IPod cannot be formatted

Hello,
My iPod suddenly lost all of its tracks a few days ago. Seeing as it's unusable I turned it off
When I turned it on again iPod shows a sad face with exclamation mark. I looked around and as this article says http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1373?viewlocale=en_US if I can force my iPod into disk mode, then I can rule out the hardware as suspect
I can enter Disk Mode alright, but in Windows it appears as "Removable Disk", in Disk Management Console it is listed as 94MB unallocated and 27,8GB allocated, RAW.
When I tried to format it, Windows says "cannot open volume for direct access". After that it starts formatting, the formatting process went well, but when it's finished, it returns "Invalid media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable." While the article says hardware is not the problem, when I googled the error sentence it is said the hardware is the problem
It is undetected by iTunes (latest version, downloaded it 2 days ago), although once it is detected by Windows as "removable disk", iTunes starts as if it recognizes an iPod. Also, when I checked it in Device Manager, the device description says it's an iPod
Another thing that makes me curious: when I entered Disk Mode, it says "use iTunes to restore", but when I plugged it into a USB port (whether a wall charger or a PC USB port) it suddenly displays Apple logo, and I have to hold the center and play button again for my iPod to actually enter Disk Mode indefinitely (so I have to enter disk mode twice) does it have anything to do with this?
Also, when it displays the sad face, I can hear a crackling noise from my iPod
I got this iPod from my sister, she has used it for 2-3 years. At first I thought the battery is the problem (it displays "Very Low Battery" after the sad face whenever I plug it in a USB port, displays sad face, Very Low Battery, and so on). But in Disk Mode it is fully charged and has no such problem
What should I do? ANy help is greatly appreciated

Hi,
It sounds like you may have a network drive mapped to the same drive letter windows is assigning your ipod.
You can check this by going to Start - Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management.
On the right hand side (bottom part of the screen) you will see all physical drives connected to your pc including your ipod, and the drive letter assigned to them. If your ipod has the same drive letter as a network drive right click on it and select "change drive letter and paths" click change and select a different drive letter from the drop down box and click ok. You will get a warning about changing drive letters, click ok. Open itunes again and all should be ok.

Similar Messages

IPod cannot be synced. The disk could not be read or written to.

I have...
G5 ipod video 30Gb formated to PC
iBook G3 600MHz
iTunes 7.1 (59)
iPhoto 4.03
I use my ipod to contain all my videos, photos and music manually and nothing stored on the iBook itself, as it only has a small hard drive. I have a large amount of photos that I have in iphoto (a total of 3254 photos and 60 folders!) which I am using whilst travelling the world. I have recently started syncing photos to the ipod as a backup, also adding a copy of full res photos. This syncs fine and I have all photos on my ipod, but when I add more photos to iphoto and then plug in the ipod it will start to sync though itunes, but then will come up with an error stating "The ipod "NAME OF IPOD" cannot be synced. The disk could not be read from or written to."
The ipod still has all the photos it originally had, but not the new ones.
I have tried deleting the file that is in the library that contains the information file, this forces the ipod to re sync and start all over again with adding the photos, which it will add the new photos, but the probelm will happen again as soon as more photos are added through iphoto!
Can anyone give any advice, I really can't format the ipod and start over agaian as I will lose all my music etc and I don't have enough room to store them elsewhere!!!
Please any help please! I really need to back these files up incase something goes wrong with the computer, then I will lose all my pictures!
Help!
Thanks
Rob

Hi Rob!
First off, it might be worth upgrading to the latest iTunes version, which is 7.1(15) (or at least I think that's what it is on a Mac... for Windows, it's 7.1.1.5).
Regardless, you can install the latest version of iTunes here:
Download iTunes - 7.1.1.5
Also, if that doesn't seem to help with anything, have you seen the suggestions in this article?:
"Disk cannot be read from or written to" when syncing iPod
-Kylene

Can i import my library from an ipod that was formatted on my Mac to a PC. Will i be able to keep the music that was uploaded from CD's that were not itunes purchases?

My library consists of both itunes purchases and uploads from my CD's. My ipod was formatted on my Mac. I'm out of state and want to sync the ipod on a windows PC. Can it be don? Can it be done without losing the uploaded songs?

It cannot. Your iPod is a format that is neither readable or writeable by a PC. The only way to make it possible is to use some sort of third party software such as XPlay.
http://www.mediafour.com/products/xplay
B-rock

The ipod "IPOD" cannot be updated. The disk could not be read or written to

"The iPod "IPOD" cannot be updated. The disk could not be read or written to"
"The iPod "IPOD" cannot be updated. An unknown error occurred. (-50)"
I have been dealing with this ever since I installed iTunes 7. I had been getting this message with my previous version, but at least the files would load onto the iPod once I deleted the files in the library and reloaded them. Now, nothing works.
I attempted to restore the iPod, but guess what? I got this message every time:
"The iPod "IPOD" could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (1418)"
When I checked drive E on the Device Manager on My Computer, it said the device was working fine.
Desperate to fix the problem, I began searching online for other solutions when I stumbled upon someone mentioning the option to format the iPod with fat32, suggesting that as a way to solve the problem, so I did so. After that, nothing has worked. The device manager now says that there are no drivers for drive E and iTunes won't let me restore the iPod.
I'm plumb out of ideas. What's left to do? I'm not rich enough to just say, "Oh well! La dee da! Let me go buy another iPod shuffle." Is there any way to fix this?

I finally reinstalled iTunes and my 2G Shuffle on my another station (PC portable + Windows XP) and that functions without trouble.
As I followed exactly the same procedure of installation, it's difficult to me to explain differences.
For each pc :
- No iPod or iTunes previously installed before this one
- All the rights (administrator)
Differences :
- The OS (Windows XP and Windows XP Pro)
- A lot of USB peripherics declared on my first PC.
I tend to think that the problem comes from the detection or the declaration of the port usb, but I'm not at all an expert.
So my trouble is solved, but not with a satisfactory solution.
Patrick
Windows XP Pro

Weird Problem "The iPod cannot be synced. The required disk cannot be found

I have had my 2nd gen Ipod Shuffle since May 9th, 2008 and it has never given me problems until now. My computer was getting kind of backed up (I am running on 37.5 gig with 256 mb of RAM), so I decided to completely re-do my computer. Not a problem, I have done it hundreds of times before. Well, I get everything set up again and decide to change what is on my shuffle. I plug it into my computer like normal and Itunes comes up asking to erase and sync to the computer. Everything looks fine. But then when it goes to sync, it comes up with the error "The iPod cannot be synced. The required disk cannot be found.". So I reinstall Itunes and try it again. Same problem. Then I format it using my computer. The problem is still there. I tried to restore it in Itunes, but it came up with the error again and froze. Then I downloaded the ipod restore program and ran it, and it did take everything off. I plugged it back in, but it still had the same problem, even when it was completely re-set. I even tried unplugging my mouse and keyboard, but it didn't work. Then I decided to experiment. I uninstalled Itunes for a while and plugged the ipod into my computer to see it it would show up as a disk. It did. Then I reinstalled itunes and tried it again, but as soon as itunes started up, the ipod icon in the "My Computer" box disappeared. So I cannot use itunes to fix my problems because the computer reads that the ipod isn't there while itunes is running.
I have no idea what to do now, and if anyone knows, please help me!!!
Thanks
P.S. Sorry this was so long

I apologise beforehand this messgae is long
I have a strange problem too. This doesn't involve "required disk not found" problem.
I also have a 2nd generation IPod Shuffle.
I have a Windows XP and the latest service pack, so my PC is not at fault. I have all my music on an external hard drive which works all the time, as i have playlists in ITunes and Windows Media Player and they always work. I also bought a 80GB Ipod some 2 years ago never had a problem with the music being on an external hard drive.
With the shuffle i made a playlist up of all the tracks i wanted on it. I then Plugged the shuffle in and i seemed to sync. The playlist has 200 tracks this in total is 900MB. The shuffle is 2GB!!
After syncing i unplugged went to listen and only 5!!! songs were on it.
I noticed that the external hard drive was dissapearing. I mean when i go into my computer and into external hard drive and it was empty. When its got 350 albums on it, 1000s of pictures etc.
The external hard drive seems to dissapear when the shuffle is plugged in
Does anybody know how to fix this as listening to 5 songs i rather boring!!!!

Ipod cannot update. The required file cannot be found?? Any help please.

Hi,
I like many others have major problems with my Ipod, we downloaded the Itunes 6 , removed it, went back to 4.9, connected the Ipod, everything got erased. ( but it was still on the computer thank goodness, anyway now I can't put anything back on to my Ipod, it say "Ipod cannot update. The required file cannot be found"
I have Windows Xp Pro 2, what can I do, please lead me in the right direction.
Thanks

OK - Looks like your iTunes is working and has the songs you expect in it. No need to uninstall iTunes.
Are the Playlists on the iPod only, or are they in iTunes only, or are they on both? Are they populated with the songs you expect?
You can save the Playlists by 'Exporting' them individually to a PC file. Within iTunes, select (highlight) a playlist, go to File==>Export Song List and save the file to a 'Playlists' folder that you create. Save the playlists as a .txt and an .xml file (do both for each playlist: data redundancy is good).
Do you have the original photos that are on the iPod? We will have to Restore the iPod and all data on it will be erased. As you have all the necessary music on iTunes, all we would be concerned about are the photos. Or anything else you haven’t mentioned.
As long as you are satisfied with the state of your iTunes (all music and playlists present and accounted for), then you can comfortably Restore the iPod and place it all back on the unit. Restoring an iPod will not impact your iTunes. It just clears off the iPod's HD and replaces the operating system with a fresh copy. This should correct your inability to download any additional music to the iPod.
Before you proceed with the Restore below, make sure that you have copies of all the data on the iPod so you do not lose anything.
First, make sure that the iPod is fully charged.
Make sure that you have the latest iPod Updater software (if you already do, skip to *)
You also need to install the new Updater software (if applicable) by double-clicking on the file that downloads.
After you install the Updater to your PC, reboot your computer.
After rebooting, run the Updater.
* Go to: Start ==> Programs ==> iPod.
It should initialize then ask you to connect an iPod.
Connect the iPod when asked (not before) and you should have two options available: Update or Restore.
-- Choose the Restore option and it will update your iPod's firmware to the latest version and format your iPod's hard drive.
After the Restore complete, re-register the iPod with iTunes, choose your syncing preference and place the music back on the iPod. Do whatever it is you do with the photos (I just have a mini, so no experience with photos), and you should be good to go.
Post back if you have any questions. Especially if you are unsure of anything before you perform any additional processes.

FIX: Ipod cannot be synced. An unknown error occurred (-48)

Hey everybody,
I just wanted to share with you a solution that my friend and I have used to eliminate the "iPod cannot be synced. An unknown error occurred (-48)" error. I have a iPod Photo 60 gig that has not had this error before....until 3 days ago. I tried to drop a few songs onto my iPod and it gave me this error. After talking with my friend, I realized that a few things had happened that I didn't think were variables at first. For one thing, I had just updated my iTunes to version 7.4.1.2. That same day, I also had a new update to Windows XP sp2. When I restarted my computer (to complete my iTunes update), both install were now active.
I tried to add new songs to my iPod and I kept getting this Cannot Sync error. The songs would get onto my iPod and I could play them from the iPod via iTunes. Once I disconnected my iPod and tried to play them, the songs were gone. iTunes was failing to save the songs on the iPod.
Resolution: I connected my iPod to a 3rd party interface (to replace iTunes) and it worked. The interface is called Yamipod and this is where you get it from:
http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/downloads/
When I connected it to my iPod, it identified some bad file and corrected (or replaced) it with a good file. I added songs via Yamipod and they were correctly synced to my iPod. And the best part is, after I used Yamipod my iTunes was now working correctly. I told my friend at work to try this out and it worked for her too. She mentioned that she used Yamipod and then updated her version of Quicktime before everything started working.
All I have to say is that the latest release of iTunes was probably incompatible with Windos XP and some file was corrupted. Like iTunes, Yamipod probably needed this file to sync correctly...so it just overwrote the file, compared to iTunes, which just compained about being broken.
One more thing, Yamipod is a free tool that you can use to extrasct songs from your iPod to your computer. That is the main reason why I use it, but now I realise it's more stable than iTunes too!
Good luck out there, it ***** to have an iPod that you can't add songs to.
Italian.Dude3

First off, have you tried these five iPod troubleshooting steps?:
The Five Rs
If you have, then let's move onto a few general possible troubleshooting fixes, since the solution to a -48 error on a PC is somewhat unknown or various.
See if assigning your iPod a different drive letter helps, following the instructions from this article:
Windows confuses iPod with network drive or hard drive
Try reformatting your iPod to FAT32, through your computer. Then, we'll restore it in iTunes afterward. To do that, see these steps:
1 - Connect your iPod to your computer.
2 - When iTunes has finished syncing with your iPod, open "My Computer".
3 - Right-click on your iPod, and click on "Format". (If your iPod is not showing in My Computer, make sure that disk use is enabled in iTunes).
4 - Here, verify that your formatting settings are "Default", with the format type set for FAT32. Also, make sure that "Quick Scan" is not selected.
5 - Then, click on "OK" to begin the formatting process.
6 - When this is complete (it might take a while), make sure to restore your iPod in iTunes again, so as to properly reload the firmware back onto it again.
Finally, this could be caused by digital signing issues on your computer. See the "Solution 1" section of this article for help regarding that possible cause:
iTunes displays a -50 error when syncing iPod
Any success with any of those things, or do you still have the error?
-Kylene

IPod cannot be synced to computer. An unknown error occured (-50)

When i connect my iPod (30gb Video), the music automatically syncs. But then i get an error code, saying "The iPod cannot be synced. An unknown error occured (-50)"
However, the music still syncs to the iPod.
So i just wanted to know, if anybody knows what this is, and what i can do to stop this appearing.
Thank You.

The only thing that comes to mind is some file with a file name the iPod's FAT32 format doesn't like. For example, I have seen this type of error when syncing photos and having certain characters in the file name of the photo that seem ok under more modern disk formats but the iPod's Fat32 doesn't care for.
Regards,
Patrick

HT2729 Error: The Ipod cannot be synced. The required filed can not be found.

I am trying to sync my Ipod Nano. It is giving me an Error: The Ipod can not by synced. The required filed can not be found.

Does this article help
http://www.hightechdad.com/2011/04/22/how-to-fix-the-required-file-cannot-be-fou nd-error-when-syncing-an-iphone-or-ipod-touch/
the ipod pictur cache is found here on Windows
When you sync pictures to the iPod, your actual pix are not what gets loaded. A copy of the photo is created in a size and format that it knows will display well on the iPod. ( the format is "ithmb"?). These converted pix are stored in the iPod Photo Cache folder, and uploaded from there. Every folder you select to sync photos from will have an iPod Photo Cache folder at its top level.
Files are kept there indefinitely, to save conversion time if you ever need them again. But those cache folders can really grow...if you know that you're never again going to need a bunch of photos on your iPod, you can delete the iPod Photo Cache folder from their parent folder. If you delete a cache folder that contains photos that are on your iPod, the cache will be rebuilt (provided the original files still exist).
Read more: Hi, HOW do I view IPOD PHOTO CACHE on my Windows XP PC Alan - JustAnswer http://www.justanswer.com/computer/2id9q-hi-view-ipod-photo-cache-windows-xp-pc- alan.html#ixzz2Gjxtc65T

My ipod cannot update???

it says my ipod cannot update yet it still updates video/ music but now pictures dont work, anybody ave any clue how this could of happened.

See this article on updating problems, and, if that is not related to your problem then you have a syncing problem. See this Photo Sync FAQ. You may also want to take a peak at compatible photo formats and make sure, in your iPod's preferences on iTunes, that you have the photo preferences the way you want them (go to 'iPod Preferences' from 'Preferences' or from the iPod or podcast window on iTunes, then click 'Photos').

Error message iPod cannot update b/c all of the playlists no longer exist

Hello. I have been getting this error message. "Songs on the iPod "MAR(the name of my iPod)" cannot update because all of the playlists selecting for updating no longer exist." And my playlists are still on the left side in my iTunes. They do exist. I have a feeling ths might have to do with the fact that on vacation the person I was visiting gave me a gift of putting all of his music that would fit into the external hard drive part of my iPod, and for the past week or so I have been putting that music onto my 40 GB portable hard drive at home. I suspect I took a vital folder out of my iPod by accident. Right now I have the folder iPod_control if I open my iPod up in My Computer. Am I missing something? Right now my iPod is empty because iTunes made a composite playlist last week and I deleted it thinking I could get my real playlists back. Can you help me, or reccomend a site/someone who can? Thank you.
PC Windows XP

hiya!
And my playlists are still on the left side in my iTunes. They do exist.
let's just doublecheck this. folks get this message if they have "automatically update selected playlists only" selected in their itunes "ipod" preferences tab. so bring up that tab ("edit > preferences", click "ipod" while the ipod is showing up in the source list), and do a playlist by playlist crosscheck of the playlists selected in that tab, and the playlists showing up in the itunes sourcelist.
is there any playlist selected in the preferences tab that isn't showing up in the sourcelist?
love, b

IPOD cannot be update - 40 GB Click Wheel

Upgraded Itunes & Ipod to latest software versions and can't synch up ipod with Itunes. Have followed ALL steps to recify...uninstall, empty temp directory,standalone Quicktime,reinstall latest. Install goes fine but when I connect Ipod it begins to update from itunes but after about 9G or 2500 songs it says complete (I have over 7500 songs). When I go to update again I get the error message "The iPOD cannot be updated. The disk could not be read from or written to." Please help!

Well it was worth a try...after restoring iPOD, set it up and started auto download from iTunes...once again, everything seemed to be going fine...got up to 2615 songs and it started slowing down while updating ipod and ipod statred making little noises..at 2636 songs it said ipod update complete..my ipod still said do not disconnect so I ejected and still said same thing..no songs updated although it said they had.....reconnected and only 5 songs shoed...clicked on update again and got the message "windows delayed write failed..windows was unable to save all the data for the file G: the data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. please try to save the file elsewhere....the other message that i have been getting is "This ipod Neil's Ipod cannot be updated. The disk could not be read from or written to"

ERROR MESSAGE: The IPOD cannot be updated.

Please help!! Have tried everything can think of including, resetting, retrying, restarting, reinstalling and restoring. ITunes automatically starts downloading when you connect but then only transfers the first 50 or so songs in the library, and then says update complete. When you ask it to then update the IPOD through file menu an error message comes up saying 'The IPOD cannot be updated, the disk could not be read from or written to.' There is no problem with the IPOD, because I have been able to update it via another PC, it just won't update via the laptop even though the ITunes has been set up on the laptop as the ITunes I want to use.
Click wheel Windows XP

To all concerned: There is a new Apple Support Document regarding this error:
-36 or "Disk cannot be read from or written to" error syncing iPod in iTunes
Maybe this helps.
Alexander.

Ipod cannot be updated....

Ok so I put music on my nano no problem, but when I try to put pictures on it, it gives me the following error message...
The Ipod cannot be updated. The disk could not be read from or written to.
What do I do???

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Are you transferring pics from a folder or through a program?
btabz

When I update my nano ipod I get an error message "User ipod cannot be updated. The disk couldnot be read from or written to." How can I overcome this error message.

In the iTunes window, when I update my nano ipod, I get an error message "User ipod cannot be updated. The disk could not be read from or written to." How can I overcome this error message.

Hello there dilip77707,
It sounds like you are getting this error message that your iPod cannot be read from or written to when you are trying to update your iPod Nano. I recommend the troubleshooting from the following article to help you get that resolved. Its pretty straight forward, just start at the top and work your way down as needed:
'Disk cannot be read from or written to' when syncing iPod or 'Firmware update failure' error when updating or restoring iPod
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
All the very best,
Sterling

IPod cannot be formatted

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for