IPod mini won't restore!

Right, another problem, and it doesn't sound like I'm alone on this one.
I can get my iPod recognised by the PC, but when I try to restore it takes 25 minutes to tell me "can't mount iPod". I've tried disk mode, changing the USB port, changing the drive letter... But nothing works. I'm getting really annoyed now. Has anyone got any suggestions?

ok, this is sort of related and then again not at all. I try to update my ipod mini. then it says I can't and tells me to restore. I click restore it starts up then, it sais disk write error and wont update or restore so now I can't even get into my ipod. any help for this would be greatly appreciated. thank you.
Sarah

Similar Messages

Ipod Mini won't restore... folder with exclamation point

A few weeks back my mini suddenly stopped working and showed a folder with an exclamation point. I have tried everything suggested on this site, 5 R's, re-formatting through Windows etc and the closest I can get to restoring is going into disk mode and clicking Restore on the Updater software, but when I do this I get a message saying "Can't mount Ipod" Does anyone know how I can resolve this? I have tried this on 2 different computers, the Ipod shows up in Windows but it won't restore.

Check this out.
Strange iPod behavior.

IPod Mini won't restore back to factory settings

I have a iPod Mini and ever since I downloaded iTunes 7 I've had a few problems.
The new iTunes won't let me restore my settings. When I try to do it I get an error message that says the iPod couldn't be restored "An unknown error occurred (1428)."
Another problem is that I have no songs/podcasts on my Mini but it says I only have 16.1 MB of free space. I've already re-stalled iTunes and resetted the iPod itself.
Nothing seems to work.
Anybody know how to solve this problem?

I bought my ipod mini off of ebay and it only came with the ipod, no software or connectors. I bought the connectors seperately. My issue is this: when connecting to my computer I cannot find the songs off of the mini. nor can i figure out what the itunes purpose is. I am unable to find the mini on the itunes layout anywhere.
can you help?

My ipod mini won't restore

i have put it into disk mode and i have downloaded the updater so i could restore it but it says that i can't mount the ipod. why is this?
Windows XP

it might be worth checking on this possibility, jo:
Windows confuses iPod with network drive and may keep iPod from mounting or songs may seem to disappear

Ipod mini won't reset

My Ipod mini won't reset. Help!

1. Try these five steps (known as the five Rs) will conquer most iPod issues.
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/five_rs/
2. Try to put the iPod into Disk Mode if it fails to appear on the desktop
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93651
Still can't see your iPod?
Several things could keep iPod from appearing in iTunes or in the Desktop/Finder when you connect it to your PC/Mac. The most likely causes are listed below in logical order. Check each one starting from the top of the list to see if that is what's keeping iPod from appearing.
3. Try to wait 30 minutes while iPod is charging.
4. Try another known-good FireWire or USB through Dock Connector cable.
5. Try another known-good FireWire or USB port on your computer .
6. Try to disconnect all devices from your computer's FireWire and USB ports.
7. Windows users having trouble with their iPods should locate a Mac user. We've found that in many cases when an iPod won't show up on a PC that it will show up on the Mac. Then it can be restored. When the PC user returns to his computer the iPod will be recognized by the PC, reformatted for the PC, and usable again. BTW, it works in reverse too. A Mac user often can get his iPod back by connecting it to a PC and restoring it.
8. Try to do a Erase (Disk Utility) on a Mac computer or a reformat with a PC (Disk Management tool) but ensure you choose the right Drive (your iPod not your Hard Disk of your computer).
9. Try to run the iPod in “Diagnostic mode” . which can be accessed by pushing the “hold” switch into the “on” position and then “off” (into the original position). Then press the following buttons in the following order: “menu” plus “select” (centre button) then press “reverse” plus “select”. This will take you to the hidden diagnostic mode screen menu. It may take a few trials and pressing the buttons in the right way for this to work, so be patient and keep trying if you have to. The diagnostic mode will give you 7 choices which are: Memory, IO, Power, Status, SysCfg, Diskmode, and Reset. Don’t bother trying “reset” because in my case it didn’t work it just took me back to the same problem. Instead, choose “diskmode”, after which you should get an odd looking “ok to disconnect” sign on the iPod screen.
If one of the above step helps to get your iPod to be recognized with your computer, do a Restore.
But, if none of these steps address the issue, your iPod may need to be repaired. You can arrange for service at the iPod Service Website.

Ipod mini won't charge from mains.

My ipod mini won't charge from the mains lead or a dock but works fine with the usb lead. I've tried different leads, sockets and resetting it but nothing works. It's a pain because if I go away from home for any length of time, I need to take my laptop just to charge it up.
ipod mini Windows XP

I say try a different charger. When I wanted to avoid having to take my laptop everywhere, I bought this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BNZLGE/ref=pdcp_etitle/002-2209999-2570423?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=172282
and it's worked fine in the six months I've had it... and besides it would cost under $10 to find the root of the problem, much more than Apple would charge, that's for sure.

Ipod mini could not restore

i can't understand why my ipod mini can't restore it's factory settings. i tried everthing but it says "ipod could not be restored. an unknown error occured (1418)." what's happening. i can use it and all files still intact but when i connect it to the computer it just doesn't show.. HELP!!! thanks

Since this error 1418 is a common error that many folks cannot fix, care to share how you did it?
It may help someone in the future.

Ipod touch won't restore

ipod touch won't restore.. comes up with a screen shot on the ipod showing a usb cable to attach to iTunes. Ipod won't reset & the one time that it showed up in iTunes it came up with an error msg saying it couldn't be restored...?

Hey Pal,
So the issue what u facing is pretty simple, just make sure u run an MS Config on the computer so to check which Program is causing the issue, and then once after done tht try to restore the iPod again and just make sure u also discard all the external USB Devices of the Computer, and try i am pretty sure it will work, and you follow this artcile to run MSConfig http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305415, Do let me know if it works k
Peace...

Ipod mini won't play purchased songs after 2 days.

Windows XP
ok this is really weird but my iPod mini won't play ANY of my purchased songs after 2 days of use. Then I have to hook it up to my comp and buy another song or download and then it will play the purchased songs. my mom has an ipod mini and doesn't have this problem. whats up with it?
thanks!

finally someone with my same problem, it has been solved though! what you do is you hook the mini to comp and then clik on the mini in source list, play purchased song, and then it should work

My ipod mini won't switch on and i cant live without it !

My ipod mini won't switch on. I had been having problems for a few weeks before, transferring song lists to my ipod from the pc, showing the message "attempting to copy to the disk failed. An unknown error occured (-36)". I don't know if this had anything to do with my current problem. After un-installing and re-installing the latest version of installer, I went to switch my ipod on a few days ago and all that it showed on the screen was about half of the battery charging icon that usually fills the screen. I switched the ipod off again but when I tried to switch it back on, nothing happened. please help !

Tried these?
The Five Rs.
"Disk cannot be read from or written to" error syncing iPod in iTunes.
iPod won't turn on.
iPod battery doesn't charge.

TS1372 ipod classic won't restore

can't restore ipod classic error 1439

If a sad iPod icon or an exclamation point and folder icon appears on your iPod’s screen, or with sounds of clicking or HD whirring, it is usually the sign of a hard drive problem and you have the power to do something about it now. Your silver bullet of resolving your iPod issue – is to restore your iPod to factory settings.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60983
If you're having trouble, try these steps at different levels one at a time until the issue is resolved. These steps will often whip your iPod back into shape.
Make sure you do all the following “TRYs”
A. Try to wait 30 minutes while iPod is charging.
B. Try another FireWire or USB through Dock Connector cable.
C. Try another FireWire or USB port on your computer .
D. Try to disconnect all devices from your computer's FireWire and USB ports.
E. Try to download and install the latest version of iPod software and iTunes
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
For old and other versions of iPod updater for window you can get here
http://www.ipodwizard.net/showthread.php?t=7369
F. Try these five steps (known as the five Rs) and it would conquer most iPod issues.
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/five_rs/
G. Try to put the iPod into Disk Mode if it fails to appear on the desktop
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93651
If none of these steps address the issue, you may need to go to Intermediate level listed below in logical order. Check from the top of the lists to see if that is what keeping iPod from appearing on your computer in order for doing the Restore.
Intermediate Level
A. Try to connect your iPod with another computer with the iPod updater pre-installed.
B. Still can’t see your iPod, put it in Disk Mode and connect with a computer, instead of doing a Restore on iPod Updater. Go and format the iPod instead.
For Mac computer
1. Open the disk utility, hope your iPod appears there (left hand side), highlight it
2. Go to Tab “Partition”, click either “Delete” or “Partition”, if fails, skip this step and go to 3
3. Go to Tab “Erase” , choose Volume Format as “MAC OS Extended (Journaled), and click Erase, again if fails, skip it and go to 4
4. Same as step 3, but open the “Security Options....” and choose “Zero Out Data” before click Erase. It will take 1 to 2 hours to complete.
5. Eject your iPod and do a Reset
6. Open the iTunes 7 and click “Restore”
For Window computer
Go to folder “My Computer”
Hope you can see your iPod there and right click on the iPod
Choose “Format”. Ensure the settings are at “Default” and that “Quick Format” is not checked
Now select “Format”
Eject your iPod and do a Reset
Open the iTunes 7 and click “Restore”
In case you do not manage to do a “Format” on a window computer, try to use some 3rd party disk utility software, e.g.“HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool”.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=501330&tstart=0
C. Windows users having trouble with their iPods should locate a Mac user. In many cases when an iPod won't show up on a PC that it will show up on the Mac. Then it can be restored. When the PC user returns to his computer the iPod will be recognized by the PC, reformatted for the PC, and usable again. By the way, it works in reverse too. A Mac user often can get his iPod back by connecting it to a PC and restoring it.
Tips
a. It does not matter whether the format is completed or not, the key is to erase (or partly) the corrupted firmware files on the Hard Drive of the iPod. After that, when the iPod re-connected with a computer, it will be recognized as an fresh external hard drive, it will show up on the iTunes 7.
b. It is not a difficult issue for a Mac user to find a window base computer, for a PC user, if they can’t find any Mac user, they can go to a nearest Apple Shop for a favor.
c. You may need to switch around the PC and Mac, try to do several attempts between “Format” and “Restore”
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2364921&#2364921
Advance Level
A. Diagnostic mode solution
If you have tried trouble shooting your iPod to no avail after all the steps above, chances are your iPod has a hardware problem. The iPod's built-in Diagnostic Mode is a quick and easy way to determine if you have a "bad" iPod.
You need to restart your iPod before putting it into Diagnostic Mode. Check that your hold switch is off by sliding the switch away from the headphone jack. Toggle it on and off to be safe.
Press and hold the following combination of buttons simultaneously for approximately 10 seconds to reset the iPod.
iPod 1G to 3G: "Menu" and "Play/Pause"
iPod 4G+ (includes Photo, Nano, Video, and Mini): "Menu" and "Select"
The Apple logo will appear and you should feel the hard drive spinning up. Press and hold the following sequence of buttons:
iPod 1G to 3G: "REW", "FFW" and "Select"
iPod 4G+ (includes Photo, Nano, Video, and Mini): "Back" and "Select"
You will hear an audible chirp sound (3G models and higher) and the Apple logo should appear backwards. You are now in Diagnostic Mode. Navigate the list of tests using "REW" and "FFW". The scroll wheel will not function while in diagnostic mode. For further details on Diagnostic mode can be found at http://www.methodshop.com/mp3/ipodsupport/diagnosticmode/
Try to do the 5in1, HDD R/W and HDD scan tests. Some successful cases have been reported after the running the few tests under the Diagnostic mode. In case it does not work in your case, and the scan tests reports show some errors then it proves your iPod has a hardware problem and it needs a repairing service.
B. Format your iPod with a start disk
I have not tried this solution myself, I heard that there were few successful cases that the users managed to get their iPod (you must put your iPod in disk mode before connecting with a computer) mounted by the computer, which was booted by a system startup disk. For Mac, you can use the Disk Utility (on the Tiger OS system disk), for PC user, you can use the window OS system disk. Try to find a way to reformat your iPod, again it does not matter which format (FAT32, NTFS or HFS+) you choose, the key is to erase the corrupted system files on the iPod. Then eject your iPod and do a Reset to switch out from Disk Mode. Reboot your computer at the normal way, connect your iPod back with it, open the iPod updater, and hopefully your iPod will appear there for the Restore.
If none of these steps address the issue, your iPod may need to be repaired.
Consider setting up a mail-in repair for your iPod http://depot.info.apple.com/ipod/
Or visit your local Apple Retail Store http://www.apple.com/retail/
In case your iPod is no longer covered by the warranty and you want to find a second repairing company, you can try iPodResQ or ifixit at your own risk
http://www.ipodresq.com/index.php
http://www.ifixit.com/
Just in case that you are at the following situation
Your iPod warranty is expired
You don’t want to pay any service charges
You are prepared to buy a new one
You can’t accept the re-sell value of your broken iPod
Rather than leave your iPod as paper-weight or throw it away.
You can try the following, but again, only do it as your last resort and at your own risk.
Warning !!!! – It may or may not manage to solve your problem, and with a risk that you may further damage your iPod, which end up as an expensive paper weight or you need to pay more higher repairing cost. Therefore, please re-consider again whether you want to try the next level
Last Resort Level
1. . Disconnecting the Hard Drive and battery inside the iPod – Warning !! Your iPod warranty will be waived once you open the iPod.
In Hong Kong there are some electronic shops offering an iPod service for Sad iPod, the first thing they do is to open up the iPod’s case and disconnecting the battery and the Hard Drive from the main board of the iPod. Wait for 5-10 minutes and reconnecting them back. The reason behind which I can think of is to do a fully reset of a processor of the iPod. In case you want do it itself and you believe that you are good on fixing the electronics devices and have experience to deal with small bits of electronic parts, then you can read the following of how to open the iPod case for battery and HDD replacement (with Quicktimes)
http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/index.cfm?page=Video/directory.html
2.Press the reset button on the Hard Drive inside the iPod – Suggestion from Kill8joy
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2438774#2438774
Have I tried these myself? No, I am afraid to do it myself as I am squeamish about tinkering inside electronic devices, I have few experiences that either I broke the parts (which are normally tiny or fragile) or failed to put the parts back to the main case. Therefore, I agree with suggestion to have it fixed by a Pro.
2. Do a search on Google and some topics on this discussion forum about “Sad iPod”
Exclamation point and folder and nothing else
Spank your iPod
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ljPhrFUaOY
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3597173#3597173
Exclamation point and folder and nothing else
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2831962#2831962
What should I do with my iPod? Send it or keep it?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=469080&tstart=0
Strange error on iPod (probably death)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=435160&start=0&tstart=0
Sad Face on iPod for no apparent reason
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=336342&start=0&tstart=0
Meeting the Sad iPod icon
http://askpang.typepad.com/relevant_history/2004/11/meeting_the_sad.html#comment -10519524
Sad faced iPod, but my computer won’t recognize it?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2236095#2236095
iPod Photo: unhappy icon + warranty question
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2233746#2233746
4th Gen iPod Users - are we all having the same problem?
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2235623#2235623
Low Battery, and clicking sounds
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2237714#2237714
Sad faced iPod, but my computer won’t recognize it
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2242018#2242018
Sad iPod solution
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=412033&tstart=0
Re: try to restore ipod and it says "can't mount ipod"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=443659&tstart=30
iPod making clicking noise and is frozen
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2420150#2420150
Cant put it into disk mode
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3786084#3786084
I think my iPod just died its final death
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3813051
Apple logo & monochrome battery stay
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3827167#3827167
My iPod ism’t resetting and isn’t being read by my computer
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4489387#4489387
I am not suggesting that you should follow as well, but just read them as your reference. You are the person to make the call.
Finally, I read a fair comments from dwb, regarding of slapping the back of the iPod multiple times
Quote “This has been discussed numerous times as a 'fix'. It does work, at least for a while. In fact I remember using the same basic trick to revive Seagate and Quantam drives back in the mid to late 1980's. Why these tiny hard drives go bad I don't know - could be the actuator gets stuck in place or misaligned. Could be the platter gets stuck or the motor gets stuck. 'Stiction' was a problem for drives back in the 80's. Unfortunately the fix can cause damage to the platter so we temporarily fix one problem by creating another. But I know of two instances where a little slap onto the table revived the iPods and they are still worked a year or more later.”UnQuote

Ipod mini won't plays songs, keeps skipping

I've had my ipod mini for the last year but 4 to 5 months ago it stopped working and I'm just now finding the time to deal with this. My ipod is a mess and I'm not sure if it can even be fixed without some technician messing around with it but any help would be GREATLY appreciated. This is a long one...
The problem was:
When I selected a song from a playlist (or any category) to play it, the song information would pop up on the screen and it would play the first milisecond of the song and then the next song on the list would pop up and the ipod would do the same thing. It would do this over and over for every song on the playlist until it reached the end of the list. It did this for every category. I restarted it and NOTHING worked. But at least it turned on then. Now it doesn't.
The problem now:
I reset my ipod and took all of the songs off of iTunes, just in case. When I tried to turn the ipod back on, the folder with the exclamation point alert popped up and now the ipod won't turn on at all.
I put songs back into iTunes and tried to update my ipod and iTunes said that it was importing the songs but the ipod still won't turn on. I reset it once again just in case and I didn't put any more songs in it because that just seems to make it worse. So now the ipod has no songs in it and it still won't turn on.
It keeps giving me the same alert after a few minutes of the apple symbol and I've plugged it into my computer and it says that it's charging but it will do nothing else but charge.
Windows XP

step 1: try to restore it. this will remove everything on the ipod. then it will make sure it is current and nothing will be left on the ipod. then, just reload your music

Ipod mini won't format!

Just bought an ipod mini for my sons birthday. Tried to set it up and it won't format. got error msg assertion b failed at .\ipodformatFat32.cppline1068.
Does anyone know how to fix it? He's going to be so disapointed if i have to send it back

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
First, try restoring the iPod, as long as iTunes and the iPod updater are installed...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60983
If it still doesn't work, then try downloading the software here as it may not be updated on the CD that came with...
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download
http://www.apple.com/ipod/download
See if you can restore now.
btabz

Ipod mini won't connect after software update

I was using my ipod mini without problems on my mac powerboook until I downloaded and installed the latest ipod software updater yesterday. Since installing the application and clicking update in the software I can't get my computer to recognise the mini at all no matter what I do. Neither Itunes or the software updater sees my ipod and the ipod itself either says do not disconnect or shows a folder icon with an exclamation mark. Anybody know how to get out of this limbo state it seems to be in?

One thing you can try (AT YOUR OWN RISK - though I have done this on my own iPod mini using my PB and it has fixed issues similar to those that you are reporting), connect the iPod to your mac and then launch the disk utility app. If you're on a windows machine, this obviously won't help you although there may be a similar procedure. When the disk utility app comes up, if your iPod shows up in the left panel after a moment, highlight it by clicking on the name. If you try to verify it, you'll probably get a report of errors - don't panic - go to the erase pane and erase the drive (I think you can select either format with journaled or unjournaled - they both seem to work for me). MAKE SURE YOU"VE SELECTED THE iPOD DISK BEFORE YOU ERASE THE DRIVE!!!
After you erase the drive, you'll need to reapply the latest iPod update to restore the iPod OS (if you don't do this you may still be able to load music but it won't play and you'll still see the exclamation point display). After you reapply the update, you will hopefully back to normal. Re load your tunes and enjoy your iPod again!
Hope this helps.

Brand new Ipod mini won't charge

HI,
Apologies if this has been covered before - I'm posting for a friend who's just bought a brand new 4Gb ipod mini, and having synced her music and having had 1 week of good tunes on the go, it now won't charge.
If you plug the usb 2.0 cable into the ipod and the pc (yes, I'm sure the usb is usb 2.0 on the pc), it brings up the charging icon, but instead of animating the bars etc, it sits still, with one bar filled in. And doesn't appear to charge, as there is no power to turn it on.
Has anyone else encountered this??
I'm sure people will say try another cable, and to this end, I have a 3rd Gen ipod, and am going to try my firewire mains plug, will this work? as my friend doesn't have a mains plug yet - though she's ordered one.
Any other ideas?
Is it just that the battery is knackered - even though it's only a week old?
Help
Cheers all
Pete

Jeff,
Thank you for the info - I apologise for cross posting I've been inactive on the discussions pages for about 6 months and had forgotten - I also wanted a quick response, which I got thanks.
Pete

IPod mini won't restore!

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