i was thinking of getting an usb mp3 player (not like xmms, the one where you download music to), but i was afraid that linux would have trouble getting it up and running. thats why im asking here. how do you go about using a hardware mp3 player (like putting mp3s on it and such) under linux?

The archos jukebox works well with linux. mounts like a harddrive using the usb-storage module IIRC.

do you know what filesystem mp3 players generally use, and a general idea of what commands to use to get it ready and mount it?

I don't know much about any other mp3 player than the archos but it uses the usb-storage driver
I think others do too. To mount it you would do the following.
1. Create a directory to mount it to ie: /home/uname/archos (where uname = your username)

2. modprobe usb-storage (do an lsmod to see if its loaded)

3. plug the archos or other mp3 player into usb port.

4. less /proc/scsi/scsi and see if the archos is listed. It will also tell you wich host and lune it is under this will give you an idea which device to mount.

5. assuming you have no other scsi devices then it will be mounted as the first partition of the first scsi device. That is referred to as /dev/sda1 . sda2 would be the second partition /dev/sdb1 would be the first partition of the second device etc. etc. so in a terminal type
mount /dev/sda1 /home/uname/archos

6. using the file manager of your choice drag n drop the files you want into /home/uname/archos.

Good Luck!

thanks, ill try it when the thing gets here (cant wait). btw, do ide devices emulated as scsi count?

If your are talking about a cd-burner. Then it shouldn't. If in doubt just cat /proc/scsi/scsi to see if the mp3player is detected then increment the letter/number in /dev/sdx# until the mount takes. Different distros do things differently so I can't be more precise.

well, the thing finally came, and not even a cat /proc/scsi/scsi detects it. i made sure i had the nessesary usb modules loaded, and still no go. nothing. anyone? please help.

well, ive gotten a little closer towards getting it working. i updated my usb.ids file, did an lsusb, and i saw a:
SigmaTel, Inc. STMP3410 D-Major MP3 Player
which must be the chipset on which this mp3 player is based on. i think the only problem now is telling linux its a mass storage device. any ideas on how to do this?

Tell us the make and model number of the device. Then I will do a little searching for info.

the devid is:
066f:3410