Ipod being fickle with connecting by firewire

[martinsglenn]

i'm sure this topic has been addressed, and i've surfed multiple postings, but haven't found a true answer... i have a new 30 gig, with cradle stand...i have firewire card (i edit with miniDV etc, so computer is legit)...and i run XP....when i plug my ipod into my firewire port, the little record image ,with the needle or magnifying glass pops up, with loading bar...it takes it like 15-20 min to load completely, then says okay, i saw it briefly become recognized in my Device Manager when it was at the okay stage, when i went to click on it, said to have proper drivers installed, though i loaded the software disc already...then when i clicked on ipod, it started all over again with the record spinning action on screen, and disappeared from my device manager...every time i plug in it starts this process, and is not being recognized by computer...this is very frustrating...running in circles, someone please help....

[ashawley]

Could be that your firewire isn't up to the standards that the iPod requires. It's fairly picky about what cards it works with...but before we go that route....

I'm a little confused by the needle w/magnifying glass bit. Do you mean your cursor? I'm confused by that.

Anyway, try uninstalling iPod Manager from Add/Remove programs. It's not required and has been know to cause connection problems. Especially when you get connection for 10 seconds and then it drops off.

The other trick is to uninstall the firewire card from Device Manager, then reboot. Sometimes that'll do it.

Post back your results.

Adam

[martinsglenn]

alright, gonna quickly blow off some steam...wow, and apple wonders why it can never get a bigger share of the computer market...anywho....i did both things you asked of me...i did both and to no avail, same result...if i reset the ipod (hold the 2 buttons down), it quickly gets recognized by the computer right after, but with a yellow explanation point in its appearance, which means, no drivers installed for it...then it disappears quickly, and the same stuff happens on the actual ipod (the record spinning image, with what looks like a magnifying glass or record needle on it, meaning, on the screen of the ipod, with a loading bar underneath the image) and lasting for the same amount of time...aka forever. do you know what loading image i'm talking about on the mainscreen....fyi, i bought this as an open-box item at Best Buy, meaning they inspected it, saying its a-okay, so i'm not sure if it was already configured or what...i could scroll through the categories, but obviously no info was on it...maybe its mac-configured? i have no f'in clue...lemme know if any of this is making sense, if not i'll clarify...i have a warranty with best buy, so if its an ipod problem i'll just take it back, but if its human error i wanna figure it out.
thanks so much for helping- much much appreciated.

[martinsglenn]

another thing, my firewire card is Adaptec FireConnect 4300

[ashawley]

OK, well, you've got the best card. The magnifying glass is disk scan mode, the iPod is checking the hard drive. You got a check mark, so that's good.

You can check the format by doing to Settings>About, if it says Format:Windows then you have a WiPod, otherwise it's a MiPod.

Let's go ahead and make sure that you uninstall all the iPod software as I mentioned, (MMJB iPod plugin, iPod Manager).

Then download the 2.0.1 Updater (http://www.apple.com/ipod/download). Install it and run it, click on the "Restore" button if it becomes available.

The other thing to try is to uninstall your firewire card from device manager, then reboot and let Windows reinstall the drivers.

Adam

[martinsglenn]

when i go to settings>about...it says the model is "M8948LL"
and when i do a search online, it says the model is "M8948LL/A", for Mac/Windows, 3rd generation etc....
and the box says "Mac and Windows"---
and the box it came in says "M8948LL/A" on the back...so it should work with windows.

i downloaded the updater, it still won't recognize the ipod is connected to the computer, so i can't "restore".
and i took off all the other software as you instructed.
i have 3 ports on my firewire card...one has a cord that i use to download video, the other is an external hard-drive i have....i uninstalled both of those, rebooted, and when back on the computer recognized those two pieces, but still did not recognize my ipod plugged into the third spot.

also, anytime i plugged the cord into the ipod, it immediately starts the scanning process, which like i said, takes like 20 minutes, and if i ever interrupt, reboot ipod, or whatever, it immediately starts over scanning again....if i unplug it from computer, it acts normal, i can see the categories, go to settings and all that good.

ugh.

[ashawley]

OK, I want you to disconnect the other devices you have connected to your firewire card for a test. I know there is an "enumeration" bug in XP. These was supposedly fixed with service pack 1, make sure you have that installed, but try w/o them installed.

Can you see the iPod in My Computer as a drive? If you can, right-click it and select Format. Do a "Quick Format" then try the Updater again, you want to select Restore when it becomes available.

You need to let that scan finish if you haven't already.

Adam

[martinsglenn]

Thanks so much for your help Adam, I had already tried the things you've mentioned in the last post...i've let it completely scan about 5-6 times now...unplug other devices from firewire card as apple suggests on their site, etc etc....still not being recognized at all...so i can't use the updater or reformat or any of that.
i'm taking it back to best buy today to exchange it.
thanks again, hopefully the next one works properly.
quite annoying though to spend 400 bucks on an item that doesn't work.

[martinsglenn]

i exchanged for a different one, so when i get home later this evening, i'll try it again and we'll see what happens...

[BlueGlow]

Hi Adam,
>>Anyway, try uninstalling iPod Manager
>>from Add/Remove programs. ...
>>Especially when you get connection for
>>10 seconds and then it drops off.

This seemed to be my problem this morning. It went away when I change the "Current Home Application" to None. Is that a standard solution or did I just get lucky?

[ashawley]

Welcome Blue! ;)

In general the iPod Manager is just a nasty bit of software. I've seen it cause connection problems, blah, blah all sorts of icky things.

Since it's not needed for anything I really recommend you uninstall it.

Adam

[BlueGlow]

Yep, the iPod manager was my disconnect/unmount problem. It started again tonight. I killed the iPod manager and the problem was gone. Adam, you are the greatest, thanks!

[martinsglenn]

thanks adam for all your help....i exchanged my ipod, and the new one i got is working great....so that last one was just a broke piece of equipment afterall....but i was determined to fix it as you could tell....downloading songs as i write! thanks again!

[ashawley]

Wait to go martin! Sometimes it is just the iPod.... :D

Adam