iTunes Freezes, Can't Restore Classic

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iTunes Freezes, Can't Restore Classic

Hello everyone,

I have a really big problem and I am kind of freaking out at the moment. A little over an hour ago I updated my podcasts on my 120 GB iPod Classic, as I normally do, and everything went fine. However, once I ejected the device everything was deleted--the podcasts as well as all of my music. Minor nuisance, but I figured all I need to do is plug it back in and throw everything back on the iPod. Should be simple, right? Well, no, because here I am an hour later with an iPod that still has absolutely nothing on it. Here's what happens:

Plug in the iPod
Says the iPod is Connected
Shows the Connected screen with the rotating wheel.
iTunes freezes and is completely unresponsive until I disconnect the USB.

I have no idea what I am supposed to do in this situation. I can't restore the device to its factory settings because I can't navigate iTunes and I'm... I'm just stuck. My iPod is what helps me with anxiety and at the moment it's just making it worse because I don't think there's anything I can do, which is why I'm here (I'm not paying $30 for tech support, Apple. Bite me.) Does anyone have any suggestions? I am running the latest version of iTunes on Windows 7.

Sincerely,

Joseph

iPod classic, Windows 7

Posted on Oct 3, 2015 11:45 PM

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Answer 1

JR1228 Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 4, 2015 12:27 AM in response to JR1228

Hello everyone, it's me again. After I posted this, I continued looking, and I finally found a solution: Put the iPod into disk mode. Because this is regarding the Classic, I will post the steps here, but the instructions for other models can be found here.

If necessary, verify that your iPod has a Click Wheel.
Before placing the iPod into Disk Mode, verify that it is charged.
Toggle the Hold switch on and off (set it to Hold, then turn it off again.)
Press and hold the Menu and Select buttons for at least six seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
When the Apple logo appears, release the Menu and Select buttons and immediately press and hold the Select and the Play/Pause buttons until the Disk Mode screen appears.
Connect the iPod to your computer; the screen on the iPod will should say "Do not disconnect".

Hopefully this helps anyone else who may run into this issue.

Sincerely,

Joseph

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Answer 2

Oct 5, 2015 8:08 PM in response to JR1228

I'm having the exact same issue on Windows 8 with an iPod classic. It freezes iTunes and that can't even be stopped from the Task Manager. Disk Mode did not work. I've uninstalled and deleted all files and reinstalled. I've updated drivers. I've now tried Disk Mode. The problem is that iTunes freezes immediately and doesn't unfreeze when the iPod is removed. I can't reset the iPod to factory settings and I'm not even sure that I'd want to at this point out of fear that I wouldn't be able to get the thing connected to add the music back on. That would essentially leave me with a paper weight worth several hundred dollars.

What else is there? This can't be a coincidence that so many people are having this issue in all the forums. Some of them go back to October 2014. You can't tell me that Apple hasn't created a patch to fix this in that length of time. Frankly, this seems like a load of BS to get us all to buy new iPods.

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

278,297 points

Oct 6, 2015 12:49 AM in response to Shark_Attack

See Re: Corrupt iPod classic. What are the stats?

tt2

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Answer 4

Oct 6, 2015 9:20 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks. But that didn't work either.

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

278,297 points

Oct 6, 2015 9:29 AM in response to Shark_Attack

What are the numbers? If your device has unreadable clusters that hold crucial information such as the root folder or the device's database then freezes or BSODs are the likely result. If the stats are healthy then cable or driver issues become a possibility.

tt2

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