Change ID3 Tags while ON IPOD?
First of all as a new IPOD owner let me say "What the hell took me so long to convert from an MP3 CD player to the almighty IPOD!, and what a great Forum"
I've searched the Forum and learned alot of things about my new IPOD but can't find an answer to my question.
Having a 40GB IPOD you soon realise that having your whole music library on your PC (I'm using a laptop) for syncing with your IPOD just isn't feasible. So when it comes to making any changes to the library on my IPOD I need to make the changes directly on the IPOD itself.
So far simple things like adding new tracks/playlists and deleting unwanted tracks without affecting others have been no problem but one thing I can't do is edit the ID3 tags successfully. I have tried both MusicMatch 8.1 and the trial version of Xplay, here's what i've found so far:
MMJB is a great programme and does almost everything i need but does'nt like Xplay being installed. As Xplay causes it to crash sometimes and show 2 IPOD's in the Portable Device Manager window, my usual IPOD and another that has the same name as mine but shows (Apple ipod) after it and only has a total capacity of 1168MB (strange for a 40 GB IPOD). I read in Xplay HELP that it does cause this double IPOD to show in Windows Media Player but it doesn't mention MMJB. Anyway MMJB will edit the ID3 tag's while on the IPOD but the IPOD will not show the changes after i have disconnected it.
Xplay is the opposite. If you change the ID3 tag while on the IPOD the changes can still be seen after the IPOD has been disconnected but the actual ID3 tag on the MP3 file itself has not changed. I checked this by copying the MP3 file to my laptop HDD and checking it with MMJB. It seems that Xplay only changes the ID3 tag on the IPOD Database.
Is there anyone who knows of a programme or solution that could help me edit the MP3 file ID3 tags while on the IPOD and on the IPOD's Database at the same time?
By the way thanks if you magaged to read through my long winded way of explaining the question, but i like to give as much info as possible.
Cheers
[2206 byte] By [
Stubie] at [2007-11-9 15:22:45]
# 1 Re: Change ID3 Tags while ON IPOD?
What you're asking for is entirely possible in ephPod.
First, navigate to "Configure EphPod" (on the toolbar) -> "Regular Options" and make sure that "Save ID3 Tags when using Shortcut Keys" is ticked.
Now just highlight the song(s) you want to change in the main window and press the function (F1, F2, etc) that corresponds to the row you want to alter. Type in your alteration and press enter. Since you're changing the file tag as well as the listing in the iPod's database, it can sometimes take a few seconds to retag a large number of files. Be sure to Save Changes before exiting.
I hope this helps.
Edano at 2007-11-15 17:19:49 >
# 2 Re: Change ID3 Tags while ON IPOD?
While the ephpod suggestion at the outset sounds good...it doesn't really do what you want. Even though that feature is there (to save to the tag) it's never really worked). I personally haven't tried it, but you might want to see if iTunes will 1) update the iPod's database and 2)upate the mp3 tag as well. I would like to think they did that. Maybe I'll need to test it, but I don't use iTunes right now.
Either way though, I recommend that you look into getting a second drive for that laptop to hold your tunes. At some point in the iPod's life it will need to be restored fo fix some problem and this will result in you losing all of your tunes.
I hightly recommend that you don't trust the ipod to your data as it's a portable media device and prone to mess ups.
At a minimum, back up to DVD or CD, but it's even nicer to get a second firewire external drive so you can have it connected.
Just a thought.
Adam
# 3 Re: Change ID3 Tags while ON IPOD?
Thanks guy's, i'll definately give both itunes and ephpod a try to see which works best.
By the way i also managed to solve the problem with 2 IPODs showing in the MMJB Portable Device window. The MMJB help site tells you to delete all folders in the Plugins\Portables folder except the Apple_2 folder.
And i think you're right about the IPOD crashing at some point so i've started backing up all my MP3's to CD.
Cheers.
Stubie at 2007-11-15 17:21:43 >
