iPod troubleshooting: last hope for advice

[tim31]

I took an iPod shuffle that had never 'worked' in to the authorized dealer today and they'll have it back to me next week. Problem is, I have a plane flight, followed by a bus ride, followed by a train ride tonight, and I wanted some music. So I bought another Shuffle, the Gen Twos are only sixty bucks. I've gotten it home, plugged it in, and it's the same problem: I cannot transfer music onto it. No error message, it just says it's synching and then nothing: no data has been transferred. Yes, I have scoured the Apple support pages trying to get an answer. Yes, I have tried converting files to AAC. Still nothing.

Does ANYONE know what I'm doing wrong? I'm getting desperate.

[Stark]

Did anyone tell you to convert to AAC? Why would it make a difference?

Are you sure your USB port is full-power? Are you using the newest version of iTunes? Do you use other flash-based storage without problems?

[tim31]

Did anyone tell you to convert to AAC?

Apple website 'suggested' it

Why would it make a difference?

I don't know.

Are you sure your USB port is full-power?

Not 100%; using one of the front ports?

Are you using the newest version of iTunes?

Yes.

Do you use other flash-based storage without problems?

Yes. There is a WD external drive always plugged in; I'm about to pilfer its USB port for a contact experiment. Wish me luck.

[Stark]

That -might- be it; the front ports are often not full-power ports, but it sounds from your post like this is a new problem.

[tim31]

Okay, that didn't work. Tried one of the back ports, and it did the same again: said it was synching, told me not to disconnect, then after a few minutes, resumes normality, only there are no audio files on the iPod.

Cursed?

[Stark]

Okay, I'm not in front of a shuffle system atm (and I dimly recall they're different) but to be on the safe side, look at your settings; there are several options for syncing (ie, list, per-genre, sync all, manual, etc) and if it's set to 'sync only marked files' and nothing is marked, you'd get the behaviour you're describing.

EDIT - to be clear, click on your ipod on the left pane, then use the main pane to check these options (whcih might be on the other tabs for music/etc).

[tim31]

Yeah, already checked that, sadly. No dice.

[ANGELUS]

Have you tried to use another software instad of iTunes? I use this one, it's free and it has worked just fine for me (I have used it with an iPod Nano, an iPod Video and an iPod Classic so far and it works ok... it doesn't work with iPod touch and I have never tried it with a Shuffle. I've read it also works for other MP3 players).

With this software you can upload music, videos and photos from any computer even if it is not the computer you usually sync your iPod with and you can also download any of them from your iPod to any computer that has this software installed...

Only problem would be that it is in spanish, but I suposse there might exist a similar software in english.

[Stark]

Dude, there are thousands of itunes-alikes out there, have been for YEARS. All that'll prove is that it IS a wierd rights issue and not a physical one.

This actually annoys me because I dimly recall my mum having a similar issue with her shuffle back in the day; I think I eventually workaround with syncing single playlists instead of using the big sync button. That was ages ago though.

[ANGELUS]

Dude, there are thousands of itunes-alikes out there, have been for YEARS. All that'll prove is that it IS a wierd rights issue and not a physical one.

Oh I know... I just sugessted him to use a different sync software just to make sure it was an issue with iTunes... It certainly doesn't look like a physical problem.