so my when i plugged my ipod into my computer, itunes did not recognize it as being plugged in. when i restarted it, it erased everything on the ipod. i updated it, and now itunes recognizes it and says that the space on the harddrive is still taken up, but the songs don't show up. how do I get them back (theyre not on my computer)??
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iPod iPod Problem, please help
- Thread starter danielmac
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Oh, you're on Windows?
OK, go to the options or whatever it is where you can set the icons to open when they're single clicked or whatever it is and find the option to display hidden files and folders.
Once you activate that option you should be able to go through the iPod's file structure in Explorer till you get to one called "control" or whatever it is. Inside this are folders marked F00 through to F48. Your songs are in these folders, some of them will have funny names but the real names show up fine once you copy them back to your HDD and then into iTunes.
It's a bugger of a thing to do but it might be your only option. Backing up music is a really good idea when you're dealing with so many files.
OK, go to the options or whatever it is where you can set the icons to open when they're single clicked or whatever it is and find the option to display hidden files and folders.
Once you activate that option you should be able to go through the iPod's file structure in Explorer till you get to one called "control" or whatever it is. Inside this are folders marked F00 through to F48. Your songs are in these folders, some of them will have funny names but the real names show up fine once you copy them back to your HDD and then into iTunes.
It's a bugger of a thing to do but it might be your only option. Backing up music is a really good idea when you're dealing with so many files.
somehow not working
first of all, chundles, youre a freaking genius, thank you so much for helping me out. I got to the F00-F49 folders, but they were all empty. for some reason, however, when I look at the "properties" of the ipod, it still says that there is 12 gb being used, which is how much i was using before.
first of all, chundles, youre a freaking genius, thank you so much for helping me out. I got to the F00-F49 folders, but they were all empty. for some reason, however, when I look at the "properties" of the ipod, it still says that there is 12 gb being used, which is how much i was using before.
Its not completely clear to me whether you still have all your music in iTunes on your PC. If you do, just do a full restore which'll clear the ipod and load the songs back on again. 
danielmac said:
Oh man, that sucks though. I get the feeling there's not much left for you to do but run a full restore. Something has happened to your iPod and I don't know how to help you from here.
You could try ringing Apple support - if you're still under warranty that is. If not, try hunting around in the file structure to see if they're there. It doesn't sound good though and is certainly a lesson to back everything up. Of course, I can talk, I'm in the same boat as you with all my music on my iPod apart from a few bits and bobs and my purchased stuff from the iTMS. Here's hoping my 3G doesn't fall apart soon.