IPod won't sync after computer reformatting

Hi,
Ever since my computer crashed and I had to have it completely erased and OS X reinstalled, I've been having problems syncing my iPod with iTunes. I downloaded a software that allowed me to transfer the music from my iPod back into iTunes, but now the iPod does not sync with iTunes at all: new music I've put into iTunes, new playlists, etc.--none of them sync to the iPod. What can I do to fix this?

The first things to try are these basic troubleshooting steps.
The Five Rs.
Any difference if you enable the iPod for iPod Disk Use.
If you put the iPod into manual and drag items from iTunes to iPod, still nothing happens?

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IPod Won't Sync After Moving Music to New Computer

With the help of someone here, I moved my iTunes Library from my old computer to my new one. It didn't work exactly like it was supposed to. All of my music is on my new computer and in my iTunes library, but my playlists, counts etc. are gone. Whatever - I'll deal. Now, though, my iPod won't sync with my new computer (which I did authorized). The "Do Not Disconnect" sign never goes away after I connect my iPod. Thoughts?

*I'm afraid to plug in my iPod in fear of it erasing my playlists...*
If your iPod is set to update automatically you need to take care connecting to a different iTunes. You'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod. When your iPod appears in the iTunes source list change the update setting to manual, that will let you use our iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button: Managing content manually on iPod
You can also use a keyboard command to prevent your iPod auto-syncing with iTunes. While connecting the iPod to the computer on Windows with iTunes 7.3 or later installed hold down the Shift + Ctrl keys together. This will stop the iPod from auto-syncing with iTunes and the iPod will appear in the source list. Wait until you are sure the iPod has mounted, and that it will not auto sync and then you can let the keys go. This may take between 20 to 30 seconds depending on your computer: iTunes - Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows
*but should I plug it in to restore playlists??*
Your playlists won't be restored by simply connecting your iPod to iTunes.

IPod won't sync after restore - Please Help!!!

Hello,
Thanks for taking the time to read my posting.
I have a 3rd Gen 40gb iPod which was running the 2.2 firmware on Windows XP, which has been fine up until recently. The songs started to randomly skip during playback; this went on for a few weeks. So I decided to restore/reformat the iPod using the iPod updater software and this is where the problem started.
I downloaded the most up to date updater from Apple and updated the firmware to version 2.3. However when I came to sync my iPod with iTunes (ver 6) it would start transferring tracks and get about 5 or 6 on there and then it would hang and not transfer anymore and my iPod would just say Do not disconnect. This happened about 3 or 4 times. I decided to restore the firmware on my iPod to 2.2 using an older updater and now iTunes won’t see / sync my iPod at all…
Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong or what I should do to sort the problem?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Windows PC Windows XP

I would suggest that you go to firmware version 2.3 again (as opposed to 2.2), as this may be why iTunes isn't recognizing it now.
But, I understand that after you restored your iPod (with the 2.3 version), iTunes would bog up after updating only a few songs.
I think it's probably better to have 2.3 instead of 2.2. Try assigning your iPod a different drive letter when you connect it.
Log off of any other users on your computer.
Then, connect your iPod. When you connect your iPod, press and hold the "Ctrl" and "Shift" keys for about 20-30 seconds. This will prevent automatic-syncing from happening in iTunes.
After you've stopped automatic-update setting, assign your iPod a different drive letter (see below):
1 - Go to "START -> Control Panel -> Admin Tools (if you don't see this, click on "classic view" button on the left panel) -> Computer Management."
2 - Click on the "Disk Management" button in the left panel area.
3 - Right-click on your iPod's listing there (after a few moments when it gets recognized in this drive window), and click on "Change Drive letter and Paths". Then the "Change..." button.
Here's what it should look like:
Assign your iPod the letter "M" "N", "O" or the like (further along in the alphabet).
For more details, see this article:
Windows confuses iPod drive letter / Changing drive letter
If you need any additional help on how to follow these steps, post back with the details of your issue, and I'd be glad to try to help.
-Kylene
If any post helps or solves your problem, please click the "Solved" or "Helpful" buttons on top of that post. Thank you for helping the boards!

IPod Won't Sync After Updating to iTunes 10

Whenever I click sync to add the music that I purchased in the online store, it says that it is syncing the ipod, but then stops and then loads on the ipod screen for it being okay to disconnect. I've reinstalled itunes 10, tried itunes 8 (wouldnt work because library was converted to itunes 10) and it still does this same exact thing where it won't sync my music from the library on my computer to the ipod.
Help please.

Since upgrading iTunes I've noticed that not all of my podcasts will sync - one or two are always left out. Syncing again will get the stragglers, but it used to work just fine.
Another issue, possibly related, is I've seen an accumulation of 'Other' data on my iPod that I can't identify. I'm beginning to think it might be abandoned audio files from auto updating smart playlists that remove selections after they've been played. Doesn't happen with podcasts, though, because that smart playlist refuses to auto update on the iPod.

IPod won't sync after update

After updating iTunes files were corrupted. I unintalled and reinstalled according to the instructions from Apple. My iPod doesn't sync and I my library is gone. It may be in iCloud but I can't get it to work. Any suggestions?

If the iTunes Library file becomes corrupted, iTunes creates a new one (that is empty) and starts using it. That may be why your iTunes library is "gone." However, your iTunes media files (such as your song files) are probably still on your computer's drive. In Windows, do a search on the name of a song that was in your iTunes library. If you can find that song's file, note its location. All of your song files are probably along that same path. If you were using standard settings in iTunes, they are in your user home folder's Music folder, under iTunes and then iTunes Media. Something like this
\Users\[your username]\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\
If you can find your song files, you may be able to recover your iTunes library using the procedure described in this document
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists - Apple Support
If that is not possible, you can still add your song files to a new iTunes library. You will lose supporting data such as playlists, ratings, and play count. After you have your songs in an iTunes library, you can sync your iPod to that library. NOTE: Songs on the iPod that are not in your new iTunes library will be lost. You can reply back, if this is a problem or you have problems syncing your iPod to a new library.
Songs purchased from the iTunes Store can be re-downloaded at no cost. If any purchased songs were lost, go to the iTunes Store. Be sure to sign in using the Apple ID used for the purchase. Then, go to the Purchased screen (there is a link to Purchased on the main iTunes Store screen along right side). You can download (most) previous purchases there.
If you subscribe to Apple's iTunes Match service, your entire iTunes music library is matched or uploaded in iCloud. If this is the case, please reply back.

Purchased items from ipod won't sync to computer

I bought a ton of music on my ipod from the itunes store. I just got an iphone, so I'm trying to transfer my purchased songs from my ipod to my itunes computer library so I can put them on my iphone, but the purchased items won't sync.

To transfer purchased iTunes Store songs from iPod to computer, select the iPod in iTunes. You can do this from the sidebar. Click on the iPod under DEVICES.
NOTE: If the iTunes sidebar is not visible, from the menu bar, under View, select Show Sidebar.
With the iPod selected in iTunes, from the menu bar
File -> Devices -> Transfer Purchases from "[name of iPod]"
Alternately, you can re-download previous purchases from the iTunes Store at no cost. On the iTunes Store Home screen, under QUICK LINKS, click on Purchased. On the Purchased screen, you can find and download previously purchased songs, including those made on the iPod touch.
NOTE: You need to be signed in to the iTunes Store using the same Apple ID used to make the purchases on the iPod touch.
Also, if you use the same Apple ID on the iPhone, you should be able re-download (at no cost) previous purchases from the iTunes Store, directly on the iPhone.

IPOD won't sync after latest update

I updated Itunes last night when prompted. Now my IPOD Classic won't sync. It says it's syncing but then stuff I deleted from Itunes is till on it and new stuff isn't. In the new Itunes layout I can't see if tracks are checked or not or even see my IPOD settings.
I hate this new update.

It seems obvious now but I finally, in frustation multi-cliked the IPOD icon that appears in the upper right of Itunes when your IPOD is hooked up. It brought up the IPOD menu and all my settings had been changed, so it no longer auto-synched checked items.
Apperently it no longer show the check boxes when looking at stuff already downloaded. It grays unchecked tracks out.

Ipod won't sync after restoring it

ok, I just left the apple store & my Ipod touch was in recovery mode, the guy "restored" it, told me to go home & that all I had to do was hook it back up & it would charge & sync all at ther same time, it acts like it's syncing, then it pops up & says " Ipod cannot be synced, need required disk " what disk are they talking about ? Many thanks in advance, & yes, I am a rookie here...

I did the hdsmartdata test on the ipod classic and got "[can't open device]." Does this mean the HD is dead?

ITunes store won't open and iPod won't sync after I updated to 10.5 on Windows 7

So I recently upgraded iTunes to 10.5 on my Windows 7 running PC and the minute I did that the store would no longer open up. I get the "accessing" bar and it moves about halfway and then stops and disappears, then leaves my screen with a bunch of boxes and blue links instead of album pictures and what not (and the links don't work either). I also tried to sync my iPod and this will not work either. It goes through the "preparing to sync" mode and then makes it to "step 2 of 4" and freezes just after starting that, never to start again. I've even left it running for hours while I went to sleep or to work just to see if it would kick into gear but the bar never moves again. I've already configured the firewall to accept iTunes and I've done the whole uninstall/reinstall bit about 10 times, all to no avail. I've tried moving back down to iTunes 10.4.1 and it works great, except that my iPod already got the update for 10.5 to go through so it will no longer work with iTunes 10.4. I've been talking to a Tech guy for the past 2 weeks and we have tried a ton of things and nothing works, so if any of you out there have a solution please PLEASE help. This is really driving me insane.

I have had the exact same problem since allowing the 10.5 version of itunes to update on my computer. I spent over 1 hour on the phone with the apple support team, and they couldn't fix it. After they couldn't fix it, they tried to blame my Norton 360 security, even though I tried to explain to them that it is a Windows error, and it even happened after I deinstalled the security software. (and yes, disabled the Windows firewall.) I ended up deinstalling all apple programs, quicktime, bonjour, and itunes from my computer. I then googled "itunes apps. downloads" and found a website where I could download the previous version of itune for free. it's not ideal, but I was stuck in a situation where I couldn't use my ipod at all. I can survive like this until Apple realizes that we're not all crazy, and fixes the problem.

IPod won't sync after restore - now iTunes freezes up and iPod is empty

Two days ago my iPod started acting up - playing a song for about the first 10 seconds, then freezing up. I did the 5 R's - many, many resets, switching the USB port, reinstalling the software, and several restore attempts. The new and more pressing issue now is that, after a restore attempt, the iPod syncs to about song #50 (of about 1500) and then iTunes freezes up. Because of the restore, the iPod is now empty...no tunes...and I can't get it to sync. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I fear this is a glitch with the new update? What is the solution here?

I am having similar problems. My ipod was working perfectly fine in the morning and then at lunch time it said i needed to "connect to computer source and restore" i didnt have a computer at the time so i waited till i got home. when i got home i let it sit on my computer charging before i did anything. i took it off when it was fully charged and went to go listen to it. i listened to one song and in the middle of the second song, the music started to flicker and skip. i just shut off, when i turned it back on again ALL THE CONTENT ON MY IPOD HAD JUST DISSAPEARED. i was so angry and ive been calling around, reading the internet site pages and trying all that i can to fix this **** of a problem but nothing works. HELP ME PLEASE!!

Ipod won't sync after iTunes update

After doing ALL of the things apple support said to do to solve the problem, it still is not fixed. I still cannot sync my ipod touch 5s with the new itunes. I reinstalled it twice, did the whole device support thing. It still won't work.
I did EVERYTHING. And it still won't work.
Can someone please help me with this? I heard something working for iphone, but not ipod 5s.
And my music was halfway synced when itunes stopped working bcs the update was done which basically means i can't listen to my music because as far as it shows on my ipod, the songs aren't on them.
APPLE: LET ME GO BACK TO THE OLD ITUNES! Or fix this god **** problem.

See the following. Do not forget the Additional Information paragraph.
iPhone, iPad, iPod touch: Device not recognized in iTunes for Mac OS X
The iPod will not show up in Finder.

ITunes won't sync after computer was reset

I had a problem with my iMac and had to take it back to factory settings, and reinstall Leopard. My preferences did not carry over, so I had to drag numerous folders and files from the Previous System folder into the new system folders. Just about everything is working fine, except I cannot sync my iPhone or my iPod. When I plug them in, I get the message "iTunes cannot read the contents of the iPhone (or iPod). Go to the summary tab in iPhone (or iPod) Preferences and click Restore to restore to factory settings.
I am very reluctant to wipe everything off my iPhone and iPod. Some of the information on there is not stored on the computer. I am sure there must be something in the Previous System folder that needs to be moved to current folders in order for these devices to be able to sync. Any ideas?

Thanks! OK, I found that folder, but have questions pertaining to it.
Where do I drag it?
There are two files in there, both without "names", other than lots of letters and numbers. When I move them, can they be read, or are there psl lists (or whatever they are called) that need to be moved, also.
Does this mobile sync file pertain only to the iPhone? If so, is there a similar folder I need to find in Previous System Folder for the iPod?
Thanks so much, I really appreciate your help.
Joey C 2

IPod Classic won't Sync to computer, says 74gb out of 80gb are used -but there's nothing on ipod. How do I restore?

iPod won't Sync to computer, says 74gb out of 80gb are used -but there's nothing on ipod. How do I restore? Is anyone else familiar with this problem? It had over 25 movies, thousands of songs & hundreds of pictures, and it seems like they're still on there, because 74gb are used out of the 80 but when I turn the ipod on it appears to be at factory, fresh out of the box settings and my computer wont recognise it at all...

For the following suggestion, when you connect the iPod to the PC, and iTunes open up, please close it, before you fix the drive.
Your iPod hardisk filesystem is corrupted, and maybe repaired by using command line, under DOS window.
chkdsk drive: /F
where drive: is the iPod ID D: or E:
You can also try clicking the IPod properties, and run error checking in GUI, tick "fix all error."
If you have access to a Mac, you can use DiskUtility, and run FirstAid to repair the iPod.
Good Luck!
BTW, this problem arise because, iPod did not complete, closing, the Sync process, due to timeout, for Windows systems, I think it is maybe caused by Antivirus, or some other plugins, trying to make windows 7 look like Mac OS X.

New computer, ipod won't sync

My old iBook's hard drive had some water damage, so I got a new MacBook. But now my ipod won't sync with my new computer unless I erase what I already have on my ipod. How do I get all my non-purchases off my ipod before reformatting to my new computer?
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Connect your iPod to your computer. If it is set to update automatically you'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod. Your iPod should appear in the iTunes source list from where you can change the update setting to manual and use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button: Managing content manually on iPod
Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. If you have any iTMS purchases the transfer of purchased content from the iPod to authorised computers was introduced with iTunes 7. A paragraph on it has been added to this article: Transfer iTunes Store purchases using iPod
The transfer of non iTMS content such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve music files and playlists from your iPod. I use Senuti but have a look at the web pages and documentation for the others too, you'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos and games as well. This is just a small selection of what's available, you can also read reviews of some of them here: Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Senuti Mac Only
PodView Mac Only
PodWorks Mac Only
iPodDisk PPC Mac Only (experimental version available for Intel Macs)
iPodRip Mac & Windows
YamiPod Mac & Windows
Music Rescue Mac & Windows
iPodCopy Mac & Windows
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available at this link: Two-way Street: Moving Music Off the iPod
Keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync. I would , relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay.

New iPod Touch won't sync with computer - have latest version of iTunes and Snow Leopard. Computer won't even acknowledge the iPod.

New iPod Touch won't sync with computer - have latest version of iTunes and Snow Leopard (10.6.8). Computer won't even acknowledge the iPod. Have restarted both, changed ports, etc. What's do I need to do?

Have you tried here:
iPhone, iPad, iPod touch: Device not recognized in iTunes for Mac OS X
Do not forget the Additional Information topic.

IPod won't sync after computer reformatting

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