Manually managing music on iPod 2nd generation in iTunes 11

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Manually managing music on iPod 2nd generation in iTunes 11

I found my old iPod shuffle in a box recently and just tried to use it with iTunes 11. In previous versions of iTunes I was able to check a box to allow for manual management of music. This would allow me to delete and rearrange files, which I preferred to the autofill option. Any hints as to where the "Manually Manage Music" checkbox is now? I don't see it anywhere obvious, like the iPod settings tab. Manual management clearly isn't the default, because when I navigate to the "On This iPod" tab once my device is selected, all the songs currently on the device are grayed out: I can't select, move, or delete them. Any advice would be appreciated.

iPod shuffle

Posted on Feb 25, 2014 5:29 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 26, 2014 4:53 PM in response to fiorentino97

Actually, the 2nd (and 1st) gen shuffles are different from other iPods (including more recent shuffles). There is no Manually manage music setting (and never has been). It is basically always set to manually manage music; the only two ways to load it are to drag songs to it manually or use the Autofill command. It does not have an automatic syncing option, like other iPods.

If the songs on the On This iPod list are currently grayed out, my guess is that the shuffle is currently set up to sync with a different iTunes library than the library you are currently using. It can only sync with one iTunes library at a time. If this is the case, you'll need to have iTunes load it with songs from your current iTunes library and replace its existing content. Or you can do a Restore on the shuffle from the iPod's Settings screen in iTunes, to give it a fresh start with your current computer and iTunes library.

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