smt data from diagnostics

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Level 1

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smt data from diagnostics

Hello,
Can anyone interpret the following info from the diagnostics run on my 20G ipod? The 'smt data' returned with the following:
retracts 84
reallocs 227
pending 541

This was immediately after I reformatted the ipod. The HDD R/W passes and all other tests pass except the HDD scan is still running after an hour and 45 minutes.

Is this thing dead? I assume the smt data refers to bad sectors on my hard drive.

Why would so many folks with 4th generation ipods be having the same problem around the same time?

thanks for any help interpreting the smt data.

Stacey Street

4gen 20G Windows XP Pro

Posted on Jun 8, 2006 6:40 AM

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Answer 1

btabz

Level 7

26,655 points

Jun 8, 2006 4:36 PM in response to street

See what the HD Scan says.

Also, why are you running the scan? What is your iPod doing?

btabz

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Answer 2

street Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 10, 2006 6:03 AM in response to street

Thanks for your reply. My hd scan never would complete after 4 hours. It is only a 20G, shouldn't have taken that long unless there were major problems with the hard drive.

My ipod was doing what just about everyone else on the discussion board's ipod is doing. Sad icon, wouldn't charge, couldn't be recognized in either windows or itunes. I did the 5R's multiple times, finally got it to reset, then restored it with the 3/23 update, then later restored with the 1/10 update, did a reformat or two and then finally back to november. Each restore would let me load about 1.8 gig of music and then would stop. i could play the music but when i reconnected to add or change things out it wasn't recognized and i had to start back over on all of the restore, reformat, etc. Has been an extremely frustrating 4 weeks.

I finally broke down and bought a new 30G yesterday. i love my ipod and hate my ipod and apple. Apple has always had a good reputation compared to microsoft. i expected to get years of joy out of my 20G not 16 months. If there were another product that would easily substitute with itunes i would have bought it.

If anyone can tell me that my 20G can be salvaged beyond the 1.8 that it will load I'll gladly do whatever it takes and give it to my husband (nice of me huh).

anyway thanks for any help you can give me.
Stacey Street

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Answer 3

Jun 10, 2006 8:02 AM in response to street

Hi Stacey,

Although I can't help with the SMT data, I CAN recommend an alternative to iTunes. If you've ever used Winamp, you'll know how useful a media player it is. I find the media library to be much better than iTunes. And, since it's basically open-source (albeit a Premium version exists), there are loads of free plug-ins available. And one of those is an iPod plug-in.
I stopped using Winamp a while ago as it was playing havoc with my dodgy graphics card. However, in that time, I found mlipod to be an invaluable tool in using my iPod. It's available from:
www.mlipod.com
You'll need Winamp 5 or above to use it, but it's fully-featured and copying music to (and from!) the iPod is quick and easy. Also, this feature is now completely integrated into Winamp 5.2 and above.
Also, you might need the M4P plug-in for Winamp if you use iTunes downloaded music - it's basic, but allows playback of protected files. Winamp can play M4A (unprotected files of the same family) files by default, but not M4P. I'm sorry, but I can't find the website. The link from Will Fisher's page doesn't work, and the iPod page on Wikipedia from which I found it has been restyled and the link removed. I do have the original installation file, so if you would like to try this method, please e-mail me:
robjohnson2005@hotmail.co.uk

Hope this helps,
Rob Johnson

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