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Severed Hand of Skywalker · May 4, 2003, 06:47 PM

I got a couple. This is my first iPod and I love it to death but I have already had some problems with it in the last 24 hours.

1) Smart playlists made by me don't work on the iPod. I made a smart playlist when iTunes 3 came out that takes songs added within the last 10 days and puts them in a folder called "Brand New Songs". It works 100% on the computer but on the iPod it lists EVERY song on the iPod.

2) Some songs even though they play fine on the desktop computer stop half way through on the iPod and go to the next song?

3) A couple of crashes when trying to dismount the iPod.

4) Sometimes the iPod shows up in the desktop even though I told it not too in iTunes. At the same time it doesn't show up in iTunes.

Any issues with you guys?

chabig · May 4, 2003, 07:15 PM

I've dismounted the iPod a few times, but the "Do Not Disconnect" screen remained on the iPod. I quit and relaunched iTunes to see the iPod, then dismounted it again.

ratlater · May 4, 2003, 07:23 PM

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
1) Smart playlists made by me don't work on the iPod. I made a smart playlist when iTunes 3 came out that takes songs added within the last 10 days and puts them in a folder called "Brand New Songs". It works 100% on the computer but on the iPod it lists EVERY song on the iPod.

This one seems obvious to me. The playlist is supposed to list all songs added in the last 10 days. In iTunes this only means a few songs, but on your new iPod every song was added in the last 10 days. Interesting...

-matt

Severed Hand of Skywalker · May 4, 2003, 07:33 PM

Originally posted by ratlater:
This one seems obvious to me. The playlist is supposed to list all songs added in the last 10 days. In iTunes this only means a few songs, but on your new iPod every song was added in the last 10 days. Interesting...

-matt

That is sorta dumb isn't it?

fetopher · May 4, 2003, 07:41 PM

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
That is sorta dumb isn't it?

Doesnt seem dumb to me. It was actually added in the last ten days. A temporary solution (for ten days) would be to select all of the songs in the Brand New Songs playlist and give them a comment of "New" or something. Then, create a new list that includes songs with that comment. Its a bit of a hassle, but after 10 days, everything should be back in order.

Severed Hand of Skywalker · May 4, 2003, 08:56 PM

So the iPod has its own list of songs that were added in the last 10 days? I thought it went by what was played on the computer.

Waveman · May 4, 2003, 10:14 PM

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:

I got a couple. This is my first iPod and I love it to death but I have already had some problems with it in the last 24 hours.

The very first hookup, I got the "do not disconnect" warning. After more than an hour, I gave up and reset the iPod. No problems since then.

swsteckly · May 4, 2003, 10:32 PM

None to speak of.

Severed Hand of Skywalker · May 4, 2003, 10:56 PM

Originally posted by Waveman:
The very first hookup, I got the "do not disconnect" warning. After more than an hour, I gave up and reset the iPod. No problems since then.

Ya i had that problem like 3 times now.

BrettOZ · May 4, 2003, 11:02 PM

The Do Not Disconnect - I get that on the 2nd Gen iPod too. I just shut down iTunes and restart iTunes - Fixes the problem.

andretan · May 4, 2003, 11:13 PM

Seems like the dock ain't a very good idea? Reminds me of owning a Palm handheld.. always giving me trouble.

(oops. i'm going off-topic...)

michaelb · May 4, 2003, 11:57 PM

Originally posted by andretan:
[B]Seems like the dock ain't a very good idea? Reminds me of owning a Palm handheld.. always giving me trouble.

/B]

Nothing to do with the dock, as it is simply a means of connecting the cable to the iPod - it's the same cable.

(And I found when the Palms got USB cradles they became a helluva lot more reliable.)

I don't like to say it, but it's got a great deal to do with the user. Case in point: I've given my iPod to a relative in anticipation of my new one being delivered soon. I had zero problems. First thing they did - pull it out without dismounting.

Technology like this still has a ways to go before it's foolproof, because as we all know, fools are so ingenious.

prutz11 · May 5, 2003, 12:47 AM

Sometimes when listening to a long list of songs I cannot skip to the next song in the middle of listening to one. All the other buttons work but that one. If I go to a higher menu and then back to the now playing the ff button then works... My father has the same problem on his.

Severed Hand of Skywalker · May 5, 2003, 01:19 AM

I think it is safe to say that the 2.0 OS and new iPods are a little buggy.

michaelb · May 5, 2003, 08:25 AM

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
I think it is safe to say that the 2.0 OS and new iPods are a little buggy.

That's probably true, and the fact that USB 2.0 support is not ready yet suggests the release was rushed to meet the Music Store deadline.

Still, I'm looking forward to joining the 2.0 users.

mgehman · May 5, 2003, 09:10 AM

Originally posted by michaelb:
Technology like this still has a ways to go before it's foolproof, because as we all know, fools are so ingenious.

Make something that is foolproof and only a fool will use it.

n~s · May 5, 2003, 09:13 AM

Minor gripes/issues:

1. Where's random play? I don't have any playlists because I usually just randomly work through my iTunes library. I don't see this option in my iPod.

2. The mirored back scratches way too easily. I put it down on my desk at work, 5 minutes later it had a few small scratches on the bottom due to friction with the hard surface. Either get it a pillow or leave it in the case.

3. Why a 4 KB limit on notes? I ported in some short books from Project Gutenburg, but the files have to be broken up into 4KB chunks (An Applescript helps automate this). If it can load 20 minutes of music into memory at a time, why not more than 4 KB of text?

Still a great product, but could be better.

Gee4orce · May 5, 2003, 09:15 AM

Originally posted by fetopher:
Doesnt seem dumb to me. It was actually added in the last ten days. A temporary solution (for ten days) would be to select all of the songs in the Brand New Songs playlist and give them a comment of "New" or something. Then, create a new list that includes songs with that comment. Its a bit of a hassle, but after 10 days, everything should be back in order.

Smart playlists aren't 'smart' any more when they are moved to the iPod - unless that's something that the 2.0 firmware does (in which case that'd be really cool).

With 'classic' iPods, once you download the songs, that's that. The iPod will keep a track of what you listened to and when, but it won't update the playlist dynamically.

Simple test - make a playlist of songs that you haven't listened to for n days/weeks. When you listen to a track from this playlist in iTunes, it should vanish from the list once played. On the iPod, it will stay in the list until you re-synch. (In fact, I think you have to re-synch twice - first time to update iTunes (and iPod get's updated with 'old' settings), second time the iPod get's the new playlist, including the the data about what you listened to last time on the iPod).

codywalton · May 5, 2003, 10:09 AM

Originally posted by n~s:
Minor gripes/issues:

1. Where's random play? I don't have any playlists because I usually just randomly work through my iTunes library. I don't see this option in my iPod.

2. The mirored back scratches way too easily. I put it down on my desk at work, 5 minutes later it had a few small scratches on the bottom due to friction with the hard surface. Either get it a pillow or leave it in the case.

3. Why a 4 KB limit on notes? I ported in some short books from Project Gutenburg, but the files have to be broken up into 4KB chunks (An Applescript helps automate this). If it can load 20 minutes of music into memory at a time, why not more than 4 KB of text?

Still a great product, but could be better.

This must be your first pod, huh?

Random play: Go to settings and set shuffle to "songs". then go to browse/songs/all and play.... now its random. You can also do the same thing for artists, genres or albums.

The metal back and scratches have been a complaint since the first pod. not much you can do... I gave up trying not to scratch it a long time ago.

I have no clue on the 4k note thing. that's a new feature.

ratlater · May 5, 2003, 10:10 AM

Originally posted by Gee4orce:
Smart playlists aren't 'smart' any more when they are moved to the iPod - unless that's something that the 2.0 firmware does (in which case that'd be really cool).

They are smart now. People have made a playlist of the last 10 songs played in iTunes, then synched with the iPod. They then play one song that wasn't on the list and after it finishes it shows up on the bottom of the playlist.

-matt

n~s · May 5, 2003, 10:23 AM

Originally posted by codywalton:
This must be your first pod, huh?

Random play: Go to settings and set shuffle to "songs". then go to browse/songs/all and play.... now its random. You can also do the same thing for artists, genres or albums.

Excellent, thanks for the tip. Yes, this is my first iPod.

n~s · May 5, 2003, 11:23 AM

Originally posted by n~s:
Excellent, thanks for the tip. Yes, this is my first iPod.

Er, that worked for about three songs, then the iPod started displaying the name of the track and advancing without playing. Then it locked up and stopped responding to button presses.

So now I'm waiting for the battery to run out as I don't have the needed power cord for the hard reset (Had to give it a hard reset the first night I bought it when it went to sleep and wouldn't wake up).

Current screen: Stuck between the main menu pane and the browse pane. Will not respond to power off, or any other button presses.

Edit: It finally reset....Buggy? Yes, seems that way.

Yoda's Erotic Piggyback · May 5, 2003, 11:44 AM

So even though I dismount the iPod in iTunes and then put the computer to sleep, when I wake it up the iPod says do not disconnect but it doesn't show up in iTunes. You have to quit and relaunch itunes.

Bohemia · May 5, 2003, 11:49 AM

Hmm... This is not good news. I was about to go for a pod right now, but it sounds a little early. Do you think all these bugs are software related or is there something wrong with the iPod itself?

Yoda's Erotic Piggyback · May 5, 2003, 11:56 AM

Originally posted by Bohemia:
Hmm... This is not good news. I was about to go for a pod right now, but it sounds a little early. Do you think all these bugs are software related or is there something wrong with the iPod itself?

These are just software bugs man. Apple will fix these within a month I'm sure. Get one anyway, it is incredible!

Axel · May 5, 2003, 12:05 PM

Originally posted by n~s:
Er, that worked for about three songs, then the iPod started displaying the name of the track and advancing without playing. Then it locked up and stopped responding to button presses.

So now I'm waiting for the battery to run out as I don't have the needed power cord for the hard reset (Had to give it a hard reset the first night I bought it when it went to sleep and wouldn't wake up).

On the earlier models, you just had to hold "menu" and "play" for about 5 seconds to reset. Doesn't that work on the new ones ?

Yoda's Erotic Piggyback · May 5, 2003, 12:13 PM

Originally posted by Axel:
On the earlier models, you just had to hold "menu" and "play" for about 5 seconds to reset. Doesn't that work on the new ones ?

It does. I don't know what he was talking about either.

n~s · 01:48 PM

Originally posted by Axel:
On the earlier models, you just had to hold "menu" and "play" for about 5 seconds to reset. Doesn't that work on the new ones ?

Yeah , it eventually responded to that...the manual for the new iPods says that you need to plug it in when resetting, that's why I thought I couldn't without the cord.

Edit: Don't let me discourage you from buying...the bugs have been minor and haven't caused me to regret my purchase.

ratlater · May 5, 2003, 01:30 PM

Originally posted by Bohemia:
Hmm... This is not good news. I was about to go for a pod right now, but it sounds a little early. Do you think all these bugs are software related or is there something wrong with the iPod itself?

The bugs appear to be software related, and even if they are hardware there is a 1 year warranty so Apple will have to replace yours. The bugs will get worked out soon.

-matt

Yoda's Erotic Piggyback · May 5, 2003, 02:01 PM

Found another bug. the iPod is cutting off the last couple seconds off some songs that I just encoded with ACC in iTunes 4. They play fine in itunes.

soogarrush · May 5, 2003, 02:19 PM

other then the songs cutting short, i havent had any other problems with my 15gb. love it so far.

Yoda's Erotic Piggyback · May 5, 2003, 02:23 PM

Originally posted by soogarrush:
other then the songs cutting short, i havent had any other problems with my 15gb. love it so far.

So I guess you are having the same problem then.

THE MAC GOD · May 5, 2003, 02:48 PM

um.... my order is still "open"....

codywalton · May 5, 2003, 03:45 PM

I just bought a 30 model this weekend... so far no problems at all. the only thing I noticed, which is really just weird and not a problem, per se, is that after i put on hold, and it turns itself off, when i touch the scroll whell to turn it back on it makes the click sound but the screen doesnt turn on.... as soon as I hit one of the buttons above, it switches on though.

it's not a problem... just a weird glitch... but it's the only thing I have found so far...

dettociao · May 5, 2003, 07:57 PM

Originally posted by soogarrush:
other then the songs cutting short, i havent had any other problems with my 15gb. love it so far.

Do you have sound fade on?

starman · May 5, 2003, 08:36 PM

At the start of every song I get this small, quiet, but annoying "psst" sound...like a digital "snap".

Mike

ratlater · May 5, 2003, 08:41 PM

Originally posted by codywalton:
I just bought a 30 model this weekend... so far no problems at all. the only thing I noticed, which is really just weird and not a problem, per se, is that after i put on hold, and it turns itself off, when i touch the scroll whell to turn it back on it makes the click sound but the screen doesnt turn on.... as soon as I hit one of the buttons above, it switches on though.

it's not a problem... just a weird glitch... but it's the only thing I have found so far...

I don't have my new one yet, but on the old ones the scroll we'll didn't wake it from sleep. So this could be what is happening, odd that it makes the click sound though.

-matt

I Bent My Wookiee · May 5, 2003, 08:42 PM

I found this on another site so it seems we are not alone...

http://www.xsorbit1.com/users/dennx/...num=1052185751

"Here are all the bugs I've been able to locate with the new iPod with software version 2.0:

* When using the new iPod with the backlight, the backlight can turn off as you are accessing menus. It should stay light as long you are browsing the menus.(For some it seams to work when backlight timer set to 5 sec.)

* The iPod skips to another song at a sertain point in a song, this is not a random skip, it's always at the same position in a song and if you skip past that point the rest of the song will play flawlessly. Those songs play flawlessly on the computer and on the gen. 1 and 2 iPod, _so it is an "iPod gen. 3 bug".

* A slight "staticy" click as the tracks are skipped and this also happens as songs play normally (all from the same album-so it isn't seeking on playlist or random play).

* The hard drive spins up after every song. It should only spin up after like every 5 or so songs like on the old iPod (for the memory buffer to fill) but even on small songs it spins up.

* When letting the iPod turning itself off after long pause(from remote) as expected and then turning the iPod on again by pressing play(on the remote) the track resumes playing (counter advances, etc.) but no audio through the headphones. Also when this happens the clock is reset to 12:00 AM

* The left and right channels swapping sides after you pause and play again.

* The ipod beeing unable to be turned on after turning it off sometimes without hold beeing turned on and sometimes with hold turned on(hold has been turned off when trying to turn it on).

* Sometimes it locks up when browsing in menus for no reason whatsoever. Overall this new iPod needs to be reset much more often then the old version.

None of these bugs has been fixed by a reset nor a restore of the iPod.

turk.o · May 7, 2003, 12:41 AM

"2) Some songs even though they play fine on the desktop computer stop half way through on the iPod and go to the next song?"

as mentioned by a few others, i have had this same problem. its happened on about 1 of every 25 songs i play. VERY ANNOYING! i hope apple addresses and fixes this very soon. $500 for songs that won't play? not a very good bargain.

Yoda's Erotic Piggyback · May 7, 2003, 01:58 AM

Originally posted by turk.o:
"2) Some songs even though they play fine on the desktop computer stop half way through on the iPod and go to the next song?"

as mentioned by a few others, i have had this same problem. its happened on about 1 of every 25 songs i play. VERY ANNOYING! i hope apple addresses and fixes this very soon. $500 for songs that won't play? not a very good bargain.

I think it is currupt MP3's and ipod being picky. I downloaded the same song and it is fine. Still, they better fix it.

turk.o · May 7, 2003, 11:28 AM

i don't think it is corruption. it seems like iTunes 4 and the iPod would have the same software requirements to decode a song. also, one of the songs that is f*ed up is one that I just ripped in AAC with iTunes4. i still have my old iPod and all the songs that skip on the new one play fine on it and on all three of my other macs (TiBook, LCD iMac, and Dual Gig) with nary a single glitch. i have tried deleting the songs in question from the iPod library and then re-adding them, but it gets the same error every time. damnit.

kovacs · May 7, 2003, 01:02 PM

Originally posted by turk.o:
i don't think it is corruption. it seems like iTunes 4 and the iPod would have the same software requirements to decode a song. also, one of the songs that is f*ed up is one that I just ripped in AAC with iTunes4. i still have my old iPod and all the songs that skip on the new one play fine on it and on all three of my other macs (TiBook, LCD iMac, and Dual Gig) with nary a single glitch. i have tried deleting the songs in question from the iPod library and then re-adding them, but it gets the same error every time. damnit.

Have you tried re-ripping the song ? I have noticed that iTunes 4 has more problems with encoding or ripping songs when you are doing other things with your mac at the same time, I have a couple of freshly encoded songs that have little glitches in them, never had this problem in earlier versions of iTunes, on a related note it's also easier to make iTunes 4 skip than any other version of iTunes....

Yoda's Erotic Piggyback · May 7, 2003, 01:20 PM

Something else I noticed right away. If I copy anything to the iPod while iTunes is playing a song the sound will stutter and come to a hault.

kovacs · May 7, 2003, 02:06 PM

Originally posted by Yoda's Erotic Piggyback:
Something else I noticed right away. If I copy anything to the iPod while iTunes is playing a song the sound will stutter and come to a hault.

Yeah, same thing happens when you add an album cover or even when you change the song info ( artist, album ), guess iTunes 4 is not as multi-threated as the old one was...

THE MAC GOD · May 7, 2003, 02:17 PM

that brings me to a question.... Does the album art transfer to the iPod? If I go through my collection and add album art, and later move to another computer to sync up, will all that work been for naught?

David Thompson · May 7, 2003, 02:42 PM

I bought the 30GB iPod last Friday night and until this morning it appears to working fine. I went out for a run and it immediately quit playing! When I finished, it was displaying an apple, like it had gone through a reset. I carry it in an incase neoprene waistbelt which has been fine for my old 5GB unit. Weird. No amount of shaking since causes problems.

I did notice that the display was very faint with the contrast set in the middle. Increasing it made it readable again.

aladdinsane · May 7, 2003, 03:02 PM

I thought my iPod was having some problems. For some reason something triggers it to start playing and in the morning the batteries are low. This has happened for 3 days in a row.

The first two days I had it in the docking station during the evening but put it in my coat before going to bed.

No headphone/remote connected. The iPod Hold button is on.

Last night before going to bed I checked the iPod and it was off.
But this morning it was happily draining the batteries playing some songs for my jacket. Again no headphones/remote connected at the time and hold button on.

I then realized what was going on. Over the weekend I was playing with the new settings and set the Alarm clock to 2AM just to test it. I forgot to turn the alarm off.

I think this is really bad having the alarm just start playing forever. It should stop in 20 mins or something.

Anyway, just wanted to share this if someone else is having the same problem.

n~s · May 7, 2003, 03:10 PM

Originally posted by THE MAC GOD:
that brings me to a question.... Does the album art transfer to the iPod? If I go through my collection and add album art, and later move to another computer to sync up, will all that work been for naught?

It should, the image data is embedded in the file, not stored someplace else on your computer.

AJ · 04:59 PM

Originally posted by I Bent My Wookiee:
I found this on another site so it seems we are not alone...

http://www.xsorbit1.com/users/dennx/...num=1052185751

...snip...

2.0 is not ready. This list blatently suggests this to me. I have had it hang on me a couple of times too.

Channels swapping after pausing will annoy the hell out of me!! I have found half of these bugs in the first 4 hours of me using it, so I don't know how supposedly talented engineers can miss this lot. I'm not flaming, just making an observation - so don't flame me. It just seems as though all off apple's SW development ships with some real bugs. These kind of devices aren't supposed to be littered with bugs...

AJ

AJ · May 7, 2003, 05:07 PM

Just found another one: Fast forwarding a track that doesn't fit entirely into the buffer spins the HD up. ARRRRRRGH!

Why the hell don't they give beta versions of the software to people on this forum to test! We'd have found these bugs in less than a week!