[chris v]

Used to be, I think up until iTunes 8, I had no problem with this. The songs on my computer had their play count -- reflecting how many times they'd been played on my computer, and the copies on my iPod had their own play count, reflecting how many times they'd been played on my iPod.

Now, whenever I play a song on my iPod, then plug it into the computer, the play count is updated to reflect the number of times it's been played on the computer. I can re-set the play count to a song on the iPod to zero, disconnect it from the computer, play it one time, then when I plug it back in to the computer, that song on the iPod will suddenly have 107 plays, the same as internally on my computer. When I reset all the iPod play counts to zero, it only does this to the songs I've played. Today, I reset all my play counts to zero on the iPod then went on a short drive, listening to 7 songs. When I plugged the iPod back in, these 7 songs had between 30 & 150 plays, and the rest of the as-yet unplayed songs on the iPod were still showing zero play counts.

I've restored the iPod & re-added all my songs, etc. all to no avail. Is this a new "feature" with iTunes 8? If not, anybody have any idea how I can solve this?

Also, whassup with the Apple forums? There's no "Post New Topic" button anywhere, anymore. Did they shut them down?

[chris v]

Apparently, this is a bug with synching. I turned on "disable automatic synching for iPhones & iPods," (preferences>devices) & it stopped. However, even though I've got it set to manually manage music, if I click the sync button under contacts or podcasts, even with the auto-synching off, it still changes the play counts on the iPod.

I can drag un-played podcasts, as there's only two or three I listen to, but I'd like to be able to sync my contacts without it messing with my music, but I guess that's too friggin' bad.