2nd gen iPod shuffle not recognized by Yosemite or iTunes 12

I am running OS 10.8.5 on a 2007 Intel imac and updated to iTunes 12 and NOW have the connection recognition problem.

iTunes 12 does not seem to want to recognize an ipod shuffle, which is circa 2011. (I have no idea what the generation is)

I re-booted and re-opened iTunes and got it to recognize briefly.

But here is my issue:

Upon connection and recognition I receive and an error message telling me that the device should be connected to a usb port that is 2.0.

Well, I do not have one of those. I use the same usb ports on the back of the iMac to connect. I use the factory cable that came with the shuffle. There is no other option. These kind of backward compatibility issues are a bit frightening! I am always updating the playlists on this shuffle and it has ALWAYS worked. Only upgrading to iTunes 12 started to cause these problems,

Thanks for any advice.

An iMac from 2007 has USB 2.0 ports. It's one of the first aluminum iMac models. An iPod shuffle from 2011 is 4th gen (squarish clip-on); it is essentially still the current iPod shuffle model.

As a test, shut down (power off) your iMac and disconnect all USB devices, including any hub. Put the shuffle's power switch in the OFF position. Start up the iMac, run iTunes, and connect the USB docking cable (with mini dock) to a direct USB port on iMac, by itself. Any difference?

Kenichi,

THANK you very much for the help and guidance! Following your directions, step by step worked and resolved the unrecognizable 4th gen (2011) shuffle issue!

Even that strange error asking me to "connect to a 2.0 port" has disappeared. For the record, I was connecting to the same 2.0 port before my initial post.

Thank you. If you are NOT a professional doing this kind of IT work, then you SHOULD be.

On another matter, while I have you:

I have been reluctant to upgrade to the latest OS on my creaky old iMac (which I try to baby, back up often and take care of) because some older software that I use for work is not likely to be supported. It is recording software (I am a voice artist and narrator). I suspect I can replace it, but have dragged my feet since it all functions so well.

I remain at 10.8.5 and do feel stuck there. At the very least, could I upgrade only as far as 10.9? The OS "names" Apple uses confuse me, so I usually reference numbered versions.

Thanks for the advice AND the solution! 😀

For the record, I was connecting to the same 2.0 port before my initial post.

FYI, my suggestion was meant as a "test," so if the shuffle works properly as the only connected device, that may mean there is a USB-related conflict between the shuffle and some other device you previously had connected. Or, all of the devices you previously had connected may exceed the total power available on the iMac's USB bus. You can try connecting a combination of devices to see if the shuffle stops connecting again. Or, if you had not shut down (completely powered off) the iMac (instead of just restarting it), the iMac's hardware may have needed a "reset" to get things working properly again.

I remain at 10.8.5 and do feel stuck there. At the very least, could I upgrade only as far as 10.9?

If your iMac is the "mid-2007" iMac with an aluminum body, and not the earlier white plastic body iMac from 2006 (that you purchased in 2007), it can actually run the latest OS X (10.10) "Yosemite"

http://www.everymac.com/mac-answers/os-x-yosemite-faq/os-x-yosemite-compatible-m acs-system-requirements.html

if it meets system requirements (such as RAM). It's remarkable how far back support for Yosemite goes for iMacs.

Since you use your iMac professionally, if the iMac and the software you run are working properly now and meets your needs, you may want to keep it "as is." What you can do as a test, to see if your iMac will work acceptably for your professional needs, is to upgrade your current system to Yosemite on an external drive. If you have an external drive that can be erased, you can use it. For this purpose, FireWire 800 would be best, but FireWire 400 or USB 2.0 also works.

(Be sure to separately back up your valuable user data before the test.)

The test is to first "clone" your current system to the external drive, then set System Preferences Startup Disk pane to start up from it. You may already use this method to back up, so I won't go into the details. But you can reply back with questions on how to clone your system. Be sure to name the clone something obvious, to avoid confusion. When started up from the cloned "test disk," your iMac should work just like it does when starting up from the internal drive (except it may "feel" a bit slower).

Then, while started up from the test disk, run App Store and download the Yosemite installer. Run the Yosemite installer and confirm you have select the test disk (NOT your internal drive) as the target. After installation and start up, run App Store and install any available Apple software updates. NOTE: In Yosemite, system software updates are installed using App Store (on the Updates tab).

Then, try doing the things you normally do on your iMac, to see if they work acceptably or not.

NOTE: Since you are making a jump from 10.8 to 10.10, a better test may be to do a "clean" install of Yosemite on a blank external drive, then reinstall your third-party software, then restore your user data. But that's likely to be a huge "pain" just to test if Yosemite is acceptable for your iMac and work flow.

In any case, your usual internal drive system is not affected.

Hi again,

Alas,

I am not likely to follow these instructions, I have an external hard drive for Mac back-ups, and I use Time Machine for those.

But I do not own a spare one.

Yes, my Mac is circa "late-2007" Intel and so it probably COULD handle the upgrade. I pulled the memory cards and upgraded memory from 4 to 6GB, making it run a bit faster.

If I decide to invest in another one, i will post my question again in the proper discussion forum. I think that I will stand at 10.8.5 for now, and delay Yosemite installation.

Thanks for the ipod shuffle help! All seems to be working now, even with everything ELSE (usb hub, keyboard) plugged in!

If you feel you may, at some point, run Yosemite (10.10) on that iMac, you may want to download it now and not use it. It is possible that your iMac will no longer be supported by the next major (annual) OS X release after Yosemite. Once that "next" major release is out, you may not be able to download Yosemite.

Once you have downloaded it, it is considered a "purchase," and like all previous purchases, you can re-download it again from the Mac App Store's Purchases tab. On my Purchases tab, I see all the OS X installers for 10.10 back to 10.7. So, even if you download the Yosemite installer and then immediately delete it, you should be able to download it again from your Purchases tab on a future date.

😎 Thanks Kenichi. That's a very cool idea. I have been away from my desk, but will take this advice to heart and DOWNLOAD today ! A great tip.

Thanks again.

Deb

Have you tried to hard reset your ipod?

Instructions:

1. Toggle "Hold" from off > on > off

2. Press and hold the "Menu" & "Center" buttons

3. Release the buttons when the screen darkens itself

4. Wait (a few seconds) until the iPod menu screen reappears

you are posting in the wrong area, the iPod shuffle does not have screens.

The best fix for this is to plug it into an external USB hub with external power supply! works perfect then, I have tried everything!

I've had the same problem since Mavericks. Both of my 2nd Gen iPod Shuffles will not sync. In my situation I get repeated pop-ups "waiting for iPod" messages. I can see in Disk Utility that the iPod is not staying mounted. If I use Disk Utility to mount it, occasionally I can change the content but most of the time it continues to fail. I tried all the normal things, resetting it, also used the reset utility all to no avail. I did find a pain in the *** work around.

Using a bootable version of Snow Leopard partition that I maintain, the iPad will mount and I can change contents without a problem. I have iTunes 9 on the Snow Leopard partition. I add the content I'm interest in from my Yosemite iTunes Library and once it is on Snow Leopard I put it on the iPod. I've tested this running Snow Leopard under Parallels and it also works. I'm think it may also work with Mountain Lion (but have not tested), since that is the last operating system that would consistently work with these iPods.

I can connect my 2nd gen shuffle just fine on a MacBook running Mavericks. Unfortunately, I need to get rid of the Mavericks laptop, so using that isn't a great workaround. I've tried on both of my primary machines - a MacBook Pro (2015 model) and an iMac (2010 model), both running Yosemite v10.10.4 - and neither machine sees the shuffle at all (checked in System Information and nothing appears in the USB section). As a test, I've also tried on a Windows 7 machine, which does see the shuffle but I get an "Unable to install driver" message.

When plugged in directly, I get a single (very fast) orange light, then nothing. Some folks here suggested using a powered USB hub - that causes the shuffle to instead blink orange 3 times when connected, then the light goes out.

Any suggestions? The hub does appear to be causing something to change, can anyone shed any light on this?

I would purchase the current shuffle model if it would resolve the issue, but I'm not at all confident it will - has anyone else tried this?

*** SOLUTION ***

I haven't had a chance to read all the posts in this thread, but have been having the same problem with my iPod shuffle, 2nd generation, not being found when I try to load music in iTunes. It is strange because iTunes can see the iPod and let me restore it, erasing all the music I had on the iPod previously.

Anyway, what worked for me was simply restarting my iMac with the iPod plugged into the USB port. It was plugged into a hub, not directly into the computer. Once this happened, music was loaded with no errors.

Certainly does not hurt to mention it again. 🙂 (See very first reply.)

Hey Cab3262

Sync problem with 2nd generation Nano and 2007 iMac, new iTunes and El Capitan

i did what i have read is the solution for odd problems such as these i first solved the fact that my iPad would NOT recognize some USB flash drives by plugging my USB flash 2.0 drive into the iPad THROUGH a junky low power usb hub, and used the power connector as one post said.

to fix my iPod nano 2nd gen (no video, 32 pin connector )that iTunes 12.3.2.35 on a 2007 i mac with el capitan, i plugged the iPod in through the same low power junky usb hub and did NOT even use the power cord for the hub. Patiently, and it took about two minutes, this old nano appeared in iTunes AND on the desktop as a drive AND loaded all my music. I can only assume there is a power mismatch for the new iMac/ElCapitan/Itunes and the old Nano, and the junky micro USB hub fixes this.

I had spent 30" on the phone with support and they said it would not be supported since it was vintage. they had no solution.