URGENT/Time sensitive: Ipod Classic not being able to be detected by Itunes or Apple Devices software.

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DragonClaw

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As the title says

I was given a brand new Ipod classic, not sure what gen, and I cannot find a way to put music on it.

I have a Win 10 computer.

I have tried a hard reset to no avail.

Whenever I right clicked on the disc (F) in File Explorer, it would crash. After a bunch of unplugging and plugging back in, it finally said "
Removable Disk F - please insert a disk into drive F
:

I was able to format the drive through Disc Management. It is currently doing that.

How can I confirm I have the correct drivers installed if I can't get it to pull up in iTunes or Apple Devices?

I am going to try changing Disc F to disk E and see if that changes

My computer recognizes it as an iPod in Devices

One time iTunes did detect it and said it would need to be reformatted, but when I clicked okay, the entire iPod settings/options would disappear. I was not able to do this through iTunes.

I was told not to use the iTunes app from the Windows store, so I uninstalled it and installed the version from the website instead.

I have a trip I am taking on Tuesday and am urgently trying to fix this.
 

DragonClaw

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I will add that I have the music saved to my local drive, not iTunes. I will have to add it to iTunes if I want to use iTunes to transfer the music to my iPod. I am okay using 3rd party software to handle the transfer as long as it works.
 

cjmnews

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1. Getting the driver is posted and could have been found with a search on "iPod Driver": https://forums.ilounge.com/threads/ipod-classic-itunes-alternatives-win10.288102/post-1457010
1a. You can verify the driver is installed if the iPod is connected to the PC and is listed in USB section as an Apple Mobile Device.
2. The format process through disk management needs to be FAT32, and it needs a Full Format, not quick format.
2a. Now a Restore with iTunes is required to get the firmware back on it.
2b. The driver install from step 1 should allow iTunes to see it.
2c. If you get a "firmware file could not be found" error there is a post on that: https://forums.ilounge.com/threads/need-help-ipod-will-not-sync.287386/post-1454721 Section 1.
  1. Yes the Apple version of iTunes is better than the Microsoft version.
  2. The drive letter change is ONLY needed if you have another drive besides the iPod at the letter F (thumb drive, memory card). I recommend setting iPods to a higher drive letter like I.
  3. An iPod Classic 120GB is 17 years old, the drive could be dead.
  4. Use an actual Apple iPod 30 pin to USB cable to do this work and ensure there are no USB hubs in the middle of the connection for best results.
  5. Check the port of the iPod for hair or lint covering pins, as this will make charging and syncing unreliable or fail. Don't bend pins cleaning it.
The music MUST be in iTunes to sync it to the iPod.
 
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