4301798.386000] sda: Write Protect is off
[4301798.386000] sda: Mode Sense: 6c 00 00 08
[4301798.386000] sda: assuming drive cache: write through
[4301798.390000] SCSI device sda: 117210240 512-byte hdwr sectors (60012 MB)
[4301798.391000] sda: Write Protect is off
[4301798.391000] sda: Mode Sense: 6c 00 00 08
[4301798.391000] sda: assuming drive cache: write through
[4301798.391000]  /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0: p1 p2
[4301798.408000] Attached scsi removable disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0

For this instance, the iPod is detected as /dev/sda. The /dev/sda device has 2 partitions which are:

/dev/sda1 -> iPod firmware partition (Not Important for this How-To)
/dev/sda2 -> iPod storage partition (for storing music, photos, videos, etc.)

The part of the iPod that needs to be accessed is the partition /dev/sda2

- Third -
Create a folder to mount the iPod to:

sudo mkdir /mnt/ipod

Then you must edit your /etc/fstab to include your iPod:

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

Then add the following line to /etc/fstab, change /dev/sda2 to your iPod
device if necessary

/dev/sda2 /mnt/ipod vfat user,noauto,umask=000 0 0

Finally, mount your iPod:

sudo mount /dev/sda2

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3. INSTALLING AND USING GTKPOD
---------------------------------------------

Now that your iPod is connected to your machine and correctly mounted, we need to install the nessessary tools for using it.

GTKPOD - a utility used to update an iPod - http://www.gtkpod.org (PROJECT HOMEPAGE)

gtkpod is the major utility for iPod usage in Linux, so we will need to install it:

sudo apt-get install gtkpod

Once the install is complete, launch gtkpod like this:

gtkpod

Using gtkpod, you can create a playlist of all the audio files you want on you iPod. There are 2 default playlists in gtkpod, Local and gtkpod. The Local playlist is to consist of your entire music library. The gtkpod playlist is to consists of the current/desired contents of the iPod. Here are a few easy steps to get started with gtkpod:

1.- Plug in iPod and mount it
2 - Open gtkpod and select "Read iTunesDB", this allows gtkpod to fetch the current contents of the iPod
3 - Add your music library to the local playlist be selecting the Local playlist and using "Add Directory"
4 - Modify the gtkpod list with the desired contents of your iPod
5 - Finally, click "Sync" or "Sync iTunesDB" to update the iPod

At this point, we are now able to connect and sync an iPod on a Linux system.

---------------------------------
4. ADDITIONAL FEATURES
---------------------------------
Here is the state of the other features of the iPod. Not all of them work yet, but progress is being made.

- Podcast Subscribing/Syncing -

This feature is possible under Linux, however there is not one app that does it all. In order to subscribe to a podcast, you need a Podcast catcher tool, like iPodder. The iPodder software just keeps track of all your podcast subscriptions and downloads new episodes. http://ipodder.sourceforge.net (PROJECT HOMEPAGE). Once you have downloaded your podcasts, all that is left to do is to sync them with gtkpod.
*UPDATE*
Amarok now supports Podcasts and Podcast syncing. If this is important to you, Amarok is worth checking out.

- Calendar and Contact Syncing -

This feature can be done in Linux, as long as the programs used to handle calendars and contacts can "Save As" iCal files and vCard files. These are the only extensions the iPod will recognize. Once you have saved your calendars and contacts as the appropriate file, just copy them to the appropriate folder on the iPod:

EXAMPLE

mv /path/to/calendars/*.ical /mnt/ipod/Calendars/
mv /path/to/contacts/*.vcard /mnt/ipod/Contacts/

And that is all it takes to sync calendars and contacts on Linux.

- Album Art/Photo Syncing -

GPixPod is a program designed specifically for managing photos on your iPod. Using it allows you to encode, sync, and manage your ipod photo library.

- Video Syncing -

All Video features (encoding and syncing) has been covered in another, very nice how-to:

HowTo: Encode Video for iPod Video

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5. WORK-AROUNDS
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If you are not happy with just these options, then here are the workarounds I have tried and what worked.

wine + iTunes
--------------
This doesn't work at all, don't bother.

virtual machine + Windows + iTunes
----------------------------------
This was also unsuccessful, a virtual Windows installation will not correctly identify an iPod on a USB Bus.
*UPDATE*
However I was unsuccessful with this, vibes has report that it is possible when reformatting the ipod in VMWARE. any further info on this would be welcomed.

Dual-Boot + Windows + iTunes
----------------------------
This does work but Windows needs to be installed on your machine. This does kinda defeat the purpose of this How-To but here is what I found out. I resently purcahsed an iPod Video and was upset that there was no way to sync videos with Linux. So, I used gtkpod to put all music on my iPod, rebooted, and sync'ed my videos with iTunes. This works but it is kind of a pain.

*NOTE ABOUT ITUNES* - If you use gtkpod to update your iPod, gtkpod does not use the exact same method of writing the iTunesDB file that iTunes does. So, if you use your iPod with both windows and linux, you may make your iTunesDB unreadable by gtkpod.
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6. END
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Well, that should be all you need to know to get your iPod working with Linux. I hope everyone finds this helpful.

- KingOfNowhere

[Petrush]

Thanks for a very good howto.

Do you know how to automatically sync podcasts from ipodder to gtkpod and get it to sync to the ipod?

It should be possible with the "advanced" section, post processing command, i think - either thought gtkpod or by gnupod_addsong (didn't get that to work though)

[MihaiM]

Banshee is also nice

[Ninnghizidha]

How can i format the hdd of my ipod with fat32?

[Heliode]

Originally Posted by Ninnghizidha How can i format the hdd of my ipod with fat32?

When you first connect your iPod in Windows and install the iPod software, the gets formatted fat32. Not sure how to convert it to fat32 when you first connected it on a Mac though.

Nice howto. About the video, I recall another howto in this forum which involves compiling the latest GTKPod to get video support. You might want to link to that.

[TecnoVM64]

Use amaroK for the music syncing, it's amazing, it even copies the cover artwork

[endersshadow]

Just want to let you know that there is a way to sync videos to the iPod Video. You can check out the HowTo here, or even on the Wiki here.

[Suzan]

With the new version of gtkpod (0.99.2) you can also handle artwork on your iPod. Works nicely!

[Seaman]

Originally Posted by TecnoVM64 Use amaroK for the music syncing, it's amazing, it even copies the cover artwork

So amaroK has no problem with iPod? Like normal Computer --> iPod-transfers?

[ddumanis]

Amarok 1.37 for Breezy works great for syncing tunes to my Shuffle. It's the latest version (a backport, I think).