iPod and GTKpod

Message

colpaeko · Post by **colpaeko** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 1:30 pm

Hi,

I recently bought an Apple iPod which I want to use with my linux box. Therefor I emerged "gtkpod" (a thread on this site mentioned it as the best iPod-software for linux so...). I was wondering if somebody could give me some more information on how to get everything to work. I know that the iPod will be recognised as a scsci-device but what file-system should I mount (vfat?).
Since my machine has no firewire-ports I wiil have to by the usb-connection cable for the iPod.

TIA

widu · Post by **widu** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:52 pm

well, first of all you have to moutn your ipod somewhere. The convenient way is to create a directory /mnt/ipod and add an apropriate line to your /etc/fstab. e.g on my system:

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gaylien root #less /etc/fstab
...
/dev/sdb2               /mnt/ipod       vfat            noauto,user     0 0
...

When I bought my ipod, it was hfs+ formatted, but I reformatted it using ipod-updater on a windows machine. I don't know if hfs+ support is really mature, so I choose vfat.
And off corse your ipod doesn't have to be /dev/sdb on your system.
But be sure not to mount the first partition (sdx1) its the system partition of your ipod.
then simply type

Code: Select all

mount /mnt/ipod

and play around with gtkpod, its not to dificult to figure out how it works, or take a look at hte documentation.

huw · Post by **huw** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 3:27 pm

Does your linux box have USB2 ports? If not file transfer will be v.slow. Firewire cards are dirt cheap - probably a similar price to the cable..

Dunno what linux USB2 support is like. My iPod works great with a £5 PCMCIA firewire card on my laptop. I converted it from HFS+ to vfat with nothing more than dd and fdisk and mkfs.vfat.

widu · Post by **widu** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 3:42 pm

for me USB2 works flawless

nielchiano · Post by **nielchiano** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:17 am

ok, this is a bit off-topic... sorry:

I'm considering to buy an iPod. As I can see, you can access the HDD of the iPod lika a "regular" removable storage drive.

What does that gtk-pod give you more? If you can put your songs on the drive, isn't that enough?

colpaeko · Post by **colpaeko** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 11:53 am

nielchiano wrote:I'm considering to buy an iPod. As I can see, you can access the HDD of the iPod lika a "regular" removable storage drive.

What does that gtk-pod give you more? If you can put your songs on the drive, isn't that enough?

I tried looking at the iPod's harddisk by connecting it to an Apple Powerbook. If you look at the HD-structure it's not that simple. The structure has a lot of directories called F11, F7 etc and things like that and I noticed that the songs are not in 1 directory but they are in multiple directories (even those belonging to the same album).
The gtkpod is a graphical frontend similar like iTunes and helps you to manage your playlist.

For all of you that already replied: I'll try it out!

nielchiano · Post by **nielchiano** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:15 pm

colpaeko wrote:I tried looking at the iPod's harddisk by connecting it to an Apple Powerbook. If you look at the HD-structure it's not that simple. The structure has a lot of directories called F11, F7 etc and things like that and I noticed that the songs are not in 1 directory but they are in multiple directories (even those belonging to the same album).
The gtkpod is a graphical frontend similar like iTunes and helps you to manage your playlist.

So I'll NEED gtkpod to get the MP3s on the iPod?

colpaeko · Post by **colpaeko** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:23 pm

widu wrote:well, first of all you have to moutn your ipod somewhere. The convenient way is to create a directory /mnt/ipod and add an apropriate line to your /etc/fstab. e.g on my system:

Code: Select all

gaylien root #less /etc/fstab
...
/dev/sdb2               /mnt/ipod       vfat            noauto,user     0 0
...

...
then simply type

Code: Select all

mount /mnt/ipod

quote]

Tnx for the info. I did create an /mnt/ipod-dir and I tried some device-names in my /etc/fstab but so far with no success. These are the messages I got from /var/log/messages. Maybe someone can help me figure out what the exact drive is.

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Jul 19 14:18:16 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.1-1, assigned address 2
Jul 19 14:18:16 galadriel usb.c: USB device not accepting new address=2 (error=-110)
Jul 19 14:18:16 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.1-1, assigned address 3
Jul 19 14:18:16 galadriel usb.c: USB device not accepting new address=3 (error=-110)
Jul 19 14:18:17 galadriel uhci.c: 1840: host controller halted. very bad
Jul 19 14:18:19 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.7-3, assigned address 2
Jul 19 14:18:19 galadriel usb.c: USB device 2 (vend/prod 0x5ac/0x1201) is not claimed by any active driver.
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel usb.c: registered new driver usb-storage
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel scsi0 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel Vendor: Apple     Model: iPod              Rev: 1.50
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel Type:   Direct-Access                      ANSI SCSI revision: 02
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel Attached scsi removable disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel sda: Unit Not Ready, sense:
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel Current 00:00: sns = 70  2
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel ASC= 4 ASCQ= 1
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel Raw sense data:0x70 0x00 0x02 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0a 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x04 0x01 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel sda : READ CAPACITY failed.
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel sda : status = 1, message = 00, host = 0, driver = 08
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel Current sd00:00: sns = 70  2
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel ASC= 4 ASCQ= 1
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel Raw sense data:0x70 0x00 0x02 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0a 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x04 0x01 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel sda : block size assumed to be 512 bytes, disk size 1GB.
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0: I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 2097144
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 2097144
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel ldm_validate_partition_table(): Disk read failed.
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel unable to read partition table
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel USB Mass Storage device found at 2
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel USB Mass Storage support registered.

(5 minutes later) Got it!!!!!!! On my machine the right entry in /etc/fstab is

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dev/sda2               /mnt/ipod       vfat            noauto,user             0 0

Now I have to look for a manual on gtkpod because I can't see what is on the iPod.

colpaeko · Post by **colpaeko** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:28 pm

nielchiano wrote:
colpaeko wrote:I tried looking at the iPod's harddisk by connecting it to an Apple Powerbook. If you look at the HD-structure it's not that simple. The structure has a lot of directories called F11, F7 etc and things like that and I noticed that the songs are not in 1 directory but they are in multiple directories (even those belonging to the same album).
The gtkpod is a graphical frontend similar like iTunes and helps you to manage your playlist.
So I'll NEED gtkpod to get the MP3s on the iPod?

IMHO yes, I don't know if there is another way than using such a tool like iTunes (windows and apple), MusicMatch (Windows) or gtkpod (linux). I know that there are other linux-tools like ephod (?) but I haven't looked at them.

nielchiano · Post by **nielchiano** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:59 pm

colpaeko wrote:
nielchiano wrote:
colpaeko wrote:I tried looking at the iPod's harddisk by connecting it to an Apple Powerbook. If you look at the HD-structure it's not that simple. The structure has a lot of directories called F11, F7 etc and things like that and I noticed that the songs are not in 1 directory but they are in multiple directories (even those belonging to the same album).
The gtkpod is a graphical frontend similar like iTunes and helps you to manage your playlist.
So I'll NEED gtkpod to get the MP3s on the iPod?
IMHO yes, I don't know if there is another way than using such a tool like iTunes (windows and apple), MusicMatch (Windows) or gtkpod (linux). I know that there are other linux-tools like ephod (?) but I haven't looked at them.

thx a lot!

widu · Post by **widu** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 6:11 pm

Hold in mind that I'm just a gentoo-n00b, but what I see in this message is:

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.....
Jul 19 14:18:22 galadriel Attached scsi removable disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
....

so your ipod is /dev/sda.
what is interesting as well :

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....
Jul 19 14:18:23 galadriel unable to read partition table
....

it is verry likely that you don't have the appropriate filesystem support included in your kernel.
There's still the question wich filesystem your ipod has.
If you haven't used ipod-updater somehow, it is probably hfs+ (macintosh filesystem). If this is the case be sure to have hfs+ support in your kernel and you have to replace vfat in your fstab line by hfs+
You can see the supported filesystems by typing:

Code: Select all

less /proc/filesystems

If you ran ipod-updater the filesystem on your ipod should be vfat.
If you are unsure what filesystem your ipod is just compile your kernel with vfat and hsf+ support and try both options in fstab.
BTW I didn't succeed in mounting my ipod using kernel 2.4 but had no problems using 2.6 (gentoo-dev-sources). I think it must have been my fault somehow, because others reported no problems with 2.4.
Have you seen this thread?
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php? ... t=ipod+usb

colpaeko · Post by **colpaeko** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 7:00 am

widu wrote:
If you ran ipod-updater the filesystem on your ipod should be vfat.
If you are unsure what filesystem your ipod is just compile your kernel with vfat and hsf+ support and try both options in fstab.
BTW I didn't succeed in mounting my ipod using kernel 2.4 but had no problems using 2.6 (gentoo-dev-sources). I think it must have been my fault somehow, because others reported no problems with 2.4.
Have you seen this thread?
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php? ... t=ipod+usb

OK, i'll give that ipod-updater a try. In the meantime I was able to mount it in /mnt/ipod, so it should be vfat. It was recognised by gtkpod and i could browse the directories. I tried out the option to create the ipod-directories on the ipod and that seemed to work. I tried to copy some songs and noticed that they were transferred to the ipod but I can't see them in the playlist or other entries on the ipod.

colpaeko · Post by **colpaeko** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 7:03 am

huw wrote:Does your linux box have USB2 ports? If not file transfer will be v.slow. Firewire cards are dirt cheap - probably a similar price to the cable..

Dunno what linux USB2 support is like. My iPod works great with a £5 PCMCIA firewire card on my laptop. I converted it from HFS+ to vfat with nothing more than dd and fdisk and mkfs.vfat.

Hi Huw,
It's possible to get it to work with USB as well (partly for now

). My laptop only has USB2 and no Firewire. I'm interested in the firewire-card you have. I don't think you can beat that price, even if I have to buy it through the internet. So could you give me the specs?

sunder · Post by **sunder** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 6:42 pm

widu wrote: it is verry likely that you don't have the appropriate filesystem support included in your kernel.
There's still the question wich filesystem your ipod has.
If you haven't used ipod-updater somehow, it is probably hfs+ (macintosh filesystem). If this is the case be sure to have hfs+ support in your kernel and you have to replace vfat in your fstab line by hfs+

As far as I know, its hfsplus. Here's the entry from my fstab:

Code: Select all

/dev/sda3               /mnt/ipod       hfsplus         user,noauto      0 0

Also, make sure you enable Macintosh partition table support in the kernel. That's what that error message is saying... I think it would run into an error with the partition table before not being able to read the filesystem. In the newer ck-sources, I had to check the "Advanced partition selection" option to be able to select "Macintosh partition map support". Good luck!

huw · Post by **huw** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 8:06 pm

colpaeko wrote:So could you give me the specs?

Sure! It's made by Billionton and uses the Texas Instruments OHCILynx chipset.
http://www.billionton.com/website/produ ... B1394T.htm

I got it from www.komplett.co.uk for 5 quid, but thy don't have it on their website anymore.

HTH

Huw

colpaeko · Post by **colpaeko** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 3:24 pm

widu wrote: ....

If you ran ipod-updater the filesystem on your ipod should be vfat.

Hi Widu,

As you suggested I used the ipod-updater. I downloaded and installed it on a Windows XP-machine. I choose to restore the ipod instead of update it so everything was erased and installed as new. On windows the ipod worked fine but when I plug it in on my linux machine I get

Code: Select all

Jul 21 17:07:28 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.1-1, assigned address 4
Jul 21 17:07:28 galadriel usb-uhci.c: interrupt, status 2, frame# 1403
Jul 21 17:07:28 galadriel usb.c: USB device not accepting new address=4 (error=-110)
Jul 21 17:07:28 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.1-1, assigned address 5
Jul 21 17:07:28 galadriel usb.c: USB device not accepting new address=5 (error=-110)
Jul 21 17:07:32 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.7-3, assigned address 5
Jul 21 17:07:32 galadriel WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
Jul 21 17:07:32 galadriel USB Mass Storage device found at 5
Jul 21 17:08:15 galadriel su(pam_unix)[556]: session opened for user root by (uid=1000)
Jul 21 17:09:16 galadriel usb.c: USB disconnect on device 00:1d.0-0 address 1
Jul 21 17:09:16 galadriel usb.c: USB disconnect on device 00:1d.0-1 address 2
Jul 21 17:09:16 galadriel usb.c: USB bus 2 deregistered
Jul 21 17:09:16 galadriel usb.c: USB disconnect on device 00:1d.1-0 address 1
Jul 21 17:09:16 galadriel usb.c: USB bus 3 deregistered
Jul 21 17:09:16 galadriel usb.c: USB disconnect on device 00:1d.2-0 address 1
Jul 21 17:09:16 galadriel usb.c: USB bus 4 deregistered
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel uhci.c: USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver v1.1
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel PCI: Setting latency timer of device 00:1d.0 to 64
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0x1820, IRQ 10
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel hub.c: USB hub found
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel hub.c: 2 ports detected
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel PCI: Setting latency timer of device 00:1d.1 to 64
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0x1840, IRQ 9
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel hub.c: USB hub found
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel hub.c: 2 ports detected
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel PCI: Setting latency timer of device 00:1d.2 to 64
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0x1860, IRQ 5
Jul 21 17:09:25 galadriel usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 4
Jul 21 17:09:26 galadriel hub.c: USB hub found
Jul 21 17:09:26 galadriel hub.c: 2 ports detected
Jul 21 17:09:26 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.0-1, assigned address 2
Jul 21 17:09:26 galadriel input: USB HID v1.00 Mouse [Microsoft Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical®] on usb2:2.0
Jul 21 17:09:44 galadriel usb.c: USB disconnect on device 00:1d.7-3 address 5
Jul 21 17:09:52 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.1-1, assigned address 2
Jul 21 17:09:52 galadriel usb.c: USB device not accepting new address=2 (error=-110)
Jul 21 17:09:53 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.1-1, assigned address 3
Jul 21 17:09:53 galadriel usb.c: USB device not accepting new address=3 (error=-110)
Jul 21 17:09:54 galadriel uhci.c: 1840: host controller halted. very bad
Jul 21 17:09:56 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.7-3, assigned address 6
Jul 21 17:09:56 galadriel WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
Jul 21 17:09:56 galadriel USB Mass Storage device found at 6
Jul 21 17:12:17 galadriel usb.c: USB disconnect on device 00:1d.7-3 address 6

I cannot mount the ipod anymore like I used to do before. The different /dev/sda -device are not existing when I try to mount it.
Later on the messages show:

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Jul 21 17:29:39 galadriel hub.c: new USB device 00:1d.7-3, assigned address 7
Jul 21 17:29:39 galadriel WARNING: USB Mass Storage data integrity not assured
Jul 21 17:29:39 galadriel USB Mass Storage device found at 7
Jul 21 17:30:00 galadriel CRON[886]: (root) CMD (test -x /usr/sbin/run-crons && /usr/sbin/run-crons )
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel sda: Unit Not Ready, sense:
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel Current 00:00: sns = 70  2
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel ASC= 4 ASCQ= 1
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel Raw sense data:0x70 0x00 0x02 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0a 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x04 0x01 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel sda : READ CAPACITY failed.
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel sda : status = 1, message = 00, host = 0, driver = 08
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel Current sd00:00: sns = 70  2
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel ASC= 4 ASCQ= 1
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel Raw sense data:0x70 0x00 0x02 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0a 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x04 0x01 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel sda : block size assumed to be 512 bytes, disk size 1GB.
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel sda: test WP failed, assume Write Enabled
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel /dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0: I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 2097144
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 2097144
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel ldm_validate_partition_table(): Disk read failed.
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel unable to read partition table
Jul 21 17:30:35 galadriel I/O error: dev 08:00, sector 0

Any ideas?

DecoR · Post by **DecoR** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 6:15 pm

I just ordered my ipod today!

Is GTKpod as good as the software that comes with the ipod for windows?
Does it have all the same features, and the same ease of use?

This might not be the right place to ask this, but is there any good reason for running the windows software?

Thanks!

HighOnBonsai · Post by **HighOnBonsai** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 6:55 pm

@DecoR: The best software for the iPod is "EphPod" for Windows. I'm using gtkPod under Linux and its also a good piece of software. EphPod has some features gtkPod does not have (you can "christen" your iPod with EphPod - you can give your iPod a name...). But actually there is no reason to use Windows software.

There is also a ebuild for gnupod to manipulate your iPod songs on the console. So you can write your own small shell-scripts to manage your songs. But gtkPod is a good piece of software - and also easy to use!

I think the software which comes nowadays with your iPod is iTunes - isnt it? The software shipped with my 2nd gen iPod for Windows was very _crappy_ - I don't remember the name, sorry! I don't know much about iTunes - generally I think its worth a look if you have a Mac / Windows machine.

Christopher

richk449 · Post by **richk449** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 5:40 am

DecoR wrote:I just ordered my ipod today!

Is GTKpod as good as the software that comes with the ipod for windows?
Does it have all the same features, and the same ease of use?

This might not be the right place to ask this, but is there any good reason for running the windows software?

Thanks!

The software that comes with the iPod (iTunes) is different than EphPod or gtkPod. iTunes basically acts like winamp and ephPod (or gtkPod) together. It acts as music player, music orgainizer, and helps transfer songs to the iPod. Honestly, it is a very well designed and nice piece of software.

You don't need to use iTunes, of course. If you like the idea though, I would suggest Rhythmbox, which is a GNOME copy (ripoff) that has all the essential features of iTunes. Even though I don't have an iPod, I swear by Rhythmbox for my music playing needs.

think-x · Post by **think-x** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 7:51 am

i got an ipod while i still used WinXP (yes, shame on me

) and i loved iTunes both as a music player and to sync w/ my iPod. i haven't tried ephpod myself, but some people swear by it.

e2k · Post by **e2k** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:59 am

HighOnBonsai wrote:I think the software which comes nowadays with your iPod is iTunes - isnt it? The software shipped with my 2nd gen iPod for Windows was very _crappy_ - I don't remember the name, sorry!

Could it have been MusicMatch? Atleast I got MM with my 3G, and it was/still is a load of crap. I ended up screwing up every ID-tag of my mp3:s with it. I hope Apple realised to put iTunes as the default application with the new 4G ipods..

Aggamemnon · Post by **Aggamemnon** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 12:57 pm

Yeah, I've just got a 4th Gen iPod and it comes with iTunes

forceflow2 · Post by **forceflow2** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 10:49 pm

Yeah, mine did too. Too bad I can't use it with Linux though

I just have to boot my sister off her computer to use it sometimes whenever I feel like it does a better job than gtkPod.

dat · Post by **dat** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:21 am

I'm having a strange problem (atleast it seems strange to me). First off, I have an ipod mini (not sure if it matters or not, but i thought i'd mention it)

Anyway, I can mount it as vfat in linux. I can read / write that mount via the shell. I did a rm -rf * in /mnt/ipod so I could start from scratch. Then, I recreated the folders using the option in gtkpod. I then loaded up a ton of songs in gtkpod and did a sync (with some playlists). I went back into /mnt/ipod and checked the disk space to verify that the files did copy over (the did). I then unmounted /mnt/ipod and attempted to listen to it. This is where I had problems. The ipod doesn't show any of my playlists or songs. It shouldn't have anything to do w/ the mp3 tags because I made sure they were all there (and these are songs that worked fine when copied in under windows). I'm kind of at a loss as to what happened and what I should do next. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!!

dat · Post by **dat** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:19 pm

*bump*

iPod and GTKpod

iPod and GTKpod

GTKpod

Re: GTKpod