Clues that your iPod is confused are the absence of playlists, artists, and songs that used to be there; a capacity that appears to be 5GB on a 10GB iPod; the failure to boot beyond the Apple logo; or the appearance of a folder icon with an exclamation point.
Missing Items
- Reset the iPod (press and hold Play and Menu for 10 seconds). Resetting the iPod is similar to pushing the Reset switch on your Mac. It forces the iPod to restart.
- Restore the iPod(run the latest iPod Software Updater). If reset doesn't work, there's nothing else for it than to restore the iPod to its original factory state -- meaning that all the data on it is removed. To restore the iPod, launch the most recent copy of iPod Software Updater, and click the Restore button in the resulting window. Confirm that you want to restore by clicking Restore in the warning sheet (Mac OS X) that appears.
After the updater does its job, you must unplug and replug the iPod for the restore process to complete. After you replug the iPod, it will appear to restart several times. When the process is complete, the FireWire symbol will appear in the iPod's display screen, and the Updater window will return to its initial state, offering you the option to restore your iPod.
When you double-click your iPod's icon on the Desktop, you'll see that the device contains only the Contacts folder with the same sample contacts supplied by Apple.
To put your songs back on the iPod, just launch iTunes and synch the iPod with iTunes.
Incorrect Capacity
This problem can occur when you've restored the 10 GB iPod with a software updater that's not intended for that device. The 10 GB iPod should be restored only with iPod Software 1.1 Updater or later. If you restore witht he version 1.0.4 update, for example, your 10GB iPod will be confused. Apple no longer offers this update online, so if the 10 GB iPod is your first iPod, you're highly unlikely to have this problem.
Failure to Boot
There are a few possible reasons why an iPod might not boot beyond the Apple logo -- some benign and others not so.
- The Hold switch is on.
- Drained battery. Plug your iPod into the power adapter or your computer and let it change.
In some rare cases, the battery may not be drained enough for the iPod to reset. If you've tried other solutions and failed, unplug the iPod from a power supply for 24 hours; then plug it into a power source and attempt to reset it by holding down the Play and Menu buttons for 10 seconds. - Incorrect formatting. At some point, you might have thought it would be a nifty idea to reformat your iPod's hard drive -- partitioned it to install Mac OS 9 on one partition and Mac OS X on the other, for example. Bad idea. If you've formatted the drive in any format other than Mac OS Extended (HFS Plus) the iPod won't play music files. To put things right, you must restore your iPod.
- Connect the iPod to a built-in Firewire port on your computer (rather than an unpowered FireWire port on a PC Card, for example).
- Reset the iPod by pressing the Play and Menu buttons - for 10 seconds.
- When you see the Apple logo, press and hold the Previous and Next buttons for 10 seconds. The FireWire icon should appear in your iPod's display.
Just like a computer, the iPod can freeze horn time to time. To thaw it, attach your Pod to a power source-either the power adapter or a powered Firewire port-and press and hold the Play and Menu buttons for 10 seconds.
Failure to charge
There are several reasons why an iPod might not charge. They include:
- Your Mac's Asleep. The iPod won't charge when it's attached to a sleeping Mac Wake up you Mac if you want the iPod to charge.
- More than one Firewire device is on the chain. Although you can chain multiple Firewire devices together, doing so with an iPod isn't such a hot idea. To begin with, a FireWire device on the chain before the iPod (a hard drive, for example) may be hogging all the power.
Second, there have been reports of iPods that have been corrupted when left on a chain with other Firewire devices. To be safe rather than sorry, don't put the iPod on a chain. If you must use multiple Firewire devices, purchase a powered Firewire hub (which costs around $80).
- A frozen iPod. An iPod that's frozen won't charge. While the iPod is attached to a power supply, press and hold the Play and Menu buttons.
- A faulty Firewire cable. Cables break. By a different FireWire cable, just in case.
- A faulty computer Firewire port. It's possible that the Firewire
port on your computer has given up the ghost. Try charging the iPod from the Apple iPod Power Adapter.
- A funky power adapter. The Apple iPod Power Adapter could also be bad. Attempt to charge your iPod from your computer.
- A faulty Firewire port on the iPod. This is not good. As you plug and unplug the Firewire cable from the iPod's FireWire port, it's possible to put too much stress on the internal connectors that deliver power to your iPod's Firewire port, breaking the bond between those connectors and your Pod's motherboard.