REVISED & UPDATED: The CONSOLIDATED "corrupt file" and "run chkdsk" thread.

[GadgetGuru72]

NOTE: This thread refers to a problem with 4th generation iPods running pre-"2005-06-26 iPod Updater" firmware. The problem related to a "corrupt" "play counts" and/or "SysInfo" file, resulting in a message in iTunes telling you to "run chkdsk."

If you have a 4th generation iPod *AND* you're running pre-"2005-06-26 iPod Updater" firmware *AND* you're seeing this error message, read below and follow these instructions.

If you have any other generation iPod or you're running a newer firmware, this thread does not relate to your particular problem. Please search other threads for more pertinent information. If you do not find any existing threads, please start a new thread explaining your specific problem.

Thank you.






This is the revised and updated thread concerning the "corrupt file" and "run chkdsk" issues.


Summary Of Problem


When connecting your iPod to your computer, a yellow bubble pops up in iTunes telling you that your "Play Counts" or "SysInfo" files are corrupted, and asks that you run "chkdsk."


Old Thread


Here is the old (very long) thread discussing this issue:

http://forums.ipodlounge.com/showthr...threadid=66101


Reason For Starting This New Thread


This new thread will provide a summary of all information known to date, and will be updated when new information comes in. The old thread is now filled with inaccurate and outdated information, so I felt it was time to start a new one and have a fresh start.



UPDATE: AUGUST 8, 2005 *****IMPORTANT UPDATE***** PLEASE READ

The information contained below refers to a problem with the March, 2005 Updater.

The newest Updater (the 2005-06-26 iPod Updater) has apparently resolved the "chkdsk" problem. It has been reported by many users that updating to this newest firmware has resolved this problem.

WARNING: Although the 2005-06-26 Updater has solved the "chkdsk" error problem, it has introduced a new problem. Namely, smart playlists no longer dynamically update on the iPod itself. To get your smart playlists to update on the iPod, you need to connect the iPod to iTunes. For more information about this new problem, please see this thread:

WARNING: 2005-06-26 firmware disables Smart Playlists

So, what do you do now?

Well, if you're experiencing the "chkdsk" error problem and DO NOT CARE about smart playlists, download the 2005-06-26 Updater and update the firmware on your iPod. The "chkdsk" error problem should now be resolved.

If you DO CARE about smart playlists and want the ability to have them update on the iPod itself, DO NOT update to the 2005-06-26 Updater. Instead, keep your current firmware and read below and select one of the alternate "fixes." Then, continue to use this fix until the NEXT iPod Updater gets released -- one that will hopefully fix both the "chkdsk" problem and the new smart playlist problem.

[GadgetGuru72]

Ok, everybody, this is my attempt at summarizing all the information we've managed to pull together from the old, enormous thread into one post. I will continue to update this post as more information is gathered so that there will be a single post with the most current information.


ISSUE


When connecting your iPod to your computer, a yellow bubble pops up in iTunes telling you that your "Play Counts" or "SysInfo" files are corrupted, and asks that you run "chkdsk."


CONTACT WITH APPLE


As many of you know, I have been in contact with one of the supervisors at Apple Customer Service. When we spoke last, he said that they investigated the issues surrounding these "corrupt files" and "it does not appear to be a very widespread problem." I'm not really sure how they've managed to determine that, considered the sheer number of people on this forum and at the Apple Discussion Forums (see the end of this post for more information on this) who are reporting this problem. You would have to assume that there are many other iPod owners who have experienced this problem but are not members of this forum, etc., who's voices have not been heard.


WHAT IS CAUSING THIS PROBLEM?


Apple has now recognized that this problem is caused by the 11-15-04 (and later) iPod Updater. However, the the problem manifests itself after the iPod goes into a deep sleep. There is hope that this problem will be resolved in the near future in a new iPod Updater.


SO, WHAT DO YOU DO TO FIX THIS PROBLEM?


The solution, unfortunately, is only temporary. To date, we have been able to determine four fixes.


[Fix #1]: Fix #1 is the easiest method, but is also the most unreliable and the most short lived solution. Simply doing a soft reset or a hard reset on the iPod will get rid of the error message. To do a soft reset, simply press and hold down the menu+select keys simultaneously until the Apple logo appears and the iPod reboots. To do a hard reset, follow the same steps but plug your AC adapter into your iPod first.

The next time you connect your iPod to your computer, the error message will not appear. However, as mentioned, this solution is short lived. For some unknown reason, the error message will return. It may return in a day, two days, three days, a week, whenever. There is no consensus as to when it will return and there are no patterns, but it will return. For example, the return of this error message following a reset is not limited to times when the iPod awakens from a "deep sleep." There are simply no patterns.


[Fix #2]: Fix #2 is more reliable and can be a long term solution. This fix involves running the "chkdsk" utility. Thanks go to BobZoron for posting step-by-step instructions on how to do this. Here's his solution:

Originally posted by BobZoron:

This worked for me. Here it is, quick and dirty:

1. Connect your iPod. When the yellow bubble comes up in the lower right hand corner, click the "x" to close it.

2. Go into iTunes. In the lower right hand corner of the iTunes window, click on the "Display iPod options" button.

3. Down at the bottom of the new window, there should be a "Manually manage songs and playlists" option. Make a note which option is currently selected (we'll want to switch back to it if you want iTunes to manage the songs that are on your iPod). Select it. Click OK and close out of iTunes.

4. You should now be able to access your iPod as though it's a USB hard drive. Open My Computer. Make note of the iPod drive letter (ex: E: )

5. Click Start and go to Run. In the field, type in "cmd" (no quotation marks, obviously.)

6. At the prompt, type in "chkdsk e: /f" (no quotations, substitute your iPod's drive letter for the E: ) the "/f" switch automatically fixes problems found on the iPod. Depending on your computer's speed, the chkdsk utility should take a minute or two. The utility should display a list of errors on your iPod drive.

7. After the utility finishes and the prompt reappears, type "exit" hit enter and close the window by clicking the "x" in the top right hand corner.

8. If you want iTunes to manage your library automatically, relaunch iTunes and go back into "display iPod options." Reselect the management option that you made a note of in step 3.

9. You may want to have iTunes and the iPod sync so that each knows what's going on with the other. Otherwise, you shouldn't have the bubble pop up again.

For me, it was a lost file cluster on the iPod hard drive that caused the corrupt dialogue to appear. Running chkdsk solved this. I didn't have to do an iPod reset, reformat the drive, dump my song collection and start from scratch, or return the iPod. Maybe you will meet the same success I did. Let me know!

This fix, as I mentioned, can be a long term solution. As stated above, the third suggested cause for this error message is allowing your iPod to go into a "deep sleep." For those who don't know, the iPod goes into a "deep sleep" when the iPod has not been used for approximately 36 hours. If and only if you avoid letting your iPod go into a "deep sleep," you will no longer see this error message after going through the steps outlined in BobZoron's fix. If you let the iPod go into a "deep sleep" you will get the error message again and you'll be forced to go through BobZoron's fix yet again.


[Fix #3]: [See below for a warning as to newer 4g iPods]. Fix #3 is the most time consuming, but can also be a permanent fix. You can do a "full restore" and restore your iPod to version 3.0.1. The downside to this is that you will have to put all your music back on your iPod and, if you manually sync, recreate all your playlists. For those of you who don't mind doing a full restore, this might be the option for you until Apple releases an official fix. For those of you who don't want to deal with the hassle of doing a full restore, Fix #2 is probably better.

If anybody needs version 3.0.1, here's a link:

http://rapidshare.de/files-en/462493...08-06.zip.html

Just scroll to the bottom and select "free" download and you'll be prompted to download the software.


[Fix #4]: [See below for a warning as to newer 4g iPods]. Fix #4 is only a variation of Fix #3 for people who are a little more technically savvy and/or don't mind fiddling with the iPod's files. This fix will allow you to revert back to 3.0.1 from 3.0.2 without having to do a restore, thereby preserving your music files and your playlists on your iPod. Once you have reverted back to 3.0.1, you will no longer get this error message even if you allow your iPod to go into a deep sleep.

So, again, if you're going to attempt this, you will do so AT YOUR OWN RISK. However, several people at the Apple Discussion Forums have tried this and claim that it works.

If, after all those warnings, you still want to try it, here's the technique:

Originally posted by Chris Capell over at the Apple Discussion Forums:

For those of you using XP, you have to do the following first (and please note that this is all done at your own risk): enable the iPod for disk usage in iTunes, and then click on My Computer on your desktop, and from that window, click on Tools in the menu bar, and then Folder Options -- select the View tab and under advanced settings, make sure 'show hidden files and folders' is selected. Then press okay to close all the pop-ups and close the My Computer window.

Now, go to Start>All Programs>Accessories>Notepad, and then in Notepad, from the File menu, select open. Click My Computer on the left-side of the open file dialog, then select the volume that is your iPod (you should recognize the name as being the same as you named the iPod originally in iTunes), and then click the iPod_Control folder, then the Device folder. You should see the SysInfo file here (if not, make sure the 'Files of type:' pulldown menu in the Open Files dialog is set to 'All files'). Click on the file to open it.

The file contents are laid out much less nicely in Windows than in Christoper's Mac post -- they're basically one long line with no spaces between each entry. But you're still looking for the same two entries (these are how they look on my iPod, yours may be slightly different):

visibleBuildID: 0x03028000 (3.0.2)
buildID: 0x03028000 (3.0.2)

Just change them to read:

visibleBuildID: 0x03008000 (3.0.2)
buildID: 0x03008000 (3.0.2)

This fools the iPod into thinking it has firmware version 3.0, so it will let you 'update' to 3.0.1. Don't change anything else and select 'save' from the File menu. Close Notepad, and then run the 3.0.1 updater. You will see that it lists your software as 3.0.2 still, but it does allow you to select the 'update' option. Do so, and then follow the instructions, including disconnecting the iPod from the computer when the update is done and plugging it into the wall charger to do a reflash.

One note, the next time you connect it to your computer again, you will notice that the computer considers it a new device, and will require you to do a restart. Otherwise everything has worked fine for me.

APPLE DISCUSSION FORUMS


As mentioned above, the people at the Apple Discussion Forums have been discussing this problem as well. A user named "Da Gopha" just posted a summary similar to mine. To read his summary, check out:

http://discussions.info.apple.com/we...5081c.68a58bbd


FINAL THOUGHTS


As of today, it has pretty much been conclusively determined that the problem is caused by the 11-15-04 (and later) iPod Updater. Yet, the problem manifests itself after you let the iPod go into a deep sleep.

So, if you are not currently receiving this error message, it might be wise to prevent your iPod from going into a deep sleep until Apple releases a new Updater.

If you are receiving this error message, I recommend using [Fix #2] above (BobZoron's technique for running chkdsk) to fix the problem and get rid of the error message. Then, to prevent the error message from coming back, ensure that your iPod does not go into a deep sleep. That means, as above, not letting your iPod go unused for more than 36 hours.

I will continue to update this post with more information as we continue to learn more.

[GadgetGuru72]

Update to Fix #2

After completing fix #2 (above), the iPod will be fixed and you will no longer get the error message if you prevent the iPod from going into a deep sleep. Accordingly, it is necessary that you prevent your iPod from going unused for more than 36 hours.

A user at the Apple Discussion Forums (named JimUK69) has come up with a clever solution to making sure your iPod doesn't enter a deep sleep:

(1) Create a new playlist with either no songs or a very short song.

(2) Set a daily alarm which wakes the iPod up at 3am, and plays this empty or very short playlist.

By doing this, you will ensure your iPod is used for at least a few seconds every single day, and it will not go back into a deep sleep. Therefore, you can now wait patiently for Apple to get around to releasing an official fix.

[GadgetGuru72]

This post will be dedicated to eliminating theories about the cause of this error message. It is important to keep a list of things that are not the cause of this problem so that we don't keep "spinning our wheels" on issues that have already been conclusively dismissed.

To date, either Apple representatives or other iPod users have speculated that the error message results from:

(a) A fragmented iPod hard drive,

(b) Disconnecting the iPod from your computer while the "do not disconnect" error message is still displayed,

(c) Fault USB 2.0 connection.


Evidence Against Claimed Possible Causes


(a) Fragmented iPod hard drive.

Several users on the iPodlounge and on the Apple Discussion Forums have used the latest iPod Updater to do a full restore of their iPods. Following a full restore, their iPods will no longer be fragmented. Yet, as soon as their iPods go into a deep sleep, the error message returns on what is now a completely defragmented hard drive. Therefore, fragmentation is definitely not the cause of this error message.

(b) Disconnecting the iPod while the "do not disconnect" warning is displayed.

Many users (myself included) have never disconnected their iPods while the "do not disconnect" warning is displayed. I think it is pretty clear that this has nothing to do with the error message.

(c) Fault USB 2.0 connection.

This one was pretty easy to knock off the list. People who exclusively use Firewire to connect to their computer are also experiencing this problem, so there is no connection to USB 2.0.

[GadgetGuru72]

Warning To Users Of Newer 4g iPods.

Fix #3 and #4 come with a warning regarding newer 4g iPods. It appears that newer 4g iPods (defined as iPods manufactured in December, 2004 or later) are not capable of being rolled back to firmware version 3.0.1. Therefore, it will be fruitless for you to attempt either one of these fixes.

Therefore, as recommended above, if you are experiencing this problem and have a newer 4g iPod, follow BobZoron's instructions outlined in Fix #2 (above) and fix the problem with CHKDSK. Then, make sure your iPod does not go into a deep sleep until Apple releases an official fix for this problem.

[hockey_magnet]

Excellent information on this problem. Let's hope Apple comes up with a fix soon. I've ordered an ipod shuffle - currently using a 4G 20 ipod. I will be using the shuffle with the same PC. Since the last updater indicated that it added support for the shuffle, I'm assuming that if I roll back to the older updater to solve this problem, the Shuffle won't work. Does anyone have any ideas on this?

[GadgetGuru72]

Originally posted by hockey_magnet
Excellent information on this problem. Let's hope Apple comes up with a fix soon. I've ordered an ipod shuffle - currently using a 4G 20 ipod. I will be using the shuffle with the same PC. Since the last updater indicated that it added support for the shuffle, I'm assuming that if I roll back to the older updater to solve this problem, the Shuffle won't work. Does anyone have any ideas on this?

I'm a little confused by your question. If I don't answer your question properly, perhaps you can elaborate a little.

I think you're asking me if the Shuffle will still work if you roll back the software on your 4g 20GB in order to address this corrupt file issue. Is that what you're asking?

If so, you have nothing to worry about. The Updater doesn't affect your computer, only the device. So, you can roll back to an earlier iPod Updater and put software version 3.0.1 on your 4g 20GB iPod, and still use the latest iPod Updater on your Shuffle. You don't have to use the same Updater on both devices.

However, only the most recent Updater will work with the Shuffle.

Please note, however, that you don't have to roll back to 3.0.1 on your 4g to deal with this problem. Personally, I've just run the chkdsk technique outlined in Fix #2 and avoid letting my iPod go into a deep sleep. I will continue to avoid letting it go into a deep sleep until Apple releases a fix. If you don't want to mess around with two different Updaters for each of your iPods, maybe this would be the best approach for you too.

[hockey_magnet]

You correctly interpreted what I was asking. I tend to agree with the not sleeping thing, although once I get the shuffle (which I will use for my daily workout, I'll have to make more of an effort to keep the ipod from going into deep sleep.

[SatrinaOmega]

Hi, a quick google search found the answer to my iPod problem here in this thread, talk about a frustrating problem!

Well I run fix #2 talked about here, and chkdsk found the corrupt file and fixed it, the error no longer pops up, however my iTunes software still crashes as soon as it opens when the iPod is connected.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled many times, no idea what else to try, hope someone here might have a better idea! I hope!

Sure hope to see Apple patch this up soon!! Just because some of us don't use our iPods daily we sure shouldn't have to put up with this!!!

Was glad to find this forum and thread!

Thanx in advance for any further help!

-Marie

[GadgetGuru72]

Originally posted by SatrinaOmega
however my iTunes software still crashes as soon as it opens when the iPod is connected.

The "corrupt file" error message is related to a bug in the iPod software, not iTunes. So, iTunes crashing is unrelated. Sorry, but I don't have any further insight into what's causing your iTunes problem. I suggest starting a new thread for this specific problem.

[biggychibot]

Well said - plenty of time on your hands - Hmm?

[$iljanus]

Well, I was hoping not to delurk in a problem thread but circumstances seem to have dictated otherwise. In any case I just finished reading the 15 page consolidated thread about this problem and I'd like to thank all those that posted fixes on this problem. I used "solution 1" and did a reset, but if (or when) the problem comes back I'll run CHKDSK.

If it's helpful, I'll add the circumstances of my error. I had received my 4G in late December. I didn't get the CHKDSK error until tonight. I have been running the latest versions of iTunes since it was first released.

If I can think out loud for a moment and ask are people getting these errors after their iPod reaches a certain point in it's capacity? In my latest sync the iPod had 7.76 Gigs of music on it. Is it possible that the amount of data on the drive impacts it's ability to come out of a deep sleep without problems?

I figured I'd toss this out there until Apple comes up with something more definitive. Again, thanks for the info that has been posted and I look forward to posting more but hopefully not due to errors on my iPod...

[GadgetGuru72]

Originally posted by $iljanus
If I can think out loud for a moment and ask are people getting these errors after their iPod reaches a certain point in it's capacity? In my latest sync the iPod had 7.76 Gigs of music on it. Is it possible that the amount of data on the drive impacts it's ability to come out of a deep sleep without problems?

Interesting theory, but I'd have to say that I can't imagine that the number of songs on the iPod impacts this problem. There are tons of people experiencing this problem on this forum and over at the Apple Discussion forums. Some brand new users experience this problem, and some power users with iPods nearly filled to capacity experience this problem. It's kind of all over the map. The only definitive connection is that it happens after a deep sleep.

[GadgetGuru72]

Originally posted by biggychibot
Well said - plenty of time on your hands - Hmm?

Not really. I was just experiencing this very frustrating problem and have tried very hard to get some answers and get it resolved. I put together this thread in an effort to help people until we finally get a fix from Apple.

[$iljanus]

Originally posted by GadgetGuru72
Interesting theory, but I'd have to say that I can't imagine that the number of songs on the iPod impacts this problem. There are tons of people experiencing this problem on this forum and over at the Apple Discussion forums. Some brand new users experience this problem, and some power users with iPods nearly filled to capacity experience this problem. It's kind of all over the map. The only definitive connection is that it happens after a deep sleep.

Oh well. I guess with this and the clicker reset bug the bottom line is that you should have your iPod on at all times...