Sorry in advance for being long winded (but in the end my iPod classic is working again). I just wanted to try to give you as much info as possible, so you can see where the similarities may be etc to figure out what may or may not work. It is extremely frustrating. I contacted Apple a number of times, it was unhelpful. I have an appointment scheduled with a Apple Genius instore tomorrow (can cancel it now). With that said...I am not a techy person, so this all took alot of obsessing and googling. Hopefully this post saves you some time
I have/had the same issue. Let me begin with the caveat that I had a Mac and now use a PC with my iPod Classic (6th edition). Originally, I had an issue with the fact that my iTunes was not recognizing my iPod. It was plugged in and my computer recognized (Windows explorer) it but my iTunes did not. So I uninstalled and reinstalled iTunes (newest version), I made sure all of the old files had been removed and I made sure the drivers were installed correctly. I made sure all of the paths were directed right (going to the correct folders etc). I did the force reset (hold Menu and selection button at the same time for a few minutes until you see the Apple logo appear). I plugged it back into my laptop and it was not somehow connected to my iTunes because it was requiring me to eject or restore. FYI: When you restore it literally cleans off your iPod and takes it back like new (make sure you back up your information). AS I searched the internet, it suggested something about the cord, so I went out and bought a new cord. It had nothing to do with anything. I was searching the internet and trying to think of everything. I restored the iPod, restarted it, I opened it in administrator mode and disk mode. I ran a diagnostic and saw the numbers; which everything on the internet suggests that my hard drive was/is bad. Nothing worked. I finally realized that the format on my PC (Windows 10: FAT32) was different than that on my iPod (extFAT). I downloaded a program called Minitools partition and partitioned the hard drive on my iPod; so now the format has FAT32. SUCCESS!!! My iPod is now recognized by my computer and my iTunes, I can sync like normal and everything runs smoothly on my computer. I disconnect and can still see my music on my iPod and I can still reconnect and resync/add music etc.
HOWEVER I just tried to plug it into a aux port and it does not work. The iPod itself is working and the system I plugged it into is working, but they are not working together. So I can see on my iPod that I can change the volume, songs etc. but there is no output from the speakers etc. I also checked my carplay and headphones and nothing is working. Super, I can now sync my iPod and get music on it but can't use it. AUGH!!! Everything I am seeing online is saying that it is my aux port and saying I need to open my iPod etc. I do not believe this. I refuse to do this for a number of reasons but mainly because I am pretty sure it is connected with the partitioning and/or something I have done with reformatting (I now carplay uses etc.
I just plugged it back into an aux port and held down the center button and the right side of the button for a few seconds and then I started hearing sound. It seems to be working now (i plugged in the aux port and headphones and now have sound). I am skeptical about using it on my car; I am going to celebrate this small win for now.
I hope any or some of this has helped. Good luck.
