Using your iPod or portable media player with Clementine
Introduction
Starting from version 0.5 Clementine has support for iPods, MTP devices (also known as Microsoft PlaysForSure) and USB mass storage devices.
Device | Linux | OS X | Windows |
---|---|---|---|
iPod classic | supported | supported | unsupported |
iOS (iPod touch, iPhone & iPad) | unsupported | unsupported | unsupported |
MTP | supported | flaky | unsupported |
USB mass storage | supported | supported | unsupported |
When you plug in a device it should show up automatically in the Devices tab on the left of the Clementine window. Double clicking on the device will open it and start searching for songs inside. You can copy songs to a device by right clicking them in the library or the playlist and selecting Copy to device.
Supported Devices
iPod
Clementine uses libgpod to read and write the iTunes database on your iPod. This is installed automatically if you download a binary package of Clementine, but if you are compiling from source make sure you have the libgpod and libgpod-dev packages installed before you start.
The classic iPod or iPod shuffle appear as USB mass storage devices are mounted and accessed directly by Clementine.
- Show a list of songs: works
- Copy songs to device: works
- Copy songs from device: works
- Play songs: works
- Find out which files are supported: works
MTP
On Linux and Mac, MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) devices are supported in Clementine through libmtp. If you are compiling from source make sure you have the libmtp and libmtp-dev packages installed before you start.
On Linux you also need GIO and GVFS installed to be able to detect MTP devices.
MTP devices can sometimes be a bit temperamental. If you have problems copying songs to your device try unplugging it and plugging it back in, or restarting it.
- Show a list of songs: works
- Copy songs to device: works
- Copy songs from device: doesn't work
- Play songs: doesn't work
- Find out which files are supported: works
USB Mass Storage
Other USB devices that aren't music players, such as USB flash disks or memory cards, usually support the Mass Storage protocol. Clementine treats these as normal folders containing music, much like it does with the folders you add to your library. When you copy songs to a mass storage device you are able to choose a naming scheme for the filenames, this works in the same way as the Organise dialog.
On Linux Clementine uses either DeviceKit or GIO to detect mass storage devices. Clementine will try to mount devices as soon as you plug them in, but if a device doesn't show up try mounting it manually (using your file browser or the commandline).
- Show a list of songs: works
- Copy songs to device: works
- Copy songs from device: works
- Play songs: works
- Find out which files are supported: doesn't work
Automatic Transcoding
Clementine will try to find out what file formats your device can play and automatically convert any songs you try to copy across. If you want to turn off this behaviour, or change your preferred file format, right click on the device and choose Device properties..., then go to the File formats tab.