I have over 1,000 songs on my iPod 5th generation. But when I connect to any device via a USB (dvd player, smart blu ray, tv), it only shows 167. My files are all mpeg 4 (.m4a). How do I get all my songs to show/play?
The .m4a extension is used for the AAC audio format, which is the default format used by Apple for iTunes audio encoding and songs downloaded from the iTunes Store. My guess is that your equipment supports MP3 only, and not AAC. 167 of the over 1000 songs on your iPod are in MP3 format.
Hi Kenichi. Thanks for the reply. I first thought the same thing but some of the songs that do actually appear are mp4's. This is really a tough one to figure out.
some of the songs that do
That do what?
The AAC format is the audio component of "MP4" (or "MPEG-4"). So, if something is described as MP4 and it is audio, it is essentionally AAC (although the file may have a different extension). MP3 is different, and it is the more common format used for audio files.
In iTunes, for the songs that do not play on the external equipment, what does it say for Kind on when you do a Get Info and look on the Info window's Summary tab? What does it say there for the songs that do play? Any pattern...?
I understand that MP4's are audio. I was stating that only a 100+ songs out of 1000+ of the songs on my iPod, appear on my TV, DVD or Blu Ray MENU. If they do not appear on the menu, I can't play them.
Before you replied, I checked what kind of files reside in my iTunes. They are all MP4's. When accessing my iTunes folder from my computer to my smart blu ray, all songs are available to play. I even tried playing some mp3's from different folders and they worked as well. I am thinking that this is a copyright issue that is blocking most songs being played directly from my iPod to any other device via a USB. I wish I knew for sure.
The Kind for those files (in the Get Info window in iTunes) should say something like
AAC audio file
MP3 audio file
Those are the typical types of audio files that most external non-Apple players can play (and some can only play MP3 audio files). iTunes on the computer is more flexible, and can play other types of audio files. If it says "MP4" or "MPEG-4" as part of the Kind description, then it may be an audio file, but it is not typical AAC or MP3.
I know it will not say only "MP4" for Kind in the iTunes song Info window, so what does it say exactly?
I am thinking that this is a copyright issue that is blocking most songs being played directly from my iPod to any other device via a USB.
MP3 cannot be copy-protected, I believe. AAC can be copy-protected, and Apple previously used their form of "DRM" in the early days of the iTunes Store. Those audio files are called
Protected AAC audio file
for Kind in iTunes. It's possible those "protected" files will not play on external players that are not from Apple.
In the last few years, songs downloaded from the iTunes Store have not used DRM. They are standard AAC files, but they are called
Purchased AAC audio file
for Kind in iTunes. But the bottom line is, it needs to say "AAC audo file" or "MP3 audio file" as part of the song's description for Kind in iTunes. If it does not, it may be an audio file, but it is not a typical audio file format.
Another characteristic of audio file is the "bit rate" used to encode (compress) them. This is shown on the Get Info window in iTunes as Bit Rate. It is possible that the external players can only play song files below a maximum number. So you may want to look at that Bit Rate number for songs that do play and songs that do not play, to see if there is a pattern.
Hi Kenichi,
First, thank you for your efforts in trying to assist me. It's appreciated. You logic is sound. What you are saying is logical but this problem doesn't seem to have a logical explanation. To answer your questions, Most songs in my library show as MPEG-4 Audio (.m4A) when right clicking on the song in Windows Explorer and left clicking on Properties. In iTunes, Right clicking on the song and selecting "Get Info", shows the same song as AAC audio file (as the kind). I also have a few MP3's in my library.
Anyway, my first conclusion was that the MP3's probably work and the MP4's do not, on my external devices (TV, DVD Recorder and smart Blu Ray Player). I was wrong. Some MP3's are appearing on the external device menus and some are not. The same goes for the MP4's. There was no logical pattern. The only thing I did notice was that more of the song's with higher kbps showed in the menus when hooking up my iPod. But there were plenty that did not so I can't say there is a pattern.
What I did do, after hooking up my iPod to my Smart Blu Ray player, was to start snooping around at different folders to see if I could find the missing songs. Only 130+ were showing in the "Music" folder. I actually went to "iPod Control" and found another "Music" subfolder. In that folder I found the missing songs. They are residing in sub folders labeled F1, F2, F3... with no artist label. Within these subfolders, the songs are appearing as 4 character titles with no logic (ex AGYU, BDWZ). These songs do play when chosen. Plus, the folders contained mixed artists (U2 songs mixed in the same folder with Pearl Jam and Nirvana).
At this point, I've given up that this will work. I hooked up an external hard drive to my smart Blu Ray player and am simply playing my songs this way (with an Optical Tosh Link digital audio cable to my stereo... so I get true digital sound- unlike the iPod docking station I was using which was hooked up by RCA analog cables). It works fine and sounds so much better. I'm getting tired of Apple's lack of compatibality with other brand's devices. They want you to be a slave to Apple. With that being said, I am no longer purchasing any Apple products.
Thanks again for your help!
I got the same issue and honestly i never ever encountered so much incompatibilities and problems with software, settings, adds and so on than with a Mac computer. Windows is indeed light years ahead than apple, i am well positioned to compare now and for sure i will definitely be a pro active in making apple's advertisement as this is just a customer's teft and rape. **** youy very very much too apple!!
My songs won't show/play when connecting to another device
