ipod wont stay connected and icon disappears from finder

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54 points

ipod wont stay connected and icon disappears from finder

I have a new 80g video ipod, have had it for about three weeks. Up until today all was fine, but now it won't stay connected to itunes after updating files. It connects, shows up on the desk top for a few seconds, updates any new files and then just drops out. It keeps the do not disconnect screen for a few seconds, then the red warning logo disappears and after that i can not do anything with the ipod in itunes. The ipod music list is greyed out and I can't add any new photos or change anything. The only thing I have done differently since it was last working ok was I connected my camera using the camera connector and uploaded some pictures from that.
I have done a reset and now a restore but that hasn't helped.
is the problem with the ipod or itunes? What can I do?

macbook white 2ghz, Mac OS X (10.4.6), default ram and hard drive

Posted on Nov 26, 2006 2:32 AM

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Answer 1

12frets56 Author

Level 1

54 points

Nov 26, 2006 6:38 AM in response to 12frets56

Sorry, this may be a case of "always read the manual first"!
I think that what I thought was a fault with the ipod was in fact due to the default preference for auto syncing being enabled. As I had my previous ipod set to manual update I was used to being able to make changes to the ipods lists whilst connected, but as my new ipod is still set to automatically sync I now realise that this is why the ipods list was greyed out. In this mode it appears that it is usual that as soon as you connect, itunes updates any changes and then disconnects and the red "do not disconnect" screen on the ipod goes. If there were no new additions or changes to playlists made since the last time you connected, the sync will only take a few seconds and then the ipod screen goes back to the menu list. Also, because in auto sync the ipod will be updated with a copy of your itunes contents, the ipod's list is greyed out due to the fact that you are not able to make changes independently from your itunes list. (i.e. you have to make the changes in itunes in order for these to be replicated on the ipod).
In order to keep connected and be able to alter things on the ipod list you have to have the preference set to manually update. Then the ipods contents are not greyed out and you can add, delete and change playlists without doing this in your main itunes on the computer.
So I think I have answered my own question, unless I am still misunderstanding something here, and the moral is, download and read the manual properly before worrying that there is something wrong with the machine!
I still think its a bit weird that the ipod icon disappears from he desktop though as I thought it would be at least recognised as being attached even if not in disc mode. Should it still show in the finder anyway?

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