payooli
08-02-2003, 11:22 PM
I have a brand new 15 GB iPod and Windows XP. I am contemplating returning this iPod as defective. It can't be this difficult to configure it to work with Windows. Here's a detailed description of my problem. Can anybody tell me what I might be doing wrong?
Upon booting I get a dialog entitled "iPod not readable", that says
"Unable to read the format of the iPod plugged in. This iPod needs to be reformatted for use on your PC. Click on the Update button below to run the iPod Updater application that will allow you to reformat or restore your iPod."
Buttons available are "Run Updater" and "Cancel".
So I click "Run Updater". I get a dialog entitled "iPod Software 2.0.1 Updater V2".
Buttons are "Update" (greyed out) and "Restore". I click "Restore".
First I get
"Formatting iPod drive, please wait..."
then
"Your iPod has been restored to factory settings. Please leave the iPod connected and wait while it completes the restore process".
Finally this:
"Restore complete. Use "Safe Remove Hardware" icon located in the system tray if you need to unplug your iPod".
I close the dialog, but then I get the "iPod not readable" dialog again.
Double clicking the "iPod Manager" icon in the system tray shows an iPod in the "Select iPod" window.
So I click "Run Updater" and then "Restore", just like before. Then I get
"Can't lock iPod. Please check if any other applications are using iPod and try again."
So I close the IPod Manager by right clicking in the icon in the system tray and choosing "close". Going back to the Update dialog, the Update button is now greyed out.
So I close that dialog. Since I already completed the Restore once, I decide to try the iPod manager again. It appears okay.
So maybe I'll just disconnect and reconnect the iPod. I click OK, and iPod Manager closes. I click "safely remove hardware" in the system tray, choose the iPod, and then I get a dialog entitled "Problem Ejecting Apple Computer_ Inc. iPod IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device", which reads:
"The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device again later."
I try it a couple more times, and keep getting the same message about 'Generic volume'. The iPod screen is flashing a "do not disconnect" message. I try again, and get a slightly different message:
"The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped because a program is still accessing it."
IWhat the heck is this "Generic volume"? I look in Device Manager and see "Generic volume" categorized under "Storage volumes".
Wondering if this is the same "Generic volume" I've been seeing messages about when trying to eject the iPod. Right click on it and choose properties, and the Location says "on Apple Computer_ Inc. iPod IEEE 1394 SBP"
It does indeed look like the iPod. But it says Manufacturer = Microsoft? Looks ominous. So I disable this thing, to see if I can successfully disconnect my iPod. After disabling, I get a dialog "System Settings Change" which reads:
"Your hardware settings have changed. You must restart your computer for these changes to take effect."
Upon restarting, the iPod manager is not in my system tray, and the iPod screen is flashing the "do not disconnect" message. I click "safely remove hardware" and choose the iPod. This time it says okay to disconnect, so I do so. The screen is showing the language selection menu. I choose English. Now I launch iPod manager. As expected, it shows no iPod connected.
Under "Application Settings" I select "show in system tray" and click OK. It appears in the system tray with a red X on it. Crossing my fingers, I plug the iPod into its dock. The iPod and the computer itself both make friendly sounding beeps in a major key, but the red X remains on the iPod manager icon. Opening it still shows no IPod to select in the "Select iPod" window. I decide to try closing iPod manager, and restarting it with the iPod already connected. I right click on the system tray icon, and see a new option "Mount iPod 0". Maybe that's the problem, it's not mounted. So I'll try that first. Although I select that "Mount iPod 0" command, nothing seems to happen. I try again, and get nothing, so this time I just select "Close". The icon disappears from the tray. I start the iPod manager again, and the "Show in system tray" box under Application settings is UNCHECKED again. Apparently it is not remembering what I chose last time. I click it again. This time it appears in the system tray with no red X, but there is still no iPod in the "select iPod" window. I click OK. The iPod screen is still flashing "do not disconnect". I decide to try disconnecting and reconnecting one more time, with iPod manager running. I click "safely remove hardware" and choose the iPod. It says it's okay to disconnect, and the iPod screen is showing the main menu. I disconnect it. Upon disconnecting it, a red X appears on the system tray icon, and TWO dialog boxes pop up entitled "iPod Manager" that read
Failed to mount iPod ''
Those must have been from when I tried that "Mount iPod 0" command from the system tray icon. I click both OK buttons, and the dialogs disappear. I plug the iPod back in. The iPod and the computer both make friendly beeps. The red X remains on the system tray icon. Opening iPod manager reveals no iPod in the "Select iPod" window. I right click and Close the iPod manager. I do the old safe remove hardware thing, the iPod screen shows the main menu, and I remove it. I plug it back in. More friendly beeps. I start iPod manager. Again, the checkbox is unchecked. This thing never seems to remember my settings. I check the checkbox to show in system tray. The icon that appears has a red X. Lets try this one more time. I click OK, rt click on the system tray icon with the red X, and choose close. Leaving the iPod plugged in, I start iPod manager again. Still no memory of my "show in system tray" setting, but this time when I check it the icon that appears has no red X. Despite the lack of red X, there is no iPod to select in the window. OK, let's try a reboot. I click OK, and leave the iPod manager running and the iPod plugged in while I reboot the computer. When it comes back up, the icon is still in the tray, still with a red X, still with no iPod to select. I'm beginning to think it was not a good idea to disable the "Generic Volume" thing in the device manager. I open up device manager to take a look. I see the "Generic volume" thing with a red X through it, disabled.
First, I close the iPod manager. I right click Generic volume and choose "enable". Then I am presented with the dialog that started me on this odyssey: "iPod not readable".
I don't want to go down that road again, I've already formatted the thing, so I click Cancel. Maybe the iPod manager was supposed to be running when I reenabled Generic volume. So I disable Generic volume, and I am told to reboot.
After restarting, I see the iPod manager running in the system tray, with a red x. So I go to device manager, see that Generic volume has a red X like before. When I reenable it, the red X disappears from the iPod manager software, but I still get the "iPod not readable" dialog.
Looking in the iPod manager window, I DO see an iPod icon in the "Select iPod" box.
I know I formatted this thing for Windows. Let's make sure. The support website says I can find out by navigating through the menus on the iPod itself. The iPod screen is flashing that "do not disconnect" message. Guess I need to disconnect it to find out. I choose cancel on the "iPod not readable" dialog, then choose "safely remove hardware" and choose the iPod. I get the old friend:
"The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device again later."
Okay, forget about disconnecting it. Maybe the problem is not the "Generic volume" device but that other instance in the Device Manager, up under "Disk Drives", entitled "Apple Computer_ Inc. iPod IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device"
Maybe I should disable that one. I do so, and am told:
"Disabling this device will cause it to stop functioning. Do you really want to disable it?"
Since it is not functioning anyway, what have I got to lose? I choose Yes. I am told to reboot my computer.
Of course I do, I love restarting my computer! Upon restarting, the iPod manager has a red X. The dive manager shows the iPod under "Disk Drives" with a red X, but there is no more "generic volume" entry
The iPod screen itself shows a charged battery icon. Well, it's not telling me not to remove it, so at least now I can verify that it's formatted for Windows. I disconnect it, and my computer beeps. I go to the main menu on the iPod, then Settings -> About and scroll to the bottom. Format = Windows, as I thought. I plug it back in. The iPod beeps and the computer beeps. Unable to think of anything else, I reenable the iPod listed under "Disk drives" in the device manager. The red X in the device manager goes away, but remains on the system tray icon. The iPod screen is still saying "do not disconnect". After a few more moments, the red X goes away from the system tray icon, but when I click on iPod Manager I get, guess what, the "iPod not readable" message from the beginning.
Several more iterations of uninstalling and reinstalling everything, resetting the ipod, etc., always yields this same result.
Any help will probably add some years to my life.
Upon booting I get a dialog entitled "iPod not readable", that says
"Unable to read the format of the iPod plugged in. This iPod needs to be reformatted for use on your PC. Click on the Update button below to run the iPod Updater application that will allow you to reformat or restore your iPod."
Buttons available are "Run Updater" and "Cancel".
So I click "Run Updater". I get a dialog entitled "iPod Software 2.0.1 Updater V2".
Buttons are "Update" (greyed out) and "Restore". I click "Restore".
First I get
"Formatting iPod drive, please wait..."
then
"Your iPod has been restored to factory settings. Please leave the iPod connected and wait while it completes the restore process".
Finally this:
"Restore complete. Use "Safe Remove Hardware" icon located in the system tray if you need to unplug your iPod".
I close the dialog, but then I get the "iPod not readable" dialog again.
Double clicking the "iPod Manager" icon in the system tray shows an iPod in the "Select iPod" window.
So I click "Run Updater" and then "Restore", just like before. Then I get
"Can't lock iPod. Please check if any other applications are using iPod and try again."
So I close the IPod Manager by right clicking in the icon in the system tray and choosing "close". Going back to the Update dialog, the Update button is now greyed out.
So I close that dialog. Since I already completed the Restore once, I decide to try the iPod manager again. It appears okay.
So maybe I'll just disconnect and reconnect the iPod. I click OK, and iPod Manager closes. I click "safely remove hardware" in the system tray, choose the iPod, and then I get a dialog entitled "Problem Ejecting Apple Computer_ Inc. iPod IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device", which reads:
"The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device again later."
I try it a couple more times, and keep getting the same message about 'Generic volume'. The iPod screen is flashing a "do not disconnect" message. I try again, and get a slightly different message:
"The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped because a program is still accessing it."
IWhat the heck is this "Generic volume"? I look in Device Manager and see "Generic volume" categorized under "Storage volumes".
Wondering if this is the same "Generic volume" I've been seeing messages about when trying to eject the iPod. Right click on it and choose properties, and the Location says "on Apple Computer_ Inc. iPod IEEE 1394 SBP"
It does indeed look like the iPod. But it says Manufacturer = Microsoft? Looks ominous. So I disable this thing, to see if I can successfully disconnect my iPod. After disabling, I get a dialog "System Settings Change" which reads:
"Your hardware settings have changed. You must restart your computer for these changes to take effect."
Upon restarting, the iPod manager is not in my system tray, and the iPod screen is flashing the "do not disconnect" message. I click "safely remove hardware" and choose the iPod. This time it says okay to disconnect, so I do so. The screen is showing the language selection menu. I choose English. Now I launch iPod manager. As expected, it shows no iPod connected.
Under "Application Settings" I select "show in system tray" and click OK. It appears in the system tray with a red X on it. Crossing my fingers, I plug the iPod into its dock. The iPod and the computer itself both make friendly sounding beeps in a major key, but the red X remains on the iPod manager icon. Opening it still shows no IPod to select in the "Select iPod" window. I decide to try closing iPod manager, and restarting it with the iPod already connected. I right click on the system tray icon, and see a new option "Mount iPod 0". Maybe that's the problem, it's not mounted. So I'll try that first. Although I select that "Mount iPod 0" command, nothing seems to happen. I try again, and get nothing, so this time I just select "Close". The icon disappears from the tray. I start the iPod manager again, and the "Show in system tray" box under Application settings is UNCHECKED again. Apparently it is not remembering what I chose last time. I click it again. This time it appears in the system tray with no red X, but there is still no iPod in the "select iPod" window. I click OK. The iPod screen is still flashing "do not disconnect". I decide to try disconnecting and reconnecting one more time, with iPod manager running. I click "safely remove hardware" and choose the iPod. It says it's okay to disconnect, and the iPod screen is showing the main menu. I disconnect it. Upon disconnecting it, a red X appears on the system tray icon, and TWO dialog boxes pop up entitled "iPod Manager" that read
Failed to mount iPod ''
Those must have been from when I tried that "Mount iPod 0" command from the system tray icon. I click both OK buttons, and the dialogs disappear. I plug the iPod back in. The iPod and the computer both make friendly beeps. The red X remains on the system tray icon. Opening iPod manager reveals no iPod in the "Select iPod" window. I right click and Close the iPod manager. I do the old safe remove hardware thing, the iPod screen shows the main menu, and I remove it. I plug it back in. More friendly beeps. I start iPod manager. Again, the checkbox is unchecked. This thing never seems to remember my settings. I check the checkbox to show in system tray. The icon that appears has a red X. Lets try this one more time. I click OK, rt click on the system tray icon with the red X, and choose close. Leaving the iPod plugged in, I start iPod manager again. Still no memory of my "show in system tray" setting, but this time when I check it the icon that appears has no red X. Despite the lack of red X, there is no iPod to select in the window. OK, let's try a reboot. I click OK, and leave the iPod manager running and the iPod plugged in while I reboot the computer. When it comes back up, the icon is still in the tray, still with a red X, still with no iPod to select. I'm beginning to think it was not a good idea to disable the "Generic Volume" thing in the device manager. I open up device manager to take a look. I see the "Generic volume" thing with a red X through it, disabled.
First, I close the iPod manager. I right click Generic volume and choose "enable". Then I am presented with the dialog that started me on this odyssey: "iPod not readable".
I don't want to go down that road again, I've already formatted the thing, so I click Cancel. Maybe the iPod manager was supposed to be running when I reenabled Generic volume. So I disable Generic volume, and I am told to reboot.
After restarting, I see the iPod manager running in the system tray, with a red x. So I go to device manager, see that Generic volume has a red X like before. When I reenable it, the red X disappears from the iPod manager software, but I still get the "iPod not readable" dialog.
Looking in the iPod manager window, I DO see an iPod icon in the "Select iPod" box.
I know I formatted this thing for Windows. Let's make sure. The support website says I can find out by navigating through the menus on the iPod itself. The iPod screen is flashing that "do not disconnect" message. Guess I need to disconnect it to find out. I choose cancel on the "iPod not readable" dialog, then choose "safely remove hardware" and choose the iPod. I get the old friend:
"The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device again later."
Okay, forget about disconnecting it. Maybe the problem is not the "Generic volume" device but that other instance in the Device Manager, up under "Disk Drives", entitled "Apple Computer_ Inc. iPod IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device"
Maybe I should disable that one. I do so, and am told:
"Disabling this device will cause it to stop functioning. Do you really want to disable it?"
Since it is not functioning anyway, what have I got to lose? I choose Yes. I am told to reboot my computer.
Of course I do, I love restarting my computer! Upon restarting, the iPod manager has a red X. The dive manager shows the iPod under "Disk Drives" with a red X, but there is no more "generic volume" entry
The iPod screen itself shows a charged battery icon. Well, it's not telling me not to remove it, so at least now I can verify that it's formatted for Windows. I disconnect it, and my computer beeps. I go to the main menu on the iPod, then Settings -> About and scroll to the bottom. Format = Windows, as I thought. I plug it back in. The iPod beeps and the computer beeps. Unable to think of anything else, I reenable the iPod listed under "Disk drives" in the device manager. The red X in the device manager goes away, but remains on the system tray icon. The iPod screen is still saying "do not disconnect". After a few more moments, the red X goes away from the system tray icon, but when I click on iPod Manager I get, guess what, the "iPod not readable" message from the beginning.
Several more iterations of uninstalling and reinstalling everything, resetting the ipod, etc., always yields this same result.
Any help will probably add some years to my life.