Solution to the "iTunes won't recognize iPod problem

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hwc

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OK, I'm going to make a lot of people happy.

For the past week, I've been fighting the same problem that dominates iPod discussion forums: the dreaded iTunes won't recognize the iPod problem.

Dell desktop running Windows XP. Worked fine with an iPod nano for over a year, even through the upgrade to iTunes 7.02. Last week, I plugged in the iPod and iTunes took forever to recognize the iPod. Then, I got the error messages that we have all come to know an love. iPod is corrupted. Tried to Restore with iTunes, but that failed with the "1418" error. You guys know. I've read all the threads.

iPod syncs fine on another computer. Other USB device (card readers, thumb drives) work fine on my computer. Windows recognizes the iPod. But, iTunes won't.

Restored the iPod on another computer. No problem. Hooked it up to mine. Still no dice. Removed every trace of iTunes and reinsalled. No dice. Reverted to iTunes 6.5. Still no luck. Tried every suggestion people have offered up. Removing and reinstalling USB drivers in device manager. You name it. Nothing worked. Spent hours on Microsoft website searching for every article about USB devices. Tried everying. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Do you guys know what it's like to have to go to your wife and say, "not only can't I put all your new Christmas CDs on your iPod, but I can't put ANY music on your iPod. It's busto"?

So, today I searched for "Dell USB reset" and found one lonely little post on some obscure forum that SOLVED THE PROBLEM.

Ready?

1) Unplug all of your USB devices from the computer.

2) Turn off the computer.

3) Remove the AC power plug from the back of the computer for 30 seconds.

4) Put the AC power cord back and boot the computer.

Problem solved. iTunes recognized the iPod within a few seconds and updated normally. Good as new. After days and days and days of getting nowhere and resigning myself to a dead iPod until Apple releases a quiet bug fix in 7.03 while denying the problem, that's all it takes to fix it?

------------

So what's the deal? Since solving the problem, I have gone back and been able to duplicate and solve the problem two or three more times. In my case, the problem is initially triggered by a dodgy cable on on memory card reader (although I suspect that any USB error will trigger it). The cable triggered a USB error balloon with some nonsense about how the device would work better if it were plugged into a USB 2.0 port (my ports are all 2.0). So I removed the cable and all my other USB devices worked fine again. No error messages, no problems. But, not iTunes. Something in the USB ports after that error message was enough to send iTunes over the line into purgatory. I'm thinking that Apple is up to their age old tricks of writing software that barely works just hangin' on by its fingernails, with no tolerance at all for anything out of line -- not even as much tolerance as a $10 thumb drive. Typical.

Each time I plugged in that dodgy cable, the iTunes problems came back, even though I had already removed the dodgy cable. Each time I shut down the computer and removed the power cord for 30 seconds, the problem was solved. I don't know why. I guess the complete absence of standby AC power must trigger a hard reset of the USB ports. Why knows? Who cares? It works. Needless to say, I've cut that dodgy USB cable in half, run over it with the car, doused it in gasoline and cremated it, and thrown the ashes down a deep well.

But, for those of you ready to pull your hair out over this iTunes problem, quit searching the web, unplug the power cord from your computer, and see if you aren't back in business.

You're welcome. I wonder how much money I just saved Apple in returned iPods just from this forum alone?
 
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