Mystery iPod with Mystery Question?

I happened to get my cousin's old iPod, because he said something about it not working and maybe I could fix it. It's a white 20GB, but I have no idea what generation it is. Old, because the screen isn't color. Anyway, at first I couldn't get it to turn on, but I plugged it into the wall and it started charging so at first I thought my cousin was just foolish and forgot to charge it. So I curiously plugged it into my computer and at first glance it seems fine. I start going through the music on it, and I notice that a lot of it (probably most than half) has the little grey ! next to it, which obviously means error. Most of the time if you click it in the iTunes library, it will tell you what's wrong...so being the genius I am, I tried to play one and iTunes froze on me. I thought "oh well", closed it, and tried to reopen it, only to have it freeze after it synched the iPod.
So my two questions are:
Does anyone have any idea what generation iPod this is, and is there any way to get the seemingly errored music fixed and stop it from freezing iTunes when I open it?
Or is the iPod out dated enough that there's no hope?
(Which is a shame, because after a 2GB nano, 20GB seems like a huge amount of space to be taken advantage of...)
Note: Cord is plugged into the back of the computer after an issue with my nano. Not sure if that makes any difference to my current problem.
EDIT: iTunes unfroze after I let it sit for a while, but the song I was just playing in iTunes last time without any error now has the mysterious ! by it...
EDIT 2: Tried playing same said song on the iPod and it completely froze...now I know why the battery was dead. No way to turn it off, so I assume he just let it sit there until the battery died.
Message was edited by: Kaggr
Message was edited by: Kaggr

The answer to your first question: It sounds like a 4th Generation. If it has a gray circular pad (called a click wheel) with Menu at the top, Play/Pause at the bottom, and |<< and >>| on the sides, then it is definately a 4th Generation model.

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I use method two from How to use multiple iPods with one computer with a slight twist. Rather than regular playlists I set the grouping field to indicate which iPods should receive which tracks and create smart playlists based on the content of this field.
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etc.
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Use Device Firmware Mode...
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I have the old school ipod with 20 GB and then got the Nano last year which has 8 GB. Today I got a pop up message telling me something like I am close to exceeding the capacity for my Nano. As a result I unchecked some songs to make room for the new.
So when I went to update the new songs on my 20 GB I noticed that the songs I unchecked for the Nano remained unchecked. Why would it do that? I even shut down and restarted iTunes. My 20 GB can obviously hold the current songs plus the new, so there's no need to make room. Why would it do that? Can someone help me get back the unchecked songs on to the 20 GB? Thank you!

Thanks. I think Method 2 (copied below) is suitable for me, however, does it mean I have to create a playlist of my entire collection minus a few songs here and there for the Nano? For example, the default library will be for the 20 GB which is 1,900 songs. Do I have to create a playlist of 1,850 songs for the Nano (or whichever amount it will hold)? Thanks.
Method Two
You may use multiple iPods on a computer without the need to create multiple user accounts. To do this, you can set iTunes to update each iPod with only certain playlists. This method allows you to put all your music on, say, your iPod and keep your iPod shuffle updated with only your workout music. Here's how to do this with iTunes 7:
Create a new iTunes playlist for each iPod that contains all the music that you want to send to that particular iPod. Learn more about how to create playlists here.
Learn how to Sync your iPod, read the iPod Tutorial Steps section.

IPod with Color will not connect to G5

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.
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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!
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See: How to use multiple iPods with one computer
Forum Tip: Since you're new here, you've probably not discovered the Search feature available on every Discussions page, but next time, it might save you time (and everyone else from having to answer the same question multiple times) if you search a couple of ways for a topic, both in the relevant forums, in the User Tips Library and in the Apple Knowledge Base before you post a question.
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http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300432
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61675
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Sorry if this was asked before, but my problem and question may be slightly different.
I have an old 20 gig ipod that I've had since 1995. I have downloaded many songs from i-tunes and from my own cd's to my pc running widows xp. There are about 1300 songs on the i-pod
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You can use all iPod models, except the shuffle, with multiple computers. To do so, go to iTunes->Preferences->iPod and select "manually manage music and playlists". The iPod shuffle does not have this feature.
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TS1368 don't have PC right now - is there any other way to synch my iPod with iTunes?

This is likely a dumb question but I need to ask...
I am in between PC's, meaning I don't currently have a home computer (actually looking to purchase a MacBook but not for another 1-2 months). I want to synch my iPod with the music we've been purchasing via my iPad.
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pleease help meeee...
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Which one worked?
If the FAQ worked, it is because you deleted a playlist the iPod needed.
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btabz
PS: Might want to hit solved next to my post or answered at the top of the thread so people with similar questions know where to look

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POWERBOOK 500 mhz Titanium and Mac Mini 1.2 ghz Mac OS X (10.3.6) Ipod 15 g dock version

I'm replying to my own question! I remembered that I had the USB connector for my Ipod which I had never used; plugged it in as a last resort, and voila, the Ipod showed up in Itunes and I was able to update my Ipod with some new songs & audiobooks. I can only assume my firewire connector has died. There are some reasonably-priced firewire-dock connectors available online, some with retractable cords.
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Do you have the OS CD's that came with your MacBook? Start your MacBook up holding down your option key. You should get to a boot option screen that will only have your hard drive at this point. The put in your OS CD and it should pop up on the screen shortly. Then double click on the CD to boot it. After you get past the language selection you should have at the top a "Utilities" menu option that you can get to Disk Utility under.

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