Cannot sync 3 separate, brand new iPods from PC w/ flattened drives

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Level 1

29 points

Cannot sync 3 separate, brand new iPods from PC w/ flattened drives

I currently have a completely new 160GB iPod classic, provided new to me as a replacement from Apple Genius Bar. This replacement, like two new replacement devices and my original device before it, will appear to sync all of my music (and does so given Explorer's reported properties for the drive), but when is ejected in iTunes or Windows 7, it stalls on the "OK to disconnect" screen with a full progress bar, and if reset with menu+select it just loops through the Apple-logo booting screen.

I'm currently syncing against a less-then-one-year-old ASUS laptop PC with an install of Windows 7 x64 literally less than one day old, iTunes version 10.7.0.21, iPod software 2.0.4, and with all current Windows and third-party updates.

Solutions attempted:

Replaced four-year old 120GB iPod with 160GB iPod at a cost of about $130. I was assured that the shiny new iPod I was handed would not exhibit any of the problems I described, but it did, and so have to other two replacements I've tried
Disabling "disk use"
Tried all three USB 2.0 ports with no devices plugged into other USB ports and no USB hubs (did not attempt on USB 3.0 port)
Syncing in bursts of a thousand or so songs, and while it will work properly when ejected after each burst, the final sync against my entire library starts a boot loop
A brand new USB cable
Factory reset iPod, tried syncing in disk mode
Formatted iPod to default parameters within Windows, tried syncing in disk mode
Ran diagnostics looking for faults on disk or memory, found none
Running in DFU mode, but the current iteration of iPod doesn't seem to have this capability
Uninstalling and re-installing iTunes
Uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes and all Apple software and drivers
Uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes and all Apple software and drivers and when reinstalling, creating a completely new library
And in a last desperate effort, I have even flattened my PC's entire hard drive and restored it to factory settings, and tried syncing with literally only iTunes 10.7 installed

None of the above attempted solutions has shown any improvement. As I said, when I brought it to the Genius Bar with this issue, their solution as been to just keep replacing the iPods, but the problem is persistent through all three devices. Occasionally I will get it to the point where the main menu will load, but choosing any option causes an immediate reset and boot loop. It's hard to imagine there's really anything else it could be except:

All three of my USB ports and associated hardware went physically bad at the same time, yet can still operate other devices like external hard drives and printers, as well as carry 99GB of data over to my iPod, but for some reason cannot eject itself without incident

or

iTunes 10.X is somehow incompatible with Win7 x64 installations

Is there anywhere an older version of iTunes can be downloaded so I can see if it's a software issue? Or does anyone have a suggestion I have yet to try? I poured over these forums and cannot find any more suggestions. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

iPod classic, Windows 7, 160GB

Posted on Oct 30, 2012 4:35 PM

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Answer 1

planb77

Level 7

32,428 points

Nov 1, 2012 6:08 AM in response to David Kostyk

Whew. Time to catch your breath after that long post. 😝

I don't have too many suggestions for you, but I thought I would just mention anyways.

The first is, have you tried syncing or using this iPod with another PC running the latest version of iTunes to see if the problem persists there?

As for older version of iTunes, see here: http://www.oldapps.com/itunes.php

or

iTunes 10.X is somehow incompatible with Win7 x64 installations

Not true, but newer versions of iTunes have been known to cause many issues for other iPod Classic users over the past year or two.

Lastly, it might be worth checking to see to see if all the firmware, BIOS, and drivers for the machine are up to date. This will require a trip to the PC manufacturer's support site.

B-rock

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

272,725 points

Nov 2, 2012 2:34 AM in response to David Kostyk

It seems you've tried syncing in bursts which would have been one of my suggestions. I wonder if you need to take the same approach to the remainder of the library, or just how you are going about it. This is the process I normally suggest.

Break up large transfers

In iTunes select the menu item File... New Smart Playlist. Change the first drop-down box to Playlist, the next to is and the next to Music or whatever playlist holds the bulk of the content you want on your device. Tick against Limit to, type in say 10, then change the drop-down to GB, and set the last drop-down to artist. When you click OK you can enter a name for the playlist, e.g. Transfer.

Now sync this playlist to your iPod rather than your entire library. When the sync is complete modify the rule (File... Edit playlist) to increase the size by your chosen amount, then sync and repeat. You can experiment with different size increments, if it doesn't work just choose something a bit smaller until it works each time. Before long you should have all your music on your iPod. Once that's done you can move on to other media such as podcasts, videos, photos, playlists

Other things to eliminate from the mix would be anti-virus software. I would suggest excluding both the iPod's drive and the iTunes folder from real-time scanning.

Windows will often enable a feature called write-behind caching which is supposed to speed up file operations but means that data isn't always commited to disk even when the file system says that an operation has completed. I don't have access to a Windows 7 system just now so I'm not certain the control is in the same place but right-click the drive in Explorer and look at Properties > Hardware > Policies. Optimize for quick removal should be selected if possible.

The tool Unlocker may also be useful for confirming that all files are commited before you disconnect the drive.

tt2

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Answer 3

David Kostyk Author

Level 1

29 points

Nov 3, 2012 11:40 AM in response to planb77

Thanks for the response,

I have synced using most recent version of iTunes on another computer: syncs fine. The collection was about 1/10 the size of mine, but it worked. BIOS and all other related firmware are up-to-date per manufacturer's drive page.

And if iTunes has been known to case issues for people with iPod classics over the past few year, why have the problems not been addressed?

Thanks for trying though!

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Answer 4

David Kostyk Author

Level 1

29 points

Nov 3, 2012 11:52 AM in response to turingtest2

As I stated in my original post, I literally formatted the hard drive to system settings, removed bloatware, installed iTunes 10.7, restored old library (or made new one), and finally synced my iPod. If there were ever a scenario in which it should sync properly, it would be on a system that's about 30 minutes old.

I also tried syncing in bursts, and as I stated, the final sync against every item in iTunes is what bricks it, regardless of playlist scenereos. Even when I just give it enough room to let everything on with a smart playlist, it seems to sync against the ".itl" file, not against it's own metric. Notwithstanding that an item as expensive and highly-touted as iPod should seemlessly work with it's own syncing software, regardless of platform. It's not like I'm trying to sync it in Winamp or something.

I did not, however, try changing the write caching settings. It was set by default to "Quick removal," but I will still try "Better performance" setting just to see if it affects anything.

Again, thanks for any and all replies.

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Answer 5

planb77

Level 7

32,428 points

Nov 5, 2012 7:21 AM in response to David Kostyk

Just to be sure that is an issue just with your own PC, have you tried syncing one of these problematic iPods to another PC or Mac running iTunes?

B-rock

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