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Devie

macrumors 6502a
Aug 30, 2004
556
319
Adelaide, Australia
How to turn an iPod into an iPod Shuffle

howto_ipodshuffle.jpg



Sorry if posted before :), so fricken hard to keep up to date on this forum :p
 

pbook15

macrumors member
Dec 1, 2004
40
0
Toronto, Ontario
cyanide said:
you can use any ipod as a "usb drive" all of the ipods are able to store any type of file you have on your computer, and with an ipod with enough room, you can even use it as an external firewire drive to boot your system from! talk about nifty..

I just ordered one last night, my 15GB 3rd gen is great for the car, walking around and such but the shuffle will be great for snowboarding and biking. The real selling point for me was the USB key feature. I just bought a 256MB key but I will definately be returning it when my shuffle arrives (hopefuly soon, probably should have waited for it to hit stores, would be faster than online with regular shipping)

One question about the USB key feature though, what format is the iPod shuffle? I can't use my 15GB iPod to transfer files from my mac to windows machines because it is formatted using the HSF file system. Will this be an issue with the shuffle or is it a different format that plays nice with both OS' like FAT32?
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,632
3,987
New Zealand
pbook15 said:
I can't use my 15GB iPod to transfer files from my mac to windows machines because it is formatted using the HSF file system.

Probably just a typo, but just in case it's an honest mistake, it's HFS not HSF. And you don't really need to say 'file system' afterwards because that's what the FS stands for :)

A hint for spelling: Go to Edit -> Spelling -> Check Spelling as You Type and you'll get little red squigglies under misspelt words :)
 

Dr. Dastardly

macrumors 65816
Jun 26, 2004
1,317
1
I live in a giant bucket!
I dont know if this has been asked (and I think I already know the answear) but you can just plug it into a PC and plug it into a mac for file transfers or will it want you to reformat each time you use it with a different system. Most likely its like all others where you dont have to worry about it but I'm more concerned about taking it, tranfereing a file to PC, eject it and find all the music on it is gone.

I only ask because the other ipods you have to put in disk mode to do anything like this, but that is also harddrive based. So does this have some sort of OS that will get screwed up and purge all your music if you use it like a pen drive?
 

maya

macrumors 68040
Oct 7, 2004
3,225
0
somewhere between here and there.
Jdm_rsx said:
so does that mean the regular ipods cant transfer files like the shuffle can?

Where does the confusion begin?

iPod and mini:

1. iPod and mini use FireWire to transfer files.
2. iPod and mini can boot a computer.
3. iPod and mini can store multiple different files, for music, movies, text, image, and compressed files. While only be able to play mp3, wav, aac, as listed on Apple's site.

iPod Shuffle:

1. Uses USB 1.1 and 2.0, not as great as FireWire 400 however still does a good job.
2. Cannot boot a computer.
3. Same as iPod and mini.

Hope that clear up the water. :)

Other differences are visible. :)
 

Mechcozmo

macrumors 603
Jul 17, 2004
5,215
2
Friend of mine ordered last night. Dunno ship date... he has a 3G 20 GB iPod, but the battery ran lower and lower and he likes the flash idea. And he wants a USB key.
 

starcrossed

macrumors regular
May 3, 2003
216
1
San Antonio,TX
The iPod Shuffle is formatted as an MS-DOS volume which will allow easy compatibility between Macs and PCs without having to reformat the drive and lose files. Its the first in the iPod line to be formated this way.
 

jhomayne

macrumors regular
Mar 1, 2004
219
0
ordered my 512mb about an hour after the keynote finished (when the uk store finally started responding!) :D

the lack of screen doesn't worry me. i'm not worried about not being able to find a certain track as i plan just to stick whole albums on it which i can just play in a row. i'll just keep the artists in alphabetical order when i transfer the songs.

and as for the lack of time/contacts/games .etc whatever. i've got my T610 (and hopefully K700i soon!) to handle all that.

:)
 

jdawg4324

macrumors member
Jan 10, 2005
39
0
Turlock CA
Just bought a 1 gb shuffle

Just bought a 1 gb shuffle. Cant wait for it to arrive. I plan on using it for music and to transfer files. Right now I have a 1 ghz PM g4, 500 mhz ibook g3, soon to be purchased pb (waiting for update) and 1.6 ghz pm g5. I have been in the market for a flash drive so it would be eaiser to transfer files some of the computers are in differnt locations so with apples new release this is the perfect solution. Only thing is apple did not state when I should expect them to send this thig out. Please let me know when yours ships.
 

James_C

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2002
2,817
1,822
Bristol, UK
I have just purchased the 1GB version, which I plan to allocate 50% to music and 50% to USB drive. I have a iPod photo, but the shuffle is so small I can keep it with me all the time. The cost is not much more than a USB drive so like others have said it is a no brainer.
 

atomiton

macrumors regular
Sep 23, 2004
125
0
jdawg4324 said:
Just bought a 1 gb shuffle. Cant wait for it to arrive. I plan on using it for music and to transfer files. Right now I have a 1 ghz PM g4, 500 mhz ibook g3, soon to be purchased pb (waiting for update) and 1.6 ghz pm g5. I have been in the market for a flash drive so it would be eaiser to transfer files some of the computers are in differnt locations so with apples new release this is the perfect solution. Only thing is apple did not state when I should expect them to send this thig out. Please let me know when yours ships.

It would be nice to have a little display to show what's playing... a simple LCD in the earphone cable... sometimes i want to know what the song I'm listening to is.... I don't know ALL the music in my database... especially new or little listened to albums.
 

Jdm_rsx

macrumors 6502
Nov 26, 2004
363
0
Honolulu, Hawaii
maya said:
Where does the confusion begin?

iPod and mini:

1. iPod and mini use FireWire to transfer files.
2. iPod and mini can boot a computer.
3. iPod and mini can store multiple different files, for music, movies, text, image, and compressed files. While only be able to play mp3, wav, aac, as listed on Apple's site.

iPod Shuffle:

1. Uses USB 1.1 and 2.0, not as great as FireWire 400 however still does a good job.
2. Cannot boot a computer.
3. Same as iPod and mini.

Hope that clear up the water. :)

Other differences are visible. :)

as usual, MAYA saves the day ...
*again*

thanks!!

i have asked a lot of ppl about ipod being a flash drive
and i get all these different answers...
 

James_C

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2002
2,817
1,822
Bristol, UK
Bozola said:
Got mine, first one to buy the shuffle @ my store.
got 10% off! Updating Ipod right now.

VERY light.

Post back and tell us how you get on, what is the sound quality like and compare to a white / mini iPod if you have one.
 

Bozola

macrumors regular
Well the sound quality is just amazing. I've got 117 songs on a 512mb.. Uploaded via USB 1.0 ~15mins.

The Bose QC2 headphones attached to it make the sound great.

First ipod for me. I sorta have old macs... this might cause me to upgrade!
 

iGary

Guest
May 26, 2004
19,580
7
Randy's House
Ordered mine minutes after the keynote...should be here next week, ready for running.

Glad to hear the sound quality is good. I'm no audiophile, but I like it lound and clear when I'm running.

Good news! :D
 

James_C

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2002
2,817
1,822
Bristol, UK
Bozola said:
Well the sound quality is just amazing. I've got 117 songs on a 512mb.. Uploaded via USB 1.0 ~15mins.

The Bose QC2 headphones attached to it make the sound great.

First ipod for me. I sorta have old macs... this might cause me to upgrade!

Fantastic, really looking forward to receiving mine. Congratulations on your purchase.
 

Kingsnapped

macrumors 6502a
Oct 16, 2003
929
3
Los Angeles, CA
James Craner said:
How does the sound quality compare to your white iPod?

I'm yet to plug it into my big speakers, so I can't say for sure. Sounds good through my headphones, though. The new iTunes (4.7?) includes a feature to recompress everything to 128kbps AAC to fit more in there, so everything is more compressed than I'm used to.. but I honestly notice no difference.
 

James_C

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2002
2,817
1,822
Bristol, UK
Kingsnapped said:
I'm yet to plug it into my big speakers, so I can't say for sure. Sounds good through my headphones, though. The new iTunes (4.7?) includes a feature to recompress everything to 128kbps AAC to fit more in there, so everything is more compressed than I'm used to.. but I honestly notice no difference.

Thanks Kingsnapped, it is amazing that they have maintained the sound quality in something so small. Enjoy your new shuffle.
 

ahasver

macrumors member
Jun 15, 2004
73
13
Jerusalem
PC and Mac

applemacdude said:
yea it can it works like a usb flash pen..and doubles as a mp3 player hehe

anyways im not expecting mine to ship until the 24th what about you guys?

but if you want to carry files from Mac to PC, don't you have to go with flashplayer because the harddrive would be reformated ???? I am asking this because that is in only way that would make sense for me. To get an iPod shuffle to use it as a USB stick, So any has an idea would a be compatible with PC and Mac at the same time.
 

James_C

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2002
2,817
1,822
Bristol, UK
ahasver said:
but if you want to carry files from Mac to PC, don't you have to go with flashplayer because the harddrive would be reformated ???? I am asking this because that is in only way that would make sense for me. To get an iPod shuffle to use it as a USB stick, So any has an idea would a be compatible with PC and Mac at the same time.

I believe the answer is yes, someone asked this question before and one of the replies stated that for the first time the new iPod shuffles are PC formatted out of the box so that they will work with both Macs and PC's.
 
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