My iPod is corrupted, killed my pc!

[slaybelle]

I though it was better to have too much detail than too little..? But apologies if this is a bit wordy!

Connecting my one-year-old 60gb iPod photo via my 2.0 usb port, to my Dell pc (running windows xp) same as usual I was greeted with the following message:

(Yellow triange/exclamation mark) iTunes has detected an iPod that appears to be corrupted. You may need to restore this iPod before it can be used with iTunes. You may also try disconnecting and reconnecting the iPod.

Clicked OK and RESTORE.

iPod software Update.
Important information
iPod Software 1.2.1 for iPod with color display.
<>Bug Fixes

Clicked NEXT> And agreed to the Software Licence Agreement

No dice. i've reset three times, restored twice, reinstalled (repaired) itunes, and then Restarted the iPod Service, this seemed to work. iTunes recognised my iPod and started to update it. 600 (out of 10300) songs in it stopped. I clicked update again and 200-ish songs later...

BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH :shake:

Microsoft error reporting sent me to the article: How to troubleshoot hardware and software driver problems in Windows XP (Which suggests CAUSE: This behavior is typically caused by a device driver that is not correct for the version of Windows on which you installed it. Or, the device driver may have been poorly written, which can cause Windows to stop working correctly.)

I am aware there are further steps I could try on Apple's 'iPod shows up in Windows but not in iTunes' page, but understandably I'm reluctant to reconnect my 'corrupted' ipod. I can just about afford a new ipod, but there's no way I can stretch to a new pc! :o

I would really appreciate it if anyone can offer a solution to this problem or even just point me in the right direction... I've spent 2 days searching frantically and trying to figure this out for myself, but not being technically minded (and slightly hysterical!) I have to admit defeat!!!

[slaybelle]

After a stiff drink and my third cry of the the day, I bit the bullet and reset and restored my iPod again. After manually starting iTunes my ipod updated 2000 songs before I got the error messages:

iTunes: (red cross) The iPod cannot be updated. The required file cannot be found.

Windows: 'Delayed write Failed' Bubble: (exclamation point in yellow triangle) Windows was unable to save all the data fron k:\ipod_control\F1016_1.ithmb. The data has been lost. This error may have been caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save these files elsewhere.

Trying to update iPod again results in the message:

iTunes (red cross): The iPod cannot be updated. The disc could not be read from or written to.

No BSOD though. Woo, and indeed hoo.

[jhollington]

Hi and welcome to iLounge.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having problems, but unfortunately this sounds like it's a USB interface problem, which could be on your computer's end, rather than the iPod itself.

I'd suggest disabling any third-party virus scanning and anti-spyware applications (you can disconnect yourself from the Internet if you're concerned), as well as any other software that may be running and try again.

If you have a different USB port or iPod USB cable that you can try, I would also suggest doing that.

While the problem could be the iPod itself (which would most likely be indicative of a serious hardware probelm with the iPod), it could just as easily be a hardware or software conflict on your computer. If you have a friend's computer you can try this from, I'd also suggest restoring the iPod on there and seeing if it makes a difference.

The bottom line is that the errors you're seeing indicate a USB communication problem with the iPod.

You can, however, rest assured that there's nothing the iPod is going to do to permanently damage your PC. The errors you are seeing are either an existing problem with your PC that you might experience when connecting any external hard drive (which is all the iPod really is), or there is a problem with your iPod.

Something else you may want to try just to ensure that you have a "clean" iPod is to restart your computer in "Safe Mode" and try reconnecting your iPod and just formatting it through the normal Windows format tool. Once you've done this, the iPod won't start up, but that's expected (as you've erased everything on it, including it's operating files), but this will be fixed with a restore.

You can then reboot your computer into normal Windows mode and use the iPod updater to attempt to restore it.

[slaybelle]

First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to answer, and for all your -calming- words of wisdom, they really are much appreciated!

Going for the easiest first, i tried another apple usb cable and different usb ports . No dice. Another of my usb devices work perfectly through the ports.

I tried my iPod in a friend's pc with all the 'anti's' off, and received the message: (yellow triangle, exclamation point) iTunes cannot read the contents of "slaybelle's iPod". Use the iPod Software Updater application to resore the iPod To factory settings.

My friend's pc (old and uber-slow with zero memory) is running the old - 6 point something? - iTunes (on my advice 'cos of the resource hogging of the new 7 point somthing), so I decide not to update there.

I try formatting my ipod in safe mode on my pc, then connect my iPod in regular mode. iTunes launches, I restore, and it starts updating. Woo! Four hours and two error messages...

((red cross) Attempting to copy to the disc "slaybelle's iPod" failed. An unknown error occurred (-69)

and (red cross) Attempting to copy to the disc "slaybelle's iPod" failed. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable )

later (I hit 'sync' after each of these) I disconnect my 'fully updated' ipod to find that it contains...

No Songs! Aargh!!!

When it was connected to iTunes my music library contained 10363 songs, and according to iTunes my iPod contained 10362 (I was happy to turn a blind eye to the one missing track).

Four hours for nothing! Not one track on my iPod.

It's dead isn't it? :confused:

[jhollington]

Well, I wouldn't write the iPod off just yet, as it's still entirely possible this is a USB communications issue that could be caused by any number of factors, particularly with the blue screen errors occurring.

Since your iPod has nothing on it right now anyway, you could try restoring it at your friend's place using the normal iPod Updater (since iTunes 6 doesn't have the update capability built-in) and see if that works okay. Since the iPod is in a crazy unknown state right now due to whatever your computer has been doing to it, the error messages you saw on your friend's computer were perfectly normal. Despite running iTunes 6, however, as long as you have the iPod Updater on that computer (which would have been a separate software package), you can still restore the iPod from there and try loading it from there just as a test.

The lack of songs on your iPod after you updated it on your computer is actually to be expected in a situation like this, since iTunes probably copied all the music files to the iPod, but never wrote entries into the iPod's database/index of music (so the files are there, but the iPod can't find them). When syncing the iPod, the music is copied first, and the database is then updated. If iTunes doesn't get to that stage because of an error, you'll end up with an iPod full of "orphaned" music (files with no way of being located by the iPod).

Again, your best bet is to try this on a different computer as a full restore & reload process just to make absolutely certain.

[slaybelle]

IT'S ALIVE!

Jesse Hollington, you are a god amongst men. I can't thank you enough for all your time and help. If it wasn't for your sage advice i'd have put my iPod and PC in the bin and moved to an Amish community... Seriously.

Instead I went back to my friend's and reset, restored, formatted and updated my iPod on her pc. I even loaded her library onto it. I never thought I'd be happy to hear Barbara Streisand on my iPod! :D

Back at my place I connected my iPod and it worked like a charm. So happy - I'm sat here grinning from ear to ear! :)


I sincerely wish you a great day, a fabulous weekend and a wonderful life. :cool:

[dannydub4]

Hi Guys,
I know that you have solved this problem but I still can't get my iPod to work.
Exactly the same as above have tried all the solutions but iTunes still thinks my iPod is corupt and it needs to be restored.

I have:
1. restored my ipod several million times
2. Tired to reformat it through My Computer. But none of the format options come up and I can’t do it
3. Restarted in Safe mode but Windows could recognise the iPod
4. Tried to load up iTunes and iPod on my dads computer but the same errors come up.
5. Put it into disk mode, disconnected all my USB cables (iPod not included), installed all new software, and tried a system restore


I have seriously given up on my iPod, can you please try and help me.

I have a 3rd Gen Click Wheel 40GB

Kind Regards
Dan

[hwc]

Dannydub:

I feel your pain. I've been fighting the dreaded "corrupted iPod" thing for a week. Finally solved it today. Piece of cake.

See my post:

http://forums.ilounge.com/showthread.php?t=186689