The computer doesn’t recognize or acknowledge that it’s connected to the iPod. It came with a really old connecting cord (black; all the new ones I have bought are white). I went through all the steps the Mac support FAQ mentioned, eventually putting it into disk mode, but for this to work, I must get a “Do Not Disconnect” message and the player must show up on my iTunes page’s left column. Neither of these things happened.
I could wait until Monday and return it to the pawn shop. I’d like to avoid this, as the previous owner had impeccable taste in music and I’d like to salvage some of it before I upload all my stuff. What’s the likelihood that the problem is the connecting cord? It powers up, it just doesn’t communicate with my computer.
Sounds like you have a 4th or 5th generation iPod, what version of iTunes are you running?
Possible it’s the cord, also possible that your old iPod is not compatible with iTunes 9(they aren’t).
I would try a newer cord and if your computer recognizes it but iTunes won’t, you can transfer the music files with a program called “iPod viewer.” It’s freeware and should be able to copy out all the of music files onto your HD and then you can just import them into iTunes.
I once resurrected an unrecognized iPod (initialized on a PC - but no longer recocognized by the PC) by connecting it to my Macbook and just left it there for an hour or two - I finally got an error dialog that let me reset it (but of course, all the music was lost).
The cord is USB, and I have the most recent version of iTunes. It looks like the iPod was most recently configured for a Windows computer.
The “leave it connected for an hour” trick may be worth trying; much as I’d like to salvage the music, honestly I’m trying to avoid an unnecessary ferry ride into Seattle.
If this is the case you’re just looking at a reformatting. Download the iPod software updater (iTunes - Apple) and use it to restore the iPod to factory settings. The contents will be erased in the process, but your Mac should recognize it aftwerwards. You still may have an issue with iTunes, though.