Folder! Again - Am I doing something wrong?

Question

My original iPod lasted 16-17 months and went belly up. I got a replacement under Applecare plan right before Thanksgiving. I didn't use it last weekend and yesterday morning discovered the dreaded Folder! icon and it's dead. It worked just fine Friday night. That's less than 2 months! I'm wondering if anything I'm doing is jacking with my iPod. I use it daily at work plugged into to an Apple AC adapter/charger. I use it on the commute about 10 hrs a week plugged into a Blitzsafe interface. In my other car I plug it directly into an amp via the head phone jack. I'm running the 3/23/05 version Updater software to retain Smart Playlist functionality. At home I sync it to a Sony Viao PC on Firewire. I generally do not have disk use enabled. I do not subject it to excessive vibration or physical abuse. It's always in an Evo iSkin case. ***?Anybody else have similar experience with replacement iPods?

Answer 1

My personal views, it could be caused by the following:-
1. Inproper ejection of the iPod with the computer
2. Battery problem included not being charged
3. Corrupted system files with the iPod
4. HD's hand of the iPod get stuck at a certain point
5. Vibration or shocking
Nevertheless, any interest to deal with it? Please read the following:-
1. Try these five steps (known as the five Rs) will conquer most iPod issues.
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/five_rs/
2. Try to put the iPod into Disk Mode if it fails to appear on the desktop
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93651
Still can't see your iPod?
Several things could keep iPod from appearing in iTunes or in the Desktop/Finder when you connect it to your PC/Mac. The most likely causes are listed below in logical order. Check each one starting from the top of the list to see if that is what's keeping iPod from appearing.
3. Try to wait 30 minutes while iPod is charging.
4. Try another known-good FireWire or USB through Dock Connector cable.
5. Try another known-good FireWire or USB port on your computer .
6. Try to disconnect all devices from your computer's FireWire and USB ports.
7. Try to connect on a different computer i.e. a PC formatted iPod connect with a Mac computer or Mac formatted iPod with a Window base PC.
8. Try to do a Erase (Disk Utility) on a Mac computer or a reformat with a PC (Disk Management tool) but ensure you choose the right Drive (your iPod not your Hard Disk of your computer).
9. Try to run the iPod in “Diagnostic mode” . which can be accessed by pushing the “hold” switch into the “on” position and then “off” (into the original position). Then press the following buttons in the following order: “menu” plus “select” (centre button) then press “reverse” plus “select”. This will take you to the hidden diagnostic mode screen menu. It may take a few trials and pressing the buttons in the right way for this to work, so be patient and keep trying if you have to. The diagnostic mode will give you 7 choices which are: Memory, IO, Power, Status, SysCfg, Diskmode, and Reset. Don’t bother trying “reset” because in my case it didn’t work it just took me back to the same problem. Instead, choose “diskmode”, after which you should get an odd looking “ok to disconnect” sign on the iPod screen.
If one of the above step helps to get your iPod to be recognized with your computer, do a Restore.