IPod Shuffle 4g under Linux

Project Link: shuffle.py

Couple of months ago, I got an Apple Ipod Shuffle 4g. Despite the presence of IPod syncing apps under Linux, my experience was annoying. Shuffle 4g changed compared to its predecessors regarding the database format and new features, so a lot of plugins and apps don’t work as expected. In this post, I will write about different ways to tackle this annoyance.

Basic Things to Know

IPod’s internal software works on a defined structure in the mass storage of the IPod. The process of creating this structure may be referred to as initializing your device. For adding any content to your device, a simple copy is not enough, changes need to be made in the database (The iTunesSD file) as well.

If you want to know more about the database format, read it at http://web.archive.org/web/20131016014401/http://shuffle3db.wikispaces.com/iTunesSD3gen