SUSE Linux support for Apple iPod

iPod and Linux

Now, officially Apple only suports it's iPod on Mac OS and Windows. iPod owners running Linux are forced to user third-party tools and applications to hookup their toys to the desktop. Articles in this category describe applications and tools to use your iPod with Linux. Check out the articles below.

iPod backup with Linux
Josh Gentry wrote a shell-script to backup iPod's with linux. Go get it.

iPod European volume restriction
Out of the box European iPod have a maximum volume restriction set. goPod helps you to remove it in a clean way. Binaries are available for Windows, Mac OS & Linux.

iPod Sync applications for Linux

Quick summary:

1. Banshee (http://banshee-project.org/Main_Page)
With Banshee you can easily import, manage, and play selections from your music collection. Banshee allows you to import CDs, sync your music collection to an iPod, play music directly from an iPod, create playlists with songs from your library, and create audio and MP3 CDs from subsets of your library.

2. gtkPOD (http://www.gtkpod.org/)
gtkpod is a platform independent Graphical User Interface for Apple's iPod using GTK2. It supports the first to fifth Generation including the iPod mini, iPod Photo, iPod Shuffle, iPod nano, and iPod Video.

3. YamiPOD (http://www.yamipod.com/)
YamiPod is a freeware application to efficiently manage your iPod under Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. It can be run directly from your iPod and needs no installation. Take a look at the feature list to find out what it can do and feel free to suggest anything that might be missing.

SUSE Linux support for Apple iPod
SUSE Linux's support for Apple iPod is probably the best a Linux distribution has ever seen. Attached iPod's automaticly get mounted on /media/ipod for raw disk access an synchronisation applications.

Running GNOME, iPod's automaticly get a device-link on the Desktop. Even Banshee starts instantly. After a quick first time iPod setup (iPod name, your name) the iPod is ready for use.

KDE users can facilitate on the built-in iPod support from konqueror. A 'ipod:/' in the addressbar opens konqueror iPod services like library access, statistics and playlists. gtkpod is a good application for managing yur iPod's music.

gtkpod:

Read your existing iTunesDB (i.e. import the existing contents of your iPod including playcounts, ratings and on-the-go playlists).
Add MP3, WAV, M4A (non-protected AAC), M4B (audio book), podcasts, and various video files (single files, directories or existing playlists) to the iPod.
View, add and modify Cover Art.
Browse the contents of your local harddisk by album/artist/genre by adding all your songs to the 'local' database. From there the tracks can be dragged over to the iPod easily.
Create and modify playlists, including smart playlists.
You can choose the charset the ID3 tags are encoded in from within gtkpod. The default is the charset currently used by your locale setting.
Extract tag information (artist, album, title...) from the filename if you supply a template.
Detect duplicates when adding songs (optional).
Remove and export tracks from your iPod.
Modify ID3 tags -- changes are also updated in the original file (optional).
Refresh ID3 tags from file (if you have changed the tags in the original file).
Sync directories.
Normalize the volume of your tracks (uses mp3gain or the replay-gain tag)
Write the updated iTunesDB and added songs to your iPod.
Work offline and synchronize your new playlists / songs with the iPod at a later time.
Export your organizer/kaddressbook/thunderbird/evocalendar/evolution/webcalendar... data to the iPod.