I seem to have lost all of my data on my ipod classic. My itunes and subsequently my whole computer locked up earlier, and after I was able to restart, my ipod does not show any of my songs, movies, etc. However, in itunes, it does show that the ipod has 40.63GB of "Other" data on it. Apparently the files are still there, but they are either corrupted somehow or they are simply not being listed. I hate to Restore because I don't want to lose all of the files if I don't have to. Does anyone know a way to get the ipod to recognize the data again?
I wish I knew. This has happened to me twice. I backed up all my files on an external hard drive and restored. Nearly 2 weeks and things are still OK. Sometimes during the "freeze", I think it's happening again!
It would appear that the iPod hard drive or iPod software has become corrupt. This doesn't mean that the songs are not on your iPod, hence the fact that the iPod reports used space and iTunes may show them. I've never seen a plausible explanation for why it does this.
You should
restore the iPod and then reload the songs from iTunes.
I am having the exact same problem and I DO NOT have all of my iPod content in iTunes as I have collected it over the last 3+ years using a number of different computers that I no longer have access to. Now (of course) I realize that I should have backed it up. I am most concerned with the purchases I made in the iTunes store - I've spent several hundred dollars and stand to lose all of that investment if I cannot recover this data. Any suggestions?
Can your computer see the iPod? Set it in Disk Mode (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93651) and see if it shows up. If it does, download a 3rd party utility, such as YamiPod, and move the data on your iPod to your computer, then Restore the iPod. But back up your computer before you Restore.
There are various 3rd party utilities that can transfer your music from iPod to computer (and with purchased music you can do this through iTunes), but it all depends on the iPod being recognized correctly by the computer.
If it isn't because the database has become corrupt, then you're out of luck.