Ipod with Windows

[osteome]

Sorry to start a new thread on what will sure to reignite the debate on the MP3 player topics....but I am at wits end in regards to my latest toy.

As a combo Father's day / B-day gift, My wife gave me a 40GB Ipod. Since I do not have enough distractions in my life..I have been eager to use it. Unfortunately I am not having much luck... not even with Apple support. We are running Windows XP on a custome spec'ed system assembled by Tiger Electronics. The system itself is about 2 years old but is a 1.2 GHz Athalon/ 512 with a 20GB main hard drive and a 40GB secondary drive. Most of my time thus far has spent re-naming MP3 files (OCD to the nth degree)... all 22 GB of them, and converting them to the Apple format when required.

To date I have been able to download at most 25 or so songs before something happens. I typically will get an error message about being unable to copy, which is turn followed about a format error about one of the songs. After this, I cannot "eject the pod" and if I remove and place back in the cradle and attempt another update... the computer cannot find the folder. At other times the entire system just crashes and goes into restart with the computer running diagnostics on drive G (the Ipod), then still not doing much after that. I have updated the Ipod firmware (the Ipod itself will allow varying degrees of success with reformating...either letting it do it or not all (unable to find it in the cradle) or having a disk write error during the process.

I have gone over this with Apple and they say the my XP is the problem, but it is a registered copy with all recent updates.

Any thoughts?

As additional FYI:

1) in my device manager my firewire card (about 2 years old and works with our Sony digital camsorder well) is labeld as
"UNKNOWN VENDOR AND MODEL IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device"

Could this be the culprit? Do I need to be religious about buying a new "Apple approved" Fire wire card? Should I suck it up and try to conver to USB2 and give up speed if that is at all possible given the relative age of the system

2) is there a possible hardware issue with the Ipod ( I have tried to sync in the cradle and via the fireware cord plugged directly into the syste, both yielding the same results, with the Ipod newly reformatted when I have been able to)

3) are there some non MP3 or non-convereted AAV files out there causing the hang-up?

4) is there a non I-tunes based, windows prefered system to load up the Ipod?

5) we also run Norton's system works and i ahve noted the the "available space on drive C" number has wildly fluctuated (as much as three GB) at different times when runnin I-tunes; alternatively sometimes the Ipod shows up in my computer and sometimes it does not as drive G

Sorry for the long post, hopefully someone can give me some ideas (calling Jay) as it is tough to really convey any sense of this to the Apple folks. I did wnat to provide enough info to generate a simple resposne from you folks out there and not take up too much time.

Any help will be appreciated....I am about to turn to the smoov malt liquor for solace in my time of need.

[jcamarillo]

Hi osteome

something very similar happened to me. It turned out to be a hard disk problem on the IPOD. I had to ship it back to Apple and they replaced it under warrenty. If however the IPOD is working well otherwise, I would look at replacing the firewire card. Mine is labled "Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant" (came with the Dell.

Hope this helps. Good luck

[Threadhead]

Have you tried connecting/using the iPod with iTunes on another computer? This should answer the question about wether the iPod is functioning properly.

Second, if the iPod keeps dropping off the firewire bus, the hard disk may have become corrupted. Again, using another computer you can reformat and re-install the iPod software onto the iPod. This may take care of the problem.

Let us know how it goes.

[m-mmeyer]

Also try doing a search or asking over HERE for more answers. I would bet your not the only person to have these symptoms and that would be the place to try.

Matt

[Sunday Rider]

Have you tried copying a CD instead of MP3s?

I have windows XP pro, with firewire, on a Toshiba laptop, and have had no problems. It was the first computer thing that worked problem free from start up. My laptop is only 1 year old though.

[PNW-Pilot]

It sounds like wither 2 times. The ipod has HD problems. Or your computers firewire driver is giving the ipod fits. I don't think it's your mp3's, from what i understand the IPOD doesn't check the mp3 until it's time to play it.

Several things to try:

1) update the driver for the firewire, head to the manufacture website and get more recient drivers.

2) get the usb 2.0, it's fast, not as fast as firewire, but afully close.

3) I know when you first install the ipod, at least the 30gb version i have, it had to format the ipod to the OS version you use, it's macintosh out of the box. I had to reset my IPOD to use it on my macintosh, it was "formatted" for my IBM.

If flashing the ipod failed as you suggested. It's believeable that the ipod is defective, or it just doesn't like your firewire card.

[NYCPilot]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by osteome

.4) is there a non I-tunes based, windows prefered system to load up the Ipod?

I have Windows XP Pro and I am using Musicmatch to load my Ipod. For the most part there aren't any glitches, but occasionally MusicMatch won't recognize the Ipod. When that happens, I just close and reopen the application.

I just gave my son an Ipod for graduation and he is using I-Tunes to load mp3s. I noticed it was uploading at x1.5 speed which is very slow. He's using WinXP Home and the firewire cable. I don't know if it has to do with I-Tunes or the OS. I'll look more closly at the settings over the weekend.

NYCPilot

[osteome]

Hey all!

Thanks for the rapid responses and great ideas. I ended up solving the problem by purchasing a new firewire card for the desktop (ended up being a comb0 card with USB2 outlets as well). After installing the card, the IPOD took off and downloaded all 21GB flawlessly. Now I just have to go backand "fine tune" my library to clean up the way things are listed and generate playlists to better access the information.

I have been checking out the www.ipodlounge.com site...but it loads slowly, even on broadband.

Thanks again.....

Actually, one last question...is the extended care plan worth the $59 investment?

[Sunday Rider]

Originally posted by osteome
Hey all!

SNIP

Actually, one last question...is the extended care plan worth the $59 investment?

With some of the reviews about the short battery life, I would invest in it. It is cheap insurance. I did for mine.

[Threadhead]

My 30g iPod is now about a year old. Battery is still great (6-8 hours). While the insurance is not a bad deal, you can get your battery replaced by other vendors. About $50 if I recall. Or you can buy the batter and replace it yourself for about $30. A tricky install, but doable.

BTW, if you are going to use it in the Pilot, and you have a RES, you really need to get one of these and a 3.5mm to RCA cable:
Belkin Auto Kit for iPod

[osteome]

I did end up buying the Apple care plan as it appears that it is cehap insurance. The battery replacement and any associated shipping are covered, so it could pay for itself in one act. I was able to pick up the complete Belkin kit (cassette player and cig plug) on Ebay for about $14 with shipping. I also got the Belkin Tune Cast II at a reduced price on ebay as well. I will have to compare the two and see which is best. My wife has essentially hijacked the XM for the Pilot, so I intend to keep the Ipod for my commute from hell. We will of course use the Ipod for long trips in the Pilot though.

Given time, I hope to install a Blitzsafe adaptor in the Honda for the toys.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

[Sunday Rider]

Originally posted by osteome
SNIP
I was able to pick up the complete Belkin kit (cassette player and cig plug) on Ebay for about $14 with shipping. I also got the Belkin Tune Cast II at a reduced price on ebay as well. I will have to compare the two and see which is best.SNIP

Osteome,
Please let us know which sounds better. I have the cassette set up. I have tried the cable from the cassette into the Belkin adapter and also tried it with the Ipod headphone jack. I think the headphone jack outlet is a "cleaner" sound (crisper highs). With the Belkin the IPOD volume control does not have an effect on the volume, through the headphone jack you can control the volume to the Pilot.

[osteome]

I should be getting my Belkin Tune Cast II withina week so. I will do a test of this unit in comparison with cassette adaptor and let everyone know. There are some decent reviews of Ipod gear at www.ipodlounge.com. There were not huge fans of the Tunecast set up, but I got a great deal on E-bay so I thought it was worth a try. I will post results as soon as the gear comes in and I can wrestle the Pilot from Mrs osteome.

I would have to think though that the Blitzsafe interface would be the best way to go out of all of the options available. I am going to try this at some point as an interface option for the XM and the Ipod.

[jay]

Originally posted by osteome
...snip

I would have to think though that the Blitzsafe interface would be the best way to go out of all of the options available. I am going to try this at some point as an interface option for the XM and the Ipod.

The difference between the cassette adapter and the Blitzsafe was like 45s versus CDs for both the iPod and XM. Been there, done that, lost the T-shirt somewhere.

[colorider]

When we bought our Pilot two years ago, we felt the optional 6-CD player was too much $$$ and bought a 10GB iPod for use in the Pilot.

Well, fast forward to present and we FINALLY opened the box with the "new" iPod and tried to get it installed on our PC.

Not to be. Nothing on the PC seems to recognize the iPod. Explorer, iTunes, MusicMatch, nada. The screen on the iPod states "Okay to disconnect" and that's all she wrote.

More data:
- Dell 8400 computer
- XP Home
- "some brand" Firewire (1394) card that did work fine in my old Dell for an EDA. Device manager says "all is well".