How to Manually Update an iPod?

If you choose the manual option, you must manually move songs and playlists onto the iPod. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Connect your iPod to your computer.
2. Select the iPod you want to update. If it isn’t expanded already, click the Expansion triangle next to the iPod on the Source List. In the iTunes Content pane, you will see all the songs in the iPod’s music library. Under the iPod’s icon on the Source List, you will see the playlists it contains
3. To add a playlist to the iPod, drag it onto the Source List and drop it on the iPod icon. When you are over the iPod, the plus sign will appear next to the pointer to show you that you can release the mouse button. When you do so, the playlist and the songs it contains will be moved onto the iPod.
4. To remove a playlist from the iPod, select it by clicking it in the list of playlists under the iPod and pressing the Delete key. You will see a prompt asking you to confirm that you want to delete the playlist.
5. Click OK. The playlist will be deleted from the iPod.
6. To add songs to the iPod, select the source containing those songs, such as the Library. The contents of that source will be shown in the Content pane. Drag the songs you want to add from the Content pane and drop them on the iPod’s icon. The songs you selected will be copied into the iPod’s music library.
7. To remove songs from the iPod, select them in the Content pane and press the Delete key. These songs will be deleted from the iPod. They will also be deleted from any playlists on the iPod containing them.
8. When you are done updating the iPod, unmount it by selecting its icon and clicking the Eject button. After the iPod has been successfully unmounted, it will disappear from the Source List and you will see the “OK to disconnect” message on its screen.

You must eject an iPod that you manually update before disconnecting it because iTunes doesn’t know when it should shut down any processes it is using that are related to the iPod. Because it is, in effect, a hard disk, the iPod must not be in use when you disconnect it; otherwise, its data can be damaged. When the update process is handled by iTunes automatically, it “ejects” the iPod for you. When you do the update manually, you need to tell iTunes that you are done so that it can prepare the iPod to be disconnected safely.

Updating Specific Songs and Playlists Automatically

If you chose the Automatically update selected playlists only option, the playlists you selected are updated on your iPod each time you connect it to your computer. To change the contents of your iPod’s music library, change the contents of the playlists that you have selected to update. When you connect the iPod to your computer, those playlists will be updated. For example, for playlists, you can add songs, remove songs, and so on. The next time you connect your iPod to your computer, the changes you made will be reflected on the iPod’s version of that playlist.

Every time you connect your iPod to your computer, the update will be performed. You will see the update information in the Information area of the iTunes window, and the iPod icon will flash red. When the process is complete, you will see the “iPod update is complete” message in the Information area, and the “OK to disconnect” message will be displayed on the iPod’s screen. Then, it is safe to disconnect your iPod from your computer.

How to Configure iTunes So You Manually Manage Songs and Playlists?

When you choose this option, you manually place songs and playlists on your iPod. To choose this option, do the following steps:

1. Connect your iPod to your computer. It will appear on the Source List and an update determined by the current update option (such as fully automatic) will be performed.
2. Select the iPod for which you want to set an update option and click the iPod Options button. The iPod Preferences dialog box will appear.
3. Click the Manually manage songs and playlists radio button. You will see a prompt explaining that with this option, you must manually unmount the iPod before disconnecting it; read the information and click OK to close the prompt. (I’ll explain what this means in a later section.)
4. Click OK. The dialog box will close. An expansion triangle will appear next to the iPod on the Source List, and all the playlists stored on it will be shown under its icon. You can then manually add or remove songs or playlists (the steps to do this appear in a later section).

How to Configure iTunes to Automatically Update All Songs and Playlists?

Choosing the “fully automatic” method is automatic in itself in that this is the default option. However, should you ever need to choose this option, you can do so with the following steps:

1. Connect your iPod to your compute. iTunes will open automatically and the iPod will appear on the Source List.
2. Select the iPod on the Source List and click the iPod Options button. You’ll see the iPod Preferences dialog box.
3. Click the Automatically update all songs and playlists radio button.
4. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and the automatic update will be performed. The next time you connect your iPod to your computer, iTunes will attempt to update its library automatically. As long as there is enough space on your iPod, you won’t need to do anything else.

Every time you connect your iPod to your computer, the update will be performed. You will see the update information in the Information area of the iTunes window, and the iPod icon will flash red. When the process is complete, you will see the “iPod update is complete” message in the Information area, and the “OK to disconnect” message will be displayed on the iPod’s screen. Then, it is safe to disconnect your iPod from your computer.

If you use the “fully automatic” method when your iPod doesn’t have enough space to store all your iTunes Library, iTunes creates a special playlist called nameofyouripod
Selection, where nameofyouripod is the name you gave your iPod when you configured it.

This playlist contains a selection of music from your iTunes Library that will fit on your iPod. If you don’t change the update option, iTunes will update this playlist (and only this playlist) each time you connect your iPod to your computer. (It actually changes the update mode to “Automatically update selected playlists only” and chooses the nameofyouripod Selection playlist on the playlists list in the iPod Preferences dialog box.) You can use this playlist just like the others in your iTunes Source List, such as adding songs to it, removing songs from it, changing their order, and so on.

Understanding How iTunes Updates Playlists on the iPod

When iTunes updates a playlist on your iPod, it takes a “snapshot” of that playlist and places it on the iPod. If you change the playlist in some way, the next time you update your iPod, the previous “snapshot” is replaced by the new playlist.
For example, suppose you have a smart playlist that is dynamic and plays the 50 songs you have played most. As you listen to songs in iTunes, the contents of that playlist change to reflect the songs you have listened to. When that playlist is moved to the iPod, it contains the songs as they were in the playlist when you performed the update. The playlist on the iPod will remain unchanged until you perform the next update. At that time, if the contents of the playlist have changed, the revised playlist will replace the one currently stored on the iPod.
The same principle applies when you make changes to a playlist manually, too. For example, if you sort a playlist to change the order in which songs play, that order will be reflected in the playlist when you update it onto your iPod. If you change the order of the songs in the playlist again in iTunes, the next time you update the iPod, the songs will play in the new order on the iPod.
When iTunes moves a playlist from its Library onto an iPod, it moves only the songs in that playlist onto the iPod. This can sometimes be confusing. For example, if you purchase an album by a specific artist and then include only some of the songs on that album in a playlist that gets moved to an iPod, only those songs by that artist in the playlist get moved onto the iPod. As an example, this can be confusing the first time you browse your iPod by artist and can’t figure out why a song you know you have by that artist is not on your iPod.

Understanding Your Synchronization Options

Three basic options are available for managing the library of music on your iPod:

• Automatically Update All Songs and Playlists—When you use this method, the entire process is automatic; iTunes makes sure your iPod’s music library is an exact copy of your iTunes Library each time you connect your iPod to your computer.
• Automatically Update Selected Playlists Only—When you use this method, iTunes still manages the update process for you, but it updates only the specific playlists you select.
• Manually Manage Songs and Playlists—When you use this method, you manually move songs and playlists onto your iPod.

When you first connected your iPod to your computer, an automatic method was used to move songs onto your iPod. However, if there were more songs in your iTunes Library than could be stored on your iPod, some slight of hand was done by iTunes so that you wouldn’t have to get into the details of this process before listening to music on your iPod. In that case, iTunes created a playlist containing a selection of your music that would fit on your iPod, and iTunes moved that music to your iPod so you can listen to it.
After the first time, you need to choose the synchronization method you want to use. Finding the right method for you is a matter of preference, but I can provide some general guidelines for you.
If all the music in your iTunes Library will fit onto your iPod (the space required for your iTunes Library is less than your iPod’s disk capacity), I recommend you use the option Automatically Update All Songs and Playlists. This option is the easiest because it requires literally no work on your part. Each time you connect your iPod to your computer, the update process is performed automatically, and you will have your complete music collection available on your iPod.
If the size of your iTunes Library is larger than the disk capacity of your iPod, managing the music library on your iPod is slightly more difficult.
If you take full advantage of iTunes playlists to create collections of music to which you listen, using the option Automatically Update Selected Playlists Only is a good choice. After you choose the playlists you want to be updated, iTunes handles the process of keeping them up to date for you so you don’t have to think about it each time you connect your iPod to your computer. Of course, you need to make sure you create and can select playlists that contain the music you
want to be able to listen to on your iPod. This can require some effort, but because playlists are so useful, you will likely do that work anyway so you can listen to them on your computer.
Finally, if you don’t use a lot of playlists or you simply want to choose the specific music you want to place on your iPod, you can use the manual method to do so.
After you have determined how you want to manage your iPod’s music library, you need to configure iTunes to implement your decision.

How to Determine Free Space You Have on an iPod

You have two ways to determine how large the disk is in your iPod.
One is to refer to the documentation that came with your iPod, or perhaps you can simply remember the size of iPod you purchased. At press time, the possibilities were about 4GB for an iPod mini and 15GB, 20GB, or 40GB for an iPod. This method is easy and provides a pretty good estimate of the room on your iPod’s disk.

If you can’t remember or want to determine the iPod’s available disk space more accurately, you can get this information directly from the iPod itself. To do this, choose Main menu, Settings, About. On the resulting About menu, you’ll see the capacity of your iPod’s disk The capacity shown on the About menu is the amount of storage space available for your music. Some space is required to store the files needed for the iPod to function. This is the reason that the capacity you see will always be slightly less than the rated size of the iPod’s disk.