Transfer to IPod hangs in both MMJB and EphPod

[erkman]

I've been goofing around with my new 15GB Ipod for a couple of days and have been having trouble loading my library on the Pod.

Basically, while I trying to transfer a playlist over, the Transfer will just stop at one place for many many minutes, eventually coming back with a message saying that the IPod drive is full. typically at this point, the Drive letter associated with the Pod will be hung - as I will not be able to even look at its properties in Explorer. I will also not have the option to eject the Pod - and will have to undock it directly and reset it to get it working again. I've managed to get a few songs across, but boy is this a pain in the butt...

I get this problem in both MMJB and EphPod. It seems to happen very predictably when I am loading certain songs. I have tried Super-Tagging them so that they are "ok", but perhaps there is something else wrong with the songs. In both cases I can think of, the mp3s play OK in MMJB, RealPLayer, Media player, etc.

I'm using Windows XP with the Apple USB/Firewire cable connected to my PC's USB port. As far as I can tell, I'm on V2.01 on the IPod and have the latest MMJB and EphPod.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[zpyder]

I've got the exact same problem though I'm using a firewire port.

I'm now slightly worried as I was thinking the main thing that could be causing this is that my firewire card wasn't very good. i've done things like installa pci latency patch and increase latency timeout in the bios, and this meant I could send 10x the amount of stuff before my ipod crashes.

I've also had it on a few occasions crash, reboot, and then all the music i've got on the ipod has gone.

I don't think it's the MP3's fault, as it seems to do it at different points. It seems more unstable the longer it's been connected to my computer, as well as the hotter it gets (firewire charged the unit but also makes it very hot, another reason I'm going to switch to usb)

If usb doesn't work for me the ipods being returned, if it does, i'll look into another firewire card. It's annoying though as I'm going to need to reformat my computer and so i'll have to put ALL my music onto CD.

[erkman]

Given my problems with specific files, I decided to do a little tagging last night - to see if that resolved the issue. I uses MMJB to Super-Tag everything, thinking that that might resolve the issue.

Afterwards, I was able to get the darn thing to hang repeatedly when transferring a single mp3. The mp3 in question was an acoustic bootleg - that initially just had a title - no artist, album, etc. I added in the rest of the Tag information, but it continued to fail.

Does anyone know about any attributes of an individual mp3 that would make the IPod unhappy?

[zpyder]

Sorry if my last post was a little bit unhelpful.

Some things I've found that you may/may not know already ( I found the amount of "Ipod troubleshooting for windows" help on the net quite miniscule):

The main thing-Ipods can overheat, or so I hear. The easiest way of doing this is having it connected to the 6 pin fire-wire for too long a time. excessive heat can cause corrupt firmwear and crashes etc.

If you're trying to figure out how to send all this stuff and leaving it connected, and it's getting hot, try disconnecting it and letting it cool down before trying again. The hotter mine gets the less stable it gets. thus the only way I've managed to get more than 5 albums on it is by just doing it in 5-10 album bursts and then not doing it for a whil and rebooting my computer.

there is a thing called PCI Latency, which I mentioned in my last post, which might help if you tweaked, might not. The problem you're having is EXACTLY the same as mine, except it's more of a amount of data sent than track specific one.

What OS are you using, please post details about anything to do with this, as I really want to find any other relations between our problems, might help solve this thing.

[erkman]

I'm on Win XP SP 1 with all of the Critical Updates and most of the Recommended XP Updates installed. I am on a Dell XBR 533 - circa 2001.

I'm using USB 1.1.

Do you have recommendations for tweaking the PCI latency?

[zpyder]

I'm not sure whether it'd work or not, as you;re using USB, unless the USB ports are actually connected to a PCI slot on the motherboard, but I suppose if you try everything something'll work, it shouldn't hurt anyway.

http://www.georgebreese.com/net/software/

This is where I got the "PCI Latency patch" from. Nothing seems to have been broken since installing it, though i'd recommend a little caution.

The other thing I did was manually go into the bios (done usually by pressing delete while the comp loads up) and going to advanced options->pci options ->PCI latency. It was defaulted at 32, but I changed it to 128. This might be the safer option to try before the patch, as it'll be easier to reset back to 32 if your computer doesn't like it for whatever reason.

I hope this helps.

I've managed to nearly sort my problem, 823 and counting tracks on my ipod. I'm not taking too many risks, doing "chunks" of about 5 albums at a time, and then unmounting and disconnecting the ipod for a while, as well as rebooting the computer. this way it's kind of a fresh connection each time I upload and it seems to be ok. I'll be very ####ed if it decides to crash and wipe the music out again!

I have no problem with the ipod as a player, just getting the music onto seems to be the problem. And Apple most likely will say "well thats MS/Windows for you" *sighs*

[erkman]

I seem to be in business now too.

I got a new USB 2.0 PCI card and installed it along with fresh new USB drivers. I've successfully loaded my entire library (6GB) in one single sync session....

[zpyder]

Wow, cool, I'm really happy for you!

I'm still crossing my fingers whenever I upload music as I don't believe I will have entirely fixed my problem, the problem being my firewire card. But hopefully when my USB cable arrives even though it'll be slower, it will be more stable, I hope.

Enjoy your music!

[JohnnyJetLag]

Hi zpyder,

I've been following this thread for a while and thought I'd add a few words of support as I have exactly the same problem as you!

I have a three week old 30g iPod. The symptom of my problem is that when transfering files (let alone music) from my pc to ipod via Firewire, it gradually gets slower until finally it hangs/crashes. This seems to happen after transferring around 11gigs of data (although I have manged to get a massive 13!).

The iPod is otherwise fine - it plays the music it gets! I've tried this on two different PCs, one running XP (VIA chipset) the other a Vaio Laptop running Me (Intel something-or-other). Both behave exactly the same.

I've tried some of the things that you mentioned above, but sadly it hasn't helped. I haven't tried USB 2.0, or on a MAC either. I really don't fancy shelling out for a USB2.0 Card and Cable, which I see from another thread you've now got (but with the inevitable reduction in speed).

So I'm off back to my iPod store on Saturday, where they're going to have a look at it and see whether it really has a fault. If so it'll be another long wait whilst Apple repairs or replaces it :(

I'll get back to you when I've left the store...

[zpyder]

Cool.

I'd be very insterested to hear what the apple store says is up with your ipod, as if it is faulty, maybe mine is. Then I wouldn't really have any reason to put off contacting them.

I have gotten my USB cable, and usb 1 is so slow, about 1.1 MB's (instead of my firewires 7-9 mb's) but it's stable.

The fact you've tried 2 other comps and have the same problem isn't lookign too good, but its always possible that they both have dodgy firewire cards in too?

did increasing the pci latency in the bios not do any difference at all?

Before without the tweak I couldn't get past 100 mb's(in total). When I patched it then let me do about 150-200 mb's of data without crashing, and that could be repeated so long as I disconnected the ipod and let it cool for a few mins...

[loGan]

If your instability is caused by overheating of the IPOD then i would most certainly take it straight back. I sync 15 gigs or so in one sitting with my Ipod with the firewire cable without so much as a hiccup. The Ipod warms up a bit but not considerably and this is with the IPod docked 24/7.

[JohnnyJetLag]

Guys,

Thanks for the replies.

The PCI Latency trick had no effect at all for me, sadly. And my problem doesn't appear to be anything to do with the heat/amount of time. My iPod gets warm, but not excessively so, and I've had my iPod attached for long and short periods of time and the results are the same. It just appears to be amount of data.

I've done a hard disk scan both using the iPod scanner and windows, and it never reports an error. And I've reformatted countless times (as you know once it gets into this state, the only way to get music onto it is to reformat).

It's true that both FireWire cards could be faulty but what are the chances of them being faulty in exactly the same way? Not impossible I agree but I don't fancy trying a new card unless I really have to.

The store I purchased the iPod is very much an apple store so my fear is that they'll hook the thing up to a G5 and manage to fill the thing right up, no hassles! I can hear the sound of them chuckling right now...

[JohnnyJetLag]

Thought I'd get back to you on my experiences at the iPod store this weekend.

The good news it isn't anything to do with either of my PC's configurations. The guys at the store plugged my iPod into their nice new G5 and tried copying some data onto it. I had previously stuck about 9gigs worth on, so after about 30 seconds the transfer hung. They even had to reboot the poor G5! They then muttered about the iPod being formatted for windows, so they formatted it for MAC, and we began the process again. After 15 minutes of transfering data it hung again! Excellent!

The result of this is that they have taken my iPod in for service. This is the bad news as despite the problems I've been having, it's a great little player which I miss using on my daily commute :(

I'll get back to you when my little shiney friend returns...

[zpyder]

oh dear, so if it keeps hanging for me, I'll have to send it back to apple for a service :(

[JohnnyJetLag]

Hello again,

Thought I'd finish off this thread by quickly saying that my iPod has been replaced and now works a treat.
:D