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Apple Releases iPod Shuffle (1G) Reset Utility

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,537
30,847


Apple has released a reset utility for its first generation of iPod Shuffles aimed at correcting a number of problems that users may have encountered during use of their shuffles, including:

--With the iPod shuffle switched on, pressing the Play button will cause amber and green LEDs to flash for a few seconds, and the unit will not play any music, nor can you sync music to it from iTunes.

--On a Windows PC, iPod shuffle will appear in My Computer as a “Removable Disk,” however the iPod shuffle volume will not mount correctly. The unit is listed in Device Manager under “Disk Drives” as “Apple iPod USB Device.”

--On a Mac, the unit will only be recognized in Apple System Profiler under Hardware -> USB and will not appear or mount in the Finder.

--When attempting to restore, the unit may not be recognized at all. However, if it is recognized, the restore may fail with an error dialog “Firmware update failure. Disk write error” or another error. It may take 3 restore attempts before the error appears. Note: iPod shuffle may take several minutes to be recognized.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2006/10/26/apple-releases-ipod-shuffle-1g-reset-utility/
R

rock6079

macrumors 6502
Jan 6, 2004
428
149
its about fricken time ! i dont know if anyone else has had this problem but ive had to send my shuffle back three times for this speicific problem. one time they replaced it and it came with this problem.

they always claimed that it must have been a "fluke" or a dead flash drive but its nice to now see them finally recognizing this and providing a solution so that i dont have to worry about this happening to my current shuffle!
 
bowzer

bowzer

macrumors 6502
Apr 25, 2005
408
0
Ottawa, Canada
GOOD. It IS about time they stepped up and admitted there was a problem/provided a real fix. I remember a topic on the Apple Shuffle discussions that had +500 replies, and 50,000 views - the most popular thread in the shuffle forums, then they locked it so no one else could reply, haha!

Before they'd just trying to send you another one, and make you pay a stupid $30~ shipping fee. I never did bother getting a replacement, so hopefully when I get home from work today this fix will revive my dead 512mb shuffle.

Just intime for snowboarding season too! :)
 
ASP272

ASP272

macrumors 6502
Sep 14, 2004
352
0
Nashville, TN
bowzer said:
GOOD. It IS about time they stepped up and admitted there was a problem/provided a real fix. I remember a topic on the Apple Shuffle discussions that had +500 replies, and 50,000 views - the most popular thread in the shuffle forums, then they locked it so no one else could reply, haha!

Before they'd just trying to send you another one, and make you pay a stupid $30~ shipping fee. I never did bother getting a replacement, so hopefully when I get home from work today this fix will revive my dead 512mb shuffle.

Just intime for snowboarding season too! :)
Click to expand...

The shuffle problems have been going on for a long time. As a repair technician (certified by Apple, but I don't work for them) I have helped many friends with getting their shuffles replaced. The forum you refer to was a constant reference point when I sent my friends to the Apple store for replacements. The forum is still up too, and very easy to find due to the number of views and posts. Apple dropped the ball on this fix for a long time. I'm glad they've finally (hopefully) come up with a fix for it. This makes me more likely to purchase that new Shuffle that's less than 1/2 an ounce for my running! I just have to hear how it sounds first.
 
AndyR

AndyR

macrumors 6502a
Dec 9, 2005
907
30
Auckland, New Zealand
YES YES YES!!!! ABOUT TIME WOOHOO! :D

My misses shuffle has been replaced 4 times now because of this play/amber/green fault, one of which happened straight out the box of an apple replacement.

Mine did it once but hasn't since but hopefully this will solve the problems once and for all.

Thanks Apple.
 
bdj21ya

bdj21ya

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2006
559
0
jamdr said:
I have never heard about any of these problems, but I hope this helps.
Click to expand...

This problem sounds very familiar. When I was last visiting my brother, his wife's Shuffle seemed to exhibit these exact symptoms. I was amazed that I couldn't even restore it. Of course, they didn't live too far from an Apple store, so they were able to get it replaced easily.

EDIT: I don't find this fix available for download through the Software Update. Why wouldn't it just be an add-on to iTunes that downloads by default?
 
I

i0Nic

macrumors 65816
May 17, 2006
1,456
68
Sydney, Australia
heh I found a shuffle on a bus months ago, but it didn't work (had the flashing lights problem).

I just pulled it out of my drawer to try out this fix, and it now works!

Good for a throw-around little mp3 player.
 
Foxglove9

Foxglove9

macrumors 68000
Jan 14, 2006
1,632
249
New York City
This is good news, I had to replace my first one for the flashing lights pattern. But if the mac doesn't recognize the unit when you plug it in, I still don't see how this is going to solve the issue. Hopefully I won't have to find out again :)
 
J

jbembe

macrumors 6502a
Jun 2, 2003
765
0
Baltimore, MD
bdj21ya said:
This problem sounds very familiar. When I was last visiting my brother, his wife's Shuffle seemed to exhibit these exact symptoms. I was amazed that I couldn't even restore it. Of course, they didn't live too far from an Apple store, so they were able to get it replaced easily.
Click to expand...


Same here, but I don't live close to an apple store so I had to constantly trouble-shoot the stupid shuffle just to get it working for a day before it completely died on me (I was restoring it daily). Then I just took it to the apple store on a vacation and got a brand new one that is working. Nice to see that they've both acknowledged the problem (at the apple store they said they NEVER see any broken shuffles) and provided a fix. For those of us without a close-by apple store, its 30$ or nearly half of our original investment and a big hassle saved.
 
S

smqt

macrumors newbie
Oct 31, 2005
7
0
I've used the app on my messed up 1st gen shuffle, but even after three tries no luck.
Maybe tomorrow...
?

If this helps then still... I've bought a new iPod because the first one was just out of warranty when it got the problem, so now I find out that Apple is aware of the problem and it is fixable?
Bah!
Too little too late :p
 
F

Frisco

macrumors 68020
Sep 24, 2002
2,475
69
Utopia
My friends Shuffle kept on getting a "Bad USB Device" Connected or something like that when he connected it to his WinPc. Does this sound like a fix for this?
 
Viewtiful Rich

Viewtiful Rich

macrumors regular
Mar 26, 2005
101
0
I've had some problems with my shuffle, like not being recognized or it'll suddenly stop playing music and I can't get it working again until I restore it... hopefully this stops those weird things.
 
A

amols

macrumors regular
Mar 1, 2004
100
0
jamdr said:
I have never heard about any of these problems, but I hope this helps.
Click to expand...

It is so common it even has name. Its called "orange-green flash of death".:D
 
Spectrum

Spectrum

macrumors 68000
Mar 23, 2005
1,799
1,112
Never quite sure
Foxglove9 said:
This is good news, I had to replace my first one for the flashing lights pattern. But if the mac doesn't recognize the unit when you plug it in, I still don't see how this is going to solve the issue. Hopefully I won't have to find out again :)
Click to expand...
I agree. The problem I had was that the mac just didn't recognise it (Apart from in system profiler). I got a replacement form the apple store, but haven't barely bothered using it since. It my experience it works as a very slow/clumsy USB drive, which is what i was using it most for.

My gf's also died, and would not restore (iTunes thought it was a FW iPod!). Only fixed by reinstalling the whole OS. A right royal pain in the arse.
 
shigzeo

shigzeo

macrumors 6502a
Dec 14, 2005
711
77
Japan
can't wait to get home

i have been so down and out about this problem because without music, my headphones and my amp feel very unloved. i almost contemplated dropping 399$ for a new 80gb and at least having a space that I can put 2/3 of my music and make sure it never touches the iTunes 7 that breaks hardware. Cannot wait to get home and see how my supermini and shuffle react to eachother once more...:cool:
 
bowzer

bowzer

macrumors 6502
Apr 25, 2005
408
0
Ottawa, Canada
"IT'S! ....IT'S ALLLLIVEEEE!"

Went home for lunch to see if it would work, and the fix tool has brought back my 512mb shuffle from the dead! Im using it on a Mac, incase anyone was curious. I had to run the restore twice, first time it asked me to unplug, then replug it in for it to work... but it didn't show up. So I ran it again, this time it didn't ask me to unplug it after the restore, and then it docked/asked me for an ipod name in itunes. Yaahhhh :D
 
A

airmac

macrumors regular
Aug 26, 2003
141
0
amols said:
It is so common it even has name.
Click to expand...

That is so true. But I wonder, isn*t that a little late? I mean, back than I returned four Shuffles because of that and at the store they told me it was hardware issue on all four. Strange.

...
 
mcdermd

mcdermd

macrumors regular
Mar 17, 2004
181
4
My friend at work just had his replaced two weeks ago. They actually didn't charge him the $30 for shipping that they said they would. Maybe because this fix was coming out so soon?

Glad to see it resolved.
 
K

kainjow

Moderator emeritus
Jun 15, 2000
7,958
7
This program is essentially the old iPod Updater utility stripped down for shuffle only support. It still has some beta strings left inside it, so it looks like it was a sloppy job done by an intern or something ;) Why Apple doesn't bundle this directly in iTunes is beyond me... :rolleyes:
 
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