4th Gen iPod Users - are we all having the same problem?

It seems I am not the only one having this problem - that half of everyone with a 4th Gen Click Wheel seems to be having the same issues. All the sudden, our iPods froze out of nowhere, lost USB/Firewire support, stopped working, got the sad iPod icon or the folder, and generally wouldn't work. Well I found a thread where someone had the same problem and hit it on his desk and it worked. I thought it couldn't hurt to try since I had nothing to lose - but instead tried it on a softer carpeted floor. After about a minute of this - it magically turned on! All my music was still there!

But then I plugged it into my computer (MacBook Pro), wasn't recognized by iTunes or the Finder - but Disk Utility could recognize it. So I completely cleared it twice. But afterwards, nothing could recognize it still. So I took my software that I originally got with it and formatted it on my PC, strangely it worked. So I thought, "great!" However, it couldn't be recognized by any iPod Updater... So I plugged it into my MacBook again, and it was recognized by iTunes and the Finder, but not the Updater. At the moment I have 9-23-2004 on it, I believe, because I used the software I got with my iPod. I was able to load some music onto it, but at song 221, it stopped and froze iTunes and the Finder. So I restarted the computer, reset my iPod a couple of times, did a Hard Drive check in diagnostic mode, and then reset it again. The same thing happened - it froze on song 221. (By the way, I have a 20GB B&W screen).

Is this something that was caused by the 3-23-2006 Updater? It seems a lot of people are having the same problem. The thing is - if I can't fix it, I might as well buy a new iPod because it costs about 1/2 of what it would be to buy the same iPod again refurbished for them to just call and send it to Apple. I'd rather not buy a new one...I kind of wanted to wait for the AV or whatever will come out around the holidays this year.

Anyways, if any Mac genius has any other ideas that I could try, I'll do anything. I'm pretty computer/Mac-literate, but I'm just at the end of my rope here. Thanks,

Raleigh

4th Gen Click Wheel B&W, Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on Apr 14, 2006 9:50 PM

69 replies

Mitch 751

Level 6

11,644 points

May 19, 2006 7:14 AM in response to Pim Boers

Sorry to hear about it, hope that you will soon get a happy iPod.

filament

Level 1

13 points

May 27, 2006 11:09 PM in response to azwolfman

Can anyone say, "PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE

"

I'm not the paranoid type, but that we've all experienced these problems so close to the 1-year warranty expiration date makes me wonder whether these bugs weren't built in.

Jun 1, 2006 4:16 PM in response to Mitch 751

Hey, thanks for the suggestion. The "drop on carpet" method worked perfectly. My friend and i were at a loss for anything else to do.

Jun 5, 2006 1:44 AM in response to Tyler Connelly

I'm having the same problems with the firewire on my iPod. I won't work. I've tried all the proposed fixes (including the slap). And I have got it back to working... With the exception of firewire.

Is there any clear answer from Apple? I've taken my iPod to the "Genius Bar" twice and they were no help, other than suggesting I buy a new iPod. Thanks! I bought one already.

I'm buying into the bad update movement. Either way, the 4th gen iPod has been documented to have a higher failure rate then any other version: http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/ipodfailures.html

Until Apple honestly deals with the firewire or reliability problems on the 4th gen iPod, I will gladly keep using my USB port with my middle finger pointed toward Curpertino.

The iPod Video isn't a workable media player anyway. I'm not buying into the Apple hype machine. My 4th gen iPod is perfect for keeping all the music that I love to take with me. There's alot.

So, anyone who wants to chase after Steve Jobs as he's running down Wall Street trying to raise the stock price, go ahead and buy an iPod once a year. Frankly, I'm smelling something foul.

iPods don't last. Get use to it.

Dual Gig G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6) Pro-Tools Rig

Dual Gig G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6) Pro-Tools Rig

Jun 5, 2006 7:54 PM in response to raleighhimself

well I don't know if I'm having the "same" problem. I left my 4th gen 40GB at work over the weekend. today it seemed to have shut down (usually it's just sleeping) and I pressed the middle button. It started up (w/Apple logo) then asked me the default language. weird. all the settings defaulted to Restore-level. but it played, so what the heck. later I decided to update the music so iTunes was doing its thing when it reported a disk error. after trying again a few times and locking up iTunes (and nearly the computer but it was OK after I unplugged the ipod FW cable) I rebooted and reformatted the ipod using "zero out" option in disk utility and restoring it. I've now done this a couple of times (erased w/o zero option since once was enough and there weren't any errors reported). I restored w/ "iPod Updater 2005-11-17" and tried to copy music to it w/iTunes 6.0.4 (OS X) and now it's hung up on this one song for 20 minutes or so, and the blinking circle/slash symbol on the ipod screen is gone; it just says "do not disconnect".

I can't get the diagnostic to come up. after holding select+menu and waiting for the Apple logo I press select+rew/back/whatever (the |<< side) but nothing happens and the usual menu comes up.

so now I'm stuck. I'm not mad or anything; it's held up pretty well and survived a few drops over the past few years, but it was working fine until today. I don't want to buy a new one, at least not now since the video 'pod is due for an update real soon.

G5 2x2 2nd gen, 20 AlCinema Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Jun 5, 2006 8:03 PM in response to raleighhimself

OK, after iTunes failed to copy I stopped the sync and tried to use the eject function, but no luck, so I just unplugged it. now I get the folder icon when I try to start up the ipod.

grrr. no point in bothering with the 5 R's which seem a little silly after all this. oh well I guess I get to use my old Shuffle more now!

oh wait, it started up without the folder icon, but there's only one song on it even though iTunes got about 3.5GB into copying before it all hung up. so I guess it's hosed.

Mitch 751

Level 6

11,644 points

Jun 5, 2006 8:04 PM in response to born sleepy

Hello, I have the same experience, please try the following

C. Windows users having trouble with their iPods should locate a Mac user. In many cases when an iPod won't show up on a PC that it will show up on the Mac. Then it can be restored. When the PC user returns to his computer the iPod will be recognized by the PC, reformatted for the PC, and usable again. By the way, it works in reverse too. A Mac user often can get his iPod back by connecting it to a PC and restoring it.
Tips
a. It does not matter whether the format is completed or not, the key is to erase (or partly) the corrupted firmware files on the Hard Drive of the iPod. After that, when the iPod re-connected with a computer, it will be recognized as an fresh external hard drive, it will show up on the iPod updater.
b. It is not a difficult issue for a Mac user to find a window base computer, for a PC user, if they can’t find any Mac user, they can go to a nearest Apple Shop for a favor.
c. You may need to switch around the PC and Mac, try to do several attempts between “Format” and “Restore”
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2364921&#2364921

Jun 6, 2006 7:25 PM in response to Mitch 751

I got the diagnostics to come up and have been running the HD SCAN test over and over and now it seems to be stuck/frozen during the last scan, similar to how it locks up during sync when the blinky circle/slash stops blinking and the HD keeps spinning until I reset it.

there doesn't seem to be any sort of error reporting or retries (like MS-DOS: abort, retry, fail?). everything just hangs up til I disconnect the lil nimrod.

so I guess the drive's hosed if it freezes up during its own HD diagnostics. it passed the test a few times, though.

at this point I don't think using a PC to reformat the drive is going to do any good. I've already used Disk Util to zero-out the drive and Windows isn't going to do that any differently, but if I can find the USB cable I'll give it a shot.

KKler

Level 1

0 points

Jun 6, 2006 8:43 PM in response to raleighhimself

I have been having the same problem..... after updating my Ipod this morning on my pc at work, probably with the faulty update... I had the folder with the exclamation mark. My Ipod wouldn't let me do anything, it kept powering down, and then showing the apple web-site. I tried resetting my Ipod - it didn't work, I tried to restore my Ipod - it gave me an error message, my computer also would not recognize my Ipod.

I scoured all day on the web-site, tried everything in my "everything you need to know book" and nothing worked. After reading these posts, I got desperate and used a USB cable to hook my Ipod to my husband's PC (he also has an Ipod and his own music files on his computer)He had the 2006-01-10 update.

When I was prompted to update my Ipod, it finally allowed me to a restore. It actually worked - so far anyway. I have yet to try and transfer any music to it, or to plug it into my problematic pc at work.

Maybe this works PC to PC or Mac to Mac as well, if you have a friend with the right version of update and Itunes.

I wish everyone, including myself....all the luck~

Jun 8, 2006 8:21 AM in response to raleighhimself

Original post: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1858381&#1858381

Having the same problem on my PC with 4th gen. iPod/20GB. I don't know if this started when I updated iTunes or did the latest iPod updater, as I did them on the same day.

I consistently get through about 8 gigs (of 15 gigs) of the transfer (using Firewire) when the connection dies. What I have on the iPod at that point is all I get. To re-synch I have to re-format the iPod with the updater and reset the library.

This is insane. The iPod is 10 months old. I'm sure it's a software problem since before the iTunes/iPod update it seemed to work fine.

Unlike others on this thread, I'm not content to 'bin' the iPod every 10 months. If Apple will provide a fix for this, I'll happily re-consider my purchase of a video iPod, which I was looking into just as this happned. Right now, forget it. At least Microsoft supports their software with new updates after 90 days.

PC Windows XP Pro

Jun 10, 2006 10:14 PM in response to Strike3AM

if it's 10 months old you're under warranty. take it back.

Jun 12, 2006 6:52 AM in response to raleighhimself

I have had the exact problem listed here, ipod freezes, folder icon displayed, ipod freezes during updates from itunes, firewire cable connection very slow.

I removed the firewire connection, plugged in the USB connection into my ipod dock and then into my belkin USB port, and now my ipod updates automatically from iTunes without any freezes. I was able to get through all of my songs and it was much faster than my firewire had become.

Have you tried this?

What's up with this apple?

cleocat

Level 1

0 points

Jun 21, 2006 8:27 AM in response to raleighhimself

They are now offering an iPod with computer purchase!

Jsizzy

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2006 12:03 PM in response to raleighhimself

Ok I am having a similar problem as most of you but with a twist: I went through most of the steps short of erasing and partitioning my drive. My ipod Shows up in itunes, on the desktop and when disconnected I can force it into Disk mode but if want to play music (no trouble loading any amount of music, calendars and data files) I get a folder with an exclamation mark. How can I get rid of the folder? How can I get my iPod back?

I've done the 5 Rs and still no success. When I go to erase it I get a warning that it'll reduce iPod functionality. I assume to recover lost functionality I have to simply reinstall the ipod software?

Jul 10, 2006 8:26 PM in response to raleighhimself

For the record, I'm having the same problem. Worked until about 3 weeks ago. Then started hanging up while loading songs. Sometimes 2 or 3 tunes, somes a few thousand. Regardless when I rebooted the iPod only a few songs show. I'm using firewire as well.... seems to be a common thread. Going to try the erasure now.

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4th Gen iPod Users - are we all having the same problem?