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iPod 3rd Gen 30gb wont sync with iTunes, but works fine and shows up in windows explorer

Hi, My sister-in-laws ipod classic 3rd gen ipod is being wierd. Therres a few problems. First and foremost when we plug it into her windows XP laptop and open the latest version of itunes, which we uninstalled and reinstalled the message "The software required for this ipod is not installed correctly. Please reinstall itunes to install the required software." which we allready did. I also did everything in this article http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1363?viewlocale=en_US but when i selected the usbappl file as the driver it didnt reconize it as a driver. I also ran itunes dianostics and restarted the apple mobile device service and fixed all other issues. The ipod shows up fine in the windows explorer any help is appreciated.

iPod classic, iOS 1.x, iPod classic 3rd gen on os 1.2.1

Posted on Apr 20, 2013 8:26 AM

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3 replies

Apr 20, 2013 8:18 PM in response to Dungondude

The (full-sized) iPod 3rd gen needs to be connected to a FireWire port to work reliably and charge at the same time. This iPod has a touch wheel (not click wheel) with four separate control buttons in a row, that glow orange. It is called iPod (dock connector) in this article


http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1353


That model is the first with the dock connector, but it is designed to be connected to FireWire (not USB) using the included FireWire docking cable. If you are connecting it to a USB port, that may explain the problems.


Is that the iPod model you have?

Apr 24, 2013 8:05 AM in response to Dungondude

That is a 4th gen iPod, and it should work with a USB port (or a FireWire port).


If you have not done a standard Restore on the iPod using iTunes, you may want to do that next. The Restore button is on the iPod's Summary screen in iTunes. This will erase the iPod, re-install its software, and set it to default settings. So, if the cause is related to software (or data corruption), and there is no hardware issue, a Restore should fix it.


WARNING: The 4th gen iPod (when used on a USB port) will ask that you connect it to a USB power adapter as the last step in the Restore process. These white square power adapters originally came with this model. If you don't have an Apple USB power adapter, you will not be able to complete the Restore, and the iPod will become non-functional. So don't do it unless you have one. A third-party power adapter may or may not work for this purpose. The USB port on your computer does not work for this purpose.

iPod 3rd Gen 30gb wont sync with iTunes, but works fine and shows up in windows explorer

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