PowerBook won't recognize iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen, PC will

Just before I throw yet another iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen 1GB down the toilet, I thought I'd check here for "Death Row"/"Life Support" suggestions. I've read similar questions with no, or unhelpful, answers, but here goes anyway:
After a whopping two weeks of use, my iPod stopped being recognized by my PowerBook. Not in iTunes, not in System Profiler, not in UNIX (etc etc). However, it is still being recognized by an old PC laptop I have that runs Windows 2000. So far I've tried the following:
-- The 5 R's
-- rolling back to iTunes 6 on Mac
-- iPod Reset Utility on the PowerBook (Mac doesn't recognize it so that's a dead end)
-- Restoring the iPod on the PC via iTunes
-- iPod Reset Utility on the PC
-- formatting the iPod as a drive on the PC
-- running Yamipod on both Mac and PC (admittedly, that was desperate)
Nothing, absolutely nothing, got the Mac to recognize the iPod. At this point, I've already used my one phone call with Apple Support (owning an iPod is kinda like being in jail!) and, even though it's under warranty, since I'm in the middle of nowhere in Mexico, getting the iPod back to Apple will cost me, oh, about the cost of a new iPod Shuffle!

If anyone comes across this post because they have the same problem, and you're "tech-savvy" enough to figure out how to reset your iPod, forget it, do yourself a favor and stop looking in this forum.
Below are links to three recent posts, all people with the same problem, none of them got any help from any Apple moderators and got "helpful" answers like "try cleaning your USB port" and "did you sweat too much while using it?"
"Not recognized by OS X or Windows XP -- charges and plays fine, though"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1572062&tstart=0
"Shuffle not recognized by itunes after a couple charges"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1508538&tstart=15
"constantly blinking orange light; no longer recognized by computer"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1444289&tstart=30
It's a common problem, Apple knows, Apple doesn't care, so, if you can, send it back or, better yet, throw it away and save yourself future headaches.

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Ok, warning this is going to be a little long...
The problem: Brand spanking new out of the box ipod shuffle 2nd gen won't play songs after ipod assistant setup. Flashing green/orange lights. Also will not update or restore (greyed out). Shows up as formatted for Windows. Software and Serial show up as "n/a".
System specs: Powerbook G4 17inch 1ghz, 1gb RAM, 10.4.9 running iTunes 7.1.1
Attempted solutions that have NOT worked:
1) mac retail store visit to genius bar. it restored on mactel machine. worked and played songs. unfortunately resyncing to my library caused ipod to return to problems above immediately.
2) another mac retail store visit to genius bar, this time with laptop to show them the problem. they told me it was my machine not the shuffle. i explained i am a mac sys admin and that is ridiculous...my machine though a few years old is completely up to date. we then deleted all receipts out of the Library dealing with iTunes and reinstalled iTunes via software update. same problem immediately after the setup assistant. no software version and no choice to update or restore ipod. downloaded the ipod reset utility for mac for 2nd gen shuffle and error message shows "the selected ipod is not supported by this utility". also shuffle icon shows up as generic white ipod. mac genius stumped so they swap out my brand new shuffle for another brand new shuffle.
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4) tried to use disk utility to reformat. erase using MS-DOS, but it says FAT16 instead of FAT32. same problems as above.
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Ok here it is, my final post on thoughts on this issue...
Unfortunately, my guess was correct, there does seem to be a hardware issue related to iTunes 7.1.1 and whether it is on a mactel machine or an older ppc machine.
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On my PPC powerbook, I see a generic white ipod icon (even though the finder shows the correct icon of my 2nd gen shuffle) and the settings tab for the ipod is completely different....the update and restore continued to be grayed out, there is no software version or serial number available as well. This is probably why I am not able to register my ipod shuffle from my machine.
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So I feel pretty stuck right now...
I can have a working ipod shuffle but NOT from my ipod library. It seems I can only listen to songs off my friends newer machines because for whatever reason, the ipod shuffle DOES NOT WORK with a PPC Powerbook 17inch, 1ghz, 1gb RAM, 10.4.9 running the current latest version of iTunes 7.1.1.
***** to be me. Anyone else come to same conclusion?
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Just thought I'd post to say that I'm having the same problem.
Everything appears to be normal with my shuffle: iPod syncs, all the lights are doing what they're supposed to be doing, I can see the music I put on the shuffle.
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Hi,
I was using this iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen for almost 4 years without any problem, After I got iPod Touch 4G a year back, I stopped using shuffle for almost a year. When I looked at it recently, of course, to give it to my niece - it's not responding. Thinking that battery drained, I tried to charge the shuffle using the then supplied USB doc.
When connected it just blinked orange once - only once that's it. Nothing happend. Even after keeping it for a whole night, nothing happend. It doesn't play, iTunes won't recognize, but windows 7 says "USB Device not recognized", and it was showed under Generic USB Hub as "Unknown Device"
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Tried using 3rd gen shuffle charging cable, but this time not even the orange blink.
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If you do
Apple Menu -> About This Mac -> More Info -> System Report
to run System Information (or System Profiler), does the "iPod" appear as a connected device under
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Try doing the above with the shuffle connected directly AND using the power USB hub you mentioned.
Have you tried connecting something else to that USB port, to confirm it is working properly? Preferably, it should be something similar, like a USB flash drive or port-powered external drive (data storage devices that get power from the USB port).
Two other related tests... Create a new user account in System Preferences Users & Groups pane. The new user account can be Standard or Admin. Log out and log in to the new user account (do not use Fast User Switching). In the new user account, run iTunes and connect the shuffle.
And the other test. Start up in Safe Mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1564
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My ipod shuffle (2nd gen) doesn't appear to be charging anymore

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http://www.reghardware.com/2009/03/13/ifixitshuffledisassembly/
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The 2nd generation shuffle is compatible with the dock style USB cable:
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And, no, I do not sync it automatically, thank you.

I have just 'upgraded' to iTunes 8.1 from 7 and now my iPod Shuffle 2nd gen plays songs ONLY in a random order if I fill it using the 'Autofill' button (selecting random songs), REGARDLESS of the play mode switch position on the iPod itself. Have tried resetting it to factory settings but to no avail! If I fill it using the Autofill button but let it choose the songs in order (not random), it does play sequentially but some songs don't get played.
I used to be able to fill it randomly with Autofill and then sort the songs it had selected by clicking the Artist or Album etc column heading in the iPod window and this would be used as the order when playing back in sequential mode. This is now broken too! My shuffle has had very little use (perhaps 20 charges) and it is in fab condition.
What is going on, Apple?

PowerBook won't recognize iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen, PC will

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