IPod with Color will not connect to G5

Question

I recently bought a used iPod with Color display with a 60 GB drive for use in the car. I have a BMW with the cable that accommodates an iPod. I plugged it into the G5 with all my music on it and.... nothing.
I tried plugging it into my work PC and it connected. Then I went over to my daughter's new iMac and it connected perfectly. While I was there, I decided to "restore" the iPod since it was used and I was not sure what might have been on it previously. Restore went great.
Went over to my G5 and plugged it in. This is when it gets weird. As many of you know the G5 has three USB ports. One conveniently located in front and two in back. Obviously my first try was the one in front...... again, nothing. So I tried the two in back. The top one gave me..... nothing. But the bottom one seemed to like the iPod and it connected. I gave the iPod a new name and merrily started loading it up with music. I got 4 or 5GB worth onto it when all of a sudden I got the dreaded "Device Removal" warning.
I sort of froze and wondered what to do next. Since I had already gotten the "Device removal" warning I decided that unplugging it would be ok. So I did so and wait a few minutes before connecting the iPod once more. It connected alright but now I got a message saying that "iTunes cannot read the content of iPod "iPod Color". Go to summary tab in iPod preferences and click Restore to restore this iPod to factory settings".
So I click OK and look at the summary. The iPod is listed on the left under devices but now the name is displayed simply as "iPod" and not iPod Color as I had named it. Capacity is n/a (can't read it) and software version is shown as 1.2.1. Serial number is also listed. I hadn't transferred much music onto it yet so I decided to just go ahead and restore it.
I got the "Are you sure you want to restore the iPod.." message and I click "restore". At this moment nothing happens for about 2 minutes. iTunes is frozen and then I get a message that pops up and says, "The iPod "iPod" (note the wrong name) could not be restored because it could not be found". I click ok, I unmount the iPod and here we sit.
I have tried this over and over several times on this G5 with EXACTLY the same results. I have tried two other cables and we get the same thing. I also tried restarting the G5 with the iPod plugged into the USB port that works and got the same thing with one minor variation. When I went to restore the iPod this time, it actually started the process. We got the blue horizontal barber shop pole and I really though we had a break through, but after about 15 seconds I got the message that "The iPod "iPod" (still the wrong name) could not be restored because it could not be found.
I'm not quite sure what to try next. I can't decide if the problem is with the OS (USB ports not all working) iTunes itself (maybe I can install a different version?) of the iPod. The iPod by the way was sold to me by a guy on eBay who reconditions the devices. He seems pretty competent so I think the iPod itself is in good working order.
Anyone have any suggestions? I appreciate your ideas.
John

Answer 1

Physician - heal thyself!!!!!!
Well after pick away at this problem for a few weeks (alone) I think I have solved the problem. Through my countless iterations of trying every combination of plugging and unplugging various USB devices in various USB ports, I realized that the one combination I had not tried was unplugging EVERY device from the G5 itself including the keyboard. But wait, I need the keyboard to input text into the computer don't I? I had completely forgotten that there are two USB ports on the back of my Apple monitor. So I plugged the keyboard into the port on the monitor and guess what? The G5 not only recognized the iPod but allowed me to restore factory settings and actually sych it with iTunes.
So, what I learned is that this G5 will not work with this 60 GB iPod with Color screen unless it is the ONLY USB device plugged into tone of the three USB ports. Right - I am sure the Apple Engineers view this as a "feature". Shyaa - right!
Well, it not idea but at least it works. It's pain to unplug every other USB device when you want to sych your iPod but I suppose that's the price we pay.
Is the question answered? No, not really. I still don't know if it's a hardware problem, an OSX problem, or an iPod problem. My guess is that since it's a G5 running a Power PC chip, the fellas at Apple won't give this a second look.