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Great, now my 30GB iPod died

Victoria

By Victoria
in The looney bin

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Victoria Newbie

Victoria

Posted
Posted

I'm telling you, what with the diamond scratch on the PAM 111h bracelet watch, and now that iPod I showed you in the other wrist-check photo having died, those series of photographs were JINXED.

Here is what's happening:

Dell computer won't recognise iPod. USB thingie not found. I've tried it via the iPod cradle, directly into the USB port, and tried uninstalling iTunes to see if the driver is reloaded. Cleaned Registry. Tried firewire, and mixing up the USB ports.

Nothing.

I tried the usual tricks of slide "Hold", reboot by pressing centre button, or play. Nothing. Won't light up. Any ideas?

There is an iPod store in North Miami Beach, so I could go there, but I'm hoping you guys might save me a schlepp. I got it for Christmas.

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jkerouac Newbie

jkerouac

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It sounds as if your ipod still functions, but connectivity is the issue. I have a similar problem with one of my cell phones-- an internal connector that allows the phone to sync PC data and to recharge the phone is broken. I ended up getting an external battery charger.... a pain to be sure, but at least the phone still works and I can sync data over the air.

On the other hand, you may simple need a replacement cable, or to update/replace the device driver on the computer.

Try connecting to a different computer. If the second computer doesn't recognize the ipod, I'd borrow someone else's cable and try that instead.

Or there may be a different reason why the computer doesn't recognize the ipod.

If the second computer recognizes it, go back to the first computer and right-click on My Computer and go to Device Manager to look for whether your ipod registers.

It might show up under Other Devices with an exclamation mark on it.

If so, delete that item, then try to reconnect your device again.

Having said all this, I confess that I am not familiar with how Apple chooses to install and connect their players to pcs (or macs). You shouldn't need the itune software for a computer to recognize the player as a connected piece of hardware, unless they combined the hardware driver with the itune application. Nasty piece of engineering, in my opinion, if that's what they did.

P.S. I have two 30g players, one a Creative Zen that has lasted for years, and a Zune that I acquired earlier this year. I can't wait until they come out with an affordable (translation: almost anybody but Apple) 60G or 80G player, so I can put all of my music on a single player.

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Victoria Newbie

Victoria

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P.S. I have two 30g players, one a Creative Zen that has lasted for years, and a Zune that I acquired earlier this year. I can't wait until they come out with an affordable (translation: almost anybody but Apple) 60G or 80G player, so I can put all of my music on a single player.

First, Jkerouac, MWAH! Thanks so much for your reply. I did everything as you suggested, indeed, had done a few things last night already (checked it on my laptop, e.g.), but nothing. I think the internal HD is fried.

But just to say my OCD collecting doesn't stop at watches.

I have 6 iPods...

This is the only one which has given me the least problem. Yep, will have to go to the Apple Store for them to figure it out. Just hope it doesn't cost me a tonne of greenbacks that could go into TWP's pocket. :p

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Everythingape Newbie

Everythingape

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I had a similar problem, vbarrett.. Though my Zen would register as connected to the PC, I could not access it in any way. My solution was formatting the whole damned thing in windows. (right-clicking the device) ..but since yours doesn't even show up as connected, I guess this is like drawing for a blind person.

Is there a Disk Mode on your iPod?

Tips from the net:

1: "Put the ipod into Disk Mode and then connect to computer and reset the ipod"

2: "Do a soft reset by holding down the select and menu button till the icon appears, or toggle the on and off switch. You may need to restore."

3: "You need the latest version of itunes to update your ipod. Try that out first.

-Next, hold menu and the middle button on the ipod to reset, and then hold the middle button and play to enter DISK MODE. Then dock your ipod."

4: Step by Step thing on Zolved, just click 'No' on the bottom if it doesn't help.. it'll take you to the next step.

I do not own an iPod myself, so I can't help, but this seems to be a solution for a LOT of users online. :)

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stevie7s Newbie

stevie7s

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it broke because it's an ipod... it was its destiny. My dell jukebox20 gig has been going strong for almost 4 years now!

You better hope that dinosaur still works, because Dell isnt making any parts to repair it. There's a reason the IPod name has become a part of our daily culture...its the best at what it does. My 30 gig and my Nano are both going strong after thousands of songs loaded and deleted.

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jkerouac Newbie

jkerouac

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You better hope that dinosaur still works, because Dell isnt making any parts to repair it. There's a reason the IPod name has become a part of our daily culture...its the best at what it does. My 30 gig and my Nano are both going strong after thousands of songs loaded and deleted.

Sorry, but I haven't heard that ipods are any more reliable.... or repairable... than other players. They definitely have their good points, so I'm not trying to start a pissing contest here. In fact, earlier I was going to point out that one thing I like about my four-year-old Creative Zen player is that if the hard drive dies you can replace it -- which you can't do with an ipod. And I have two batteries that I can swap out without sending the unit back to the manufacturer. So when I was on a long trip I got 20+ hours of playing time out of the tandem before having to recharge.

But repairability on a four-year-old player is a bit beside the point because I would rather buy a new player than repair theCreative Zen, or any other player of that vintage. After all, every player has become better, and prices have gone down so it makes little sense to invest in an older model. But when I do buy a new player, it most likely will not be an ipod, both because of the price premium they are asking, and the proprietary software format trap Apple is forcing on their customers.

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Pugwash Newbie

Pugwash

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In fact, earlier I was going to point out that one thing I like about my four-year-old Creative Zen player is that if the hard drive dies you can replace it -- which you can't do with an ipod.

I've swapped hard drives on one iPod (upgrading a 5GB to a 10GB) and the battery on another. It's dead easy and the tools and instructions come with every after-market battery.

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Guest TTK

Guest TTK

Posted
Posted (edited)

You should have bought a 60gb.....you get twice the life of the 30gb....:D

Or made the right decision and bought a Cowon I-Audio A2......waaay...in advance of any Ipod......I have a 60gb Ipod and 60gb A2.....no comparison....A2 pisses all over the Ipod...3 years old and still going strong

4" widescreen

Handles ANY format

Records staright from any source....audio...video....digital...analogue....scheduled on and off TV recording....record OTG from radio...or from any other mp.3 / mp.4 player.

FM radio

Voice record

Photo storage with music...hook it up to your pC or TV and cycle thru' fotos with music.

Text support for Office docs

18 hours audio battery life

12 hours video battery life

I could go on...but there's no point......you're either in the know or you're listening to soundbites about wunnerful Ipods...!

A2_13.jpg

A2_07.jpg

Edited by TTK
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Victoria Newbie

Victoria

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I had a similar problem, vbarrett.. Though my Zen would register as connected to the PC, I could not access it in any way. My solution was formatting the whole damned thing in windows. (right-clicking the device) ..but since yours doesn't even show up as connected, I guess this is like drawing for a blind person.

That's exactly right. If it mounted on the computer, I would've "restored" it immediately (I had done that this weekend, when it started to conk out on me).

I do not own an iPod myself, so I can't help, but this seems to be a solution for a LOT of users online. :)

Thanks, Ape! :)

I took it to one of the Apple stores today, and if they couldn't get it to mount, I'm afraid it's beyond these still very helpful instructions. I have an appointment for tomorrow, given me by one of their "Genius" technicians (they're actually called that, and they have their name on a nameplate, like "Jake - Genius". Oh, brother. Beats being a Best Buy Geek!).

I am reminded of the age-old Umberto Eco observation that Apple is Roman Catholic, IBM is Protestant, and Windows Anglican. Yeah, Apple certainly has all the hubris and hierarchy of our Church, boy. ;)

I'll let you know what happens, guys, thanks for all the tips! I'm sure the Genius squad will fix it, and all will be well.

P.S.: Busy day Monday, and will be busier Tuesday. Remember please, the Caper will be posted on Wednesday, not Tuesday! And I'll do the Wristies later Tuesday!

P.P.S.: The "Genius" who helped me today looked a bit like George Clooney. Yum. But the best part is that he was wearing a Breitling two-tone!!

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predfan2001 Newbie

predfan2001

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My 30 gig just croaked too. It's completely dead. New battery.....no change. The USB connection won't even register to attempt a charge. I've read the support section at the iPod site and the nearest I can tell, they'll exchange it and the worst case is $129.95 out of pocket. I just have to deside if I should cut my losses ($349 new and $45.00 for the battery). The prices of new models have come down quite a bit and they are tempting.

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Victoria Newbie

Victoria

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Doesn't sound like the ipod died, sounds like you can't get it to show up on your computer. It plays ok, just doesn't sync with your PC? Try reinstalling latest version of iTunes.

Thanks, WT. But as I said, I reinstalled iTunes (I had already updated to the latest version), and everything. It's not that it won't just mount -- it's dead, dead. Won't light up using the Hold, menu, centre button thingie. The Apple person said one of the Geniuses will open it up and see what's wrong with it.

Just read that Predsfan has the same problem. Also another 30 gigger video iPod. HMMMM. Well, I've used this iPod maybe 20 times (it's practically brand-new, I just took off the plastic on the front yesterday).

I keep it charged on top of my work area, on the Apple dock. I have a suspicion there is a problem with the charge module -- not sure the technical name, it's that strip that attaches from dock or USB cable to the iPod itself, visible on the bottom -- and they might have to replace that.

Fortunately, it's still under warranty. We'll see. Right now, this has to take a back seat to other issues, but I'll get it seen to soon.

Thanks for the help too Z! Good luck, Predsfan!

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