Classic iPod Gets Stuck Synchronizing with iTunes
I have a silver 80 Gig iPod Classic (which I sync to iTunes on my MacBook) that I started having some problems with at the end of last year. It seemed like the HDD was damaged b/c I had "restored it to original settings" and from that point on, it could never finish synchronizing with iTunes. You can see the full thread of my posting at this link:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/26581728/Can-I-Run-Disk-Utility-on-my-Video-iPod.html
I put this iPod away and went back to using an older model 30 Gig iPod that I still had lying around. But just this week I took the silver iPod to a service center where they installed a brand-new 80 Gig HDD. So I would have presumed that since this is a brand-new HDD that should be 100% error-free, everything would be fine. Unfortunately, it is not! I'm basically still having the same problem. iTunes will sync about 3200 songs (I have about 10,000 in total) just fine, but then will grind to an incredibly slow rate of uploading the songs...about 10 min or more per song!
Interrupting this painful sync requires that I Force Quit iTunes and unplug the iPod from the USB port w/o being able to properly eject. Then when I restart iTunes and plug the iPod back in, I get a message that the iPod seems to be corrupted and needs to be restored, which I do and then the whole painful cycle begins again.
What the hell could be causing this problem? I just don't understand what is happening here!
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/26581728/Can-I-Run-Disk-Utility-on-my-Video-iPod.html
I put this iPod away and went back to using an older model 30 Gig iPod that I still had lying around. But just this week I took the silver iPod to a service center where they installed a brand-new 80 Gig HDD. So I would have presumed that since this is a brand-new HDD that should be 100% error-free, everything would be fine. Unfortunately, it is not! I'm basically still having the same problem. iTunes will sync about 3200 songs (I have about 10,000 in total) just fine, but then will grind to an incredibly slow rate of uploading the songs...about 10 min or more per song!
Interrupting this painful sync requires that I Force Quit iTunes and unplug the iPod from the USB port w/o being able to properly eject. Then when I restart iTunes and plug the iPod back in, I get a message that the iPod seems to be corrupted and needs to be restored, which I do and then the whole painful cycle begins again.
What the hell could be causing this problem? I just don't understand what is happening here!
Windows or MAC ipod?
Mine is Mac based.
ASKER
@gheist. Originally I was synching this iPod to my Windows XP laptop. Then when I bought a MacBook in late 2009, I moved it over to that.
Since I had the hard drive replaced on this iPod, I have only been trying to sync w/ my MacBook.
Since I had the hard drive replaced on this iPod, I have only been trying to sync w/ my MacBook.
Initializing from Windows may leave it with FAT32 with 4k blocks and crawling through FAT bigger than memory.
Flashing FW and formatting from MAC will make your iPod happier (but do not try if you bought the music, it may need more "steps")
I still do not get how "synchronisation" is better from normal mobile phones with a usb connected FAT disk where you can copy all your collection?
(i had one media player, i used it for very short time with rockbox firmware before getting hands on decent mobile phone in year 2003). Now I have a phone which also makes me proud for never buying GPS in the meantime.
Flashing FW and formatting from MAC will make your iPod happier (but do not try if you bought the music, it may need more "steps")
I still do not get how "synchronisation" is better from normal mobile phones with a usb connected FAT disk where you can copy all your collection?
(i had one media player, i used it for very short time with rockbox firmware before getting hands on decent mobile phone in year 2003). Now I have a phone which also makes me proud for never buying GPS in the meantime.
When you "moved" your iPod to the MacBook, did you do a restore or have you done a complete erase and restore since having this problem?
With my Classic, I have done multiple restores including complete re-formatting using Disk Utility followed by a restore within iTunes. It has made no difference to the problem. Unfortunately, these Classics are well out of warranty and so no one is available to ask. My guess is that if you took it to a Genius Bar, they would tell you to 1) do a restore, 2) do and erase and restore and then 3) replace the hard drive. None of which fix the problem.
With my Classic, I have done multiple restores including complete re-formatting using Disk Utility followed by a restore within iTunes. It has made no difference to the problem. Unfortunately, these Classics are well out of warranty and so no one is available to ask. My guess is that if you took it to a Genius Bar, they would tell you to 1) do a restore, 2) do and erase and restore and then 3) replace the hard drive. None of which fix the problem.
Check if you have the latest code version (sure use iTunes 10.4 in all your trades)
http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/
Reinitialization sequence seems right. Maybe try like 1000 files at a time or so...
Rockbox? It sort of gets sound out where needed, ask their forums for drawbacks. For me - i had nothing to lose except rechargeable AAA batteries....
http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/
Reinitialization sequence seems right. Maybe try like 1000 files at a time or so...
Rockbox? It sort of gets sound out where needed, ask their forums for drawbacks. For me - i had nothing to lose except rechargeable AAA batteries....
ASKER
@willmcn. I'm not sure how I originally transferred my iTunes library from my Win laptop to the MacBook? I may have done it directly from iPod to Macbook using a program like Senuti. Or I might have transferred the files from laptop to laptop using an external HDD. Can't remember as it was 2 years ago. In any case, all this mess started about 8 months ago when I first noticed that certain songs were missing from my iPod. The syncing always seemed to work fine w/o error messages. And yet, there were some songs present in iTunes, but not on the iPod. I brought my iPod into TekServe here in Manhattan to have them take a look. The tech said it seemed like everything was OK w/ it hardware-wise. She said maybe there was some file corruption and recommended that I do a full wipe & restore on the iPod to address the issue. Of course, that ended up being terrible advice as that is when the iPod started consistently crashing during each synching after about 3000 songs.
@gheist. Thanks for that link, but all that firmware seems to apply only to iTouch models, not to classic iPods like mine. I do believe I have the latest firmware as iTunes claims the iPod is up-to-date.
@gheist. Thanks for that link, but all that firmware seems to apply only to iTouch models, not to classic iPods like mine. I do believe I have the latest firmware as iTunes claims the iPod is up-to-date.
ASKER
@gheist. Interesting suggestion on using Rockbox on this iPod. Had never considered that. Does Rockbox integrate nicely with iTunes. Would prefer to stick w/ iTunes on my MacBook since I have over 11,000 songs on it.
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ASKER
I believe I've tried reformatting the iPod using Disk Utility before. But I'll give it another go.
Disks of that era do ~10..20MB/s thus you might need to wait up until 2h for disk format or for synchorinization...
ASKER
I was going to go ahead and give Rockbox a try, but unfortunately, my particular iPod model is NOT supported.
http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/ReleaseNotes391
They say it is well working, i have no better information, maybe ask why it does not work with yours in their forums.
They say it is well working, i have no better information, maybe ask why it does not work with yours in their forums.
ASKER
OK. Maybe I'll see if there are any plans to make it compatible with my iPod. Otherwise, guess I'm SOL.
http://www.freemyipod.org/wiki/EmCORE
(or alternatively search google or your favorite search engine for: ipod classic rockbox)
(or alternatively search google or your favorite search engine for: ipod classic rockbox)
ASKER
Thanks gheist. Tried following that Wiki guide you sent me in the above link.
Was able to get emCore installed and got installed-ipodclassic.ubi file copied on to UMShoot volume. But was not able to copy the contents of rockbox-ipodclassic.zip to the iPod b/c the volume does not appear on my Windows 7 laptop. iPod doesn't show up at all on laptop.
Was able to get emCore installed and got installed-ipodclassic.ubi file copied on to UMShoot volume. But was not able to copy the contents of rockbox-ipodclassic.zip to the iPod b/c the volume does not appear on my Windows 7 laptop. iPod doesn't show up at all on laptop.
Ask the community around the emcore (they suggest you ask if something does not go smoothly)
I can only confirm that alternate GSM firmwares work well, thus trying to reassure you that volunteers at emcore+rockbox work to make your life better)
I can only confirm that alternate GSM firmwares work well, thus trying to reassure you that volunteers at emcore+rockbox work to make your life better)
ASKER
OK, gheist. I will post something on their community page and see if I can get some help. In the meantime I'm going to close this question out. Thanks to everyone for their help.
I don't have any specific suggestions except some troubleshooting tips to narrow the problem down. Try syncing with a smaller number of songs and then do incremental additional syncs that add songs to see if there is a specific limit, either in capacity of number of songs. Also try doing it with syncing music only and nothing else. Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck.