Is anyone in the group using gtkpod (iPod GUI) on Ubuntu 6.06 or 7.04?

I installed the gtkpod package yesterday on Ubuntu 6.06 and hooked up my son Dan's iPod Nano using its USB cable.  The iPod icon appeared on desktop automatically.  I checked, using mount command, to see if /media/ipod was mounted read-write, and it appeared to be.  I started gtkpod and was able to completely read the contents of the iPod, all 350+ songs.  So far, so good.  But, when I tried, as an experiment, to create a new playlist using gtkpod, and write that change onto the iPod, I got several error messages about write failures due to a read-only filesystem.

Anyone had a similar experience?  Any fix or workaround out there?  I'm considering either finding another open source iPod utility, something other than gtkpod, or upgrading to Ubuntu 7.04.

My ultimate goal is to 1) Transfer all the songs from the iPod to the Ubuntu laptop, 2) Reformat the iPod for use with iTunes running under Vista, 3) Transfer all the songs from Ubuntu back to the iPod.  I think I can do steps 1 and 2, but so far, step 3 is a problem.  And until I'm 100% confident that I can write all Dan's songs *back* onto his iPod, I won't try reformatting it.

Why, you might ask, don't you just use the Apple eBook that originally wrote (via iTunes) to Dan's iPod?  'Cause that device now sits in my daughter Abby's dorm room 400 miles West of here (R.I.T.).

Thanks,
Doug