Skip to content

Adding a Device

Before you can sync music to an iPod, you need to register it with podkit. This page covers automatic and manual device registration.

Auto-Detection with podkit device add

The easiest way to register a device is to plug it in and let podkit detect it:

Terminal window
# With the iPod mounted, auto-detect and register
podkit device add classic
# Specify mount point explicitly
podkit device add classic /Volumes/IPOD
# Add with quality settings
podkit device add nano --quality medium --no-artwork
# Add with separate audio/video quality
podkit device add classic --audio-quality lossless --video-quality high

podkit reads the volume UUID and name from the mounted filesystem and adds the device to your config file. The first device added is automatically set as the default.

Changing Device Settings

After adding a device, you can update its settings with podkit device set:

Terminal window
# Set quality on an existing device
podkit device set classic --quality lossless
# Set audio and video quality separately
podkit device set nano --audio-quality medium --video-quality low
# Disable artwork
podkit device set nano --no-artwork
# Reset a setting to use the global default
podkit device set classic --clear-quality

Manual Configuration

You can also add a device by editing ~/.config/podkit/config.toml directly:

[devices.classic]
volumeUuid = "ABCD-1234"
volumeName = "CLASSIC"

Finding the Volume UUID

On macOS, use diskutil to find the UUID of your mounted iPod:

Terminal window
diskutil info /Volumes/IPOD | grep "Volume UUID"

On Linux, use blkid:

Terminal window
sudo blkid /dev/sdX1

Configuration Options

OptionDescriptionRequired
volumeUuidFilesystem UUID used to identify the deviceYes
volumeNameVolume label shown in Finder/file managerYes
qualityTranscoding quality preset for this deviceNo
artworkWhether to sync album artworkNo

The volumeUuid uniquely identifies the device regardless of which port or mount point it uses. The volumeName is the label shown when the iPod mounts (e.g., “IPOD”, “CLASSIC”).

Removing a Device

To unregister a device:

Terminal window
podkit device remove classic

This removes the device entry from your config file. It does not modify anything on the iPod itself.

See Also