iPod Apple Update has killed my iPod

[jakebrother]

The latest Apple update (01-10-2006) appears to have destroyed my 4th Gen 20gb iPod colour.

After downloading this update at the prompting of iTunes, the iPod displayed a folder with an exclamation (!) mark icon.

After investigating the Apple website it appeared that this icon indicated that the wrong software was installed on my iPod. The software update came from Apple!

I tried the "five R's" as suggested by the Apple website and now my iPod doesn't turn on or appear in my browser as an external drive.
Checking on the Apple discussions pages, it appears that hundreds of other iPod owners are suffering too.

Has this happened to any users of this site?

Does anone know if Apple have gone public?

Why do their tech support claim not to know about these issues when their own website forums are overloaded with users who have installed this update only to be left with extremely expensive paperweights!!

If I want to speak to tech support, it will cost £35.
If I want to return the iPod for a diagnostic service , it MAY cost £100.


Why?, The situation is Apple's fault.

If you haven't already updated, then I advise you not to until this issue has:

a) come to light publicly and acknowledged by Apple
b) been resolved by Apple.

Anyone else suffered, know or heard anything?

 

[yankeefan24]

If I want to speak to tech support, it will cost £35.
If I want to return the iPod for a diagnostic service , it MAY cost £100.

wait, they're charging you to speak to tech support??? Would that be for apple care. Isn't that more expensive than £35. (chiecking exchange rates now)

EDIT: WOW!!! Exchange rates are high for £-$. So I guess that would be apple care. But can't you only get apple care while your still under the first year insurance??? If you need to get applecare, then you would be under the warranty, and therefore, could just use the free warranty instead.

 

[xPismo]

Just anecdotal but my gen 3 (B&W screen with single touch wheel) went all japenese on me after the update. No really. The text went all kanji and then it decided to reboot in the middle of a podcast.

Things working smoothly after. Knock on plastic.

 

[jakebrother]

The iPod is only four months old.

It is still under the first year warranty, but tech support UK say that after the first 90 days I have to have the Apple Care insurance (£35 annually) to speak to them.

This is crazy, I can understand paying for the insurance if I actually want them to fix it via the net or if I needed repairs not covered under the first year warranty.But to have to pay to get information about a fault that has arisen because of an official Apple update is offensive.

I have now requested a service from Apple and they are shipping me an empty box to return the iPod, through DHL. Thankfully the cost of this is covered under first year warranty. However, given some of the threads on here and on the Apple discussions page I fully expect the iPod to be returned with the note;

"We cannot find anything wrong with the unit and are returning it unrepaired"

Well if an iPod that doesn't turn on or even heat up on charging is not broken then I think they may have to face up to a lot of competition from Sony!!

 

[Eraserhead]

"We cannot find anything wrong with the unit and are returning it unrepaired"

The best is to take it to an Apple Store so they can see the problem, if they won't fix it you can make a fuss and stuff and they will probably sort it as the cannot deny the issue..

Though TBH if they return it and its still faulty they are really awful... you should then write to them or something...

PS did you try re-installing the original firmware that came with the iPod on the CD, that might help??

 

[spencecb]

The iPod is only four months old.

It is still under the first year warranty, but tech support UK say that after the first 90 days I have to have the Apple Care insurance (£35 annually) to speak to them.

This is crazy, I can understand paying for the insurance if I actually want them to fix it via the net or if I needed repairs not covered under the first year warranty.But to have to pay to get information about a fault that has arisen because of an official Apple update is offensive.

I have now requested a service from Apple and they are shipping me an empty box to return the iPod, through DHL. Thankfully the cost of this is covered under first year warranty. However, given some of the threads on here and on the Apple discussions page I fully expect the iPod to be returned with the note;

"We cannot find anything wrong with the unit and are returning it unrepaired"

Well if an iPod that doesn't turn on or even heat up on charging is not broken then I think they may have to face up to a lot of competition from Sony!!

I would take it to the Apple Store on Regent. Since it is an official Apple store, there will be people there authorized to give you a new iPod if it is indeed unrepairable. At the very least they should be able to figure out what is wrong with it. They may need to keep it overnight, as they did mine once when I was complaining about the battery on my 3G iPod.

Also, when you tried the 5 R's, I would try using a previous iPod updater that you may have installed on your computer and use the restore feature on it. If you are using the latest one to restore, and it put the wrong software on your iPod to begin with, then it is just going to put the wrong software on there again. If you do not have an old updater, try browsing Apple's website to see if they still have one up, as I am sure they do.

 

[jakebrother]

I have removed all iTunes, iPod and Quicktime software 3 times and reinstalled from the original CD.
My Itunes now works perfectly.
The problem is the actual iPod unit itself will no longer turn on or reset to try anything further.
I have now returned the iPod to Apple in Holland via pre paid UPS carrier.
I am awaiting further info on the repair status, although the email from Apple tells me I have requested a new iPod unit, this was not the case however I would be more than happy with a replacement rather than a repair.
Thanks for all your info, I will post further when I have some results.

Remember there is now a sixth "R" to attempt after the "five R's" - "RETURN"!!

 

[The Hamburger]

I am having a similar problem with a G3 40g.

After iTunes suggested I update , it then told me that as my ipod had been FAT formatted it would need restoring. So I clicked yes to restore (I never use it with a win machine anymore)

It then said I had to close all ipod files , I didn't think any were open but I used the sleep function. It slept and that was all. I unplugged and plugged back in and now all I get when I switch on is the Apple logo followed by an icon of the (dock) connector plug and an arrow.(I can't find this icon on the net!)

My PB now doesn't pick it up , I've tried the holding the play button and the menu on start up nothing.

Any suggestions?

 

[The Hamburger]

Hope this helps someone else.

Apparently on a G3 40g you can't restore without mains power.

As soon as I plugged it in to the mains it completed the restore.

So thats what that icon means!

 

[jakebrother]

I have now heard from the Apple service technicians and they are sending me a replacement iPOD unit.
They have not offered any explanation for what happened to the iPOD or what may have caused it.
The replacement was sent out before the original iPOD had even arrived at the service centre!!!
"No inherent problems with the 2006-01-10 updater" hmmm I wonder!!

 

[Jedi128]

I've got different problem with the iPod updater. I have 30GB video iPod and I just updated the software to version 1.1 from 1.0 yesterday. To my surprise Apple has deleted what I thought of as a key feature. I can no longer hold menu to turn the backlight on/off. Since I set my backlight On Always this is a problem. I usally manually turn it off once I select music and then turn it back on when I need to see the screen. I turned the light off and then to my surprise had no way of controlling my iPod becuase there was no light where I was.

?? Why delete such a small feature? I thought it was quite useful....I guess Apple thought it was only as useful as firewire.......

 

[danny_w]

I have an original iPod nano that has worked perfectly for me since day one. I see absolutely no reason to update and take the chance on something breaking.

 

[Spectrum]

Well, our second Shuffle is now knackered also. iTunes recognises it and I can fill it with music, but nothing plays from it!

I try to restore with the latest iPod updater and it fails at the end with an error message. I cannot do a "restore" because it is greyed-out and says that for this model of iPod I need to connect it via Firewire to restore...

FIREWIRE?!?!? It's an iPod Shuffle!

I tried using the earlier edition updater (2005-11-17) and that doesn't even recognise when I plug the shuffle in.

I am getting pretty pissed at this cr@p from Apple. My PB has a liney display, squeaks, and loops audio randomly, and both our Shuffles are as good as dead. That is the 3 Apple products that we own, all defective/malfunctioning - not a good record.

I've been suing APple products for years in research labs, with barely any problems. What happened to the quality and ease of use that I thought Apple stood for???

 

[Sharewaredemon]

I've got different problem with the iPod updater. I have 30GB video iPod and I just updated the software to version 1.1 from 1.0 yesterday. To my surprise Apple has deleted what I thought of as a key feature. I can no longer hold menu to turn the backlight on/off. Since I set my backlight On Always this is a problem. I usally manually turn it off once I select music and then turn it back on when I need to see the screen. I turned the light off and then to my surprise had no way of controlling my iPod becuase there was no light where I was.

?? Why delete such a small feature? I thought it was quite useful....I guess Apple thought it was only as useful as firewire.......

It sucks eh?

They changed holding down menu to taking you back to the root menu instead of activating the backlight.

If you want you could go back to version 1.0 of the software...

 

[Mord]

just format it in disk utility and apply the software again, if that still has the same problem and you dont have the old installer contact me, i have every one.

 

[Mac MMG]

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61937

From Macintouch this morning:

Apple documents a confusing iPod updater issue in its Knowledge Base:

When you connect a Fifth Generation iPod (iPod with video) or iPod Nano to a computer with Mac OS X and open the iPod Updater, you may come across a situation in which the Restore button in the iPod Updater is dimmed (grayed out) and can't be selected. The text by the Restore button reads:

"You must connect using FireWire to restore this iPod."

You may also notice that the iPod icon displayed in the iPod Updater is the wrong iPod model. This occurs when the iPodDriver.kext file doesn't load correctly, and it can happen with any iPod that supports photos (including iPod Nano, iPod with color display, iPod photo, and Fifth Generation iPod) or videos (Fifth Generation iPod). To resolve this issue, follow the steps in [iPod does not appear in iPod Updater or iTunes in Mac OS X].

 

[Spectrum]

Hmmm. Well I seem to be suffering this symptom, but on a Shuffle - not apparently, one of the afflicted.

I'll try and delete the kext files and see what happens...

Edit: Scratch that. I'm in 10.4.4 - and thus don't even have the relevant .kext file. I'm pretty sure it is the 10.4.4 update that is killing these things.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61937

From Macintouch this morning:

Apple documents a confusing iPod updater issue in its Knowledge Base:

When you connect a Fifth Generation iPod (iPod with video) or iPod Nano to a computer with Mac OS X and open the iPod Updater, you may come across a situation in which the Restore button in the iPod Updater is dimmed (grayed out) and can't be selected. The text by the Restore button reads:

"You must connect using FireWire to restore this iPod."

You may also notice that the iPod icon displayed in the iPod Updater is the wrong iPod model. This occurs when the iPodDriver.kext file doesn't load correctly, and it can happen with any iPod that supports photos (including iPod Nano, iPod with color display, iPod photo, and Fifth Generation iPod) or videos (Fifth Generation iPod). To resolve this issue, follow the steps in [iPod does not appear in iPod Updater or iTunes in Mac OS X].

 

[Mac MMG]

FYI: I'm 10.4.4 also, I had the same problem with one of my 2 512k shuffles (only one ) returned it to the Apple store and they replaced it no questions asked...funny the replacement wasn't in a box and the Genius registered it for me in the store...A referb maybe I don't care as long as it works.

I did the 5 "R's" they should add two to the list "RETURN" and "REPLACE"