Podcasts on Shuffle - !!??

What exactly does the "skip when shuffling" checkbox
do for you? If your ipod is in shuffle mode it won't
play that song?

EXACTLY!

Apple needs to learn that EVERY item in an interface
needs an entry in the help file. It's the first
basic principle of writing good help.

I think teh Help files lag the implementation by a lot.
For example, try to find a good explanation of the check
marks next to tracks in Help.

This whole thing just got me really agitated with my
new shuffle.

Relax and enjoy... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thanks man. I'm relaxed now!

But there is no way any regular user would understand why his downloaded podcasts aren't autofilling to his shuffle.
That checkbox would appear as COMPLETELY unrelated.

Does the checkbox apply to playing songs in shuffle mode in iTunes? Party Shuffle too?

Thanks man. I'm relaxed now!

But there is no way any regular user would understand
why his downloaded podcasts aren't autofilling to his
shuffle.

Autofill doesn't include podcasts...

That checkbox would appear as COMPLETELY unrelated.

It is...it relates to music in playlist(s).

Does the checkbox apply to playing songs in shuffle
mode in iTunes?

I don't think so...it's related to the device's (eg Shuffle) settings.

Party Shuffle too?

see above

Well - if the checkbox for shuffle is unrelated then it shouldn't exist for a podcast.

I stick to my claim: someone new to ipod might find this a little stupid. Clearly the checkbox IS related because by unchecking it you can make podcasts behave like music.

Not trying to pick nits, but this is the kind of thing that makes Mac h@ters say "It's not as simple as they claim."

And they would be right in this case.



Dual 1.8 G5, Macbook Pro 2.16 Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.3) 1.5 GB RAM, iPod, iPod Mini (gone missing)

I have a new gen 2 shuffle, running iTunes 7.0.2 and iPod software 1.0.2, and I want to be able to choose the order to mix music and podcasts. I tried the other suggestions in this thread, and nothing worked, so I tried this more involed procedure. However, although I "enable disk use" and eject it, when I reconnect my daughter's good shuffle, the "enable disk use" box becomes unchecked, so the shuffle doesn't show up as a device in My Computer and I can't complete the procedure.

I'm hoping Apple will fix this bug so I can create a playlist and have it play back in the order I choose.

I have found a fix that seems to work. I'm going to
be as thorough as I can in describing the process I
used.

I am using iTunes 7.0.1 and iPod software 1.1.4 on a
Windows XP Home system. I have folder options in
Windows Explorer set to show hidden files and
folders.

I have two iPod Shuffles: one that is working
correctly, and one that has the symptom of not being
able to order podcasts or intersperse podcasts and
songs.

For each Shuffle, I attached it and in iTunes I
checked the box under its "Settings" tab to "Enable
disk use" and then ejected it.

I attached the WORKING Shuffle, and from the Windows
XP Start Menu went to "My Computer". The Shuffle
showed up under the "Devices With Removable Storage"
as "OWNER'S IPO (M:)". I opened it and opened the
folder "iPod_Control" and copied the folder inside,
"iTunes", to the Desktop.

I then ejected the Shuffle from iTunes and used the
"Safely Remove Hardware" system tray icon to eject
the Shuffle.

I then attached the NON-WORKING Shuffle, and after
iTunes mounted it, I exited iTunes. I
navigated to its folder, "M:\iPod_Control\iTunes",
and deleted all of the contents of that folder. The
files were named iTunesControl, iTunesDB,
iTunesPlaylists, etc.

I then opened the folder on the Desktop, "iTunes"
that I saved from the WORKING Shuffle, and copied
it's contents to the "iTunes" folder of the
NON-WORKING shuffle.

I then started iTunes, with the NON-WORKING Shuffle
attached, and it showed the name of the WORKING
Shuffle under "DEVICES" IN the source list. I guess
this name was stored in one of the files. I clicked
on the name to rename it, and then copied some
podcasts from a playlist to it. They copied in the
order I had sorted them in, and I was able to
intersperse music with the podcasts. I ejected the
NOW-IT-IS-WORKING Shuffle, listened to it to make
sure it actually was working as expected, and
re-attached it to make sure the custom order
persisted, and it did.

It seems to be working totally as intended now. As
an experiment, I clicked the "Restore" button, to see
what would happen, and let it restore the ipod, and
it reverted to it's previous improper behavior. So,
I just repeated the process described above, and it's
working fine again.

I am going to keep this "iTunes" folder from the
WORKING Shuffle in a safe place, in case something
goes wrong and I need to fix it again.

To summarize, I basically copied the contents of the
M:\iPod_Control\iTunes folder of the WORKING iPod
Shuffle, to the M:\iPod_Control\iTunes folder of the
NON-WORKING Shuffle, and then renamed the
NOW-IT-IS-WORKING Shuffle in iTunes, and all is
well.

I think it is obvious that there is something
corrupted in the contents of M:\iPod_Control\iTunes
of the Shuffles that are misbehaving, and it's likely
that either iTunes 7 or the firmware updater are at
fault. Maybe Apple will be able to fix this soon.

I hope you can find a way to make this work for you,
maybe borrowing a friend's Shuffle, or if necessary I
can mail you the files from my WORKING
Shuffle.

IPOD REORDERS PODCASTS AND IS DRIVING ME MAD!
Has anyone ever read a statement from APPLE that their ipod nano shuffle is designed to reorder the podcasts on us? I can never get them to play in the order I want (obviously shuffle is switched off). If I knew it was a "design feature" and not a "flaw" (ha ha) then I could direct my frustration at APPLE instead of continually trying to figure out what I"M doing wrong.

Hopefully this will be corrected in the next update of itunes (I'm using 7.0.2)!
I tried changing the tag from "podcast" to "pop", but itunes is too smart, and still reorders the podcasts.

let apple hear your cries. fat lot of good it has done so far...

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

Sebastian - are you using Autofill?

I'm a student and i don't have internet access at home. i don't need or want to lug my laptop around campus just to download podcasts.

i can download podcasts onto the macs on campus, but can't get them on my shuffle. is there a way to make this happen?

I'm not sure why people are having such trouble, I listen to almost all podcasts on my 1st gen shuffle.

You can't use autofill. Would be nice, but doing it manually isn't that big a deal.

Some people have trouble putting podcasts into a custom order, seems like trashing the library files and rebuilding fixes that.

What is the problem when you drag a playlist onto the shuffle? Does it not show up in the shuffle list? Does it show up but not play?

Actually, you CAN use Autofill. The reason it looks like you can't is covered here.



Dual 1.8 G5, Macbook Pro 2.16 Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.3) 1.5 GB RAM, iPod, iPod Mini (gone missing)

Hi!

I tried to do all that you described and still my iPOD re-orders podcasts. Any suggestions?

Alex

I was able to use autofill, but how do you set the podcast settings so that new podcasts are set to skip in shuffle mode?
I have to uncheck each one right now.

Thank you
Daniel

Don't know of a way to make the podcasts download like that. But that checkbox can be modified by Applescript.
I might work out a script and post it on Murphy Mac.

The problem with dragging a playlist is that the podcasts do not play in the order they are in the playlist. It looks like they will play in the specified order, but once the Shuffle is disconnected and reconnected, the order changes.