Sync greyed out

[danfoster]

Hi - I just purchased an iPod Nano 8G 4th Gen. Hoped to get it up and running, but after installing iTunes 8.11, I am unable to sync. Loaded the Library, created a Playlist, but when I tried to figure out how to sync the thing, the only UI element related to syncing anything appears in the file Menu: Sync iPod -- and it (along with several other actions) is greyed out. I resorted to on-line help, all of which refers me to a screen with tabs. The screen displayed by my iTunes has no tabs. Summary tab is the one I'm told I want - but there are no tabs at all. Also a reference to a "Device" link in the left panel. No Device either...

I uninstalled iTunes, reinstalled. Same behavior. Any ideas before I take this thing back to the store and try out the Zen thingy?

Thanks,

Dan

[Jesse Hollington]

Hi and welcome to iLounge.

It seems that your iPod is not showing up in iTunes for whatever reason. I'm assuming you actually have it plugged in to a USB port, but you may want to make sure that you're plugging it in as directly as possible to your computer, avoiding any USB hubs.

Connecting an iPod should not be a complicated thing -- it should normally just appear and if it's not doing this you either have a defective iPod or there's something wrong with your computer. I'd suggest trying the iPod on another computer if you can to see it it appears over there. If it doesn't, then take it back and get it exchanged for one that works. If it does appear on the other computer properly, then you will likely have some troubleshooting to do in order to figure out what on your computer is conflicting with your iPod's configuration. As with any other USB device, this is usually related to an incompatible device driver or a USB driver problem.