Q: After iTunes 9 upgrade iPod Classic is corrupt without ability to restore

I wrote the following article and submitted it to my local newspapers (the Brampton Guardian, The Toronto Sun, and the Toronto Star) after Apple told me they would not provide me with any assistance on this matter (both through their customer support line, and through the complaint I filed with the Better Business Bureau).

You have my permission to reproduce this article, and I would love it if you submitted this to your local papers as well. Apple does not have the right to treat their customers this way.


*This Apple's Rotten*

After some careful consideration and a great deal of research, I’ve come to the following unfortunate conclusion:

Apple doesn’t care about their customers.

I purchased my 80GB iPod Classic July 13th, 2008 through Apple’s website for $250.00. Though initially sceptical about how ‘great’ Apple products are, I was quickly won over by the functionality, design, and truly amazing sound of the device. Knowing I’d be using it primarily at the gym, I immediately purchased a number of accessories to go along with it (rubber case with arm band, secure-fit earphones, etc.), and for eighteen months, I had a reliable, problem-free digital music player that brought me nothing but joy.

And then, on December 22nd, 2009, I got the message:

“A new version of iTunes is ready to be installed.”

Being relatively computer-savvy, I knew this was not a pop-up ad, and thought I could trust an update from the creator of my device. This would turn out to be a huge mistake.

Immediately after iTunes 9.0.1 was installed, another window popped up. This message was unfamiliar to me:

“iTunes has detected an iPod that appears to be corrupted. You may need to restore this iPod before it can be used with iTunes. You may also try disconnecting and reconnecting the iPod."

Disconnecting and reconnecting several times did nothing but freeze my computer, and lead to my iPod not being recognized by iTunes or my computer in general. It was with great sadness that I decided to restore the iPod (restoring will wipe your iPod clean of all data). While I was upset that my entire library of music would be lost, I was comforted by the fact that I’d at least be able to salvage the device itself. That’s when the restore was completed, and I received that same, unfamiliar and now enraging message:

“iTunes has detected an iPod that appears to be corrupted. You may need to restore this iPod before it can be used with iTunes. You may also try disconnecting and reconnecting the iPod."

Countless restores later, I was still getting the same message. It was time to call Apple Customer Support.

A brief conversation led to them saying there was no record of my purchase based on the serial number I provided. When asked if they could search by my name, they told me no.

“No?” I thought. Apple? One of the largest hardware and software producers in the world? iPod? iTunes? iPhone? iPad? I don’t flipping believe it.

Dejected, I got off the phone and headed for a better source of information – the internet. It was there that I happened upon a forum on Apple’s website:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2151907&tstart=0&messageID=112 15900#11215900

Hundreds and thousands of other iPod Classic users with the exact same issue: “Help! I installed iTunes 9 and now my iPod doesn’t work!”

Well, with all these users complaining, surely Apple will come out with some sort of press release and a strategy to resolve our collective problem.

This issue started in September 2009... here are some forum postings from March 2010:

Kelsonz27: I installed the new update, version 9.0.3 and it did nothing for me. I'm sick of this, I'm thinking about switching to a Zune

BK-Sleeper: Seeing as Apple still isn't paying any attention to this tremendously bad issue, I guess it'll be a good idea to start warning people to avoid Ipod Classic for the moment. I, for one, am probably going to go down to Walmart/Target/Bestbuy during my free time and just post sticky notes near the Ipod Classics reading "Warning: Does not work with the current version of Itunes.”

Andy1987: I have the same problem, quite ridiculous that apple has not created a fix for it yet, not impressed.

Zeexito: Signed up to say that my iPod Classic 120GB has stopped working also after updating to iTunes 9. I've read through this thread and tried everything. It's really frustrating. Has anyone had any luck since the last post in here?

Those are four posts out of 35 pages and approximately 570 complaints from disgruntled iPod users.

I wasn’t about to admit defeat after taking such excellent care of my iPod, only to have it ‘corrupted’ by Apple’s software.

I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, only to receive an irritating and unhelpful response from Tim O`Neil – Apple Executive Relations.

To summarize, I was told that my iPod was out of warranty by seven months, my repair history (zero repairs) was inconsistent with the problem, and that while Apple values my service, this complaint is now closed.

Hundreds and thousands of Apple customers are being forced to replace products that were functioning well until they installed a software update from Apple. Apple is refusing to take ownership of this issue and rectify the situation.

My suggestion to every iPod owner – do not install an iTunes update until Apple fixes this problem.

My suggestion to every potential iPod owner – buy a Zune.

Yesterday, iTunes 9.03 messed up my wife's 80 GB iPod Classic, which hadn't been updated since last summer because it's always in the car.

This is outrageous. Is anyone organizing a class action lawsuit? Sign me up.

I have two ipod classics 80gig. I installed Itunes9, and I have done the restore until I see the word in my sleep. I have tried just about everything I have found on the net to do with fixing the ipod classic. Does anyone actually know how to fix these things or am I just wasting my time?

I also have an 80 gig ipod classic, it has crapped out on me for the last 2 weeks and after reading these forums I've been pulling my hair out trying to fix it. Apple store people obviously didn't know anything useful, BUT this morning I finally got it to RESTORE and it finally asked me to rename my ipod and all the tabs reappeared etc etc etc.
I haven't tested anything else out yet (I'm actually a little afraid to unplug it at this moment), but I will come back here to post if it stops working again.
So here's what I did, I created an apple ID and all that crap just so I could maybe help someone on here:

1)uninstalled everything to do with itunes 9 and quicktime. deleted the itunes 9 library as well (I have a lot of work ahead of me, importing everything into the library again, but it's well worth it to have a working ipod)
2)plugged in my ipod (I switched up my cord just in case.. I don't think it matters too much, but you never know.. I had a slightly newer cord from my brother's recently purchased ipod or iphone.. not sure which it was from.. lying around)
3)went to my computer, right clicked on the ipod, and did a FULL re-format. this is going to take a while, so you have to be pretty patient. just leave it plugged in until it's done. the first time i tried it with exFAT and the green bar went all the way to the end before it told me the re-format failed so i tried again with NTFS. i actually think I may have had to re-format it twice
4)download itunes 8 from a link on this forum, it's somewhere in the first few pages
5)after installing itunes 8, with nothing in the library (i was so happy to see the itunes 8 interface i could cry), it recognized the ipod (huzzah!) and asked me to restore it. the first time i tried, my ipod was plugged in for over 12 hours with that black and white screen with the flashing "do not disconnect" sign. lo and behold, my laptop went into hibernation as i fell asleep and the ipod got disconnected. then i unplugged it (my computer was still not on) and turned it on manually and that proper picture with the "please use itunes to restore" in 5 different languages came up (this can be found on the main "how to restore ipod?" page in apple support if you have no clue what i'm talking about).
anyway, i plugged it in, once again itunes asks me to restore it, and without even going to that black and white "do not disconnect" thing on the ipod's screen, after a few green bars were completed, BAM! restored ipod! asked me to rename! music, pictures, movies, contacts tabs reappeared!
*as a side note, in my new options I chose to not sync my ipod automatically*

this is a very important note: YOU HAVE TO BE VERY, VERY PATIENT. sometimes it looks like the restore is going nowhere (and often times it's really not going anywhere.. because i tried to restore many, many times), but sometimes it is actually going somewhere! after it prompts you not to disconnect your ipod until it has "restarted" and "reappeared in the window" you HAVE TO WAIT. it might be suspicious when the ipod icon disappears from itunes and it looks like nothing is happening, but that's just the way it's supposed to be.

so.. patience. and DO NOT buy a new ipod (unless you're either loaded or you have warranty or something.. in which case it's your call). i was so frustrated these last couple of weeks, my warranty was up by only 2 months and i was ready to chuck my ipod out the window. i hope the steps above help someone and i will keep you guys updated if anything goes wrong.
fingers crossed!

great job on the article, by the way, apple's collective *** need to be kicked over this. not well-handled at all.

Hey, thanks. Felt a little better after writing it.

A class action lawsuit sounds like a good idea right about now, though.

I have owned my new 15" MacBook Pro for one whole week since my previous iBook screen display went out on me a few months ago. Extremely excited about my new purchase I carefully transferred items from an older external hard drive to a new external hard drive. I then decided it was time to update my iPod. Little did I know the mistake I was about to make.

After a bit of finagling I was able to transfer my old playlists into my new iTunes 9.0.3. Once I had double checked everything, I was ready to sync my 80GB iPod Classic (approx 2.5 years old.) I plugged in my iPod and hit Sync.

The process seemed to speed along even faster than it had on my old computer. With a music collection of close to 10,000 songs, my iPod had sync'd nearly 2/3rds of the files in just under an hour. While the new computer sat alone with the external hard drive and iPod attached, my iPod randomly decided to eject itself.

"Odd," I thought, "I was no where near my computer." I clicked okay on the 2 or 3 random error screens that followed only to have iTunes tell me my iPod was now corrupted. "Maybe it's the new computer and I just need to Restore my older iPod." I clicked Restore and a few minutes later everything appeared to be okay.

With a few more attempts, my iPod syncing was going nowhere fast (or slow I should say.) Rather than become completely frustrated, I disconnected everything and waited a few hours before trying to sync again.

36 hours ago I began the sync process again. When I left the house this morning, I had about 3,100 files sync'd to my iPod. Now it's only transferring between 100-150 files over an 8 hour duration. I am now becoming concerned for my hard drive and wondering if there will be any hope that my iPod will actually finish syncing.

Can anyone give me any advice? Should I stop the sync process? Should I find another program to run my iPod (i.e. Songbird)? Should I just use my iPod as an overpriced paper weight?

I have been a loyal Apple customer for years and have never seen this many people have a problem with no response from Apple. I am becoming very disappointed in a company I have trusted with my digital world for about 10 years. An immediate fix would be greatly appreciated.

Hi fellow sufferers who are rightfully angry with apple and its itunes 9,
It has been quite sometime now and apple does not seem to be paying any heed to us.

< Edited by Host >

i`ve 4 ipods all show different problems from not connecting atall to conecting then imediatley diconecting ,,plus a friends ipod classic 80gb his is also stuck in this restore loop ,tried everything listed on forums spent hours searching posting ,all i know is £650 down drain .
count me in on any law suit.
have also contacted bbc watchdog ,
just a comment from apple saying we know and are working on this would be nice !!!!
all ipods worked well before v9 itunes

I also have the same problem, I have tried just about everything I have read on the forums. I wish Apple would do something about it or is this their way of phasing out the ipod classics. If anybody has any other ideas i would appreciate it.

What a mess! I was about to switch to apple and buy a new labtop and desktop, after hearing such rave reviews regarding reliablitiy and customer service but this has me rethinking it. Same thing happened to me, updated itunes and my 80GB Classic ipod and now it won't even link to itunes to be able to refresh, restore, reset, re whatever it. I've spent 8 hours working on this crap and will probably go out and buy another brand MP3 player... definitely won't be an ipod next time around. **** they can't even play MP3's. Apple's gotten big enough now that they're quickly becoming their evil bigger brother.

I too have experienced much of the same-upgraded to 9 and now have a paperweight that's totally useless.

After numerous hours of searching and reading it's clear there is NO solution to repair an 80gb Classic that has been corrupted by Itunes 9. Our location is remote and too far to have a service centre check the ipod out. What would they say? Definately not admit it's the software screwing it up.......

Personally I will never buy another Apple product again but can't say the same for the teenagers in our household. Can someone confirm if they have purchased a new Ipod that works properly with 9? Hoping to save some time and money here.

Thanks for any advice offered!

hi ive got a nano that is no longer reconized since v9 ,nano is brand new bought at christmas 2010 ,so my advice don't buy until it fixed !

septicstumpen,

That's pretty interesting since Christmas 2010 hasn't come yet, and secondly your NANO isn't a classic... Folks on this thread have all noticed this issue on thier classics...

Your nano if purchased in December 2009, was either a 4th Generation or the new 5th Generation released in september.

If you truely did acquire it and register it in December than you should still be under the 1 year warranty and covered by them.

The only reason why I'm stating this negatively is because your facts don't support what others state here... Secondly your under warranty and per chance you may have a defective device or an issue where in which your device was exposed to something that it shouldn't have. Etiher way you should call Apple in your case.

iNexxFear i apologize i meant 2009 its a 5th gen ,i was answering ClassiclyMad post above when he said "Personally I will never buy another Apple product again but can't say the same for the teenagers in our household. Can someone confirm if they have purchased a new Ipod that works properly with 9? Hoping to save some time and money here."!!
i own 2 classics 80gb both connect then disconnect,also a ipod touch that does not connect also my friends ipod classic 80gb which is experiencing same problems as post "corrupt with out abilty to restore" all ipods worked before v9 and work on other computers ,ive reinstall itunes ,plus fresh install of windows xp sp3 and still no comment from Apple ! lastly there is a apple store opening soon where i live so i will be taking up these issues with them.