How i saved my ipod from the itunes restore loop

Question

this is a success story, i hope it will help others to save their ipods too. my ipod is a black 30gb 5g (late 2006) whereas my system is leopard 10.5.4 and itunes 8.0.2. but i'm sure it will also work with another ipod, mac os x and itunes version.
*what happend:*
my ipod fell on the floor from about one meter height. it was not the first time that's why i didn't really worried about any damage. but this time it was different.
*the symptoms:*
my ipod showed a white screen with the text "Connect to your Computer. Use iTunes to restore.". i connected it to my mac, the ipod mounted on the desktop with a generic white harddisk icon. then i started the restore process inside itunes. after about a minute the ipod restarted and instead of showing me an installing-progress-bar the ipod showed me the same white sceen again. after the fourth or fith restore i realized that i was cought in the itunes restore loop.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1441?viewlocale=en_US
*the solution:*
i searched the internet and came across a lot of articles that described the same problem as mine but none solved it. then i stumbled over a very useful post in the forums. it proposes a lot of solutions. maybe it is useful to read it before you continue with my post: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=4531234
+note: the following procedure will delete all the data on your ipod.+
1. connect your ipod to your mac. wait until it is mounted on the desktop. if the ipod isn't mounted put it in disk mode: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1363
2. ignore any message from itunes and open the "Disk Utility" application inside your "Utilities" of the "Appplications" folder.
3. choose your ipod in the sidebar. switch to the tab erase.
4. choose "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as volume format. leave the other options as is.
5. click on the "Security Options …" button. in the sheet choose "Zero Out Data" and click on "OK".
6. click on the "Erase …" button and wait for about two hours. it will take longer on a bigger harddisk.
7. the earse will end with an error message telling you something about invalid data. ignore it. this is because the harddisk can't be partitioned without the correct drivers form the firmware.
8. eject your ipod and reconnect it to your mac. itunes should now start with a message "iTunes has detected an iPod in recovery mode. You must restore this iPod before it can be used with iTunes". click on "Restore" and wait.
9. after a moment the ipod should restart and an installation progress bar will appear. do not disconnect the ipod and wait until the install is complete.
10. the ipod will restart and now you should get back your normal ipod interface. congratulations, you saved your ipod!
if the described procedure didn't solve your problem you can put your ipod in diagnostic mode to see where the problem may be. for this you need a wall power supply or a fully loaded ipod: http://www.methodshop.com/gadgets/ipodsupport/diagnosticmode/index.shtml/
Message was edited by: iwan negro

Answer 1

Hi,
Can you tell me if you do this will I lose the TV shows that I have purchased and downloaded on ITunes 7.0. I am having serious problems installing CD's. Everytime I open the new version and install a CD, my computer keeps restarting and then says there was a serious error to my computer. Sometimes, it mentions DVD 43, and sometime it mentions a video device driver, my this is a new computer not even two months old. I have the old version still installed on my laptop and was wondering about moving it over to the main PC, but would hate to lose my purchases.
Thanks