160gb ipods, Ubuntu 8.10, UI slow to respond or crashing

im running Ubuntu 8.10, with the latest songbird download. when i plug in my 160GB ipod classic, songbird recognizes it, plays one song, and then it takes 2 minutes for it to change songs. the UI also is either slow to respond or crashes when i change songs, move to different windows. im not sure if its linux being slow, but maybe you could help me out.