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

I joined to add my name to the list of users having issues with Itunes 9 and the Classic (I have the 120gb). I'm very disappointed that Apple had done nothing to rectify the issue. Very poor customer service and programming. What are you thinking? At any rate, I downgraded to 8.2 as suggested earlier and it worked. Everything syncs correctly and no more having to put my Ipod into disk mode every time I connect to my computer. I'm glad that I finally have a working mp3 player but I'm unhappy that I have to downgrade software to do so. I really do like my Ipod but a Zune is looking more and more to be in my future.

For all, make sure after you uninstall 9 that you restart before installing 8.2. You'll also have to delete the library.itl file.

The disks are locked up with custom protected firmware, and the main iPod firmware is encrypted on the locked disk. Any problem in an update then becomes irreparable. See for example a search on "so I bought one of the MK8010GAH drives". Only solution I see to is to avoid Apple, since clearly they are showing no sign of fixing this. We've come a LONG way from the 1984 Superbowl. Zune looks promising, actually...

I also had this problem at the start of the year. The iPod (160gB) model was sent for repair in a non working state on two occasions and on both was returned in a working condition but with a description saying that no fault was found. I can't downgrade to iTunes 8 because this model of iPod is not compatible with it after having upgraded the firmware when requested to do so.

I now dare not use it again with iTunes 9 and have since moved to other software to allow me to transfer music, podcasts and videos without any difficulty. I like the iPod but when it reaches the end of its natural life it will be replaced with a non-Apple product.

Downgrade the f/w. locate the .ipsw files and hit shift-update on the main iPod page in iTunes. With you on the non-Apple though

The bad news people won't want to hear is that most of the ipods talked about in this forum are damaged beyond repair.

My ipod was one of the many to be damaged after sincing with itunes 9.0.2

I called Apple support and explained at length that I had tried restoring the ipod many times with itunes and disc utility, and that the ipod had not been used inappropriately. And that I was convinced that Apple software had caused the damage. I offered this forum as evidence that it was a wide spread issue. After a while the tech put me onto his manager who I also had a long conversation with. After trying everything he suggested he agreed that it was probably Apple's fault and gave me an exemption code to take to an Apple repair place to fix it even though the ipod was out of warranty.

So long story short:
Call Apple support, don't take no for an answer, and get them to fix or replace your ipod.

I too plugged my iPod classic, 120G, into my computer to charge and it was corrupted. I know my iTunes had been upgraded since I have it on automatic. When I called Apple, my warranty had been expired for 2 months. They said I was the only one who has called with this problem and tried to walk me through all of the things I had already tried. I was on for over 2.5 hours and was so frustrated I had to get off the phone with the guy. They said they had authorized me for phone support. He tried to tell me that the software just couldn't do that. He said sometime a little glitch occurs and corrupts the iPod. Really, after owning it for 14 months.

PLEASE CALL APPLE AND TELL THEM THE PROBLEM!!!!

Resolution:
I uninstalled iTunes 9, installed iTunes 8 (filehippo.com), restored my iPod twice, and it seems to be synching. I have also deselected the automatic updates. I was able to get 655/2500 songs on my iPod. Still doesn't work as well as before.

Good luck.

I thought this subject was important enough to make my first post. I have about 145GB on my iPod. It was meticulously added from about 1500 CD's. My wife and I both have the 160 iPod with the same stuff added on both. I have it backed up twice on 2 external hard drives. A couple of days ago I made a new playlist, As I began to sync,iTunes stopped working. I tried several times but it kept freezing. The iPod was OK. Earlier posts have said to leave it hooked up after it freezes and it will eventually work. I left hooked up for about an hour after it froze and when I came back it said sync was complete. I tried syncing it again and this time it zipped right through as normal.

My experience with the iPod is as with most stuff, garbage in garbage out. The single biggest issue I had with organizing my iTunes library was the compilation setting. Some songs or CD's will be designated as "part of a compilation". Make sure this is checked NO. This wreaked havoc on my organizing system and I see no need for it. Only do a restore as an absolute last resort, especially if you have a large file. Get your library organized right the first time and you will have fewer problems.

I had an 80gb Classic and I just sold it and upgraded to a 160gb today. I have 20 000 songs. iTunes didn't want to sync with my new 160gb, I was able to sync album by album though... But really what the h...? It would take an eternity to do. I tried downgrading from iTunes 9 to iTunes 8 and it said that for my iPod to work, I need iTunes 9 or higher. I tried 6 different computers, including a Mac (Not mine, I would never buy that **). My library has too much music to sync and it froze after being plugged in for 5 seconds, I tried everything. Restoring, full format, quick format, enable disk use, disable disk use and bla bla bla.

So basically; Did not want to Sync, was recognized by iTunes and my Computer, formatting or restoring did not help. Completely uninstalling every single trace of iTunes from my computer, re-installing a different version, FIVE times... And so on... Tried different USB ports, 6 different OS, different wires... NOTHING. It "synced" for less than 10 seconds.

I mainly run on my Samsung, 8gb Ram 64-bit Vista. And all my music is on a 1tb external drive. Although my music is on the external D it's fairly fast and because I never added a bulk of 20k songs at once everything always ran smoothly. And there's no f**** way I'm going to add album/sync add another album/sync again a thousand times.

I left my iPod plugged in and just got the **** away from technology before I chainsaw massacred anything that blinked and had buttons. A few beers later; I come back, and it's syncing... I'm not complaining, but that means that after being plugged in for 4 hours while I was browsing online, then 5 hours (while I was out on the roof)it FINALLY unfroze. So does that mean there's not really a bug and I have to be patient or I'm just lucky?

To anyone that tried everything and has no error messages and everything is fine except for the Sync, I'd suggest to leave it plugged for the night/day and see what happens.

And to anyone that is out of warranty, I still would suggest going to an Apple Store and an least trying, because if indeed the iPods are getting messed up because of their program, warranty or not, THEY are responsible for iTunes because without iTunes; you cannot use your iPod and it has no viable replacements on the market. Their software (the only one with full compatibility and advertised by Apple) made your iPods crash; with this said it's their responsibility.

So I suggest;
-First make sure iTunes is installed properly,
-Second, make sure all the cables are working,
-Then plug in your iPod and retrieve all your music (Google; Share Pod) to your computer.
-Then, format your iPod through Windows (My Computer; then right click on the iPod icon/drive and click format).
-Open iTunes and restore your iPod.
-Check the "Sync only check songs and videos".
-Go to your library and check HALF of your songs.
-Then Sync.
-When the sync is complete check the rest of the songs and sync again.

And be patient.

-If that doesn't work, get the Archos, it's sexier anyways.

My Classic 80gb died yesterday, i lost 10500 songs, a sad moment indeed.

I manually manage my music however, thus it didn't die during a music-sync, instead before it wiped it claimed it was "Determening Volume Playback" or something along those lines.

After that happened, it displayed no music, yet still claimed to be full in memory. However i noticed it then began to drain this memory slowly. I tried using a disk recovery program but unfotunately it only managed to recover parts of the music, never a whole song.

Needless to say, massively dissapointed if this was caused by Apple.

So... I think I have read this entire thread and attempted EVERY possible resolution to this problem. The sad part is that EVERYONE of us experienced after updating our iTunes.
I have the iPod Classic 160GB. I have "restored" it countless times, and no matter how I add the songs back (one song at a time, one artist at a time, or everything all at once), my iPod "resets" itself and then tells me I have to connect to iTunes and "restore". It almost always seems to "reset" when I get up to 50GB. This makes NO sense to me because I've had 80GB worth of music on it for the last 4 or 5 months.
I am completely fed up with this product. I have owned it for 2 and a half years. I had to send it in for warranty once (right before the warranty expired). I think that a $350 (now being sold at most retailers for $250) product should last longer than a few years.
It also appears that Apple does not care about the situation we are all facing; they must assume that since we already purchased it, that they made their money on us. I am upset because I listen to my iPod everyday... and now I'm considering another product by ANY manufacturer other than Apple.
<Edited by Host>

Wow... Now Apple has edited my previous post.
That's ridiculous that you monitor what we post on here but don't fix your products so that we can enjoy them.

Hey guys, this is my situation. Since i "upgraded" to iTunes 9 i have been having issues. When i connect my iPod 160, iTunes opens like usual then in top middle screen it says "Determining Audio Volume Analyzing xxx of xxx" then with in a minuet i get the "ipod cannot be synced. An unknown error occurred (13014)" message. When this pops up everything freezes. iTunes wont respond and i have to force quit.

This is very frustrating i cannot add songs on my ipod or use itunes when my ipod is plugged in. The only good thing is that my ipod still plays.

All i have to say is apple needs to address this. Come out say there are problems, even if they don't have a solution for it. Stop acting like there isn't 40+ pages on this thread of angry apple users

Wow. I'm so disappointed. Itunes just updated to the newest version yesterday and today my iPod 120G Classic is dead. I cannot get it to sync without iTunes locking up. It's six months out of guarantee and I can't even SPEAK to customer service without paying up.

I seem to only have this problem when when "sound check" is on. When i turn it off ipod syncs fine and im able to add music. But crappy thing is i wanna use sound check to have all my music the same level.

I have the same problem.
My iPod Classic 120GB is only 2 years old, but I've hardly ever used it; in fact the last time I synced it, the iPod was working perfectly. But, I lost my iPod Touch, so I thought I would go back to using my Classic. I hooked it up and (if I remember correctly) it failed, so I tried to restore it. The drive kept clicking on and off; when it was on then it would appear in iTunes, then it would click off and disappear from iTunes. Obviously a restore wasn't going to happen. I decided to use disk utility to repair and erase. No luck. I don't know if this was related to an ipod upgrade to iOS4 of whether it was due to upgrading to iTunes 9. Whatever the reason, given the discussion below (66,000 posts!) I believe the problem lies solely in some bug in either iOS4 or iTunes 9 which has bricked my iPod Classic. I am totally PIS*ED. Apple either needs to fix the software or give me a new iPod. iPhone 4 is getting all the press at the moment but this is as big an issue.