80GB iPod - Restore/Recovery Vicious Cycle

My 10 month old iPod Classic is caught in a cycle where I get a warning that iTunes detects an iPod in Recovery Mode. I'm instructed that I must restore it to factory settings before it can be used with iTunes. It seems to go through the restore process, powers down (at which time I'm told it must remain connected and then will appear in iTunes source list). It powers back up, and I'm back at the original notice that iTunes detects the iPod in Recovery Mode... The iPod remains in the "do not disconnect" message on the display and does not work if I do disconnect it. Any ideas on what I need to do?

those relentless recovery mode messages might be being caused by a Windows driver letter confusion.
there's some troubleshooting information on that possibility in the following document:
"iTunes has detected an iPod in recovery mode - Use iTunes to restore"

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Ipod restore recovery mode issue

my ipod is in recovery mode, but when i try to restore it, it will say extracting software but halfway through, my ipod will turn off and the restore will stop. help?

Try deleting the update file and try again.. It is located here:
IPSW file location for Mac and Windows
Next try on another computer.

My classic 80GB ipod wont turn on, wont restore, it says it may be corrupted and all it does is constantly beep when I attach to my laptop! Windows Vista, 32bit, new version of itunes, etc.. WHAT the ****!? What do I do!?

My 80gb ipod classic is dead! It wont power on, it wont restore, it constantly beeps and shows the apple logo then my laptop says ipod in recovery mode, may have to restore. I read all the other problems and they are similar to mine but have not found anyone saying the screen does not power on except to show logo and do not disconnect. The annoying beeping sound stops after a while, then absolutely nothing! Is the battery removable, what do I do?

I did that and then tried to log onto the Itunes again and a prompt came up and siad the Itunes file wasn't properly installed and it might be corrupted and I should retry it again.
Let's try a repair install of iTunes.
Restart the PC first.
If you're using Vista or 7, now head into your Uninstall a program control panel, select "iTunes" and then click "Repair".
If you're using XP, head into your Add or Remove Programs control panel, select "iTunes", and click "Change". Select "Repair" and click "Next" as per the following screenshot:
Can you launch your iTunes now?

80GB iPod Classic stuck in recovery mode, tried EVERYTHING

Hello, i'm Michael, and i need some help right now :c
i just got an iPod Classic with 80GB of HDD, just a gift, but it had some "issues" (the screen showed a dock connector and it reads "Use iTunes to Restore"), i had an iPod Touch 4G, and i had that restored several times, so i knew the trick.
Okay i came from my grandmother's house and plugged my new fancy iPod! (it came with no USB cable so i bought a cheap one) but when i plugged the iPod had not enough power to remain connected, so i though (maybe the usb cable is not powerfull enough to mantain the charge cicle, it's a 2$ one, so it's big deal) plugged my iPod to my speakers on the Dock station, and leave it there for the entire night
The next morning i plugged my super charged iPod to my Windows 7 PC, and it got detected YAAY!, iTunes asked me to download the software to restore, so i let it do just that, waited for the 56mb ipsw file to download, and after that the restore process begun. At 57 seconds of the process (i timed it) the PC turned OFF (not big deal, my processor is not the best processor ever, and my PC usually turns off after a small overdrive)
Well, the iPod restarted and it was at the "Use iTunes to Restore" screen again. So i tought (Well, let's try my sis laptop) connected my iPod to the Windows 8 Laptop from my sister, and the iTunes download (iTunes + iPod ipsw) took a lot of time to me.. But when it comes to the Restore Process, after the same amount of time, i got the "1439" error, and after looking foward throught a lot of web pages, i came out with the "Windows 8 is the one of the problem :L" so i plugged my iPod out and leave it charging in my speakers, at the next day, i was in my Grandmother's house again..
So i came out with my uncle and told him to lend me his Lap, a Windows 7 64X Core i5 Extreme with VT (super machine i loved it *¬*) and plugged my iPod in, i tried to Restore with his iTunes version (11 one) and guess what? 1439 error! it looked like the USB cable was the problem one, but i didn't gave up, and installed Virtual Box with Widnwos XP (i rode some guy had it working with a restaration with XP, and makes sense, since Windows 7/8 can't format large drives with FAT32, and XP sure can) so i plugged my iPod and installed Guest additions and the Expansion pack (for USB 2.0 support) installed the last iTunes version and tried to restore, and guess what? 1434!
So, i tried something different, i tried to format the iPod with Windows Explorer, and guess what? it worked! NTSF system was loaded ad working, i dragged some 134mb files to it, and they could be readen every time i wanted. But there's a problem, iPod software is not NTSF but FAT32, so i downloaded EaseUS partition manager and formated it to Fat32, 128kb cluster size, and unplugged it to plug the speakers again (YES, I TOOK THEM TO MY GRANDMOTHER'S) after the battery's top capacity was acomplished, i tried the restore form XP again, and after a few tries, i got a succefull restore!
The iTunes screen showed "your iPod is going to restart, please leave it connected, and it will be recognized after the reboot" (or something like that Cx) i was really happy i could get my iPod to work, but when the Apple logo appeared with the progress bar, it filled like 84%, and the screen became white, it showed the same "do not disconnect" regular screen, and iTunes told "iTunes has detect and iPod in Recovery Mode, please restore it to be used with iTunes"
So, i tried a LOT of methods from Apple Discussion, formating in Disk Mode, Restoring in Disk Mode, regular mode, DFU mode (only downloads a 1.4mb file and says "preparing the ipod" after 34 seconds and an uncomplete bar it closes ._.) restoring with XP, 7, 8, rebooting the iPod (select + menu, 6 secs) DFU mode (menu + select 12 secs) disk mode (play + select, 6 secs in apple icon) and a lot of hard work.. nothing worked.
So i tought.. (maybe the iPod's HDD is broken or something) opened Diagnostics and this are the results:
Retracts :432
Reallocs: 319
Pending sectors: 0
Poweron Hours: 560
Start /Stop: 426
Temp status are not important right now, current 23, max 43c, min 15c
it's obviously an used iPod. But the Reallocs count is not THAT big
Okay so i tried something different and asked my friend's iPad cable, this one connected pretty well with Windows 8 and it did restore with no problems at all. but there's one little small issue.. it didn't work either...
So, i'm here, out of ideas, i can imagine a restore with OS X will change my point of view in some way, but i can't do that right now...
i Must add that the HD is completely functional, i can add files to it right now, and use them in another PC, i can format it, partition it, and a lot of crazy things, so the HDD is not the problem one..
Please help me.. i have EVER SEEN a iPod's menu, other than my DSi iPod themed homebrew music player.. (wich looks fantastic)
Thank's in advance, i'm sorry for the lenght of my note, i have been thinking on it for a long time hehe c:

After hours of searching for a fix I may have found one on a Mac Forum. This worked for mine but I had to restore it from the last back up. I also gave me the option of restore to new condition (out of hte box) but Ichoose from the last backup that itunes made. It took about 4 hours to fully restore all my 24gb of material. BUT,Now it's working perfectly. For how long...who knows?
Here's the link to the page where I found the info. http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=447185
Below is the solution that worked for my 2nd gen 32 gig.
"Originally Posted by vegas-steven
try and do this:
1. start itunes.
2. plug the ipod into your computer
3. hold the power (on top) and home (on front) buttons for a few seconds.
the ipod should power up, and if if is screwed up, will be in recovery mode... from there itunes will tell you that it finds your ipod in that mode, and needs to restore it.
just click restore, sit back and it should work again.
did you hack it at all?
if you did not hack it, and that doesnt work, call applecare and see what they say. maybe it is faulty?
still, from my experience with my friends ipod that i made 100% unusable, there is a way to restore even the most broken ipod as long as it has a battery charge.
i suspect a small portion of the memory is dedicated to keeping emergency boot files that allowe you to restore, no matter how bad things get."

80GB ipod needs restoring but wont on a continuous loop

every time i go to restore my i pod classic (80 gig) a box comes up saying "Itunes has detected an ipod in recovery mode You must restore this ipod so it can be used with Itunes" the process just goes on and on i go to restore it extracts data goes to recover the ipod and then it says back to factory settings wait 15 seconds then the 1 st fault re appears (detected i pod in recovery mode ..)HELP PLEASE
Thanks so much to anyone who can help me =]

Find your nearest apple service centre which you can find under the support link and give them a ring ,i did after my 80gb ipod went wrong all of a sudden after a month,they said bring it in we will try to fix it and if we cant we will get you a new one which they did and it took 2 days ,I had spent the previous 2 weeks trying various solutions from this forum untill it eventually fell into a continuous loop of "needs to be restored",warranty covers you for a year from purchase

HT4623 I updated my Ipod touch 4th gen (IO6 or whatever its called) And it has the picture that says to connect my ipod to Itunes, and I did, now it says "ITunes has detected an Ipod in recovery mode. You must restore this Ipod before it can be used with

I updated my Ipod touch 4th gen (IO6 or whatever its called) And it has the picture that says to connect my ipod to Itunes, and I did, now it says "ITunes has detected an Ipod in recovery mode. You must restore this Ipod before it can be used with ITunes." I just updated it and now I have to restore it??! I don't wanna lose all my things on my ipod just for a stupid update! Please someone help!

Once the Device is asking to be Restored with iTunes... it is too late to save anything... and you must continue with the Recovery...
See Here > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808
You may need to try this More than Once... Be sure to Follow ALL the Steps...
Take your time... Pay particular attention to Steps 3 and 4.
After you have Recovered your Device...
Re-Sync your Content or Restore from the most recent Backup...
Restore from Backup > http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1766
Note:
Make sure you have the Current Version of iTunes Installed on your computer
iTunes free download from www.itunes.com/download

When i plug in my ipod , it says it has found an ipod in recovery mode and that i need to restore it , when i click restore error 3194 shows up . what should i do ?!

When i plug in my ipod touch, itunes says that it has found an ipod in recovery mode and that i need to restore it in order to use it. But when i click restore, a pop up comes up saying that it could not be restored because of error 3194. What should i do ? and sometimes error 21 or 20 show up, and the ipod dosnt turn on at all

See the appropriate sections in this Apple support document.
iOS: Resolving update and restore alert messages
B-rock

HT201413 I have restored and updated my ipod from recovery mode however I still have the usb cord and itunes icon on the ipod when it is switched on. How can I get my ipod to work again?

I have restored and updated my ipod from recovery mode, however I still have the usb cord and itunes icon on the ipod when it is switched on. How can I get my ipod to work again? I have updated and restored 5 times! When connected to itunes it only shows the summary page saying ipod in recovery mode.

Fixed it!
1. Made sure itunes software was up to date
2. Pressed and held 'home' button and 'on-off' button at the same time for about 10 seconds till ipod reset (I hadn't done this step previously)
3. Connected to itunes
4. Pressed restore and update ipod
Update successful and ipod taken out of recovery mode

Use iTunes to restore? iPod in recovery?

I just bought a nano today, my first ipod, and I don't know what's wrong with it.
On the display it says "use itunes to restore", but when I restore it using itunes, itunes says it has detected an ipod in recovery mode and the says I have to restore it before I can use itunes.
I've tried all the troubleshooting suggestions, although I'm not sure I did them properly.
Can anybody help?

Try here.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304503
If you are stuck in the recovery loop, try this.
Click on control panel/admin tools/computer management/disk management/right click on the iPod to re-assign the drive letter.
Choose something lower down the alphabet, say 'M' or something similar.
The iPod can be confused by any other storage devices assigned a similar drive letter even though they may not connected at the same time.

"iTunes has detected an iPod in recovery mode" restore and doesn't work

I'm trying to put my music on my new iPod and keep getting this error message "iTunes has detected an iPod in recovery mode. You must restore the iPod before it canb work with iTunes". I click "restor to factory settings" and then the same error message comes up when it's complete. iTunes does recognize my iPod, it just doesn't seem to realize that I've already done what it's telling me to do. Going around and circles and can't get my music on...:( Help, please?
Thanks!
Beth

Have you had a chance to look at this troubleshooting page? Have a look at the bottom section that covers what to try if restoring doesn't work, it may be of some help: iTunes has detected an iPod in recovery mode - Use iTunes to restore

Started update today when i had a look at ipod later it had connect to itunes pic on screen did this then itunes said it has detected an ipod in recovery mode and to restore it done this it fails because of error 3194 and is currently not responding help!

started update today when i went back to ipod it had on screen pic of connect to itunes did this itunes detected an ipod in recovery and needed restored did this and error 3194 coming up ipod is currently stuck in recovery mode help!

3194-How do I reset the hosts file back to the default?
iPhone Error 3194 - How to Fix iTunes Error 3194?
Fix Error 3194 from iTunes during iPhone restore
iTunes: Specific update-and-restore error messages and advanced troubleshooting

IPod in Recovery Mode Loop, Restore Does Not Work

When I turn my iPod on it says "Connect to your computer. Use iTunes to restore." I connect it to iTunes, restore it and then it says that it is still in recovery mode and needs to be restored.
Nothing I've tried has worked. I've put it in disk mode, I've changed the drive letter so Windows doesn't confuse it with anything else. I tried to go to the Genius bar but they were so backed up the only appointment I could get was for 8pm tomorrow!
Hopefully someone can help!

I've got the same problem with my iPod nano 3rd generation. I'll connect it to iTunes, and it says that an iPod has been detected in recovery mode, and it'll ask me to keep it connected to the computer. It'll then prepare it for recovery, and then tell me there's been an iPod detected in recovery mode. It'll perform this loop several times before I'm given the option to restore it, in which the iPod displays an old version of the iPod interface (I'm talking 1st or 2nd generation of the classic iPod).
Once I'm given the option to restore, it says "Extracting software", finishes, and says that the iPod is being restarted, and then starts with the "iTunes needs to prepare your iPod for recovery. Please leave your iPod connected." loop once again.
I would really prefer to not have to drive to the Apple store to get this problem fixed...

Cant restore 80GB Ipod because I dont have the Internet???

So my wife bought me an 80gb Ipod and shipped it out to me (Im in Iraq). I hooked it up to my computer and it immediately started to work and sync all my music and what not onto it. I believe at the time I was using Itunes version 7.3. Well then I hooked it up to a friends computer and tried putting some music onto it and when I tried to eject it, it was taking forever! His computer was crazy slow so I got tired of waiting and just pulled the usb cord out of the computer. A few days later I tried to use it and all the music and videos were off the ipod but my photos were still on it. I tried to plug it into my computer and now im getting a message saying that itunes cannot read the contents of my ipod and that I need to go into the summary tab and restore it. So I try and restore the ipod but I CANT restore it because I dont have an active internet connection. And I will NOT be able to get an active internet connection to my laptop simply because im in Iraq!
So my question is, is there any other way I can restore the Ipod without the internet?? I downloaded and installed the new version of itunes 7.5 and it still doesnt wanna work or restore. I have no idea what to do.
We tried hooking it up to a friends computer and he said he found and fixed a virus that was on the ipod and then tried to bring it up on his computer. To our luck his computer recognized the ipod and it brought up all my music in his itunes. We tried syncing his library with my ipod, which it did! but when we ejected the Ipod. It still said no music or videos on it. But if you look at the memory space. It shows that it did infact sync his music but its labeled as "other" and not music. I then tried to hook it back up on my computer and it doesnt read it at all! I need help please!

Have you given the following a try?
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/five_rs/classic/#
Otherwise, I'd say are you positive that iTunes on your computer and on your buddies computer were the same version? Reason I ask is my wife and I just bought iPods last weekend. She got a Nano and I got a Classic. I plugged hers in first. Got the updates and updated iTunes as well. After all that and charging a while I tried mine. Nothing. I can only assume that the almighty OS known as Winblows was confused by the whole thing and thus thought my iPod was already updated to the latest software which I think is 1.0.3. Or something like that. I eventually got mine going but differences in versions is certainly a possibility.
Also, did you buddy have a USB 2.0 connection or 1.1? I noticed my wife's Nano taking much longer to charge than it should have. That's when I realized I had my stupid USB hub plugged into a USB 1.1 port on my computer instead of 2.0. So I'm just assuming this but I would say that could also cause the iPod to go slower. Just more to possibly explain why it was moving slow on your buddies computer.
Look at your iTunes and if you iPod does show up look to see what version of software it has. Could be the culprit. Unless this really does boil down to an internet connection which would be kind of stupid if you know you've got the latest software. iTunes shouldn't force you to do that. Hope I've helped in some way anyway. If not, good luck with this.
And aside from the iPod question, thanks for your service overseas. You guys are all certainly thought of here a lot and are appreciated. Stay safe!

Itunes gives me the message that it has detected an ipod in recovery mode, you must restore the ipod. when I clikk the "restore" button the download begins and after 30 minutes, I get the original message that itunes detects an ipod in recovery mode.

iTunes gives me the message that it has detected an iPod in recovery mode and that I need to restore the factory settings. When I click the "restore" button iTunes downloads the software. This is a 30 minute process. Once the download completes, I get the same message "iTunes detects an iPod in recovery mode....". I'm running Windows Vista and ZoneAlarm security software.
I've tried this restore function multiple times and still get the same results.
I've also tried resetting the iPod by holding the wake/sleep button and the Home button at the same time. The iPod turns on but shows the icons of a usb cable connecting to iTunes.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This maybe yuor problem:
Restore loop (being prompted to restore again after a restore successfully completes)
Troubleshoot your USB connection. If the issue persists, out-of-date or incorrectly configured third-party security software may be causing this issue. Please follow Troubleshooting security software issues. .

ITunes cannot restore iPod in recovery mode.

I connect the iPod, and iTunes recognizes instantly, and tells me that it has detected the iPod in recovery mode etc. Then I click Restore and it normally extracts restoring software, and then a window appears that it cannot sync.
http://www.geocities.com/jjcalzada2009/Picture2.jpg

open iTunes
-plug the iPod into the computer
-hold both sleep/wake and home button until iPod restarts.
-let go of of the sleep/wake button when you see Apple logo.
-continue to hold home button until iTunes pops up with recovery mode
-click yes, and your iPod will be restored to its factory settings.

80GB iPod - Restore/Recovery Vicious Cycle

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