getting files from the ipod back to the hd

[king ubu]

I handle my ipod manually, by using itunes just to copy files onto the ipod. Now my ipod (30GB one) is full and I don't have all the files on it also on one of my HDs. Is there a way to get the files back from the ipod to an HD?

Not that I couldn't extract my discs again, but the tagging is lots of work (I include full line ups, at least by musicians last names, and have, for instance, the complete Lester Young live recordings on the ipod - don't want to type up the info for 16 CDs again next time I feel like listening to any of that on the ipod...)

Anyone has an idea?

[Stefan Wood]

Are you on a Mac? There is a freeware program called Senuti that transfers from the ipod to your computer.

[Noj]

There's another program called iPod Access for Mac which costs about 15 clams.

[king ubu]

no, I'm using windows, sorry, forgot to mention that...

[Uncle Skid]

Winamp has iPod support that allows two-way file transfers, and it's free.

[king ubu]

Winamp has iPod support that allows two-way file transfers, and it's free.

I have Winamp - need to check that function out, wasn't aware of that! Never had the ipod linked with winamp... hope I can figure out how it works, thanks a lot!

[Uncle Skid]

You're very welcome! You might want to double check your version of the iPod plug-in, as I've had problems with some of the earlier ones. I rarely use iTunes, but one of the earlier versions of the plug-in must have corrupted the database somehow, and iTunes couldn't see any of the music after using Winamp. I had to format and start over!

There seems to be two different iPod plug-ins available now -- one that is packaged with the latest versions of Winamp, and the other which is available here separately. I've been using the "ml_ipod version 3.01 - 08/10/2007" for awhile now with no problems.

If you have anything on the iPod that's not backed up somewhere else, proceed with caution...

[king ubu]

Can I manage the ipod in the "media library"?

Just in case: I only have a free version of Winamp...

[Uncle Skid]

Yes -- that's how I do it. I also have only the free version.

Once I figured out how to use it (the media library) effectively, I've never gone back to iTunes. Winamp's iPod support is surprising powerful, and it has worked great for me.

[king ubu]

ok, I see you said it's free, hence I assume you have the free version, too... but can you tell me where I can set up a folder to export files to, and how I can do it? I just played around with it for a half hour and was too stupid to find out, sorry!

[king ubu]

here's the relevant point from the help page:

Copy to Local Media Filenames: Specify where to save files when using the 'Copy to Local Media' feature to copy files from portable devices to your hard drive (note, this feature also automatically adds the copied files to your Media Library database).

Use CD Rip Settings: Checkmarked by default. Uses the same Destination Folder and Naming Convention as specified in the 'Output File Settings' tab of the CD Ripping settings. When unchecked, the following two options become available:

Specify the destination folder for copied tracks: Click 'Browse' and select a folder in which to store the copied tracks, or type the location in the field provided (note, if typing manually, the specified folder must already exist).

Specify the naming convention for copied tracks: Specify the naming convention for ripped tracks: Type the file naming format to use with ripped CD tracks. Click 'Format Help' to learn more about the formatting strings.

Note: The following sections are only populated when devices are connected to the system. Select each individually detected device/player listed underneath the Portables root menu to access the configuration for said portable device.

The problem is, I don't have that "copy to local media filenames" menu at all, only all the others mentioned in the help (sync, autofill, transcoding, advanced).

I'll try and get a new version of winamp, maybe that helps...

[king ubu]

new installation didn't help any - same version (5.35) as I had and that menu is still not there... now I'm at a loss...

[Uncle Skid]

I'm running 5.32.

If I have a playlist on the iPod selected, or an artist/album in one of the media library views, a right click shows the "Copy to Hard Drive" option.

If I click on that, whatever I have selected ends up being copied to the directory specified in "Options->Preferences->iPod Support->Transfers->Download".

This might be different with the default iPod support that comes with Winamp -- I'm running that ml_ipod plugin mentioned earlier.

[king ubu]

Ha, solved!

The help is for a newer version (prob. 5.5 - see here), where they separated "'Copy to Local Media' config [...] from CD Ripping settings" (from that link).

So that menu's not under Preferences > Media Library > Portables, but instead under Preferences > Media Library > CD ripping, as the same target folder is being used for both purposes.

Doesn't matter where the setting is, but the fact that the help doesn't fit with the older build that's still offered as standard download on the winamp-page makes it hard to find out... and is slightly annoying - I rarely bother to read any help documents, and this is once more a reason why I don't - they're useless in so many cases!

Thank you very, very much, Uncle Skid! Your help made me solve this issue which I was just sort of pushing ahead of myself of half a year now...

[king ubu]

Great, I even found out how to set it up so my own folder structure's maintained (I have "Artist\Album\XX Title" while default would be "Artist - Album\XX Title").

Winamp is a great programme, really - the only player I use on my computer, actually, and now I can also ignore iTunes for updating/working on my iPod - again, many thanks!

[ejp626]

I found out only the other day that Winamp can "rip" flac files back to .wav files and then you can convert wav to mp3 as usual. I thought that was pretty cool, and it takes about 10 seconds per file.

[king ubu]

I found out only the other day that Winamp can "rip" flac files back to .wav files and then you can convert wav to mp3 as usual. I thought that was pretty cool, and it takes about 10 seconds per file.

That's good to know! (I have never put any of my dime downloads on the ipod so far, though...)