1st. time ipod/imod questions - need help please!

[stevenkelby]

Hi Guys I just got my 80GB imod from Ken, it's great but will be evn better when I can listen to it!

I haven't plugged it in to the PC yet. I have searched and searched and can't find answers to these specific questions.

Here is what I want, I read that it can be done but now that it's time, I don't know how to do it:

Obviously I want to put some music on it. Can I do this without putting itunes on my PC? I don't want to install itunes because I'm scared of it messing up my carefully sorted 80GB music library.

I need to be able to plug it into other PCs, which I can't put itunes onto (people at work) and share music back and forth to listen to on the imod. Is that possible without Rockbox?

Can I just install Rockbox straight off the bat without installing itunes on the PC? I mean, I can find the instructions to install Rockbox but can I just plug the imod into the PC and go for it?

I want Rockbox anyway so I can listen to my flacs. Is anyone using any build successfully and where is a link to it? I just wasted half of the last 24 hours researching this and couldn't get an answer. The other 12 hours I wasted on the itunes question above!

I'm sure the answers are out there but I can't find them and want to get my imod burning in!

Any advice, pms, MSN offers etc much appreciated!

Best,

Steve.

[Zorander]

There is a plug-in for Foobar called 'foopod', which will allow you to use said player to communicate with iPods.

[chukwe]

You don't need iTunes before you install rockbox. Just install Rockbox, it'll be ok

[stevenkelby]

Originally Posted by Zorander

There is a plug-in for Foobar called 'foopod', which will allow you to use said player to communicate with iPods.

Thanks for that, I will look into it. Can I install foopod then just plug in the ipod and go for it? I assume so. I'll go look.

[stevenkelby]

Originally Posted by chukwe

You don't need iTunes before you install rockbox. Just install Rockbox, it'll be ok

Thanks too, any link to a working, good rockbox you recommend? I look at the rockbox forums but am too scared to ask questions over there!

[stevenkelby]

So once I have Rockbox on there, I can just plug into any PC and transfer music ok? But not with the standard Apple firmware right?

[kamal007]

im unable to help since i dont have an imod but congrats on your purchase

[Zorander]

Can't remember unfortunately. I did this with a friend's iPod half a year back so I don't remember all the details (will be getting another one for myself in the near future though). Either Foobar works straight away with the iPod or you can manually install the driver for the iPod straight off the CD (that will allow you to evade iTunes installer).

Cheers!

[SONGsanmanwah]

Originally Posted by stevenkelby

So once I have Rockbox on there, I can just plug into any PC and transfer music ok? But not with the standard Apple firmware right?

Yes. Plug it in and the player will automatically go to data transfer mode. Your PC will see it as another mass storage device.

[warrior05]

To echo the responses here: Once you've successfully installed Rockbox, you will then be able to plug your iMod in any PC and it'll be recognized as an external HDD. Therefore, it is a piece of cake to move music (and data for that matter) back and forth.

My understanding is that most of the builds these days are pretty stable with the iPods. I had a 4th gen and waiting for my 5.5 and haven't had stability issues. One thing, as you may have read, battery runtime takes a hit with Rockbox. It is something that has yet to be resolved by the developers.

[Henry Flower]

Trying to clarify a little: since you already have your music library nicely sorted, you can just copy and paste the files onto the ipod and rockbox will see them. You don't need to use any other program like foobar/foopod. Foopod is only really useful if you want to use Apple's original firmware. (Incidentally I think foopod only works with old version of foobar - there's another plug-in for current versions).

For Rockbox, just download the latest daily build and you'd be unlucky to have any major problems with it. There are also several unsupported builds with assorted patches which you could explore later, but as they're unofficial the people in the Rockbox forums will make a point of not helping you with any problems you have.

[stevenkelby]

Awesome thanks for all the responses guys. Very helpful.

So I will just put Rockbox on first then, sounds perfect. Now I have to figure out exactly how! I will keep searching for instructions on where to start with that.

Thanks,

Steve.

[EFN]

Originally Posted by stevenkelby

Awesome thanks for all the responses guys. Very helpful.

So I will just put Rockbox on first then, sounds perfect. Now I have to figure out exactly how! I will keep searching for instructions on where to start with that.

Thanks,

Steve.

If you have all the required files downloaded from www.rockbox.org, you can install and have them running in less than 10 minutes. Just spend some time at Rockbox website and you'll be fine

[stevenkelby]

Thanks EFN, I find the rockbox website really confusing, it's not simple enough for me! I will laugh once I have it working though.

[GodEater]

I'm assuming from your last post in our forums that you're not likely to look there again soon - so I've come here instead to ask (politely, I hope), what it was exactly you found confusing about both the rockbox website, and our instructions.

I'm very sorry you didn't appear to like the answers I gave you - I thought I was fairly clear - but you didn't appear to give me much time to expand on them.

I'm also keen to hear from the (apparently hoards) of headfi users who think I'm a jerk. I didn't realise I was so famous!

--

PS: I'm not here chasing the $100 either - I'm really not fussed what you do with it - I'm honestly concerned that we appear to have disgruntled you somehow.