IPod shuffle 2nd generation is not recognized. Support pages are not helping

iPods do not appear in Finder unless you have it set to Manually manage music or Enable disk use (in the shuffle's Summary screen in iTunes). So that may be OK.

If this is the first time you have installed iTunes 11.x, the sidebar (along left side of iTunes window) may be hidden. To show the sidebar, from the iTunes menu bar, under View, select Show Sidebar. The shuffle appears in the sidebar, under DEVICES, when connected.

If this is an older shuffle (2nd gen), make sure you are using the USB docking cable that came with it. A cable that is for the 3rd or 4th gen shuffle does not work with the older shuffle, because the connector is different.

Snow Leopard should not be a problem. According to the tech specs for a 2nd gen shuffle, it should work with Tiger (10.4.8 or later) and iTunes 7.4 or later.

http://support.apple.com/kb/SP27

Since that same USB docking cable and shuffle work properly on another computer, the problem is likely to be on the Mac. The odd thing is that your iPod nano works on that same Mac, connected to the same USB port.

It's possible that the shuffle requires more power to operate and charge its battery when connected, or there may be some USB device conflict that affects the shuffle and not the nano. As a test, to rule out this possibility, I would shut down (power off) the iMac. Disconnect all USB devices (including any hub) from the iMac, except for standard USB keyboard/mouse. Start up the iMac, run iTunes, and connect the shuffle to a direct USB port on the iMac.

If this makes it work, your usual combination of USB devices (plus shuffle) may exceed the power available on the USB bus. Or, there may have been a USB device conflict with one of the other devices. This may explain why you get one orange blink on the shuffle's light when you connect it to the iMac, and nothing after that.

An iPod's disk format type may be an issue, but only for the "big" iPods. shuffles are always formatted using the Windows format, whether it is used on a Mac or a Windows PC. In fact, even those other iPod models can be formatted for Windows (using the "FAT" format) and they will still work on Mac. This is because Macs can read and write the Windows format used on iPods. (The opposite is not true; iPods used with a Windows PC must be formatted for Windows, because Windows cannot read the Mac format.)

However, the act of doing a Restore is a good thing to try. Unfortunately, you cannot do a Restore on the shuffle using your Mac, because iTunes does not see it. But if you can use your wife's PC, where it worked early, and do a Restore on the shuffle there, you can try that, and then connect it to your Mac. Doing a Restore erases the iPod and gives it a "fresh start," so it may solve the problem.

Therefore,

Other support pages in Apple suggest rebooting in safe mode and then using the disc utility to change the formatting on the shuffle from DOS Fat to an Apple format.

does not apply for the shuffle. However, you should try booting into Safe Mode

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455

Then, run Disk Utility to see of the shuffle's disk appears in the Disk Utility sidebar. If it does, that may suggest that you have an extension loading (maybe a third-party driver) when you start up normally that interferes with the shuffle being recognized. You don't need to take any action on the shuffle, just see if it appears in Disk Utility when starting up in Safe Mode.

Here are two other test I can think of trying, to help narrow down the cause...

Create a new user account in System Preferences Accounts pane. It can be an Admin or Standard account. I keep a "Test User" account for troubleshooting. Log out and log in to the new user account. Do not use Fast User Switching. In the new user account, try running iTunes and see if the shuffle is recognized. If it is, that may suggest that there is something in your usual user account that is causing this problem. It may be a user preferences setting that is corrupted, or a background process that is set to run automatically when you log in. If there is no change in the new user account, the cause is more likely to be at the system level (not related to a particular user account).

The other test is to start up using your Snow Leopard installation disc. Insert disc and restart with the C key held down. This takes you to the Installer screen. Go up to the menu bar, and under Utilities, select to run Disk Utility. If you connect the shuffle now, its disk should appear in the Disk Utility sidebar. If it does, the problem may be caused by a system-level issue in your current Snow Leopard installation.

Since you have a nano, and it works fine, I think you have ruled out a problem with the USB port. And while troubleshooting, you should not use the spare USB port on the keyboard, because it may not provide sufficient power to reliably run the iPod and charge its battery.

I wasn't suggesting that you Enable disk use. I was only mentioning that the iPod not appearing in Finder may be fine (and not a symptom of the problem), depending on how it is currently set up.

However, it should obviously appear in iTunes when connected. Since your nano works properly when connected to iTunes using the same USB port, the two remaining possibilities are faulty USB docking cable and problem on the shuffle.

EDIT: I asked which shuffle you had... I did not notice you mentioned it is 2nd gen in the subject line.

When you connect the shuffle to the Mac, does the light on the shuffle come ON? If it does, what does it do?

Hi Ken and Frustrated,

Just to add info to the discussion. I am having the exact same problem. My 2GB 2nd gen shuffle works on my Win7 pc, but not on late-2012 Imac or my wife's 2010 Imac. One oddity though is my 1GB 2nd gen shuffle works fine on both macs and the pc! I don't know if it has anything to do with a support issue for the 2GB shuffle in itunes.

If either of you are able to figure it out, I would love to hear the solution!

Thanks!

I don't know if you tried all the suggestions previously mentioned in this topic, but if it works with one of your computers, connect it there and do a Restore on it using iTunes. As mentioned in this topic, shuffles are formatted using the Windows disk format even when used with a Mac, so it will not be a problem if you Restore it using a Windows PC and then use it with a Mac.

After doing the Restore, connect it to your Mac.

Unfortunately, I had already tried everything previously mentioned and none of it works.