I can't restore my ipod... what do i do?

Question

when i try to restore my mini, from disk mode, the updater says "can't mount ipod".
What do i do?

Answer 1

Two “Firmware Update Failure” Possible Solutions
(1)
First, make sure the iPod is fully charged before starting this procedure.
-- Disconnect the iPod
-- Right click on "My Computer"
-- Select "Manage"
-- Select "Device Manager"
-- Expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers"
-- Right click on "Enhanced PCI to USB Host controller"
-- Click on "Disable"
-- Click "OK" to accept changes
Run the Updater software (Start==>Run==>iPod) and wait till it says to "Plug in an iPod to update it"
Plug in the iPod and wait (for a long while). It takes awhile because you are now running at USB 1.1 speeds. When it finally shows up, do the "update" or "restore", which ever you were trying to do.
You can try to re-enable the "Enhanced PCI TO USB Host controller" after you are done running the Updater software and try to copy your songs and pictures to the iPod. This may or may not work. If not, revert back to USB1.1.
See: iPod not recognized correctly on Toshiba laptop
(2)
First, make sure the iPod is fully charged before starting this procedure.
-- Open the iPod Updater
-- Connect the iPod to the PC when it asks you to
-- The iPod updater will give you the option to restore, but do nothing - leave it attached and waiting
-- Open the Control Panel=>Administrative Tools=>Open the Computer Management program
-- Select Disk Management from the left hand panel
In the right hand panel, you will see the disks on the computer. One should be your iPod. What you want to do now is to format the iPod.
-- Right-click on the iPod's drive letter and select Format (Make sure you're formatting the iPod and not some other drive on your machine)
-- It doesn't matter what file system you use (either NTFS or FAT32 is fine)
-- You do not want to do a "Quick Format"
-- This will take quite a while to finish
-- When the format finishes, you can close the Computer Management program
-- If the format fails, then you have some other major problem
---- The cable might be loose
---- The connector could be bad
---- The iPod’s HD might be just broken
-- Now you can click the Restore button, and with any luck, you will not get the “Write Error” like before.
The rationale of formatting the iPod through Windows as above is to force the PC to scan the iPod's hard drive for possible errors. During the Format process, it does exactly that, and it will remap any bad sectors it finds. These bad sectors can cause the iPod Restore process to fail with that “Write Error” you're experiencing.
If either of the two solutions do not work, your iPod could have major HD problems, or the generic drivers built into Windows (known as "Mass Storage Device" drivers) could be missing or corrupted. Reinstalling Windows, or possibly just reinstalling Service Pack 2 may help.