iPod 3G Sync Problem

Thanks for the suggestion. It turns out that the iPod was recognized on a different iMac. Does this mean that both of my existing Firewire ports on my iMac are broken (I have tried the iPod in both)? Do you have any idea how I might fix this problem? This is strange - I had a HD docking system that I used not more than two weeks ago with the Firewire ports (but I can't test that today because I loaned it to my son).

When the iPod is plugged in to my iMac (i.e., the one I'm trying to sync to iTunes), it does not appear in the Finder.

I do have another firewire device - a digital videocamera. I plugged that into a firewire port on my iMac, opened iMovie, and found that it worked. Afterwards, I plugged the iPod into the same firewire port, but got the same result as before (i.e., the battery charges, but the device isn't recognized). Truly weird.

I don't know if this is an issue, but the battery in this old 3G iPod pretty much is shot and doesn't hold the charge for very long. I have a replacement battery on order. and will retry syncing it after the new battery is installed and fully charged.

In the interim, do you have any other suggestions? Thanks for your help!

While I continue to wait for my new battery, I realize that in my second post above I failed to mention that my kids' iMac (where the iPod would sync) is running OS 10.6.x, while my computer is running 10.5.8. The kids' computer was bought used with the 10.6 already installed, and it did not come with backup disks. Do you think the OS 10.5.8 could be the problem (while running iTunes 10.6.3)?