Maybe a little old information. Here's some information from the writer:
This little program enables iPod shuffle users to finally get rid of all that iTunes or other complicated playlist management stuff. Due to the simple structure of the shuffle (compared to the »big« iPods), it is possible to use the player almost like any other USB flash MP3 player: You simply copy MP3 files onto it. You only need to run the Database Builder program after you added or removed files from the iPod. This approach hasnumerous benefits:
- You don't need iTunes, ml_ipod or GNUpod anymore. Simply copy some MP3 files into the iPod volume and start this teensy 8k program.
- You aren't restricted to store your music in the /iPod_Control/Music subdirectory. Build your own directory and filename structure. Your iPod, your rules!
- You may use the iPod on as many computers as you want.
- The actual iTunes database is left untouched, your iPod should still work with iTunes, if you like. (Note that this wasn't true for me; my iTunes installation now refuses any co-operation with my iPod. But I'm pretty sure that this is due to my experimentation with the iTunes database, and not a side-effect of using the Database Builder.)
- If you do not use the iPod_Control folder for your music, iTunes will not delete your files again without asking.
- The Database Builder uses a quite sophisticated shuffle algorithm (»smart shuffle«) that arranges your tracks in a more uniform way.
Certainly it can be used on shuffle 1G. I have changed a little to this software. Because it cannot support Chinese character, so I use the rename function as default. And the function is now working like this: rename the special characters to a random upper English character. If you have some folders using a special character as name, I suggest u to use this software under command line, fro example: x:\rebuild_db.exe x:\my music, x is the disk symbol of your shuffle. x:\my music is where you put the mp3 files.
Here to get it:
Unzip and copy all the files to shuffle's root. This if for windows, html is from the author's page. py file is the source. It's a python program. I changed it and use py2exe to build a windows exe file. Other files are required to run the exe.
You can go to http://shuffle-db.sourceforge.net/ for more information.
Here is some information from help:
Usage: rebuild_db.exe [OPTION]... [DIRECTORY]...
Rebuild iPod shuffle database.
Rebuild iPod shuffle database.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
-h, --help display this help text
-i, --interactive prompt before browsing each directory
-v, --volume=VOL set playback volume to a value between 0 and 38
-s, --nosmart do not use smart shuffle
-n, --nochdir do not change directory to this scripts directory first
-l, --nolog do not create a log file
-f, --force always rebuild database entries, do not re-use old ones
-L, --logfile set log file name
Must be called from the iPod's root directory. By default, the whole iPod is
searched for playable files, unless at least one DIRECTORY is specified.
