Two IPOD Questions

[cass]

My IPOD won't shut off! This happened once before and the backside got very hot. I called the IPOD people and they told me that they had never heard of this happening before. They had me send it in, but told me I would lose all of my music. It was a real bummer because I had added my songs from 3 different computers! It was a pain to say the least.

This time, it's not hot, it just won't shut off. Anyone have this happen to them? Anyone know what to do?

Also, (this is the dumb question) I have never updated to the "latest version" of iTunes. I know, that's probably bad....I'm scared to death that I will lose my songs! What happens when you hit that update button? Is it better? Are there more features? The first time that I plug my IPOD in to the computer, will it change it all around? I don't like change!

Thanks for any input you guys have!

[Anthony]

Which model - you need to re-set/re-start it - usually by holding down a couple of things at once. See this for more: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1320

[cass]

Thanks Anthony! It's a 30G click wheel. I think it's classified as 5th generation.(?)

If I "reset" it, will I lose any settings or worse, songs?

Thanks.

[Anthony]

No - this is just like restarting your computer. Your iPod has just "crashed" probably. You won't lose songs - you may have to reset some things like your back light timer, etc.

[cass]

The word "crashed" scared the bejeezies out of me! I did the reset thing, and it worked like a charm! Music and pictures are still there, and it will now shutoff. Thanks! I don't trust "sending it in"!

[California Girl]

Hi Cass -

Both my husband & I have had the same problem. I just let my iPod sit and hoped it would either run down the battery, which I could recharge, or it would just eventually shut itself off, which it did.

But now, with Anthony's sage advice, I will reset it in the future.

It would be wise to back up your iTunes catalog on a CD in case you should lose your music sometime. Whenever I upgrade iTunes it never affects my music in any way, and yes, I get more features, but I rarely use them.

[Schnell]

Better yet to have an external hard drive and back up your itunes music folder. Ours updates everytime a file changes or is added. Easier than doing a cd.

Updating itunes or your ipod will not change any music. Just maybe make you agree to a new set of terms. FYI though, the newer versions of itunes are much more graphic intense than the older versions so you may experience some computer lag if your pc cannot handle it.

[Anthony]

Better yet to have an external hard drive and back up your itunes music folder.

I agree - but have lost several external drives over the years... I have my master iTunes library on laptop (which is dumb - since my drive is just about full and laptops do break down a lot), another copy on an external drive, and then several iPods full of mostly the same music... I was recently playing with Jungle Drive, which lets you store files on the Amazon cloud servers... I think online remote back up is the way to go - but - you have to start somewhere and having 40 to 60 gig photo and music libraries makes it hard!

[cass]

Thanks everyone. I do have a backup file that I put my songs into, and one for my pictures. I am truly not smart when it comes to external memory and backing up stuff. I have something called a flash drive or USB something or another that is made for this type of thing I think. I guess I need to educate myself on that, and put everything on that gadget as well. I feel pretty okay about not losing it, because I keep all of my accessories in a tackle box!

[liamsaunt]

Oh yes, I lost my entire original itunes library because I backed it up to an external hard drive before switching to a newer computer....and then the external hard drive broke! We investigated getting the data recovered but the estimate was something like $800-1200. For a while it was OK because at least the music was still on the ipod....but then the ipod died. It was the special U2 ipod and had something like 500 U2 songs loaded on it--all kinds of rarities and live stuff...in addition to everything I had loaded and purchased from itunes, all gone! UGH.

There's an apple store on my walk to the train after work...has anyone ever been able to successfully retrieve their music from a dead ipod? I was thinking about dropping it off there to see if they could help me.

I do really like my new ipod touch though. I don't care about getting the U2 ipod back into a useable state...but if I could get the music off of it--even it just the U2 stuff that came preloaded on it--that would be pretty cool.

[Anthony]

There's an apple store on my walk to the train after work...has anyone ever been able to successfully retrieve their music from a dead ipod? I was thinking about dropping it off there to see if they could help me.

As a long time Mac user, I think you have to be a bit careful at the Apple stores and with their "geniuses". 2 summers ago I had a kid in there tell me my iPod was dead and he wanted to keep it to have it serviced - I would lose all my data and it would cost me - I didn't leave it, resurrected it myself, and it is still working. We actually have 7 iPods in the family now, including an original that most people can't believe is even an iPod when they see it. They all work fine - I have replaced the battery in the original, and the 2 next oldest ones don't hold a charge (normal at that age), but have yet to lose one device. Pretty amazing -

[liamsaunt]

Yeah, Anthony, that is what I was worried about. I don't want the device, just the music, so if they can't get the music off of it, it's not worth it.

[Pete (Mr. Marcia)]

Yeah, Anthony, that is what I was worried about. I don't want the device, just the music, so if they can't get the music off of it, it's not worth it.

When you connect the ipod to your computer, does it show up at all as an external drive or in itunes? If your computer recognizes it, you can get the music off using a program iPodRip. It's a free software download.

Usually you can't import songs from an ipod to your computer, but ipodrip lets you do that.

[Wakey]

Nothing like a hard reboot!

I save my music on multiple HHD's, nothing like overkill considering how long it took me to convert 22 days of music if played continually!

[liamsaunt]

[quote="Pete (Mr. Marcia)When you connect the ipod to your computer, does it show up at all as an external drive or in itunes? If your computer recognizes it, you can get the music off using a program iPodRip. It's a free software download.

Usually you can't import songs from an ipod to your computer, but ipodrip lets you do that.[/quote]

The last time I plugged it into the computer, it did show up but the itunes program said it could not read it. It wanted to run the restore on it, which I knew would wipe out all the music. Then it just flat out died. I kept trying to get it to work for about 6 months with no luck.

BUT, after reading your post, I fought with it some more--nothing happened, and eventually plugged it in to the wall charger. Nothing happened for about 24 hours, but now it is powered up again, and I can see all the music on it (???) I am kind of afraid to plug it in to the computer though. I don't want it to override what I have on itunes now for my new ipod. When I hooked up the new ipod I said it was a replacement for the old one, so the songs I had purchased and uploaded since the external hard drive crash carried over.

Do you think ipodrip would work in this instance?

I feel like such a luddite.