Submit Hint Search The Forums LinksStatsPollsHeadlinesRSS
14,000 hints and counting!

An easier way to use the iPod Shuffle in disk mode System
Not sure if this is a "hint" or a known feature, but I've found it very, very useful however. I want to use my Shuffle primarily to play music, and occasionally to transfer files (i.e. as a USB disk). I don't want to have to manually unmount the Shuffle each time I pull it out (which you have to do when enabled for disk use), nor do I want to continually have to check "Enable disk use" when I want to transfer files. But it's easy to get the best of both worlds:
  1. Uncheck "Open iTunes when this iPod is attached" for your Shuffle.
  2. Uncheck "Enable disk use" is also unchecked.
Now:
  • If iTunes is open and you insert your Shuffle, it is available and will auto-update and auto-dismount as required. Pop it in, update, pop it out. Easy.
  • If iTunes is not open and you insert your Shuffle, it will mount as a disk. Drag files using the Finder, then eject the disk when you're done. iTunes doesn't get involved. Also easy.
[robg adds: I tested this with my Shuffle, and it seemed to work just fine. Strange that it works as a disk when disk mode isn't enabled, but it does so just fine. One cautionary note -- a friend with a Shuffle tried this, and when he re-launched iTunes after making the changes, the machine locked up tight. We're not sure how/if it was related, but it happened when I asked him to test this hint for me -- sorry Kirk!]
    •    
  • Currently 1.50 / 5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  (2 votes cast)
 
[27,554 views]  

An easier way to use the iPod Shuffle in disk mode | 7 comments | Create New Account
Click here to return to the 'An easier way to use the iPod Shuffle in disk mode' hint
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Also works on the regular iPod...
Authored by: dcipjr on Mar 23, '05 04:01:05PM

Great hint! I just tested it on my 3rd generation iPod, and it works perfectly, on my Mac and on my Windows PC.

Maybe it'll work with older generations as well. I assume that if it works on the 3rd gen, it'll work on the 4th gen.

One quirk on the Windows PC, a "iPodService.exe" process must be terminated before this will work as described. Otherwise, Windows picks up the iPod, mounts it briefly, and then iPodService kicks in and unmounts it.

I suppose that's what you get for using Windows. ;-)



[ Reply to This | # ]
An easier way to use the iPod Shuffle in disk mode
Authored by: kaih on Mar 24, '05 12:13:50AM

There are a couple of caveats with this, however generally it's good =)

If you uncheck "Enable Disk Use" then use the Autofill, iTunes will fill the iPod completely. Also, if you drag songs over manually, you can inadvertently fill the iPod. Enable Disk Use lets you reserve space for songs that iTunes then won't attempt to use.

If the iPod is mounted as a disk, then you launch iTunes, it unmounts the iPod as a disk and enables it in iTunes, so you can't access any files on the iPod if iTunes is running...

---
k:.



[ Reply to This | # ]
An easier way to use the iPod Shuffle in disk mode
Authored by: jen729w on Mar 24, '05 11:06:46PM

Of course, this is true: if you fill your Shuffle, you won't have any space for files.

If there are already files on the Shuffle, iTunes recognises this and knows how much free space is available for songs.

Personally, I tend to copy a few albums' worth of songs to the Shuffle as and when I'm bored of whatever is on there, so I rarely have the full gig's worth of tunes on there. Perhaps this is because I have a G3 PowerBook with USB1.1. :-( A gig takes *forever* to transfer.

j.



[ Reply to This | # ]
An easier way to use the iPod Shuffle in disk mode
Authored by: timmer on Mar 27, '05 09:04:03PM

That's how I like to use the Shuffle also.
But I found that if I already had some songs on, and then addes more through 'disk use' the Shuffle would not play them.
How do you do your set up - through iTunes or just manually drag them on? If so, does the Shuffle play them?
Will try it my self.
TIA,
Tim



[ Reply to This | # ]
An easier way to use the iPod Shuffle in disk mode
Authored by: jvl001 on Mar 24, '05 09:17:11AM

If you use a Mac, you could place a (sparse, encrypted) disk image on the Shuffle to reserve some space on the Shuffle for data. The downside of this is that you likely won't be able to mount the disk image from other OSes.



[ Reply to This | # ]
An easier way to use the iPod Shuffle in disk mode
Authored by: clmensch on Mar 27, '05 09:49:56PM
A nice cross-platform solution for this is PGPDisk (http://www.pgp.com/products/desktop/personal/index.html)...and it's secure as well!

---

"I drank WHAT?" -Socrates

[ Reply to This | # ]

An easier way to use the iPod Shuffle in disk mode
Authored by: MacMuse26 on Mar 25, '05 09:36:53AM
Strange that it works as a disk when disk mode isn't enabled, but it does so just fine.
iPods (all varities) begin life as normal external disk/thumb drives. It's only the presence of iTunes that alters this behavior. Connect an iPod to a system with no iTunes software, and the iPod is just another external disk. iTunes' background processes (iPodService on PCs) are always monitoring for the appearance of a device that it knows to be an iPod. When detected, it kicks off iTunes and hides/dismounts/prevents mounting the device from the OS. Telling iTunes to ignore an iPod or enable disk mode just tells the iPod/iTunes background software to let the OS handle the device as it would any other firewire/USB device.

[ Reply to This | # ]