5th Gen Ipod classic Harddrive switch out (exchange)

Question

5th Gen Ipod classic Harddrive switch out (exchange)

I switched out a perfectly working 30 gig harddrive (with all my coveted music on it) into another good working 5th gen Ipod I bought for this very purpose. Reason being was that my ' coveted music' ipod stopped giving out sound. My coveted music ipod harddrive was playing and working properly right up until I made the switch. Now everything is ready to go and it turns on etc. except the display is asking me to now 'connect to my computer and use I tunes to restore !!' Did I lose all my songs ??I even played the no sound ipod before I made the switch just to make sure songs were there and the hardrdrive was functional which is was. I don't want to restore until I exhaust all avenues to bring back my music. Shouldn't my music still be on the harddrive ? I did not format it, just made a switch over. Any help ? Thanks

iPod classic, Other OS

Posted on Apr 6, 2014 7:37 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 11, 2014 4:19 AM in response to bonecrusherz71

The 5th gen iPod "video" had different versions of its logic board, so the second one you transplanted the hard drive into may have a different logic board version. Therefore, the hard drive itself is compatible, but maybe not the iPod's software (or other aspect of its data) on that hard drive. That may be why the iPod is asking you to do a Restore (which will erase the iPod, reinstall its software, and set it to default settings).

If you did not do a Restore, the your song files are probably still there. Instead of trying to preserve it on an iPod, which is risky because an iPod can become lost, broken, or in need of a Restore, you should offload your songs onto your computer's drive, and add everything to your iTunes library.

You cannot use iTunes to transfer song files from iPod to computer, except for songs purchased from the iTunes Store. However, there are third-party methods and utilities that can transfer from iPod to computer. If you do an Internet search on something like "ipod transfer," you should get some links. (The CNET article seems to be popular.)

Once the song files are on your computer's drive, add them to your iTunes library. After confirming everything is there, do the Restore on the iPod and sync it to that library. Going forward, keep a copy of ALL of your songs in your iTunes library. (Don't trust an iPod with your only copy of songs.)

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