Folder exclamation thing...

when trying to turn on my ipod it goes directly from the apple, to the folder exclamation pic, and ALSO windows and itunes wont recognize the ipod either, i used a different ipod 5 mins prior to this one and it worked, so its not the pc, and i put it into disk mode, but all that happens is it gives me the do not disconnect for a minute then goes back to the apple, and does this over and over....from apple to folder exclamation thing...but every third or so restart it will do the do not disconnect thing for a couple seconds, but suprise it will restart before pc has a chance to load it i belive....itunes and windows wont recognize so i cant format...did the 5 f's, and want to try anything before i have to send it in.....any suggestions??? thanks

I'm having the same problem but I have an iPod 4th Generation clickwheel. I've gone through all the suggested steps on the website even up to and including uninstalling the usb mass storage device, updating driver etc. The iPod is now listed with the usb mass storage device and I tried updating the driver but it says everything is ok or no newer driver than what I have already is available. But Itunes does not see my iPod and keeps freezing up. When I did get it to recognize an iPod it only said iPod and listed it as having a problem and suggested to Restore but when I hit restore it couldn't do it. Now it won't recognize the iPod at all. How do I wipe out the iPod and start over? I've also tried iPod Updater 2006-01-10 and 2006-03-23 and I get the message Invalid iPod Service Version and it closes.
This is so weird I never had any problems and then I noticed a song started to skip and then it was skipped over and the next time I connected to my computer I had all these problems listed above!
(BTW - I'm originally from Kansas too!)

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A possible solution for the folder exclamation or folder! problem

This worked for Windows XP. Don't know if it will work for the Mac but it may.
Three days ago my wife’s iPod, 4th gen 40gb, stopped working. I got the folder exclamation icon (or folder! as some have described it). I hooked it to my laptop and had no joy with it. The system (XP) would see it sometimes as a removable and sometimes as a hard drive. Disk Manager saw it a couple of times but it always took about an hour for it to show up. I messed with it about 5 hours the first night and then decided to take it to the Apple Store the next day. The guys at the Genius Bar had the same problem, this time on a Mac. Told me it was out of warranty and that the best I could do was find someone who could repair it. I’m a tech and I don’t want to mess with it but I’m not going to pay someone $200+ to replace what is essentially a laptop hard drive. So I kept plugging away and researching on the net. I’ve seen a lot of posts concerning the icon as well as a few concerning the partitioning of the drive. I’ve even seen where some people are advocating opening the iPod and shaking the drive which is never a good idea. Nothing really seemed to help so I kept working on it myself.
I did find a solution and it takes a bit of time. It involves deleting the current partition and formatting it again. Since I’m using this on XP I had to format the partition as a Fat32. In order to do this I had to use the Knoppix operating system because Microsoft limited XP’s ability to format Fat32 partitions to 32GB. If you have an iPod that is less than 32gb you may be able to just format it using XP. I also couldn’t get XP to delete the partition so using Knoppix worked out very well since it has a program called QTParted on it that works like Partition Magic. Knoppix is free and does not have to be installed. It runs entirely off of your CDRom drive. If you have about an hour to try this I’d be interested in whether it works for anyone else.
I believe the problem that most people are having comes from the fact that the Fat32 file system is not good for keeping a “clean” hard drive. It tends to leave bits and pieces around and if you update a lot it can affect the hard drive’s performance. I know that Restoring using the updater is supposed to fix this but it appears that the updater software does a quick format. That won’t always fix the problem. By following what I did you will blow away the existing partition and create a new one and format it to the Fat32. This effectively makes it a “clean” hard drive.
Before I walk you through this I just wanted to say that I’ve purposely blown my wife’s iPod away 4 times to make sure that this works. Works like new now and did so after each time I blew it away. You should have seen her face when I did it.
The things you will need and need to do are:
CD Burner (you need to be able to create a disk from an ISO Image
Blank CD
Download a copy of Knoppix 4.0 from http://www.knoppix.com
Download the current version of iPod updater http://www.apple.com/iPod/download/
Make sure your system can boot from CD-Rom (Check your system docs)
About an hour of your time
1. Using your software of choice, burn the Knoppix image to your CD.
2. Place your iPod in Disk Mode. You do that by resetting the iPod and , on 4th gen at least, once it resets immediately hold down the Select+Play/Pause buttons. You should see it say Disk Mode at the top of your screen. Not sure how to do that on other iPods but I figure if you’ve gotten this far you will be able to figure it out.
2. Shut your system down and place the Knoppix cd in your cdrom. Make sure your system will boot from CD
Note: If you are using a laptop you may not be able to use the mouse by default with Knoppix. You can try to enable it when you first start Knoppix. You do this by typing the following at the Boot: prompt.
Knoppix pci=irqmask=0x0e98
If that doesn’t work for you then you may need to hook another mouse to your laptop.
3. Once Knoppix is up go to the K button (located like the start button on XP) and go to the system group. You will see a program called QTParted. Start that program.
4. On the left of the QTParted screen you will see the hard drives on your system. One of them should be your iPod. It should say something like /dev/sda1. Click on that device. In the bottom on the left side for Drive Info I was given the information that it was an Apple iPod and the capacity. Don’t know if everyone will get that but it stands to reason that you should.
5. You should now see the iPod’s partition information on the right side of the screen. I don’t know about anyone else’s but my wife’s had 37mb free and that turned out to be important. Make a note of any unallocated space you may have and keep it for the next step. Highlight the partition and then delete it. Once deleted you will need to go to the upper left corner of the screen. There is a button there to Commit changes that you have made. Click on this button and wait for the process to end.
6. Now to create a new partition. In the right panel right click again on the drive. Select create partition. It will ask you what type of partition you want to create. Select Fat32 and where it gives you the option for the partition size, use the slide bar to leave the amount of space free that was unallocated in step 5. The reason for this is that when I first partitioned my wife’s I used all of the available space and the iPod didn’t like it. Once you have the size set hit OK (or whatever it is to continue). Go again to the upper right and hit the Commit button. Wait for the changes to happen and then shutdown your system, remove the Knoppix cd and then boot again as normal.
7. Once your system has rebooted start the iPod updater. Once it asks you to plug in your iPod connect your iPod and you should be able to Restore it.
As I said I did this 4 times to make sure it worked and each time both the updater and iTunes saw the iPod with no problems.
At this point you should have your iPod back up and running. I apologize if I haven’t been very detailed here but I’m at work and typing this from memory. I wanted to get this out now while I’m thinking about it because I’m getting ready to go away for a couple of months and won’t have time to do this at home.
Let me know if this works for anyone.
Windows XP Pro
Windows XP Pro

mythic: You do NOT have to use FAT32. You don't even have to delete and recreate the partition. All you have to do is format the hard drive of the iPod. That's it. Your procedure will work even if you format the new partition as NTFS.
But don't take my word for it. Try it yourself.
I've done this exact same thing a hundred times, and I never used Knoppix to do it. All you have to do is:
1. Force the iPod into Disk Mode as described here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93651 (note that there's a different procedure for 3G and older iPod's!)
2. Start the iPod Updater (on an XP box). Having the Updater open will prevent iTunes from auto-launching and trying to screw around with the iPod.
3. Connect the iPod. It'll show up as a normal drive letter on the PC (if the PC crashes at this point, that's a Windows specific problem, not an iPod one).
4. Use the Disk Management tool (located in Control Panel->Admin Tools->System Management) to format. Doing this as NTFS is perfectly fine. Do not do a quick format.
5. After the format, go back to the updater and hit Restore.
It works every time. I've posted this like a thousand times, but nobody ever seems to pay attention.
Why does it work? It's simple, really. The Updater's Restore process is broken if there are bad sectors in certain locations. Formatting the iPod's partition like that causes it to do a scan for bad sectors. That's why the format takes so long (quick format skips this scan). The reason NTFS works fine is because one of the things the restore process actually does is to rewrite the iPod's partition table, and in the process it converts that NTFS space back into a FAT32 space. So really it makes no difference what that partition is, Restore will overwrite it anyway.
For information's sake, what the Restore process actually does is to write a disk image onto the iPod's drive. This disk image itself is tricky, but the Restore procedure is not particularly complex. You can even extract that image and write it to the iPod yourself in Linux using dd. That works just as well.
Anyway, when the drive won't write to a specific sector, then the Restore program freaks out. Formatting will remap the unwritable sectors and fix the problem. It's the bad sector remapping that's important here, not the partition layout or the filesystem type. Fix the drive problem and the Restore will work.

Folder+Exclamation point, Disk mode, and "Serious system error" in Windows

Hey there,
A couple days ago, I made the mistake of running with my 4th gen 40gb iPod. After playing for a while, it froze; whatever, it's done this before, and come back. This time, I keep getting the folder and exclamation point icon. Following the FAQ on the support part of the site, I put it into disk mode.
Here's where the frustrating part beings: When I open iTunes and plug in my iPod (either via USB or Firewire), one of two things happens:
In the first instance, iTunes tells me the iPod is corrupt. I click "Restore" and after a while, it tells me that either the necessary data cannot be found, or that an error (1418) has occurred. The farthest I have ever gotten was a progress meter and "Restoring iPod", shortly followed by an error.
In the second, and decidedly more frustrating, after waiting a couple minutes for iTunes to recognize my iPod (my computer does instantaneously), my computer shuts off. Upon restarting, I get a system message from Windows telling me that a serious error has occurred.
I went to an Apple store today and handed one of the workers there my iPod. When HE turned it on, everything seemed to be working...I brought it home, tried to play a song, and found myself back at square one.
Can I restore this thing? I can get it into disk mode, my computer just won't cooperate. Will reformatting my computer help? I am using Windows XP.
Thanks,
Ted

Hi Martha,
Try to do with slightly differnt, open the Disk Utility, go to tab of PARTITION, and do a delete. Then go back to the tab ERASE and click erase with the option format of MAC extended journal. Once it has being complete, open the iPod updater and click RESTORE.

Started w/ Folder & Exclamation Point-All Downhill From There

I have been at this for hours and hours...PLEASE rescue me.
I finally got rid of the folder and exclamation point after the 4th R kicked in. I didn't want to restore and lose everything, but that's what happened anyway! It took forever to get the updater to work and now I'm in worse shape than ever. My iPod was in iTunes until I ejected it. I was expecting to listen to music when, to my horror, I found that everything was gone. I reconnected so I could drag my music back in, but now my iPod has disappeared from iTunes and my computer as well. I've tried the Apple website suggestions to no avail. I can't understand what's going on. I'm using Windows XP and the last time I restarted a message came up saying that the FAT 32 file associated with E: had dirty volume or something like that. I'm guessing this is all connected somehow. Bottom line...I just want to listen to my iPod.

Hello,
Try doing this:
Connect your iPod, and go onto your administrator account on your computer.
Click on CtrlAltDelete to pull up the Tadk Manager. Try ending this process: "iPod Service.exe" under the "Processes" tab in Task Manager.
Open the iPod Updater again. Try to restore your iPod now.
If the iPod Updater is freezing on "initializing" for more than a few minutes, then post back if that didn't do it yet.
Then, assign your iPod a different drive letter following the steps below (first eject your iPod through the Safely Remove Hardware program):
Go to your administator account.
1 - Don’t plug in your iPod yet.
2 - Go to "START -> Control Panel -> Admin Tools (if you don't see this, click on "classic view" button on the left panel) -> Computer Management."
3 - Click on the "Disk Management" button in the left panel area.
4 - Now, with "Computer Management" and Control Panel windows opened, reset your iPod, and connect it.
5 - Right-click on your iPod's listing there (after a few moments when it gets recognized in this drive window), and click on "Change Drive letter and Paths". Then the "Change..." button.
Here's what it should look like:
Assign your iPod the letter "M" "N", "O" or the like (further along in the alphabet).
For more details, see this article:
Windows confuses iPod with network device / Changing drive letter
I hope this helps you,
-Kylene
EDIT: pac_80, I happened to have the "reply" page minused for about an hour, and came back to the computer, posted the reply, and I didn't know you'd posted. So disregard if this post is the same as what you said.

Need help with folder / exclamation icon

my ipod has the folder icon on it. when i reset it it reappeared. i left it alone to charge like the support site said. nothing. reset it and then tried to put it in disk mode and now all that is on there is the apple logo. if i reset it, it just goes back to the folder icon. please help.

See these links:
iPod Folder with Exclamation Point After Disconnected From Computer
iPod Folder with Exclamation Point After Turned On
Good Thread About iPod Sad icon/Folder with Exclamation Point
I hope this helps!

Nano Frozen with folder & exclamation point

Got my husband a nano for father's day. Everything went well, installed with CD, connected w/ USB, updated songs and then when OK to disconnect, disconnected nano. As soon as that happened nano went blank. Nothing worked, computer didn't recognize, buttons wouldn't work. Uninstalled, re-installed twice, nothing. Nano isn't recognized by computer when connected with USB or firewire (20GB iPod working fine). Let it rest for over 24 hours, and now finally when connected via firewire have dreaded folder w/ exclamation point. Tried to reset but the apple icon flashes and right back to folder. With update window won't let me restore as computer doesn't think the nano is connected. Also tried restarting computer also no luck. Any suggestions?

Still having same problem with nano connected to power source for over 24 hours.

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I have tried changing appearance--doesn't help. I removed some extensions--doesn't work. When I try to look at my bookmarks I have nothing.

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So i have a fourth generation ipod on my hands. Now when i turn it on it shows the apple sign, then the stupid folder exclamation thing. the problem is, apple is stupid with its FAQ stuff and it doesnt help. It says to restore, but the problem is, when i connect to the computer, it doesnt recognize it as an ipod. Then when i go to the updater, it says "Ipod Internal Manager Error". Now i dont know what the f**k that means or what to do. If you could help, it would be great. Thanks
4th Generation iPod Windows XP

you can tell what ipod updater version you have by the date in the name of the updater. the most recent version is 2006-06-28. it contains all the latest versions of software for the 4th generation models.
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IPod shows a folder icon with exclamation point after discon

Since I always ignore instruction booklets with new devices, I failed to notice the warnings with regard to configuring my iPod mini on a Windows PC. I did not install the included software first and I tried to sync with iTunes (my girlfriend already has an iPod mini so iTunes was already installed). As a result I ended up with folder exclamation point icon.
I tried the folowing already:
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The folder icon with exclamtion point appears after reset
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Ok guys!! I did it!! I fixed my iPod! I want to thanks Apple for the great help they gave me (I'm being sarcastic)!
I remember that I downloaded iTunes 4.9 and the iPod updater from 2 two weeks ago on my neighbor's computer.
As this problem (IPod shows a folder icon with exclamation point when I turn it on) only happened since I upgraded iTunes to 5.0 version and iPod updater, and after one and a half day calling Apple, reading the entire web site looking for an answer, discussing with a lot of people about this problem and nothing happened, I wanted to give the last try and went to may neighbor's computer!!
I turned on the iPod updater.
When it said i had to connect my iPod I did it
Then I pressed RESTORE
After that I plug it in the A/C adapter
It worked
I connected the iPod to the computer again
iTunes worked and my iPod is working as a new one!!

Cannot get rid of folder icon no matter what i've tried

One day i got the folder exclamation mark icon and came online and looked at all the fixes for it. The problem is even though my computer shows the drive, i can't open it. Itunes doesn't show the ipod.
When i select the drive in my computer it tells me that i need to format the drive. When i try to do that,it says that the hard drive capacity is 82.6 gig and won't let me format. I cannot restore the ipod using the updater either. I can go into disc mode but that doesn't help. i've tried everything i could find is there any hope of getting it to work again.

Luffy,
Sadly, it sounds like you need a new hard drive. Did you by anychance drop the iPod? Same thing happened to me after I dropped the unit onto pavement.

ITunes folder will not delete. When I moved my iTunes folder from my old computer to new, I placed the iTunes folder temporarily in my Dropbox folder so I could cut and paste it into the new computer's music folder. Now I can't delete that folder.

iTunes will not update my podcasts. When I click refresh, I get the circling arrows but after an hour it hasn't updated the available podcasts on those I'm subscribed to. I don't know if this is related to the issue I'm having with iTunes store and Besecure, guessing it may be. All the workarounds I've seen on these communities for fixing the Bsecure and iTunes issue are far too complicated for me, a computer simpleton. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Yes, provided all the media is inside the iTunes Media folder, which is in turn inside the main iTunes folder (which is the standard arrangement) you should be able to move the iTunes folder from <User's Music> to any other path and shift-start-Tunes (option-start-iTunes on a Mac) to reconnect to it.
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Cor-el, thank you very for your reply.
I started Firefox in Safe Mode. The problem still occurs in Safe Mode. My understand is if the problem persists in Safe Mode, it is *not* being caused by an extension, theme or hardware acceleration. Other possible causes could be plugins or changes made to Firefox preference settings, which are not disabled in Safe Mode.
As you suggested, I did check Add-ons > Appearance. (I don't think I have ever had any Appearance other than the default theme.) It was and still is set at Default 32.0.2 By Mozilla. Since the bookmarks problem persists in Safe Mode, I think we can rule out this as the cause anyway.
All of my Plug-Ins are up-to-date except iTunes Application Detector 1.0.1.1. Status is "unknown". I have all Plug-Ins set to "Ask to Activate" or "Never Activate". None of them are set to "Always Activate".
My cache, cookies and history have been cleared. I have rebooted my computer.
Per your instructions, I did *not* reset Firefox. Should I reset Firefox or reinstall Firefox?
The bookmarks problem still occurs.
Thank you so much!
Carol

HT1451 I moved my entire itunes file folder to a public folder by mistake and now I'm having trouble moving it back with all of my playlists in tact.

I tried to create a situation where my daughter and I could share our itunes libraries on the same computer. I was following all of the steps but inadvertently moved the entire itunes folder from to the public one instead of just moving the media. I tried to cancel the operation but it failed. Now I can't seem to move it back to it original place. All of my playlists are gone and everything is in iCloud. Is there a way to recover this? This is so frustrating. I have windows running vista. Please help!

Yes, provided all the media is inside the iTunes Media folder, which is in turn inside the main iTunes folder (which is the standard arrangement) you should be able to move the iTunes folder from <User's Music> to any other path and shift-start-Tunes (option-start-iTunes on a Mac) to reconnect to it.
If the media folder has split out to another drive in the past, or media is stored outside of the iTunes Media folder, then things get a bit more complicated. I can go into details should it be necessary.
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Folder exclamation thing...

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