iPods blow...

That is to say, iPods are nice, but they don't do Oggs, so it is next to useless for me (I have ~65GB of Oggs). After a lot of research I bought a Cowan iAudio X5E:
http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/

This thing does Oggs, mp3s, wavs, Flac, and wmv (yuck). Direct Linux support, m3u playlists, direct line in recording (rip your vinyl!), read .txt files, look at jpg's, voice recording, and a million other features I will never use.

The only thing that doesn't work perfectly is video playback. It needs to be in a certain format, but there is an OS proggie out there called 'iriverter' which will format it properly, so you can watch your downloaded South Park episodes on this thing.

Support companies that support Linux, and buy one of these rather than an iPod.

I really don't know why anybody would want to watch videos on the iPod.
If I'm going to watch a video then I'm going to do it at home where I can actually sit down and relax without having to squint my eyes for the whole time.
Plus, trying to watch a video while in any moving vehicle will get you carsick within seconds.
If you're at home then you can just watch videos on your television.

Actually, I've never gotten carsick when riding in the car watching videos on an iPod. It's easier than it seems initially. While I agree with supporting the companies that support linux, the iPod is just and all around nice player. My understanding is, if you run IPL(iPod Linux) on it, it does support OGG, as well as other video formats. I truly haven't had an issue with my iPod in linux at all.

Yeah, I did have a look at that, but it seems pretty beta (if not alpha) and a lot of bother just to have a player that handles my format of choice. I do like futzing around with computers, but I really just wanted a player that would Just Work, and so I bought one. Why spend $$$ on a player that you have to void the warranty just to get it to play the format you want, when there is a product that does it for you out of the box? As for video, I could care less, I just want it for music, I was just throwing it out there as some people do consider it a welcome feature.

Looks awesome.

when I plug in my usb drive, a /mnt/removable shows up. when I unplug my usbdrive, it disappears. I can access it by clicking the "devices" icon (in mandriva 2006).

but when I connect my mp3 player, nothing shows up.

So,

I created a directory,
mkdir -p /mnt/player
then tried mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/player

but now I get the message that device sda1 doesn't exist. how do I find what device my mp3 player is?


Also, if i plug in the mp3 player, then remove it, I need to restart the computer to use the usb port again, because if I plug in my usbdrive after unplugging the mp3 player, the computer doesn't recognize the usbdrive.

Try:
Then look for any thing that mentions your MP3 Player:
It'll usually say the name of the product, and somewhere near it the device node it's on.

If you don't see it your kernel probably isn't configured to look for it, or it's to old to have the drivers you need. (or you looked wrong)

I get this message:

Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
scsi0 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usb-storage: device found at 3
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
usbcore: registered new driver usb-storage
USB Mass Storage support registered.
Vendor: SanDisk Model: Cruzer Mini Rev: 0.2
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
usb-storage: device scan complete
SCSI device sda: 2001888 512-byte hdwr sectors (1025 MB)
sda: Write Protect is off
sda: Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
sda: assuming drive cache: write through
SCSI device sda: 2001888 512-byte hdwr sectors (1025 MB)
sda: Write Protect is off
sda: Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
sda: assuming drive cache: write through
/dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0: p1
Attached scsi removable disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
FAT: utf8 is not a recommended IO charset for FAT filesystems, filesystem will be case sensitive!
usb 3-1: USB disconnect, address 3
RPC: bad TCP reclen 0x47455420 (non-terminal)
RPC: bad TCP reclen 0x47455420 (non-terminal)
usb 3-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
scsi1 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usb-storage: device found at 4
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning


Also, the player doesn't seem to work with windows xp anymore either...

I tried it again just now it it shows:

SCSI subsystem initialized
Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
scsi0 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usb-storage: device found at 3
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
usbcore: registered new driver usb-storage
USB Mass Storage support registered.
Vendor: SanDisk Model: Cruzer Mini Rev: 0.2
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
usb-storage: device scan complete
SCSI device sda: 2001888 512-byte hdwr sectors (1025 MB)
sda: Write Protect is off
sda: Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
sda: assuming drive cache: write through
SCSI device sda: 2001888 512-byte hdwr sectors (1025 MB)
sda: Write Protect is off
sda: Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
sda: assuming drive cache: write through
/dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0: p1
Attached scsi removable disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
FAT: utf8 is not a recommended IO charset for FAT filesystems, filesystem will be case sensitive!
usb 3-1: USB disconnect, address 3
RPC: bad TCP reclen 0x47455420 (non-terminal)
RPC: bad TCP reclen 0x47455420 (non-terminal)
usb 3-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
scsi1 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usb-storage: device found at 4
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
usb 3-1: device not accepting address 4, error -71
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
usb 3-1: device not accepting address 4, error -71
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
usb 3-1: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 3-1: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
usb 3-1: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 3-1: device descriptor read/64, error -71
scsi: Device offlined - not ready after error recovery: host 1 channel 0 id 0 lun 0
usb 3-1: USB disconnect, address 4
usb-storage: device scan complete
Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000048
printing eip:
c01f905c
*pde = 0cdc5001
Oops: 0000 [#1]
Modules linked in: sd_mod usb_storage scsi_mod cpufreq_ondemand cpufreq_conservative cpufreq_powersave p4_clockmod speedste
p_lib freq_table radeon drm nfsd exportfs lockd nfs_acl sunrpc autofs4 raw md5 ipv6 snd_seq_dummy snd_seq_oss snd_seq_midi_
event snd_seq snd_seq_device snd_pcm_oss snd_mixer_oss snd_ali5451 snd_ac97_codec snd_pcm snd_timer snd_page_alloc snd soun
dcore ipt_IFWLOG ipt_psd ip_set_iptree ipt_REJECT ipt_LOG ipt_state ipt_pkttype ipt_set ipt_CONNMARK ipt_MARK ipt_ROUTE ipt
_connmark ipt_owner ipt_recent ipt_iprange ipt_physdev ipt_multiport ipt_conntrack iptable_mangle ip_set_portmap ip_set_mac
ipmap ip_set_ipmap ip_set_iphash ip_set ip_nat_irc ip_nat_tftp ip_nat_ftp iptable_nat ip_conntrack_irc ip_conntrack_tftp ip
_conntrack_ftp ip_conntrack iptable_filter ip_tables 8139cp mii af_packet floppy pcmcia yenta_socket rsrc_nonstatic pcmcia_
core video thermal tc1100_wmi processor fan container button battery eth1394 ac ide_cd ohci1394 ieee1394 loop ntfs supermou
nt nls_utf8 nls_cp437 vfat fat ati_agp agpgart nvram joydev tsdev ehci_hcd usbmouse usbhid ohci_hcd usbcore evdev ext3 jbd
CPU: 0
EIP: 0060:[<c01f905c>] Not tainted VLI
EFLAGS: 00010282 (2.6.12-12mdk)
EIP is at sysfs_hash_and_remove+0xc/0xf7
eax: 00000000 ebx: c23d724c ecx: cbef9401 edx: cf14d088
esi: c23d7244 edi: c03785f6 ebp: cd5c3dd8 esp: cd5c3dbc
ds: 007b es: 007b ss: 0068
Process khubd (pid: 1113, threadinfo=cd5c2000 task=cda5d520)
Stack: c23d7c30 00000003 00000001 00000000 c23d724c c23d7244 c03785f6 cd5c3dfc
c028a710 00000000 c03785f6 cf14d020 cf14d088 c23d7244 c23d7190 c23d7c28
cd5c3e0c c028a772 c23d7244 c23d7000 cd5c3e28 cf13a934 c23d7244 00000003
Call Trace:
[<c0103e9b>] show_stack+0xab/0xf0
[<c010406c>] show_registers+0x16c/0x200
[<c0104278>] die+0xc8/0x150
[<c0116fe1>] do_page_fault+0x261/0x781
[<c0103ab3>] error_code+0x4f/0x54
[<c028a710>] class_device_del+0x90/0xe0
[<c028a772>] class_device_unregister+0x12/0x20
[<cf13a934>] scsi_remove_device+0x64/0xb0 [scsi_mod]
[<cf13a9f8>] __scsi_remove_target+0x78/0xb0 [scsi_mod]
[<cf139933>] scsi_forget_host+0x33/0x50 [scsi_mod]
[<cf131447>] scsi_remove_host+0x17/0x70 [scsi_mod]
[<cf151ee8>] storage_disconnect+0x58/0x74 [usb_storage]
[<ced3b0e2>] usb_unbind_interface+0x42/0x80 [usbcore]
[<c028919f>] device_release_driver+0x5f/0x80
[<c028943e>] bus_remove_device+0x6e/0xc0
[<c02882ae>] device_del+0x5e/0xa0
[<ced43430>] usb_disable_device+0xc0/0x140 [usbcore]
[<ced3d662>] usb_disconnect+0xa2/0x120 [usbcore]
[<ced3f020>] hub_port_connect_change+0x50/0x3f0 [usbcore]
[<ced3f654>] hub_events+0x294/0x420 [usbcore]
[<ced3f833>] hub_thread+0x53/0x120 [usbcore]
[<c0101349>] kernel_thread_helper+0x5/0xc
Code: 8b 5d f8 8b 46 08 8b 75 fc 89 45 08 89 ec 5d e9 cb 11 fe ff 8d 74 26 00 8d bc 27 00 00 00 00 55 89 e5 57 56 53 83 ec
10 8b 45 08 <8b> 50 48 8b 48 08 ff 49 70 0f 88 dc 00 00 00 8b 42 0c 8d 58 fc

Try sda instead of sda1.

Future note:
The reason why there's no sda1 is because you didn't enable "Probe all LUNs on each SCSI device" in your kernel. Read Using a USB Card Reader in Linux. (This applies to most USB Storage Devices, and Digital Audio Players)

iriver!!!!!!!!!!!!
multi format support (ogg, mp3, wma, wav, ...)
usb2.0
optical-in, line in, micro
direct encoding while recording
fm-tuner
sound settings configurable
...

I own an iriver IHP140 for two years and it is all I ever wanted from a portable jukebox. The battery is still as powerfull (16hrs/load) as when I bought it.

All this fuss about ipod reminds me a certain commercial os that everyone had not because it is the best but because it simply flooded the scene by its aggressive policy.

I do not know the latest trends, or what is really the best, but I have an older Creative MuVo TX FM (one of the first 1GB flash models) and it has served me well. It seems to work fine with any computer (Linux or Windows) that I have ever encountered. I don't use their custom software, I just transfer the MP3s or whatever to the MuVo in folders like any other storage device and it works fine. It works as a flash drive, MP3 player, and FM radio. It is small, relatively inexpensive, and free from the effects of shock or vibration due to its flash memory.

http://www.creative.com/products/pro...5&product=9771

The ipod is so overhyped. Its just a turddrive in a ugly gray plastic shell along with a tiny lcd screen. Think different, feh. All the apple products basically look the same. Grey and white. Monolithic. Just one big slab of plastic. Can't even go a day without a charge, even while you're not using it. Terrible. Inefficient. Waste of money.