setting up an ipod is harder than you fucking think
just spent the last life four+ hours setting up this ipod classic 4th gen. here's a summary of all the problems i ran into:
(1) ipod had files in it. they appeared as gray and un-editable on itunes, so i thought reseting the ipod to factory would be the fastest and easiest solution.
turns out the last step of the process is connecting ipod to a wall power source. i do this. nothing happens for at least an hour. ipod is stuck in "connect to the wall" icon screen no matter what i do. the internet says it needs to connect with an actual apple firewire wall connector, which i do not have. tried using my ipad's charger with a usb-to-usb-c adapter that i own. didn't work. eventually figured it out the problem had to do with the amps it needs to get defibrillated. i remember that i own a pretty hefty power bank with a 5v/2.1a output. it works. ipod is reset. i have a nice fun time adding the 6 or so songs i have downloaded on my computer (:
(2) i had downloaded soulseek a while ago and gotten frustrated with it but decided to give it another spin since piracy experts on reddit sing it many praises. it seems to have a heavy culture of egalitarianism: a pop up window informs you that a lot of people's download's are restricted only to other people sharing files.
__(2.1) it prompts me to enter my account and password but i don't have one. there isn't an immediatly visible 'create account' link. i google this. eventually i find this soulseek forum where a ton of normies are asking questions pretty regularly. excellent. i search my problems and someone else has already made a post and had the question answered. thank you normies. also: google groups is still a thing???????
the inability to create an account is a weird bug. someone's answer tells me how to circumvent it.
__(2.2) i still can't search for anything. there are no files in this wasteland. i turn on my vpn. put my humble six songs in a folder and share it. voila!!!!!!!
soulseek is actually VERY cool. you can browse other people's music folders, which opens an incredible secret world of possibilities re: finding new music similar to your tastes. EXTREMELY exciting. feels like i'm in a cool secret club of the internet. feels like the old internet.
i download one (1) lana del rey song that's stuck in my head. choose .flac (a lossless audio file) because i want to be fancy.
(3) ...........itunes doesn't read .flac files
__(3.1) searches: what files does itunes read? > which of these files is best for lossless audio? > how do i convert .flac files to itunes-compatible file types? > download foobar2000 > click around till i figure out how to convert .flac files to .wav files.
__(3.2) it works! (: the songs are now in itunes! (:
............but the metadata (album cover, genres, artist, album, etc) doesn't transfer. i don't want to manually input it again. searches: how to keep metadata when converting files? tutorial is slightly different from the version of foobar i have, but i eventually find the setting to keep the metadata.
.............but it won't transfer to my ipod ): i get the message: your ipod can't read this file <- paraphrasing.
okay. searches: what kind of files can an ipod classic 4th gen read? (perhaps they are different from the files itunes can read. this is, after all, the last version of itunes ever released, many years and itunes versions after the ipod classic 4th gen.)
this information isn't in the wikipedia page. this isn't in the ipod wiki. can't even find this model in the official apple pages. it's mentioned in several reviews but it's the wrong model. christ almighty. ok. here it is. found it. allegedly it should be able to read it. ok. why isn't it.
read through forum threads. some people say older ipods get fussy with high bitrates. (search: what is a bitrate? oh ok. higher bitrate > higher audio quality. got it.)
bitrates reccomended by foobar: 180-300something.
lossless file bitrate: 2000 and change. hm. surely that's a huge difference.
i convert the .flac file to .mp3 instead.
__(4.1) it works! (: the files are in my ipod! (:
.....but goddamnit, i'm stubborn, and this goddamn ipod is supposed to be able to read apple lossless files (basically a .flac file, but designed to be used with apple products. lol.) i don't want a lameass mp3, i want lossless goddamn quality! even if this brick of an ipod won't be able to play it! it's the principle of the thing!
______(4.1.1) okay. try to fuck around with bitrates in the settings of the apple lossless conversion on foobar. foobar is like "you don't have the right encoder pack, bitch" <- paraphrasing.
oooh. surely, this is the problem. i download encoder pack.
______(4.1.2) foobar is like: "you don't have the right encoder pack, bitch" <- paraphrasing.
______(4.1.3) search: why is foobar calling me a bitch? > reddit thread: look closely at the sphynx's riddles three: it doesn't say "you haven't downloaded the encoder pack." it says: you haven't installed the encoder pack. (<- NOT A JOKE.)
go to C: > program files > foobar > find the encoder pack i downloaded > click on all the .exe files. powershell windows appear and dissappear. basically: stuff happened. i'm certian.
_____________(3.4.3.1) i'm STILL getting the riddles three message, but the same reddit thread says: if you know you solved th riddles three, you can just ignore it (: so i do.
__(4.2) .flac files seem to have been successfully converted to apple lossless files !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
....but i am back to "your ipod can't read this shit!!!!!!!!!"
do some more searches > turns out it's a weird itunes glitch. the thing is just moody. try turning it on and off. try disconnecting and re-connecting. try resetting your ipod again.
try uninstalling and installing again.
(5) "iTunes Library.itl cannot be read because it was created by a newer version of iTunes"
.......................to be continued. if i don't kill mysuelf first.
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