Some of the most hardened Linux supporters have to admit that one of the major downfalls of Ubuntu is that the support for the Apple products has its fair share of problems. Most iPod support has been sorted out, but there are tons of iPhone users (including myself) who get tremendously frustrated when they/I have to revert to Windows to put songs on the iPhone. Ok now before the critics out there start rubbing their hands together, let me say that there is light at the end of the Apple ? Ubuntu Lucid has iPhone support built in, so as soon as you plug in your iphone, it automatically mounts it on the desktop. So thats the first step, getting the iphone mounted on the desktop. To do this in Ubuntu Karmic, follow this guide , its sweet and short, and you’ll have it mounted in no time at all. Now after the mounting, you can transfer songs to the iphone in Rhythmbox, but unfortunately the playlist support on the iphone in Rhythmbox is terribly buggy. Not to worry, because Gtkpod comes to the rescue for the playlists on the iphone!! To install it: sudo apt-get install gtkpod
Then you need to click on edit -> Respository/iPod options -> Add new respository/iPod (in the top right) -> give ur repository a name -> insert the mount point
Now the mount point is the obviously the most important part. One would imagine you’d be able to determine the mount point by simply right clicking on the mounted iphone on the Desktop and then checking out the properties… not the case. So to do it very simply, open Rhythmbox, right click your iphone, click properties and then click on the advanced tab. You’ll see the mount point which is contained in the gvfs directory. Simply copy this mount point and paste it in gtkpod. Once the mount point is sorted out, make sure you select your iphone/ipod model, and then click on ok. You’ll see your new repository on the left, and then you can right click it and click on load ipod.
All your songs and playlists then load in gtkpod!! Up until now, i still havent told you how to sync ur playlists, well all that was an introduction, and now you need to do the following: Open Rhythmbox, right click the playlist you want to sync -> click on save to file -> save it on the desktop, or wherever you prefer -> open gtkpod -> click on add playlist, and then browse to the recently saved playlist file. The playlist should be in m3u format. I havent test the others, but m3u works like a charm. Make sure when you quit gtkpod, that you click save, and this will commit the sync to the iphone! Ladies and gents, thats how you sync your iphone with ubuntu karmic and lucid!! Bit of a mission, but its only a little longer than that rubbish itunes, and we all get to keep our beloved ubuntu ? Have a great day, and happy syncing ?
Over n out!
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