iPod Shuffle and (X)Ubuntu

I got a free iPod shuffle for switching banks. Yeah, I'm a gadget whore.

Here is how to use it with (X)Ubuntu.

Software. Install GNUPod.

apt-get install gnupod-tools

Install iPod Shuffle DB Rebuilder (shuffle_db).

Download the script from the project website.

Initialization. This only needs to be done once (or anytime you mess up the shuffle).

mount /dev/sda1 /media/ipod/
gnupod_INIT -m /media/ipod/
mkdir /media/ipod/music/
cp rebuild_db.py /media/ipod/

The device file /dev/sda1 might differ on different machines.

Transfering Music is a four step process: mount; copy mp3s into the music directory; rebuild the database; umount.

mount -o exec /dev/sda1 /media/ipod
cp ~/music/songs /media/ipod/music/
/media/ipod/rebuild_db.py -l music
umount /media/ipod

Alternatives. You can transfer music to the Shuffle with GNUPod or GTKPod, but I like the shuffle_db better because it is very simple and because it maintains directory structure.