80GB iPod Classic in "Use iTunes to Restore" Loop

Hey all,

I've got an 80GB iPod Classic that started giving me trouble a couple of days ago. I restored the iPod using iTunes and now I get a message on the iPod screen that reads "Use iTunes to Restore" and it keeps cycling on and off. When trying to connect to iTunes, I have to flip the hold switch on and off and hold Menu and the Center Button for iTunes to recognize it. When I do this I get "iTunes needs to prepare your iPod for recovery. Please leave your iPod connected." When I hit okay, however, iTunes quits unexpectedly. I've tried this several times with the same results every time.

I was sucessful at one point in erasing the disk using Disk Utility, however, now I can't even get it to show up in disk utility. Please Help!