Annoying Playlist Shuffle. Help!

Hey Citizen!

I didn't notice this before. You're PC, I'm Mac. This is a cross platform issue, so my theory about a "Security Update" on OS X goes out the window. Does this make it a Shuffle firmware issue? An iTunes issue? For me, this problem arose without changes to either.

BTW iTunes 7 only made more things screw up for me. S-L-O-W.

I'll keep thinking... fwiw.

Rob

No, that is not correct.
Do not transfer it to the iPod until you select Copy to play order, else you are just wasting time loading it.

I reverted to iTunes 6.0.4. In the process, I lost my Library XML file, since the "upgrade" to 7 supposedly saved a copy but iTunes 6 would not recognize it when I tried to open it today.

So, I had iTunes 6.0.4 rebuild/reimport all my files.

I can now sort podcasts however I want. I can order them by hand, or just click on any column in the iPod Shuffle source list. I can make a smart or regular playlist, copy to play order and autofill from that list.

As I recall, this functionality was getting flaky before I moved up to iTunes 7, so I'm going to bet it had something to do with a bad Library XML file. Why it went bad, I don't know.

Will it work with 6.0.5? I'm not willing to experiment. Will it work with 7? I'm not even going there until the "Keep this iPod in Source List" returns as an option.

If you try wiping out your Library file and reimporting your music, I think you'll be OK in 6.0.4, and probably in 6.0.5. If you still have episodes of podcasts on your drive, resubscribing is easy, but all your playlists, ratings, dates added, etc. are lost when the Library file goes. 😟

Save ratings in comments before you nuke the file. You could also save the playlist name in comments, and jot down smart playlist rules. See if Doug Adams has scripts to automate that for you: http://www.dougscripts.com/itunes/
Comments, lyrics and artwork all survive the process.

Rob

Can anybody help?-

My ipod shuffle keeps flashing green then orange whenever I press a button, which apparently means theres an error. I've tried restoring ipod etc, but i really don't know what to do.

Has anyone else managed to sort this out before?

I wish i had never purchased this small little devil.
I am fighting with this issue since February.
I tried lot of options,
5 R of an iPod, updating, degrading ipod software.
Finally i visited to genius bar 2 months ago.
The guy could speak in english, hey this is japan, so after 2 minutes he could understand my problem.
So he did the 5R again, downloaded a few songs, shuffled the list manually and thats it. its working , no problem.
Then i connected the shuffle to my mac, downloaded tweak and maccast podcasts. Changed the order, i.e. First downloaded first in list, the way i want to listen on the go.
unpluged it from system and here it goes, all the list was reshuffled by shuffle it self.
Now the " Genius" replied that it happens because some podcasts has some technical problems.
So i told him it was working fine and why it start giving such problem now. he had no answer.
I believe this problem has to do something with iTunes as i think i applied the iTunes patch some time and then it start giving problem. not sure but it seems to be a reason.
Now as iTunes 7 is out, i downloaded it first day. test my shuffle, and it still same.
infact iTunes7 look worse then iTunes 6. any way don't want to take any chance to destroy the play lists or library by downgrading this.

Is there any way to contact these guys in apple and ask them to look into this?
i am fed up. never expected such support, at least, from apple.

I wish I could give you guys some help, I don't know why it works fine on mine but some people get this problem.

I probably would have taken it back if it didn't work right.

I really think you should try nuking the Music Library XML file and start fresh. See my comment above for the process.

Good luck. Mine IS fixed.

Rob

iTunes does not use the library.xml file.
It simply creates the file for other programs to use.
Nuking the file will do nothing for iTunes.

iTunes does not use the library.xml file.
It simply creates the file for other programs to
use.
Nuking the file will do nothing for iTunes.

OK Chris - you're right. Not "iTunes Music Library XML;" we need to nuke iTunes Music Library.

In my excitement, I listed the wrong file.

Definitely iTunes Music Library

Not "iTunes Music Library XML;" we need to nuke iTunes Music Library.

In my excitement, I listed the wrong file.

Definitely iTunes Music Library

Hi Rob,

Can you please give step by step detailes as i don't know about nuking the Music Library.

Is this just an option to rebuild the library or we do have to import all the songs/podcast again?

Thanks
Amit

Thanks Riffraf

your solution solved my problem, may be it will help hundreds of others who are fighting with the same issue.

What i did in simple words is
1. I closed iTunes
2. I went to music folder then to iTunes and under this directory,
3. (Sorry, i skipped)
4. I deleted iTunes Library file (Please move it to other location instead of deleting, just in case)
5. Started iTunes.
6. Got shaken, no songs in the Music List.
7. No problem, Go to Files -> Add to Library
8. Select Itunes Music folder
9. Click on Select
10 wait and watch for a couple of minutes. (Be connected to internet for updating the artwork etc.)

I did it in iTunes 7, I hope it work smoothly in version 6 too.

Test
=====
I pluged my shufle, Copied 5 podcasts, in podcast list itself, arranged the order, detached , attached it back. the list was intact as i made.
I again detached my shuffle, started listening. Voila, It was in correct order as i made.

I was getting frustated of my shuffle and stoped using it because of this issue but now i can start using it again.

🙂

Once again thanks to Riffraf.

Amit

Can someone confirm that this works with podcasts downloaded AFTER rebuilding the library?

Are podcasts maintained in the podcast list after this, as well as subscriptions, or is any of that info lost?