iPod Touch Docking Problem

And your question for us users is?

This is a user-to-user forum and we are just users like yourself. You are not addressing Apple hre. To inform Apple of your displeasure go here:

Apple - iPod touch - Feedback

No. I have no seen any posted in this forum. Are you saying that the adopter does not work?

iPod Universal Dock Adapter 3-Pack...

Despite the fact that you didn't ask a question (which is the purpose of these discussions) I'll go out on a limb here and re-post an observation I made previously about this issue. The fact that you have more than one Dock suggests that you have had iPods before.

Previous generations of iPods shipped with an adaptor (in the box) that held the iPod onto any Dock. So you fit the adaptor onto the Dock and then place the iPod into the adaptor. Different generations of iPod had their own size of adaptor. However, the 4th gen does not ship with the adaptor in the box (as far as I can tell) so you need to buy an one, specifically for a 4th gen Touch.

If you have a previous iPod which you used with the Dock, your new 4th gen Touch does not fit into the adaptor for the old iPod. You need to carefully remove the adaptor and fit the new 4th gen one.

See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1380 for some drawings of the Dock and the adaptors, which make it clear how the adaptor system works. (I think it's a very good solution to fitting different models of iPod into the same Dock.)

As for your observations -

1. The adaptor designed for the 4th generation Touch will fix the problem.
2. Agreed - changing the software will not sort out this problem. Are you sure that the person who recommended this to you was competent?
3. The small knife is used to release the adaptor from the Dock where it is held in place by a small nib. See the drawings on the page I linked to.

Here https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3018916?answerId=15075163022#15075163022 is the post from which I took my text above (modfied from the original Bose Dock). You will notice that the original poster did not respond to me, so we have no way of knowing whether my suggestion worked. (Nothing I can do about that.)

Here's another post I contributed to; https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2699447?answerId=12830504022#12830504022 in which there is a suggestion that there is a mechanical problem. Perhaps it may help you, although I'm not convinced by the argument yet.

Are you able to take a phtograph of the Dock Connector on your 4th gen Touch? If you can post that picture here, I for one would be very interested as I could then compare it with my iPods.

I will be astounded if Apple have made the 4th generation Touch in such a way that it cannot be used with existing Docks. It's hard to believe they could have made such an elementary mistake.

Good idea. Take in one of your other iPods for comparison.

By the way - a close up of the Dock so we can see as much detail as possible.

I look forward to hearing your progress.

westhearcher wrote:

Problem was with iPod touch itself. The connector inside the phone was not dead centre, which meant the iPod would not sit correctly in the dock, even on Apple's Universal Dock!

Ah! That would definitely explain the problem that several users have reported, although this is the first time I have seen the cause correctly identified. It would suggest a manufacturing problem that the Apple will need to address. I wonder if they know about it yet? (You would hope that the Store staff would send that unit of yours back to "Apple Central" so that the problem can be fixed.)

Perhaps it may help if you (as the user who had the problem) were to submit some Product Feedback at http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipodtouch.html and for the Feedback Type, I suppose "Connectivity" is the best option.

Explain the difficulty of fitting the iPod onto a Docking Station and say that an Apple Store (mention which one) exchanged it as it appeared that yours had an off-centre connector. In fact, add a link to this discussion.

You are unlikely to receive any feedback from Apple about your submission, but believe me, they do read them and when neccessary, act upon them too.

Illaass, if you're still watching this discussion, do you have any thoughts on my suggestions here, including "westhearcher" submitting feedback?

I just found the solution for the same problem in a different discussion link today. By the time I logged in, I had trouble finding the same discussion so I will post the solution that worked for me here. I have owned my Ipod Touch, gen4 since they first came out, about 2 years. I tried it in several docking stations and it never worked in any of them. After reading similar discussions, the problem was pointed out, just like mentioned earlier in this discussion, a small piece in the unit is blocking the correct seating of the unit on the docking station.

Holding the Ipod with the display side up and the bottom connector facing me, I inserted my fingernail between the black plastic strip in the center of the connector and the metal backing of the unit. I could slide my fingernail all the way to the left but not all the way to the right. I moved my fingernail back and forth several times until there was no longer any resistance on the right side and my fingernail went all the way to the metal case back. Then I inserted my Ipod in the dock (without removing my thin decorative plastic case) and it worked just fine.

Personally, I would never take a chance on inserting an exacto knife or tweesers into the unit as some others have done. This was quick and easy. No risk. Finally I have fixed the only flaw in a wonderful product.