IPod failing to update fully

My fifth gen iPod was working fine until recently - now when I plug it in to update, the songs transfer as expected, but when photos/videos begin to transfer iTunes freezes up and the process fails. If I force quit iTunes and start the process again, more data is copied to the iPod and nothing is deleted - so my 60GB model ends up running out of space.
I'm now beginning to get an error "The iPod cannot be updated, and unknown error occured. (-39)".
I've tried restarting my MacBook Pro, using a different USB port, restoring the iPod..
Anyone have any suggestions as to what to try next?

Try reinstalling these...
iTunes
iPod Updater
Also, make sure the software on your iPod is up to date...
Updating iPod's Software
Finally, try disabling photo and video transfer. Does the iPod work?
btabz

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Ipod fails to update

Hi,
I have recently returned from honeymoon, and updated to latest version (5.0.1.4). This then informed that I needed to use updater on my Ipod to latest software (2005-9-23).My ipod is http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61688#dockconnector
I then updated Ipod, and after update ipod in itunes in the usual way, i notice that there is only three songs loaded out of 3023 songs. It updates in the usual/old way, but not all the songs. I have changed nothing on my pc, and have reguarly updated as always in the last three years.
I'm stumped on this.
Any thoughts?
Kind regards
Darren

The setting to sync manually must be in the iTunes Preferences, follow the steps I posted before ^_^. Maybe the iPod manual is a bit clearer (see link).
About the "missing" 1.5 GB: Apples hardrives always appear smaller than they are named. Also, the iPod takes about 50 MB for its own system files.
What in fact is strange, are those 40 songs taking up 13.5 GB. Are they in .wav format, perchance? Or do you use the iPod as Harddrive as well?
itunes says that some of the songs could not be found.
Make sure iTunes "knows" your actual music folder (Edit->Preferences->Advanced Tab->General Tab). If you want all your music in the same folder (on the PC) you can check "keep music folder organized" and "copy into music folder".
Some Links:
iPod manual: http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iPodDockConnectorUserGuide.PDF (page 28)
"missing" HD space: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60920#faq11 / http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30065 / http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60955

Ipod failed when updating

Can somebody help me out here?
I was updating my ipod, and all of sudden it started to make a noise.
i think it was the hard drive.
and then when i tried to open the ipod, it won't start.
it only displayed with "go to ipodsupport.com" something like that.
i'm afraid the hard drive was destroyed during the updating process.
is there any way to deal with this problem?
thanks a million
Rui

yeah my ipods doing that too and when i stry to start it up i get an apple then a sad ipod with a website and then a battery with lightninig thru it

Failed to update

I plugged my iPod into my computer and upon connection iTunes said there was a new update available.
I clicked to download this update and went downstairs to make a coffee and leave it download. Upon my return I had an error message saying that the iPod failed to update and had some error message which I regrettably didn't note.
Now my iPod is stuck displaying the USB connector with an arrow towards the iTunes logo and my computer picks it up as new hardware and not an iPod. In my computer it isn't displayed and doesnt know what to do with it.
I've tried resetting the iPod but when switched back on it goes straight to the USB display saying its connected to iTunes (and it isnt even connected to the computer).
This iPod is only a month or so old and I will be VERY disapointed if this can not be fixed
Please help!!!!
Thank you in advance
Daniel Blight (dTx)

Im having a very similiar issue!!
A few minutes ago I downloaded the new itouch update! When I clicked update it did the usual unpacking then windows told me that it might react strangley on my computer (i dont remember; something to that effect). Then my Ipod disappeared from the window. Now my ipod shows that it needs to connect to Itunes but my computer isnt recognizing it. It does the "beep beep" when i plug it in but that is all..
I just tried the holding in the "home" button while plugging it in but it didnt work.. nothing happened.. is there another way to force it to reset or is it possible to delete the update from my computer?? please help!!!!! cries I only just put 4 movies on my Ipod and now I cant even watch them..

My iPod does not update it self in iTunes. I click on the "update the latest version for your iPod" and it fails. Please help me.

My iPod does not update it self in iTunes. I click on the "update the latest version for your iPod" and it fails. Please help me.

Try:
- iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
- Also try DFU mode after try recovery mode
How to put iPod touch / iPhone into DFU mode « Karthik's scribblings
- If not successful and you can't fully turn the iOS device fully off, let the battery fully drain. After charging for an least an hour try the above again.
- Try on another computer
- If still not successful that usually indicates a hardware problem and an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is in order.
Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar

Tried to update iPod, failed, no new drivers installed. Now iPod does not show in my computer or in iTunes.

Anyone know how I can update/unbrick this iPod? It's useless. It's stuck on the screen that says connect to iTunes. iTunes doesn't know it's there. My computer doesn't know it's there. It's not the USB port.
Please don't direct me here - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808 - already tried, no results.
Last time it was a missing driver for iTunes but iTunes says nothing new is needed. Help appreciated.

Let me try this again. My computer said my iPod needed an update. I clicked ok. iTunes said it was doing the update. I browsed the internet. I came back to it after it was done, and it said update failed, no new drivers installed. Now my iPod touch is a brick. I cannot use it for anything. You know that screen that shows the usb cable, a white arrow, and iTunes? It's stuck there. No amount of pushing the sleep/wake button and home button will convince it to go to any other screen. When I go to 'My Computer', it does not recognize that there is anything there. It is not the USB port. Everything was fine until the update tried and failed.
I am not installing iTunes (piece of crap software that it is) on the other computer in my apartment.
I have exhausted the articles that sort of go with the problems I am having. They all assume a non brick iPod. Mine is a brick and therefore those articles, including the one you linked, are not relevant.
Not meaning to be rude, but I came into this not caring much for Apple's business model. I've had my iPod for .. a week? Maybe two, and nothing I've seen has convinced me to feel otherwise. Apple's products are supposed to just work. I am not finding that to be the case. Anyone with anything helpful please?

After itunes update my ipod touch is not syncing correctly first I got error message..ipod failed to complete sync because connection was lost..now it wont sync new music

After recent itunes update my ipod touch 4 is not syncing properly...I got error message twice "ipod failed to sync properly because connection was lost, please try again"... it continued acting weird, now when i click on "sync now" it says preparing to sync, it goes through steps quickly says sync finished but it doesnt update.. can anyone help?

There's a good guide here on how to roll back to 10.7 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4559563?tstart=0

I'm trying to update my very old iPod on my old laptop and it says "Attempting to copy to the disk "Kims iPod" failed. You do not have the privilege to make changes?

I'm trying to update my very old iPod on my old laptop and it says "Attempting to copy to the disk "Kims iPod" failed. You do not have the privilege to make changes. Then another window pops up the ipod 'kims ipod' cannot be synced. you do have the privilage to make changes. Then another saying itunes could not copy "awake (name of track) to the ipod Kims ipdo because an unknown error occured (-61)
What does this mean and how can I fix this? I am operating on a very old mac laptop however it is not the same one that the ipod was set up on ... I have authorised this computer to make changes
Any help would be amazing!

try the steps in this support article.

HT201210 at the end of iOS6 download,my ipod touch says 'update failed'.i need some help to resolve this problem. thanks

at the end of iOS6 download,my ipod touch says 'update failed'.i need some help to resolve this problem. thanks

Try:
- Reset the iPod. Nothing will be lost
Reset iPod touch: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- Next connect to iTunes and update via iTunes. Others have had the same problem.

"updating ipod failed..files could not be read from or written to+

help!! this is the message that appears everytime we try to add a song to the ipodshuffle on itunes.
we have updated itunes, the ipods and windows and nothing is working.
we even restored the ipod to factory settings and it still wont work properly!!!this message appears everytime we drag a song to the ipod
this is happening with both ipods shuffles that we have but not with the ipod nano
could someone please help with this problem PLEASE

Hi.
The scenario will be - "Disk cannot be read from or written to" when syncing iPod or "Firmware update failure" error when updating or restoring iPod..
In this case we need to try all the steps mentioned in the Apple article number - 301267..
The link is http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301267..
I will list out thr steps for convenience...
1. Plug the iPod directly to the USB removing all other devices connected..
2. Open "My computer" -> Right click on removable drive meant for IPod and select format 32..
3. Then Restore the IPod back to factory settings..
4. Then unp[lug the IPOd, Reset it and then try transferring songs onto iPod
Please revert back on clarifications..

The iPod "Mitchell's iPod" cannot be updated

I had a 60Gb iPod photo for a couple of years. Once my iTunes music library got over 60Gb I had continuous problems syncing but I also increasingly got the sad icon so I think it was an underlying iPod hardware problem.
So I bought a new iPod 80Gb 5th Gen. I have iTunes 7.1 loaded on a Windows XP machine. When I first connected the iPod it loaded about 5 Gb before I got an error message <<The iPod "Mitchell's iPod" cannot be update. The required file cannot be found>>.
Over the course of 2 whole days I would load iTunes plug in the iPod, it would sync some songs then eventually fail with the above error message.... then I would repeat the same exercise. I am now up to 31Gb but now it fails immediately so I cannot add any more songs.
Does any of this sound familiar to anyone. This is a brand new iPod, fresh out of the box, fully charged.
thanks, Mitchell
Mesh PC, Pentium4, 2.80 Ghz, 500Mb RAM Windows XP iTunes 7.0.1.8
Mesh PC, Pentium4, 2.80 Ghz, 500Mb RAM

Uninstalled and re-installed iTunes. Connected iPod and it started syncing again. Went up from 37.91Gb to 44.14Gb on iPod then failed again with message <<Attempting to copy to the disk "MITCHELL's" failed. The disk could not be read from or written to>>

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"

IPod no longer updates smart playlists after upgrade to 1.3

After upgrading my 5th Gen 30GB iPod to 1.3 I noticed immediately that the smart playlists on my iPod aren't updating any longer. Until 3 days ago my iPod had firmware version 1.2.1 and all smart playlists worked as expected.
I have many smart playlists that I have been happily using everyday for the past 2 years to play only new podcasts, shuffle my favorite tunes based on when they have been played last, and move songs in and out of My Top rated tunes based on their ratings. These no longer work on my iPod, but when I sync with iTunes they update fine. I didn't make any changes to my smart playlists before or immediately after upgrading, at least until I noticed the problem.
For the last couple of days since upgrading I have tried deleting all my smart playlists and recreating them, that didn't help. I have also tried restoring my iPod, which also didn't help. I have also tried creating a very basic smart playlist i.e.
Match all of the following rules - checked
Rating is ***
Live updating - checked
Sync'd that to my iPod and started playing a tune and changed it's rating to 5 stars. I then entered a static playlist, played a song from that and when it was done entered the new 5 star rating smart playlist and it wasn't updated.
I'm don't know what else to try, I've repeated the same test as above on my wife's 2nd Gen nano and it worked as expected. Has anyone else noticed smart playlists failing to update since the upgrade? I have searched here and on google, but only found reference to much older firmwares.

I'm having the same problem, once I've listened to a song in my 0 plays list, go out to a new menu, then back in, all the songs that have been played are still there, when a few weeks ago they were taken off and only unplayed songs were still there. Now if I switch to another playlist and back, I have to scroll all the way back to the point I was when I changed which didn't happen earlier.

My iPod cannot be updated! Plz help!

I'm using a 30-GB iPod with Video, bought May 06 in Japan. It can't be updated for 1 month so far. I still can update songs into my iTunes properly, while songs in iTunes can't get into my iPod. I've tried to reset iTunes and iPods in my PCs for several times, but the problem can't be solved. Error message is "The iPod cannot be updated. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable". Can anyone show me how to settle the problem? Thank you guys. Van Anh
iPod 30 GB with video Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP

Oh, I don't think my iPod's being not updatable due to iTunes 7.0 on Windows XP. The error message "Your iPod cannot be updated. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable" also appears with my at-home PC which runs original iTunes 6.1 (the Apple running disk went with my iPod). I've come to realize that Folder "Photos" in the iPod may be the reason? I deleted pictures in it once, and since then, I can't add new photos, together with new songs from my iTunes library into iPod. When I double-click the Photos folder, the message "The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable" also appears. How can I fix it? I've reset my iPod but failed to fix the problem. Don't anyone of you meet the same matter? Plz help! Thank you guys.

MSSGE attempting to copy to disk "Ipod" failed the disk could not be read..

What is going on with this alert message " Attempting to copy to the disk " Ipod" failed the disk could not be read from or written to." I down loaded a song from Itunes and all of the sudden I get this message and Itunes went crazy, it wouldn't eject my Ipod, I took it to apple and they restored my Ipod saying it was fine, then I get home and I can't put alot of songs in my library back on it, itunes keeps repeating that message. I had no problem putting them on before. I have uninstalled both Itunes and Ipod updater numerous times to no avail HELP!

See if any of the troubleshooting steps in this article help: "Disk cannot be read from or written to" when syncing iPod or "Firmware update failure" error when updating or restoring iPod

IPod failing to update fully

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