ipod shuffle 4th generation sync help
will not play music it says music is on it but then it just says please use itunes to sync music but when i sync on itunes it says it has music
iPod nano
iTunes may say it is syncing the shuffle, but if the shuffle is not set up to automatically sync music, it just starts and stops without syncing any songs.
Here's how to check if there are any songs currently on the shuffle in iTunes. Not sure if you checked to confirm this way. First, if the iTunes sidebar (along left side of window) is not visible, from the menu bar, under View, select Show Sidebar.
Select the shuffle in sidebar, under DEVICES. Click the small triangle to the left of the shuffle's name (in the sidebar) to drop down the shuffle's content list (indented under the shuffle). Click on Music there. To the right, you should see the list of songs on the shuffle (if there are songs on the shuffle). Are there songs on the shuffle?
If you don't see any songs on that list, you need to set up automatic syncing. Select the shuffle in the sidebar again. Toward the top of window, there is a bar of buttons, starting with Summary. Click on Music next to Summary. This is the shuffle's Music screen, where you tell iTunes how to sync songs to the shuffle.
Check the box for Sync Music. You can choose to sync Entire music library, if your iTunes music library is small and fits on the shuffle. Otherwise, you can choose to sync Selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres. Then, select (checkmark) the playlists, artists, albums, and/or genres you want on the shuffle from the lists below. For example, you can put all the songs you want on the shuffle on a playlist, and checkmark that playlist on the shuffle's Music screen, under Playlists.
When you click Apply, the songs from your selection sync to the shuffle. Going forward, changes to your iTunes library (related to your settings on the shuffle's Music screen) sync automatically to the shuffle, the next time it is connected (or when you click Sync). For example, if you have new songs, you can add them to a playlist that syncs to the shuffle.
This document has more general information about ways to load content on a shuffle.