IPod not recognized with Mountain Lion

Question

Since upgrading to Mountain Lion, my iPOD gets hung up when connected to computer, and will not show on i Tunes. I get the spinning wheel and the "do not disconnect" sign on the iPod. I tried the resetting routine with no benefit.  Is there something I can do without losing my iPod content to restore i Pod and allow use with Mountain Lion.  The i POD functions normally when used by itself. It also loads properly on my desktop MacPro OS 10.7.4 Has anyone had this problem?

Answer 1

I assume this iPod worked with this Mac before upgrading the Mac to Mountain Lion?  You've updated Mountain Lion to 10.8.1?  And your iTunes version is the latest available (10.6.3)?
If you are using a USB hub as connection point (or the spare port in the keyboard), try connecting it to a direct USB port.  As a test, you may want to disconnect all other USB devices (except for standard keyboard and mouse if used), and connect the iPod to a direct USB port.  Also, if you have not powered OFF your Mac in a while, try doing that (not just restarting).
If that does not help, try putting the iPod into Disk Mode, to see if it will connect to the Mac without iTunes (or the system) giving you the spinning wheel.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1363
It's not a good idea to have song files on the iPod that are not backed up in your iTunes library.  iPods can become broken or lost.  Purchases from the iTunes Store can be re-downloaded from the iTunes Store Purchased page, but for other song files, you should transfer them off the iPod and add them to your computer's iTunes library.  Then, you can do a Restore when necessary, and easily re-sync your songs back to iPod.  You can't do it (transfer from iPod to computer) using iTunes, but there are third-party methods and utilities that can do it.  If you do a Google search on something like "ipod transfer," you should get some links.