Playing Audio Books on Shuffle 4th gen

I just got the new shuffle - wanted something really easy to operate for listening to my audio books at the gym. One button stop/start is great. However, found that if I accidentally hit the fast forward button (like when I am unclipping) it goes back to the beginning of the book - and there is no way to advance within the book. It is treating it like one giant track. The only way I can get back to where I was is to sync it back with iTunes on my laptop since I can advance the playback in iTunes.
Is anyone using shuffle for audio books and is there a way around this problem? It seems like there is very little control on the shuffle - I am not complaining - it is what it is and it is only 49 bucks)
But if there is some way i can break the book into chapters (on my iPod touch it has individual chapters and fast forward jumps through the chapters) or if there is some magic combination of double clicks that will do the trick I would love to find that out.
Thanks

If you press and hold the fast forward or rewind button, it will scan forward through the current track. That at least will let you get where you want to be quicker, without having to reconnect to itunes.
Also, check this application out for some audiobook handling nirvana:
http://www.splasm.com/audiobookbuilder/
i

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How can I find an audio book on my 4th gen shuffle? Can't find it even when it's set to play in order. Tried setting it to Sync audiobooks but a warning says 'do you want to remove existing songs from other itunes library? and I don't want to do this.

How can I find an audiobook on my 4th gen shuffle? Can't find it even when I play in order. When I try to tick Sync audiobooks it asks if I want to continue to remove existing music befoer syncing and I don't want to do that. Can anyone help?

Did you already load the audiobook manually (by dragging it to the shuffle)? To confirm that the audiobook is on the shuffle...
Select the shuffle in the iTunes sidebar. If the sidebar (along left side of window) is not visible, from the menu bar, under View, select Show Sidebar.
Click the small triangle to the left of the shuffle name (in the sidebar) to drop down its content list, indented below the shuffle. Click on Audiobooks there. To the right, your audiobook(s) should be listed.
NOTE: if you don't see Audiobooks on the content list, there are no audiobooks on the shuffle.
When you turn ON the shuffle, you are playing from the default All Songs list. Audiobooks (and podcasts) do not play from the All Songs list. You need to use VoiceOver to select the audiobook from the playlist menu. This document explains how to set up and use VoiceOver on your shuffle
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4322

How to Play Overdrive Media Books on an iPod Shuffle 4th Gen

Hi,
Many libraries use Overdrive Media to manage audio books in various formats. Once you have downloaded the book to the Overdrive Media Console on your computer, you can then choose to transfer it to a device (such as an iPod or other mp3 player). When transferring WMA files with an iPod shuffle 4th Gen (I'm not sure about other gens) this creates a number of files with bizzare titles. When you go to the book section on the iPod it will play the first section and then it will just continually loop and you never go on to the next section. After working with this for a while I've figured out how to make this work. This is not what I consider a satisfactory solution but more of a work-around. I hope that Apple will produce a fix that will remedy this situation as a lot of people download audio books from the library.
1. When you transfer WMA audiobook content to your iPod, Overdrive Media does it via iTunes. I believe it usese iTunes to perform a file conversion. Once the conversion is complete, it transfers the converted file to your shuffle. If you watch this occur, you will notice that while it is converting the file, it assigns it a strange number like 10347. As each part of the book is transferred, write down its number. You have to catch it during the conversion as once the part is converted it reverts to its title (something like "Where the Red Fern Grows Part 01"). But that title is never transferred to the iPod. It retains the strange number.
2. You will notice that as each file is converted, the number goes up. So as you write them down, they will look like 10347, 11671, 12003, 12865... etc. I have no idea what these numbers mean but they become your section titles on the audio when the Voiceover button is pressed. One other thing, sometimes the numbers restart like so: 18567, 19325, 345, 907... Again, not sure why but you must keep the order they were converted and transferred as this is the order in which you'll want to play them back.
3. Now you will have a list of numbers indicating the different parts of the book. Turn on your iPod and use the Skip Forward button to until you hear the book start. Listen to the fist section until you hear it start to repeat. There will be no pause or anything so sometimes it is hard to pick up where the part ended. Once the part has ended, hold the Voiceover button and listen to the strange number. Next press the Skip Back button and listen to the other strange numbers which will be in order, last-to-first. When you get to the number indicating the next part, press the Play button and you will now be on the next part.
NOTE: if you press the play button on the wrong part (strange number), it will shuffle that part to the end of the playlist. But if you have the part numbers written down in order this won't be a problem. Also, if you hit the forward skip or backwards skip while playing a part, it will skip to some place in that part. You can get back to your original spot by skipping again a few times more in the same direction.
EXAMPLE:
Let's say you are transferring a 4 part book to the iPod. During this transfer you note the strange numbers during conversion like so:
Part 1 = 11278
Part 2 = 11942
Part 3 = 12512
Part 4 = 13398
Now your book is on the Shuffle. Turn on the Shuffle and listen for the start of the book. If it is playing something else like music or a podcast, press the Skip Forward button until you hear the audiobook begin. This is usually accompanied by music and has the title of the book, etc. At this point you can press and hold the Voiceover button and you will hear "11278" pronounced. Release the Voiceover button and let this part of the book play to the end.
You will then at some point hear that part of the book start over. Press and hold the Voiceover button and start using the Skip Back button. You will hear in this order: "11278, 13398, 12512, 11942". When you hear "11942" press the Play button and Part 2 of the book will begin. Continue this process for each part until you reach the end of the book.
I've listened to several books using this method and it has worked fine. It is sort of fiddly and you have to do some things that I think iTunes or the Shuffle should do but until Apple does something about this, it is the only way that it will work that I've been able to find.
Regards,
medinabrett

It sounds like the Windows Media security update in Para x, below, may not have been done and your music setting may have been on Repeat. As a review, here is a list of steps that may help clear the problems up.
Many libraries worldwide now use Overdrive Media Console, which comes in Mac an Windows versions http://www.overdrive.com/Software/omc . Some find the mobile device transfer process confusing. To load or delete a WMA or MP3 (Macs can only download MP3 books) audiobook onto an Apple mobile device see the "How to Transfer to a Portable Device" video in the guides at Step 7, then do the following.
1. For Windows versions, you must first do a security update of Windows Media Player (even though you won't be using it) using Internet Explorer at http://drmlicense.one.microsoft.com/indivsite .
2. Open iTunes, plug the mobile device into the computer USB port and open the Overdrive Media Console.
3. Highlight the mobile device in the left hand menu of iTunes and insure the "Manually manage music and videos" box is checked in the Summary Tab. If the mobile device storage is full, transfering will delete that portion of music necessary for the ebook.
4. Highlight the book you want to transfer in the Overdrive Media Console and click the Transfer Button. A window opens permitting you to click the boxes for parts of the book you wish to transfer.
5. After the book has been transfered, when you click the disclosure triangle (arrow) to the left of the iPod, iPhone, or iPad in the Device section of the left hand menu of iTunes, MP3 books will show up under the Music subsection and WMA books will show up in the Books subsection. Once the mobile device is disconnected from iTunes, MP3 books will show up in the Songs list of the mobile device and WMA books will show up in the Books list.
6. To remove a book from a mobile device plug the device into the USB port and open iTunes. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of your iPod, iPhone, or iPad in the Device section of the left hand menu of iTunes so that you can see the device’s subcontents. For an MP3 book select the Music subsection, right click on the book and choose Delete. For a WMA book, select the Book subsection, right click on the book and choose Delete.
7. The Overdrive Media Console Guided Tour (videos) is at http://www.overdrive.com/Solutions/Libraries/tour/MenuWelcome.html . The "Portable Devices" and "How to Transfer to a Portable Device" videos are there.
8. To find a nearby library for ebooks search http://search.overdrive.com . You can download the software, search for books and see tutorials without an account at the website of any library that uses Overdrive, however, you need a library card to download books. At this library site, for example, the software and guided tour are at the bottom of the left hand menu.
http://washoecounty.lib.overdrive.com/539A4B98-B41A-49DE-8EC1-A22F66E4C0F6/10/41 9/en/default.htm .

IPod shuffle 4th Gen. How to start playing podcast from the very beginning once again?

Hello to everybody in this forum,
I bought a new iPod shuffle 4th Gen music player for about two weeks ago. I love this device, it works great as well as it's sound quality amazes me after Windows Mobile 6.0 Phone, Transcend MP3 and even Samsung Galaxy Ace devices use experience. It's much better and it made me got used to podcasts feature I never tried before, But if I want to replay the very same podcast item from the very beginning - I simply don't know how to rewind it back. If I press next/prev buttons it doesn't help. The podcast itself starts to play at about 5 minutes before a podcast's end as if I were listened to the whole podcast continuously from the beginning of a podcast. A podcast appears to be divided into chapters and I don't understand how to switch chaprers. Even if I did, the amount of chapters is big and it's inconvenient to swith every chapter with prev button pressed. Shuffle's manual tells me nothing on how to get things work I want it to. Any help is appreciated.
Best regards, Alexander Chernyaev.

Hello to everybody in this forum,
I bought a new iPod shuffle 4th Gen music player for about two weeks ago. I love this device, it works great as well as it's sound quality amazes me after Windows Mobile 6.0 Phone, Transcend MP3 and even Samsung Galaxy Ace devices use experience. It's much better and it made me got used to podcasts feature I never tried before, But if I want to replay the very same podcast item from the very beginning - I simply don't know how to rewind it back. If I press next/prev buttons it doesn't help. The podcast itself starts to play at about 5 minutes before a podcast's end as if I were listened to the whole podcast continuously from the beginning of a podcast. A podcast appears to be divided into chapters and I don't understand how to switch chaprers. Even if I did, the amount of chapters is big and it's inconvenient to swith every chapter with prev button pressed. Shuffle's manual tells me nothing on how to get things work I want it to. Any help is appreciated.
Best regards, Alexander Chernyaev.

Ipod shuffle 4th gen charges plays but doesnt show up in windows or itunes

Ipod shuffle 4th gen charges plays but doesnt show up in windows or itunes tried to check usb driver but computer says it is working properly

Just disconnecting it without ejecting should not cause permanent damage. It may cause data corruption, if iTunes was in the process of syncing at the time. But iTunes should still see the shuffle and (maybe) tell you to Restore it.
Is it possible that the "accident" damaged the USB cable?
Make sure you have done this on the shuffle since the problem occurred
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1655
And you should also shut down (power off) the computer, if you have not already.
Have you tried more than one USB port on the computer (not a hub if you use one)? You can also try it with all other USB devices disconnected, except for standard keyboard and mouse (if normally used).
If those things do not help, what version of Windows do you use?

IPod Shuffle 4th gen cannot play music and no lights but shows up in PC

I've been using the iPod Shuffle 4th gen for almost 3 months since I bought it at September 2010. Since yesterday, my iPod hasn't been playing musics or showing up any lights, same thing when plugged to computer and it didn't showed up in iTunes neither. Today, finally the light lit up when I plugged it into my computer and showed up in iTunes too. But, unfortunately, I still can't play any music. The light goes off every time I remove my iPod from the computer and it is not responsive to any clicks whatsoever. I've tried restoring the device and syncing all the songs back in, it didn't worked either.
SOME HELP PLEASE? thanks

I am having the same problem with mine.
When connected to the PC it seems to be ok. All the light signs are working (sync, battery, etc.). I can access it by iTunes, add or delete music, etc.
But when I unplugg from the PC it will not respond to anything.
I have tried the hard reset and to restore it...no change at all.
Anyone can help!?

IPod Shuffle has started playing audio books and podcasts too fast.

iPod Shuffle has started playing audio books and podcasts too fast. What can be done?

Some other iPods (that are not shuffles) have an onboard setting to change the playback speed for some types of iTunes media, such as audiobooks. But a shuffle has no screen, to change such settings.
First, do this to reset the shuffle, if you have not already
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1655
If that does not help, you may want to do a Restore on the shuffle. The Restore button is on the shuffle's Summary screen in iTunes. This will erase the shuffle, reinstall its software, and set it to default settings. The shuffle will be like it was when new, so this problem should be fixed.

My ipodmy ipod shuffle 4th gen does not play whole songs, only parts then goes on to next song

My recently bought ipod shuffle 4th gen does not play whole songs synced to it, only the beginning then goes on to the next song. What have I done wrong?

I changed the iPod to Disk mode and it just blinks orange while it is connected to the PC. It says that it is synched on the PC screen but I thought the blinking orange light means that it isn't. I took it back out of disk mode. The original problem still exists...when I turn it on, the green light stays lit for 5 seconds then there's no light at all....when I press play the lights alternate orange and green indicating no music is loaded which is wrong since it shows all my songs that are loaded when it is connected to my PC. What a mess.

Connection problem with iPod Shuffle 4th Gen.

Hello, I have problem with my iPod Shuffle 4th gen. One day i tried as always to turn it on and listen music but i heard only short "info" sound and saw short green diode impulse and nothing else. My computer (windows 7) also can't find it, after plugging it on, ipod's red diode turns on for 5 sec. Any suggestions?

Arlie08 wrote:
I've put my shuffle in a warm, dry place and we will see what happens in a few days. Any other ideas to fix this problem and/or prevent it from happening again?
Yes ... pay attention to how and where you clip the shuffle. Moisture can enter the controls if in contact with damp surface, OR can enter through the earphone jack along the earphone wire... positioning the shuffle such that the earphone socket is down will prevent the latter.
I recently discovered that the mode switch on my shuffle is very sensitive and will change from play-in-order to shuffle with a tiny positional movement. Interestingly, that resulted in behavior that, on the surface looked like the shuffle just quit! I normally listen to to audiobooks and other spoken material which are set to NOT be shffled... however , I forgot to set ONE 1/2 hour radio show to not shuffle. When I accidentally nudged the mode switch, the shuffle switched to playing that show. Trying to get bact to the audiobook I had been playing by multiple << presses confused the issue totally since the shuffle now displayed absolutely no indication of the button presses...it behaved as if it were dead! Turning it off and on didn't help either. Since it was dark, I couldn't see that the mode switch was slightly out of its normal play-in-order position, either. I put the shuffle away and soldiered on listening to a different audiobook on my nano.

Brand New Ipod Shuffle 4th Gen Buttons Don't Work?

I just bought my mum an Ipod Shuffle 4th Gen for Mother's day. I just set it up on the computer, ripped some of her CDs onto iTunes, let the iPod charge a little and synced it up with her songs.
Turned it on, music started - then I pressed the 'next song button'. Nothing happened. Held it for a while to see if it would fast forward. Nope! Tried skip back, tried volume increase/decrease... none of them work. It's only the buttons in the white circle that don't work, everything else seems to be fine. I tried holding the play button to see if the buttons had been locked, but whenever I lock/unlock the buttons it always flashes orange as if they're permanently locked.
I reset the iPod - no luck there. I then went into iTunes and did a factory restore - but the problem persists. We don't have an iTunes store anywhere near us (I'd have just popped in there with it) and I really don't want to have to go down the route of sending it off for a replacement/refund if possible, as this is a gift and I expected it to work out of the box. Is there anything I might be missing, any hints or tips, or does this definitely seem like a hardware issue? At the moment I'm just letting it charge fully before I try again, though I'm not sure that will help.

Your iPod comes with 90days of complimentary tech support from Apple.... give 'em a call... they should be able to assist

Playlist shuffle is working even when the button is off...Im using Ipod shuffle 4th gen*

Im using Ipod shuffle 4th gen...And I am not able to stop the songs getting shuffled....For example I want my ipod the play the songs one by one...but its not working...Its shuffling songs by default...I mean the button which stops shuffling the songs(the on off button when placed in the iddle stops shuffling songs) is NOT working....What to do?

If you are trying to play a playlist in the order shown for that playlist (in iTunes), you need to be IN the playlist on the shuffle. You may be in the main "all songs" list on the shuffle, and not a particular playlist. Note: You can have multiple playlists on 4th (and 3rd) gen shuffle, which is why there is a separate "all songs" list.
This article explains how to use VoiceOver, including how to change between playlists.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4322
(See Changing playlists and To choose an item from the playlist menu.)

Can you turn shuffle off the ipod shuffle 4th gen?

can you turn shuffle off the ipod shuffle 4th gen?

Mellerris123 wrote:
can you turn shuffle off the ipod shuffle 4th gen?
Yes.
Power switch.
1st notch is Off.
2nd notch is play in order.
3rd notch is play shuffled.

My shuffle 4th gen autolock and after 2 seconds it's unable to unlock. Help me !!!!

Hello all,
My apple Ipod Shuffle 4th gen 2gb open and after 2 second it make a "click" sound and orange light blink twice. After this, the press of a button doesn't make anything. I have to turn off and then turn on to have another 2 second to adjust volume and change song. It is an autolock or something like this ? please help me.
Thanks in advance !
MaStErbLk

I've solved my problem, but i don't recommend to do this with your Shuffle.
the Warranty is off for my shuffle cuz i've open it to solve the problem. my brother said to me that my shuffle was on these pants during the laundry...... I've open it and clean all the components with an appropriate solvent. and rebuilt all the shuffle with the soldering of the battery and clean the control pad connector and plug.....
And now it work great, but you should be very experimented to do that because it's very hard to open the shuffle and don't break any part...
for your shuffle, ajohnson, maybe the play/pause button is sticked, you can go the store where you buy it if the return policy of the shop is not passed, or ship it to apple to a repair.... Good luck

HT4310 ipod shuffle 4th gen

i have an ipod shuffle 4th gen but it wont allow me to play the music i have loaded onto it? the battery indicator light os also blinking green when disconnected from pc?

The 4th gen iPod has a Hold feature.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA22774
Try pressing and holding down the Play/Pause (center) button for about 3 seconds.

I have tried everything that is recommended by apple to get my ipod shuffle 4th gen to sync with itunes or even show up on my computer does anyone have suggestions?

i have tried everything that is recommended by apple to get my ipod shuffle 4th gen to sync with itunes or even show up on my computer does anyone have suggestions?

Hey Xxx_Dank_xxX,
Have you ever been able to sync your iPod shuffle to iTunes on your computer, or has something recently occurred? Are you working with a Mac or a PC? Without knowing what has been recommended to you, I'm going to start here with the basics troubleshooting for this issue.
iPod shuffle (4th generation): Not seen in iTunes - Apple Support
https://support.apple.com/en-is/HT203407
iPhone, iPad, or iPod not recognized in iTunes for Windows - Apple Support
https://support.apple.com/en-is/HT204095
Regards,
Judy

Playing Audio Books on Shuffle 4th gen

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