10 things about iPod you should know
I divide this iPod issue by 10 parts, it show you the most common problems about iPod, with this “mini how to” you can handle general iPod problems such as: download YouTube to iPod for free, rip DVD and add video to iPod, copy iPod files, backup iPod music to computer, iPod freeze, etc.
How to copy music and photos from my iPod to computer?
Sometime we lost iTunes library or want to copy files from other iPod back to computer, because iTunes prevents user do that, you need special software to bypass iTunes. I’d recommend Tansee iPod Copy Pack to you, It is a life saver when
- Sending your iPod for repair.
- Backup song/video/photo to PC.
- Moving song/video/photo to a new iPod.
- Share your iPod song/video/photo with friends.
- Computer crashed.
You can download it directly from here. (3.44 MB)
If Tansee doesn’t help, you can try this iPod Computer Transfer, it fully supports all series of iPod and iPhone, and it’s also a nice iTunes alternative which can help you create playlist and sync music and video to iPod. Here is its download link. (1.1 MB)
How to convert YouTube video to iPod for free
There must be some wonderful videos you’ve ever watched on YouTube and want to put them on your iPod. But iPod can play only MP4 video, and YouTube video is FLV, you have to download and convert YouTube video to MP4 video at first, then you can add it into your iTunes library and sync to your iPod.
There are many online video converters can help you do that job for free, we take vixy.net for example this time.
Step1. Open this website: http://vixy.net . Then go to YouTube and find a video that you love. Copy the video URL that in the Red box. Like this format: 
Step2. Paste your video file URL to the input box, select “MP4 for iPod/PSP” as the output format, then wait for the conversion, this flv converter can also help you rip YouTube video to MP3 audio.
Step3. When the conversion finished, we got the download link of the output video. Click it to download the video and save in your computer, then open iTunes and drag the video into your iTunes library, sync your iPod, done.
How to rip DVD movie and convert video to iPod (Windows User)
iPod can only play MP4 and H.264 video, but DVD movie is MPEG-2 video and CSS copyright protected, you need an application to rip DVD and convert video to iPod compatible video at first, then you can add it to your iTunes library and sync it to your iPod. I have tried many iPod converters, at last I choose Aimersoft iPod Converter Suite; it can rip copyright protected DVD movie and convert limewire, YouTube, Torrent video, AVI, MPEG, WMV, MOV, FLV, XviD, etc. video to iPod compatible video. And from my tests, it fully supports all series of iPod including iPod Touch/Nano/Classic/Video, even iPhone. And it build-in an iPod transfer that can help you transfer video to iPod directly, that’s pretty cool and easy to use. This software also can help you extract audio track from DVD or Video to MP3, WMA, AAC audio.
1. Download and install Aimersoft iPod Converter Suite, run the DVD to iPod Converter, click "Load DVD" to browse your computer and load the DVD files. Here is Aimersoft Download link. (9.7 MB)
2. Click the “Format” combo-box to select one according to your iPod name, and then select the subtitle, audio you prefer and start the conversion.
3. Open iTunes and click "File" to add your converted videos, plug in your iPod to computer, then iTunes will detect your iPod as a device. Select your iPod device on the left panel of iTunes, click "Movies" tab, check the videos you want to sync and click "Apply", done.
Troubleshooting (Windows)
1. Why your iTunes converted video has no sound?
Because iTunes cannot convert muxed video (the audio and video of a muxed video file are on the same track), muxed video converted by iTunes will lose sound. You can learn more about this issue from apple’s official document.
If you come across this problem, you can refer to Part 3 of this guide, the iPod converter that I recommend can deal with muxed video with no problem.
2. Why I can listen to only the audio but no video on my iPod?
When you face this problem, just go to your iPod setting and turn off the “TV out” function, your problem will be solved.
How to rip DVD movie and convert video to iPod (Mac)
As for Mac user, I’d recommend iSkysoft iPod Converter Suite for Mac to you, the operation steps are similar to Aimersoft, so I am not repeat here. It has two versions for both Intel Mac and Power PC Mac. You can free download it for a try. For more info about it, Here is a detailed page about it, and here are the iskysoft mac ipod converter download link. Intel Version (16.2 MB); PowerPC version (15.9 MB)
If you have a Windows computer and want to copy files from Windows to Mac, here is a step by step guide for you.
How to manage multiple iPods on one computer or transfer music between iPods?
Actually, you can manage more than one iPod on the same computer.
Method1. Create multi accounts on one computer, one account for each person to login OS and sync his/her iPod with iTunes.
Method2. Set your iPod to “Manually manage music and video”, and then create a new iTunes playlist for each iPod that contains all the music that you want to send to that particular iPod.
As for transferring music between different iPods, you need a special application to do that, I have tried a program named iPod2iPod, it can successfully transfer my friend’s iPod music to my iPod, and here is a guide about it.
Where can I found some cool free themes for my iPhone or iPod Touch?
If you sick of your iPod or iPhone default theme and want to customize it, you can find some free cool themes from here. And it has a detailed guide to teach you how to put the themes on your iPod, it’s easy to understand, I’m sure you can handle it.
Where to download free games, music and movie for iPod Touch/Nano/Classic/Video
1. iTunes store: $0.99 for one song, $9.99 for one movie, $1.99 for one TV show.
2. Limewire is fast and popular file sharing freeware working on Windows, Linux and Mac OS. Through the P2P (peer-to-peer) network, you can free download various files by its category or keyword searching. Here is a step by step guide will teach you how to use limewire to download video to iPod.
3. Other stream video website such as Yahoo, MySpace, etc. here is a list of free stream video website. And you can refer the part 1 of this guide to download stream video to iPod.
4. Torrent website, torrent is a hot download resource, if you don’t know how to use torrent to download movie to iPod, here is a step by step guide for you.
5. If you are looking for free games for iPod, here is a list for you, it collects many free web games, that’s pretty cool.
How to install applications on iPod Touch and iPhone for free?
Before Apple released the iPhone SDK, you have to jailbreak your iPod Touch or iPhone to install free software or play funny game. And here is a step by step guide will teach you how to do that.
And Now Apple has an iPhone APP store, you can download many free APPs from iTunes store, when you finish the download process, just follow the steps to install it, that’s all. And here is a download list of my favorite free iPhone Apps.
How to hack iPod Nano to play games and music video?
This part is mainly for the old version iPod such as iPod Nano Gen 2, coz the new series of iPods can directly play video and game and you don’t need to hack them. If you want to hack your iPod Nano to play Doom 3, you have to install iPod Linux on your iPod, here is iPod Linux official installation guide.
Or you can take a look at this guide, which I think is more intuitional:
Note: It could be pretty complicated to install iPod Linux on iPod, so give it a serious consideration before you do that.
How can I watch my iPod movie on large screen TV?
Set up your iPod video options. On your iPod choose Videos -> Video Settings from the main menu. You will see three options: TV Out, TV Signal and Widescreen. Select the “TV Out” option.
Get your A/V cable. If you don’t have an eighth-inch-to-RCA cable, you can pick one up on eBay for five or six bucks shipped. Search for "camcorder A/V cable." Remember, you want a three-plug yellow/red/white RCA connection at one end and a three-banded eighth-inch (3.5mm) A/V plug at the other.
- Plug the red RCA plug into your TV’s yellow RCA jack.
- Plug the yellow RCA plug into your TV’s white RCA jack.
- Plug the white RCA plug into your TV’s red RCA jack.
After making these connections, you’re physically ready to begin playback.
