iPod and F: drive

Question

iPod and F: drive

My friend's iPod suddenly stopped working and Apple sent him a new one. When he tried to connect it to his PC, it wasn't recognized at all.

After a couple calls to AppleCare, the technician said that the problem was that his main drive was the F: drive and not the C:. And that the iPod cannot connect to an F: drive.

When he connected the iPod to my iBook, it worked fine.

Funny thing is, both of his iPods (the one that broke and his first one which still does) worked with the F: drive in the past.

has anyone had any experience with this?

Posted on Nov 3, 2005 8:20 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 4, 2005 6:45 AM in response to Brian Gallagher1

First, did your friend run the iPod software updater to restore the iPod? If not tell him to do that first.

What is the drive letter that the iPod was assigned when it is connected to the computer (after he has done the restore)?

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Answer 2

Nov 4, 2005 5:07 PM in response to James Bond 007

He sent the old one back and got a brand new one. When he hooks it up the computer doesn't recognize it. The Apple tech said it's because he's using the f: drive.

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Answer 3

Nov 5, 2005 7:59 PM in response to Brian Gallagher1

I repeat: did your friend restore the iPod? If not do that first. This step is essential since the iPod is in Mac format and will not be recognized in a PC unless a restore is done first.

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Answer 4

Otto42

Level 6

9,070 points

Nov 7, 2005 1:12 PM in response to Brian Gallagher1

He sent the old one back and got a brand new one. When he hooks it up the computer doesn't recognize it. The Apple tech said it's because he's using the f: drive.

The tech was half right. It's not because his computer is using the F: drive, it's probably because his iPod is becoming the C: drive. 🙂

You can use the Computer Management tool in the Control Panel to change the drive letter of the iPod to something else. I recommend I: or anything he's not using, really. Look in the Disk Management section, and just change the iPod's drive letter to not be C:, really.

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Answer 5

Nov 7, 2005 2:44 PM in response to Brian Gallagher1

I don't think the problem has anything to do with what letter your hard-drive is currently assigned to, as on my computer, my system drive is assigned to E:\ and I have a supplemental drive assigned to F:\.

Now, I do know that iTunes and the various iPod Updaters will NEVER look at the C:\ drive to find your iPod, so, assuming that nothing else is assigned the C:\ drive on your computer, when you plug in something like an iPod or USB Mass Storage Device, it will probably be assigned C:\, and there is the problem--I had this problem myself, and the woefully lacking Apple support pages didn't help. Thankfully, I reached this conclusion myself eventually.

So, try re-assigning the iPod's letter in Administrative Options if you have that capability in Windows, or simply plug something ELSE in first--such as a USB Mass Storage Device (Jump Drive)--so that it is assigned C:\, and then plug in your iPod so it is assigned a different drive letter. I seriously doubt that, other than C:\, the iPod specifically does not work on certain drives. I know for a fact, at least, it works on G:\, which is where mine was bumped down to. I hope this helps.

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