IPod does not respond at all when plugged in

Question

Alright, this topic is for people who have had this exact problem only. I don't want to get this confused with other problems and have people trying to help troubleshoot multiple problems and get things mixed up. Here's the problem.
After updating to v1.1.2 of the iPod software, the iPod does not respond when plugged in. The iPod still works fine when not plugged in. It plays music and both the standard and shuffle play modes work accordingly. The problem is when you plug the iPod in, it doesn't charge and it doesn't mount. The orange blinking light does not come on. While plugged in, it works the same way as it does when you're listening to music with it. It's as if the iPod's USB connector is dead. Here is my original post and description of the problem.
Alright, so here's my story. I bought my 512MB Shuffle in April. It has worked perfectly fine since I got it. Last night, I updated to v1.1.2 of the iPod software, clicked no when it asked if I wanted to restart, added some songs to the iPod, then restarted. As of this morning, I went to listen to some music while out for a bike ride, and I was greeted with the red battery light. I thought it was a bit odd since I had left it plugged in overnight. I figured, what the heck, I'll just plug it in and let it charge when I get back. When I got back, I plugged it into my PC and left for a while. I came back later and went to grab my Shuffle and I noticed it was cold, which was unusual after charging for a couple hours. I plugged it back in, a bit frustrated, and it never came up in Windows. I looked at the iPod plugged into the back of my PC (a high powered USB port) and sure enough, no orange light. No lights at all. I can still slide the switch to one of the play modes (standard play or shuffle) and play music for a couple seconds before it stops and says the battery's dead again. It works.. I mean it turns on and plays music, it's just not charging or mounting when I plug it in. I tried multiple computers and USB ports, none of which worked. I would really like some help with this considering it IS my only source of portable music and I'm not going to go pay $50 to talk to tech support or have it sent in for repairs. That's half of what it's worth.
I've tried uninstalling all iTunes/iPod related software from the PC I normally use it on and reinstalling it. That didn't work. I also tried uninstalling again and installing the last known working version of the iPod software, still no results. The only thing I havn't tried is giving it a good beating... Not that I would. Anyways, I hope there's a solution to this that doesn't involve buying a new one.
Here's a rundown of the computers I tested it with.
500MHZ G4 Cube (384MB RAM/Mac OSX Tiger)
400MHZ G3 iMac (384MB RAM/Mac OSX Tiger)
4.2GHZ AMD 64-Bit running Windows XP Service Pack 2 (my PC)
515MHZ Dell running Windows 2000 (256MB RAM)
UPDATE: The BIOS won't recognize the iPod, so it has nothing to do with my computer. Somehow, installing v1.1.2 of the iPod software made it so the iPod itself has USB problems. The iPod works to the extent of playing music and showing the battery charge level. I get no response at all when I plug it in, from the computer or the iPod.
I'm going to have to agree with Philip Harhay on this one. The original 10GB iPod I bought 3 years ago came with a full one-year warranty, no extra charges. I am disappointed to see the Shuffle only coming with a three-month warranty.
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Answer 1

Help! I just purchase an iPod Shuffle for my son's birthday and I cannot get the darn thing to show up on my iMac G5. I am running OS 10.4.2 and I have downloaded the latest iPod and iTunes software. When I try to restore my iPod to the factory settings it tells me to plug the iPod into the computer, but it is plugged in. I have tried different USB ports, too. I'm running out of ideas and so is the trouble shooting Apple site. I was hoping someone out there might have some ideas.
It showed up at first and I transferred a few songs from the iTunes to the iPod but I couldn't get them to play, so I plugged it back into the USB and the icon never came up.