cant mount ipod

[willow]

at first attempt had managed to install and setup my 15gb 3rd gen ipod and had just downloaded first cd-was about to sync using mmjb (windows me) when laptop decided to crash. so unistalled everything and reset ipod. now when i try to reinstall everything i get as far as configure ipod-it tells me to plug it in even when it is and just wont recognise the ipod. i continued with setup process with no success-neither ipod manager or 'my computer' recognises ipod-previously it appeared as drive e. i think firewire card is ok as it still charges ipod. how the hell am i meant to get this thing working?

[willow]

please is anyone out there...getting a bit stressed...tried using ephpod instead and still laptop doesnt recognise ipod and ipod still doesnt seem to realise its connected to computer. also cant get past 'configure ipod' stage when trying to reinstall mmjb...yet ipod still being charged off firewire card so not sure if it's a problem with card...or is it...PLEASE HELP!

[dzwack]

Hi. I was having the same problem too, only I don't run a laptop. Should'nt make a difference though. I assume your running windows. Make sure if you have virus protection that it?s turn off, also if your running a firewall (Like Zone Alarm) that it?s shut down too. I always make sure there are no programs running in the background. You can turn some of these programs off by right clicking their icons on right hand side of the taskbar and selecting disable. Some times windows does a poor job uninstalling programs so make sure that Ipod software you installed is truly off your machine. Go to control panel and choose Add/Remove Programs. Scroll though that and if you see any Ipod in there, it?s still on the machine. When you try to uninstall again, a window pops up and asks if you want to uninstall/ repair/ect. I choose repair and then I try to uninstall. It seemed to get rid of it all by doing that. Also check your Program Files Folder and make sure there?s no folder called Ipod. If there is, delete it.
I made the mistake the first time by installing the Ipod software in a different drive other than C:. It?s very important to have it installed in C: drive to work Properly. So you will likely have to reinstall it later.

I use MusicMatch and found out it?s important to make sure you have the latest driver installed that works with Ipod. You can do that by opening MusicMatch and go to Options, then choose ?Update Software?.

After I have done that and windows recognized my Ipod, I decided to give the Ipod a true Windows Format. To do this (While your Ipod is connected) Go to ?My Computer? and right click the drive that represents you Ipod (ie D: ) and choose Format + ?QuickFormat?. Remember that a Format will wipe out any music files that you might have stored on it. THEN I run the 2.0.1 Software and choose restore.

Hope this helps.
dzwack

[raychoi]

to dzwack,

whenever i finish uninstalling the iPod, there's still a iPod folder in my "Program Files" folder. And I can't delete it, since it says "Source file may be in use". How do you take it out ? Also I notice that even after uninstalled everything and rebooting, when i do Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del) and look at the processes there, the iPod manager (or installer, can't remember) is still running !! is it because i haven't uninstalled everything ?

[dzwack]

"Some times windows does a poor job uninstalling programs so make sure that Ipod software you installed is truly off your machine. Go to control panel and choose Add/Remove Programs. Scroll though that and if you see any Ipod in there, it?s still on the machine. When you try to uninstall again, a window pops up and asks if you want to uninstall/ repair/ect. I choose repair and then I try to uninstall again. It seemed to get rid of it all by doing that."


When you can't delete a folder it usually means that something is still accessing that folder. I use Windows 2000 Pro. I try to access my taskmanager by pressing control+Alt+delete to see what programs are runing. Make sure MMJB or Itunes are not running as well. Ive never used ME.

I hope this helps.
Good Luck.

*Just make sure that when you reinstall, that all the Ipod programs are on C:

[willow]

hi, thanks for all your help. ok, i did everything you said (except giving ipod a true windows format-couldnt see where or how to do that). there was a brief glimmer of hope when little ipod symbol turned up in bottom right of screen but computer still kept flashing 'cant mount ipod-disconnect then reconnect', which i did to no avail.
decided to carry on with reinstallation-then got a warning saying 'ipodwatcher has caused error in ipodwatcher.exe.-ipodwatcher will now close'. so now i am basically back in the same position as i was a couple of posts ago. im guessing/hoping its more a problem with my laptop than ipod...any further suggestions anyone...you'll all be my best friends forever if i can get this #### thing to work!

[dzwack]

Hi Willow, sorry your still having problems, I know how you feel......I was getting so frustrated and stressed out that I was beginning to lose hair on my head. Ok, to do a true windows format..Only some say this is not necessary, but it sure made a difference for me.
1. While Ipod is connected to the computer, you should be able to double click "My Computer". Now if you computer is recognizing your Ipod, you should see a drive letter assigned to it. Usually it's the last drive and windows will assign a letter like h: or what ever.
2. Right click on that drive and choose "Format". A window will pop up, on that window there will be an area called "Format Options", choose "Quick Format" and then click start. It usually takes a few seconds to format.
3. After that's done, go to start on the taskbar and choose programs and in there you should see Ipod. Then choose system software 2.0.1. Once you do that a window will pop up and ask you if you want to restore, click restore. It usually takes anywhere from 2 to 5 mins for me. Hopefully that will help.

Ive done this at least 3 times now, only because when I transfered music over to the Ipod, all my mucic tags on the MP3's were poorly done so I had to rename all the tags (2000 in total), they would show up in the ipod all mixed up. So I had to wipe out the songs in the ipod and start over. So all a format does is erase the part of the drive that holds music. I was also able to transfer music to the ipod even though I got the message "can't mount Ipod". All I did was run the 2.0.1 software and let it do it's job, then that crappy message came up, waited a couple more minutes and then double clicked the icon on the bottom right to disconect the ipod. Then plugged it back in, opened MMJB and then transfered songs.
I later was reading in the forum here that you can do a true windows format and started over again. It seemed to work great the next time around and all is good now.

I'm not sure what you will be using to transfer music over to the ipod (Musicmatch or Itunes) but it's very important to have only one installed and NOT both. They conflict with each other big time.

Man I'm long winded :) I hope this all works for you, I guess if this doesn't help, you should try Apples help line. Not sure what the number is but Im sure it's in the manual.
Take care and good luck.
dzwack

[willow]

hi dzwack, thanks a lot for all your help but no joy yet...not a trace of an ipod anywhere to be seen on my computer. i refuse to believe there's a problem with ipod so just going to try a new firewire card and a friends computer with xp instead of me, which most people say is a bit useless,if all else fails will try apple. the ipod...its a real pleasure pain thing i guess

[dzwack]

Ok. I know your using a Windows laptop but I found some interesting info that might be worth checking out:

http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/topic/47544-1.html

In there they talk about possible PC laptop problems using firewire.

?well, the Mini PCI slots within a laptop connect directly to the laptop's PCI bridge. So, essentially, it works exactly the same as if it was a desktop and you plugged in a firewire PCI card. Sometimes the mini PCI cant supply enough power and the card requires an AC supplement?.
************************************************** *

It could very well be a firewire problem with your laptop not getting sufficient power and that you may have to purchase some sort of firewire with power adapter to get the laptop to recognize the Ipod.

You may want to consider buying the IPod Dock with USB2 conection. I heard it's not that expensive. I wish i would of. Also I was reading a little bit more and found out that some of these "can't mount Ipod" problems are the result of the software that Apple sent out was for Ipods that came with the Loading dock. Go figure. May be true.

Any ways good luck and let me know later how you make out.
dzwack

[ashawley]

willow:

It sounds like iPod Manager is still installed and this can cause connection problems.

In your C:\Program Files\iPod folder there should be a folder called "bin". Try renaming it to "bin_old". Then reboot.

If you get a message saying it won't let you rename it because it's in use, open up Task Manager (control+alt+delete) and click on the Processes tab. In there you should see 1 or more processes that start with "iPod" select them and stop them. Then try the rename.

See if that helps.

Adam

[willow]

thanks Adam, tried renaming but still no response. going to try another firewire, will report what happens.