Synched my ipod classic, now it's blank

Question

Synched my ipod classic, now it's blank

I have a 160 GB Classic ipod just synched it a couple weeks ago without problem (on my MacBookPro with Mac OS X 10.7.5 and current ITunes update). Then, a few days ago, I plugged it into my laptop, it looked like it synched, but at the end said something about not being able to read/write a disc on the device. When I tried to use it next, it tells me there is '0' music or podcasts. I plugged it in last night, restored it, then synched it again. After 2 hours of what looked like successful synching, it again gave me the same message about not being able to read/write and a disc. Again, the ipod looks empty. But I did just notice that it says it has 87.8 GB free, when I go to the settings.

[I did notice that itunes was really slow/glitchy the last time I plugged my ipod in. And, as I was trying to log in here to apple, to ask the question, I discovered that my password and info didn't match my email address (so I just changed that, again, after having the same problem years ago). Don't know if that has anything to do with it, but thought I would mention it.]

Is my beloved ipod dead, or is there hope? Thank you for any help you can give me!

iPod classic, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Oct 13, 2016 8:06 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 15, 2016 11:09 AM in response to Insert Favorite Name Here

Your email/password for signing in is your Apple ID. It's not likely to be related, because media player iPods (like your iPod classic) are not directly associated with your Apple ID.

Since you already tried doing a Restore, it's possible that your iPod's hard drive is becoming unreliable. A portion of its storage media may be is faulty, at the point that is reached after about 2 hours of syncing. When iTunes tries to write new data there, it fails and causes that error (and also causes data corruption).

Put iPod into Disk Mode

How to put your iPod into disk mode - Apple Support

On the Mac, quit iTunes if it's running, and run Disk Utility, then connect iPod. Does the iPod appear in Disk Utility's sidebar? If it does, you can try erasing iPod's hard drive using Disk Utility, then do another Restore in iTunes. If you run Mac OS X 10.7.5, it uses an older version of Disk Utility (I need to run my older Mac to remind myself how 🙂 )

In Disk Utility, select the iPod device in sidebar. If you see a volume indented below the iPod device, select the device (not the volume). To the right, click on Partition tab. For Volume Scheme, select 1 partition. Name does not matter. Set Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Click Options button. Choose partition scheme of Apple Partition Map, and click OK. After confirming you have iPod selected in sidebar, click Apply to erase (re-initialize) iPod's hard drive. It should take less than one minute to complete.

When procedure completes, quit Disk Utility and run iTunes. iPod's hard drive is now completely blank, so you must do a Restore, whether you are prompted or not. After the Restore, try syncing your library again. You may want to initially sync a smaller number of songs, like a few albums worth, as a test. If that works, do your usual "entire library" sync. Hopefully, it gets passed that "2 hour" point.

If there are problems along the way, or the same problem occurs, please post back with more details.

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Answer 2

Oct 17, 2016 5:57 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Thank you for responding Kenichi. I followed all the instructions. When I synced just a few albums, all of them made it onto the ipod. But when I tried to sync my entire library again, there was a failure. The few albums I had synced prior still showed up and were in the ipod. I re-tried everything in your instructions in case I had messed up, but still no luck. I did notice that itunes seemed to get stuck in the podcasts (it would show syncing the same podcast for a very long time), which are last to download after music, even when I didn't try to sync all of my music. I had to force quit iTunes a couple times when this happened, not knowing how else to end the process/make it move on from being stuck. I do not think there was a message about not being able to write/read the disk this time (but I wasn't watching the whole time either).

Any further ideas? Thank you for all of the clear instructions so far.

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Answer 3

Oct 18, 2016 5:08 PM in response to Insert Favorite Name Here

I think my previous guess may be correct. There's a portion of the hard drive's media that is faulty, and when iTunes tries to write to that portion, it fails, causing the symptoms you describe. A smaller sync (with a few albums) works, because it does not get to that faulty portion.

So, you may be able to load it "half way" (or wherever the failure point occurs). Unfortunately, after the initial sync, iTunes probably does not write new data "consecutively" to the iPod's hard drive, so you may encounter the failure again at any time, even if you remove songs to add new ones.

If you want to keep using your iPod (without this issue), the hard drive component is no longer produced; you can consider replacing the hard drive with flash-based storage, in the form of commonly available compact flash or SDXC card, on an adapter. For 5th gen and later "classic" iPods, this web site has relevant information

https://www.iflash.xyz/

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Answer 4

Oct 18, 2016 5:10 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

That's very helpful. Thank you!

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