# Connecting an iPod > Plug in an iPod, read its page, choose which library it belongs to, and rename, eject or forget it. ## Plug in your iPod Connect the iPod to your Mac with its USB cable. After a few seconds it appears in the sidebar under **iPods**, and ClassicTunes opens its page. You don't need Finder, iTunes or the Music app. If the iPod is one ClassicTunes doesn't support yet, it still appears, but its page says so and syncing is turned off. See [Supported iPods](https://classictunes.app/docs/supported-ipods) for every model. > **Tip:** If you see "Your iPod Was Ejected" right after plugging in, Finder is managing the iPod and ejected it. Select the iPod in Finder's sidebar and, on the General tab, turn off "Automatically sync when this iPod is connected", turn on "Enable disk use" (or "Manually manage music"), click Apply, then reconnect the iPod. While ClassicTunes is open, it also stops other apps from ejecting an iPod in the first moments after it connects and while it's syncing, so Finder can't pull it away mid-sync. ## Cables Classic iPods use Apple's 30-pin dock connector. Old 30-pin cables wear out, and many cheap ones only charge, without carrying data, so the iPod charges but never appears in ClassicTunes. If your Mac only has USB-C ports, you'll need a cable or adapter that carries data from USB-C to 30-pin. We've tested this one with ClassicTunes, syncing and charging: the [KabelDirekt 30-pin to USB-C cable, 1 m](https://link.amazon/B01kuD40Z) (Amazon UK). *Affiliate link: if you buy through it, we earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.* Plug it straight into the Mac rather than through a hub or keyboard. If an iPod still doesn't appear, see [Troubleshooting](https://classictunes.app/docs/troubleshooting). ## The first time you connect an iPod The first time you connect an iPod that no library has synced, ClassicTunes asks which library it should use: - **This library**: the iPod gets this library's music. Plugging it in later opens this library. - **Another library**: ClassicTunes restarts on that library, and plugging the iPod in later opens it. - **A new library for this iPod**: a new, empty library is made for it (you give it a name), and ClassicTunes restarts on it. Its settings start fresh too. Click **Use This Library** (or **Continue**). **Not Now** asks again the next time ClassicTunes opens; until then, the iPod joins whichever library syncs it first. > **Note:** Before an iPod's first sync, ClassicTunes offers to take a snapshot of it as it is now, so you can always put it back. See [Snapshots](https://classictunes.app/docs/snapshots). ## An iPod that belongs to another library Each iPod is remembered along with the library that owns it. When you plug in an iPod that belongs to a different library from the one that's open, ClassicTunes switches to that library by itself. If something is busy (a sync, an import or a library move), it asks first: **Open Library** reopens ClassicTunes on the iPod's library, which stops what's running; **Not Now** leaves things as they are. If you stay in the current library, the iPod's page shows a banner, "This iPod belongs to the library…", with a button to open that library. Syncing it with the open library replaces its music with this library's, and the iPod then belongs to this library. ## What the iPod page shows Click the iPod in the sidebar to open its page. From top to bottom: - **Name and model**: the iPod's name, its model and capacity, its serial number, and when it was last synced with ClassicTunes (or "Never synced with ClassicTunes"). - **Color**: the iPod's color, used for its icon in every library and as the highlight color of its library. **Automatic** uses the color ClassicTunes detected for the model; you can pick another. - **Support banner**: for an iPod with experimental support, an orange banner explains what that means; for one that isn't supported, a red one. - **Storage bar**: how the iPod's space is used, by Music, Podcasts, Videos, Photos, Other and Free, with the number of songs, episodes, videos and photos and the total capacity. - **Sync panel**: what a sync will put on the iPod (songs, videos, photos, podcast episodes and playlists), with **Preview Sync…** and **Sync**. While a sync runs, it shows progress and a **Cancel** button. Afterward it shows what happened; **Details** opens the full log. See [Syncing](https://classictunes.app/docs/syncing). - **Sync Options**: what goes on this iPod. See [Syncing](https://classictunes.app/docs/syncing). - **Click Wheel Games**: Apple's games on the iPod, if it has any. See [iPod tools](https://classictunes.app/docs/ipod-tools). - **Rockbox** and **Rockbox Games**: only for an iPod that also runs Rockbox. See [iPod tools](https://classictunes.app/docs/ipod-tools). - **Backups**: the iPod's snapshots. See [Snapshots](https://classictunes.app/docs/snapshots). - **Buttons**: **Eject**, **Import Media from iPod…**, **Show in Finder**, **Run Diagnostics…** and **Forget iPod**. If the iPod's music database can't be read, the storage bar says so. Syncing rebuilds it. ### Maximum volume (iPods sold in Europe) If your Mac is set to a European region, the page also has a **Maximum Volume** note. iPods sold in Europe have a maximum volume set by Apple's firmware to meet EU hearing-safety rules. ClassicTunes doesn't change it: removing it means altering Apple's firmware, which could leave the iPod unable to start. Rockbox, a free alternative firmware, has no such limit, and ClassicTunes syncs to it. The iPod's own **Settings › Volume Limit** is a separate, lower limit you can change or turn off on the iPod. ## Open ClassicTunes when an iPod is connected ClassicTunes can open by itself whenever you plug in an iPod, even when it isn't running. Turn on **Settings › General › Syncing › Open ClassicTunes when an iPod is connected**. The first time, open ClassicTunes with the iPod connected and click Allow when macOS asks to access removable volumes. Finder still lists the iPod, but you don't need to use it. Nothing stays running in the background: a small helper opens ClassicTunes (or brings it forward) when an iPod appears, then quits. When ClassicTunes opens this way, it opens on the iPod's page, in the library the iPod belongs to. ## Rename an iPod Click the pencil beside the iPod's name at the top of its page, type a new name, and click **Rename**. The new name is written to the iPod straight away, so the iPod shows it even if you don't sync. You can't rename an iPod while it's syncing or while a snapshot or restore is running. ## Eject an iPod Eject the iPod before you unplug it. Any of these work: - The eject button beside the iPod in the sidebar. - **Eject** on the iPod's page. - **iPod › Eject** (⌘E), for the iPod whose page is open (or the first one connected). - Right-click the iPod in the sidebar and choose **Eject**. You can't eject from the iPod's page while it's syncing; cancel the sync first. Right after a sync, macOS sometimes still has files open on the iPod, so ClassicTunes tries again for a few seconds before saying it couldn't eject. To eject automatically after every sync, turn on **Eject the iPod when a sync finishes** in the iPod's Sync Options (or **Settings › General › Syncing**). This setting is the same for every iPod in the library. ## Forget an iPod **Forget iPod** (at the bottom right of the iPod's page) makes ClassicTunes forget what it synced to this iPod and its sync settings, and releases it from this library, so connecting it again asks which library to use. Use it for an iPod you've erased or no longer use. Nothing on the iPod changes when you forget it. But the next sync copies every song again, and the songs already on the iPod are kept as well (unless **Remove items that aren't in this library** is turned on), so they may appear twice. You can also forget an iPod that isn't connected: **Settings › Advanced › Remembered iPods** lists every iPod the library remembers, with **Forget…** beside each. ## AppleScript and Shortcuts Scripts can see every connected iPod with its name, model, capacity, free space, whether it's syncing, its click wheel games and whether it has Rockbox, and can eject it. Renaming and forgetting aren't scriptable. ```applescript tell application "ClassicTunes" repeat with p in iPods log (name of p) & ": " & (model of p) log ((free space of p) / 1.0E+9) & " GB free" end repeat eject iPod 1 end tell ``` In Shortcuts (macOS 13 and later), use **Eject iPod**. iPods can be chosen from a list in each iPod action.