My iPod Classic told me to reformat immediately. I have tried to re-set. How do I re-format?
I also get a message saying my iPod does not have permission to sync with my Mac. I've had both for 2+ years and sync'd them many times. Is this associated with the need to re-format?
iPod classic 160GB (Late 2009)
It may have said to do a Restore, not "reformat." If the iPod still appears in iTunes when connected, the Restore is done from the iPod's Summary screen in iTunes. There is a button there for Restore.
If the iPod does not currently appear in iTunes, try putting the iPod into Disk Mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1363
If the iPod goes into Disk Mode, run iTunes on the Mac and connect the iPod. iTunes may prompt you to do a Restore, which you should do. If the cause of this problem is data corruption, not a hardware problem on the hard drive, the Restore should give the iPod a "fresh start." If should appear in iTunes after the Restore completes, where you can set it up to sync as before.
Here's more info about doing a Restore, if you need it.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1339
Thank you for addressing my problem.
I've followed your advice, i.e. I've "restored" the iPod and am now in a lengthy synching process. (I had to go thru this process a few weeks ago, when my iPod froze.)
But prior to restoring the same Warning Message appeared again to say:
"OS X can’t repair the disk “my iPod.” You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can’t save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
I've gone ahead with your advice and am restoring, but the message implies a formatting issue. And it sounds serious.
Can you advise re reformatting the disk?
That warning is a general message from the system, not from iTunes. You would get this same message if you connected an external hard drive that has data corruption issues. It's saying to save off whatever data you can (that's important and not already backed up) and then reformat the hard drive using Disk Utility.
This message appears while iTunes is doing the Restore, or when you connect the iPod (before starting the Restore)? If it happened when you connected the iPod, that is just confirming that that iPod's hard drive has data corruption. Doing the Restore should fix the data corruption by erasing the hard drive. It's equivalent to using Disk Utility to reformat (erase) a regular hard drive.
However, if the cause of the data corruption is the iPod's hard drive becoming unreliable, doing a Restore will not fix it. If it had a problem a few weeks ago that required a Restore, and it needs another Restore now, that could be a hardware problem on the iPod. Hopefully, after this Restore, the iPod will function reliably for the long term.
Hi Kenichi,
I thought the restore went well... until I tested a re-connect with my Mac. I'm getting the Error Message that says I "do not have privileges to make changes."
Is there a step in the restore that provides "privileges" that I missed?... Or does this indicate a hardware problem on my iPod?
Thank you again for helping me with this. I use my iPod a lot. Your assistance is much appreciated.
That could be the iPod's hard drive becoming unreliable. Does the iPod operate and play songs when disconnected?
That error should not apply to iPods, and is not related to iTunes. It is a general system message. You may get it with an external drive volume, if it was set up to only be accessible from certain user accounts, but that should not happen with an iPod.
If the iPod appears on the Desktop, right-click it and select Get Info. In the Info window, at the bottom, click the small "lock" icon and give your admin user account name and password. There is a checkbox there for Ignore ownership on this volume. Check that box.
That is how to make a hard drive volume accessible, but again, it should not happen with an iPod after doing a Restore.
how to reformat iPod classic
