Section 100. Restore Your iPod to Factory Settings


100. Restore Your iPod to Factory Settings

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

99 Update Your iPod's Software


Perhaps your curiosity led you to install a "hack" that has resulted in an iPod that no longer boots or plays music correctly. Perhaps you've inherited a Mac-formatted iPod that you can't use with your Windows PC. Perhaps the iPod has mysteriously, on its own, seemingly gone crazyunintelligible menu items, unresponsive controls, or the dreaded "folder with exclamation point" icon, which indicates that the system software on the iPod is no longer viable .

100. Restore Your iPod to Factory Settings


If resetting your iPod doesn't bring it back to its senses (hold down both the Menu and Select buttons for several seconds to reset it; to reset iPods older than the 4G model, hold down both the Menu and Play/Pause buttons), you might have to bring out the big gun: a Software Restore.

Restoring the iPod (using the same " updater " mechanism that was used in upgrading the iPod's software as described in 99 Update Your iPod's Software ) entails erasing all the contents of the iPod's disk, installing a new copy of the system software and firmware, and resetting its configuration to the state it was in when it first came out of the box. Before you embark on this process, however, make sure that you don't have any important files stored on the iPod in disk mode; anything there will be gone after the iPod has been restored. But at least the iPod will probably work again. See 80 Use Your iPod as an External Hard Disk for more information about disk mode.

TIP

Restoring the iPod formats the disk using the native format of the operating system on which you run the updater programHFS+ for Mac or FAT32 for Windows. In this way, you can convert a Mac-formatted iPod into a Windows-compatible one, or vice versa.


1.
Run the Latest iPod Software Updater

As described in 99 Update Your iPod's Software , download the latest copy of the iPod Updater from Apple's iPod software download site (http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/). If you're using a Mac, run the Software Update utility to make sure that you have all the necessary updates.

2.
Connect Your iPod

Install the updater and run it. When the window reads Plug in an iPod to update it , connect your iPod to the computer using the Dock or cable. The updater window shows the vital information of your iPod, including its name and the current version of the software on it.

3.
Restore the iPod to Factory Settings

Click Restore . (If you are using Mac OS X, you must enter an administrator's password.) The software is copied to the iPod and its disk is erased. When you are directed to do so by the updater (and not before), disconnect the iPod from its Dock or cable. The iPod resets, and the firmware update automatically takes place, as you can see by the progress bar that appears on the iPod's screen. After 15 seconds or so, the iPod resets again.

NOTE

In some cases, particularly with newer iPod models, you don't have to disconnect the iPod from the computer, even though the updater says you should. The iPod simply updates its firmware and then returns to the Main Menu.

4.
Set the iPod's Language

When the iPod returns to life, the first screen it shows is the language selection menu, just as it did when you first set it up (see 3 Select Your iPod's Language ). Choose the language for your iPod.

Quit the updater software and unmount the iPod manually from your computer if necessary, by clicking the Windows Unplug or Eject Hardware icon in the system tray, or by clicking the Eject button next to the iPod in the Finder on the Mac. Disconnect the iPod from the Dock or cable.

5.
Sync Your Music to the iPod

Connect the iPod to the computer once more. It's now effectively a brand-new unit, and iTunes treats it as such, giving you the opportunity to assign it a new name and register it, as described in 4 Connect Your iPod for the First Time . When you choose to update your music automatically, the iPod's disk becomes filled with the music in your iTunes Library once again, andas a bonusiTunes takes you to the Music Store where you can download free music as a welcome for "new" iPod users.



iPod + iTunes for Windows and Mac in a Snap
iPod + iTunes for Windows and Mac in a Snap (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0672328992
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 152
Authors: Brian Tiemann

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