3G iPod keeps resetting itself

[williamsonrg]

For your consideration:

I have a 3G iPod & WinXP, and lately my iPod has had the bad habit of restting itself every time I turn it on. The Apple logo appears for several seconds, and then it prompts me to select a language. All of my data is intact, but none of my settings, like the contrast, date/time, etc.

Any idea? It doesn't happen every time, but it seems to mostly be when I haven't used the iPod for a day or two. Sorry I can't be any more specific than that.

Any and all help would be most appreciated.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

For your consideration:

I have a 3G iPod & WinXP, and lately my iPod has had the bad habit of restting itself every time I turn it on. The Apple logo appears for several seconds, and then it prompts me to select a language. All of my data is intact, but none of my settings, like the contrast, date/time, etc.

Any idea? It doesn't happen every time, but it seems to mostly be when I haven't used the iPod for a day or two. Sorry I can't be any more specific than that.

Any and all help would be most appreciated.

This sounds like a hardware problem to me. Macs store their critical settings in PRAM, which is powered by a small battery. Assuming iPods use a similar design, either the battery that maintains the settings or the setting storage area itself is failing.

 

[hcuar]

I had the exact same problem with my 4G 20GB iPod (formatted for Windows). When the iPod goes into deep sleep mode the preference file gets corrupted. I switched using my iPod with my Macs and I no longer have the problem. I have also noticed that battery life and menu performance seems better (mainly battery performance). I think the problems started occurring after a software update a while back. I think the Windows based format has a flaw that many people (looking up the problem on iPodlounge.com) have been having. It seems it doesn't come up too much do to the fact that most people use their iPod enough to not allow it to go into deep sleep mode.

 

[williamsonrg]

Just for the record, Apple seems to be aware of this issue, but doesn't know how to fix it yet.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93987

Although, this article only lists click-wheel and mini iPods, and mine is a 3G.

I guess I'll just have to use my iPod daily (or at least more often than every 36 hours). An Apple a day keeps Fat32 errors at bay (sorry, couldn't resist... though I think I should've)