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iPod Weird USB Only Mac Connections

Forced Perfect

Forced Perfect

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 2, 2004
281
0
Toronto, Canada.
I was wondering if this is a normal problem - it doesn't seem normal and I haven't found any info on it.


I have a 3g 10 GB Windows iPod (reformatted for Mac OS) here that for some reason only wants to use USB on my Mac(s) and not FireWire.

My friend has connected it via FireWire on his PC and it seems to work, but when connected using the exact same dock -> FireWire cable on either one of my G4/400's it charges but stays at the "ok to disconnect" screen and never sees the Mac. Nor will Apple System Profiler see the iPod.

I have one of those dock -> FireWire/USB 2.0 cables and again, it charges via FireWire but only connects via USB (1.1 in this case, I don't have a 2.0 card.)

I've been using it connected to both at the same time to get power from FireWire and sloooowly sync to my Mac. Yes, I am well aware that Apple says not to do that, but since it isn't trying to mount on both interfaces it seems to have no problem with it.

All diagnostics pass.
 
I think that I'd try getting a regular FireWire-only cable. The one you have was really only intended to be used for charging, and likely doesn't bring out all the contacts the Mac expects to see.
 
mad jew said:
So your Firewire port works well with other products?

How about the actual Firewire Cable, does it look like it's damaged at all?
Click to expand...

As I mentioned in the post I originally used my friend's FireWire only cable which worked fine on his PC, took it home and it only charges for me.

And I get the same result on two Macs.


And as for the contacts not being there in the dual cable I already thought of that so I checked it out, the Apple support page mentions that if you don't need to use the USB 2.0 connection you can use the FireWire cable only and it will work for charging and syncing.
 
Well, maybe try reinstalling the iPod firmware with the Updater. Reformat it through Firewire too, not USB. It probably has nothing to do with it (which medium you use) but you may as well use the Firewire just in case it does.
 
mad jew said:
Well, maybe try reinstalling the iPod firmware with the Updater. Reformat it through Firewire too, not USB. It probably has nothing to do with it (which medium you use) but you may as well use the Firewire just in case it does.
Click to expand...


Nothing sees it via FireWire. It just asks for me to plug my iPod in (this is the first thing I tried.)
 
mad jew said:
How about with Windows or USB then?
Click to expand...

I'm starting to think no one is reading the post before giving me a reply. hehe

"My friend has connected it via FireWire on his PC and it seems to work, but when connected using the exact same dock -> FireWire cable on either one of my G4/400's it charges but stays at the "ok to disconnect" screen and never sees the Mac. Nor will Apple System Profiler see the iPod."
 
Okay.

I know it works on Windows but not on your Macs at the moment, right?

So plug it into a PC and reinstall the firmware.

Sorry if I'm misreading your posts, it's pretty late over here right now.
 
mad jew said:
Okay.

I know it works on Windows but not on your Macs at the moment, right?

So plug it into a PC and reinstall the firmware.

Sorry if I'm misreading your posts, it's pretty late over here right now.
Click to expand...


That works fine on my Mac via USB. I even started with a fresh drive (formatted as UFS to force the updater to format it again.)
 
Same problem here. USB works. Firewire doesn't.

The port works. The iPod works.
Reset the iPod
Restored the iPod

Nothing works.

Weird stuff.
anything new?
 
sphereboy said:
Same problem here. USB works. Firewire doesn't.

The port works. The iPod works.
Reset the iPod
Restored the iPod

Nothing works.

Weird stuff.
anything new?
Click to expand...

Nope. Still syncs only with USB (and plugged into FireWire for power at the same time.)
 
Me Too!!!

I'm having the exact same problem, which is why I came to this site actually. My iPod (20gb colour screen) works fine, yet slow, with the USB cord, but the Firewire cord I bought just charges it, my Mac doesn't recognize the Pod drive. I've never plugged it into a Windows PC, so it shouldnt be formatted for Windows, but I don't know what's wrong with it. I've tried reseting, hard reseting, restoring (which sucked cause my Pod is empty now!) and even reformatting my permissions and doing a disk verify in that Disk Utility thing. I've tried two different Firewire cords (the one from Apple and a third party one) on three different macs, and none of them recognized the drive, it just charged the thing.

The only thing I can think of is to drain the battery, then charging it with the Firewire, maybe that might do something. The other thing I thought of was to do a Hard Reset with it plugged into the wall charger, but using a Firewire wall charger, not the USB one I have. I'll have to borrow my friend's charger to try this, and I'll post back if I can get it to work.

Failing that, I think maybe it's a problem with iTunes or even the new iPod Updater (09-23-05), in which case I encourage everyone to harass Apple with the problem and see if they can figure it out. I'll keep an eye on this thread for any help too, hopefully someone figures it out.

-J
 
What kind of Mac do you have? and What firewire port are you plugging it into?

There was an issue a while ago with people trying to plug iPods into the front firewire port of their PowerMac G5. If thats what you are doing, try moving it to the back firewire and see if that works.
 
yellow5 said:
What kind of Mac do you have? and What firewire port are you plugging it into?

There was an issue a while ago with people trying to plug iPods into the front firewire port of their PowerMac G5. If thats what you are doing, try moving it to the back firewire and see if that works.
Click to expand...

I'm using two different G4/400 "Sawtooth" models (as mentioned in the first post.)
 
Me Too.

Forced Perfect said:
I was wondering if this is a normal problem - it doesn't seem normal and I haven't found any info on it.


I have a 3g 10 GB Windows iPod (reformatted for Mac OS) here that for some reason only wants to use USB on my Mac(s) and not FireWire.

My friend has connected it via FireWire on his PC and it seems to work, but when connected using the exact same dock -> FireWire cable on either one of my G4/400's it charges but stays at the "ok to disconnect" screen and never sees the Mac. Nor will Apple System Profiler see the iPod.

I have one of those dock -> FireWire/USB 2.0 cables and again, it charges via FireWire but only connects via USB (1.1 in this case, I don't have a 2.0 card.)


I've been using it connected to both at the same time to get power from FireWire and sloooowly sync to my Mac. Yes, I am well aware that Apple says not to do that, but since it isn't trying to mount on both interfaces it seems to have no problem with it.

All diagnostics pass.
Click to expand...

I have the same problem with my 40GB iPhoto. I have it configured to load iTunes when I plug it into the dock which is connected to the firewire port on my Mac mini. It always worked until after the latest iPod software update. Now I can only connect through USB. I do not have any other firewire devices to check the computer's firewire port. I do not know if the software update had anything to do with this or if it was just coincidental.
 
I have the exact same problem with my 2nd Gen iPod Mini. It doesn't work with our Quicksilver G4 via FireWire, but USB is fine. It worked fine over Firewire with my old Powerbook and my gaming PC, but not the Quicksilver. I know that the Firewire ports are perfectly fine on the computer.
 
jackal5 said:
I'm having the exact same problem, which is why I came to this site actually. My iPod (20gb colour screen) works fine, yet slow, with the USB cord, but the Firewire cord I bought just charges it, my Mac doesn't recognize the Pod drive. I've never plugged it into a Windows PC, so it shouldnt be formatted for Windows, but I don't know what's wrong with it. I've tried reseting, hard reseting, restoring (which sucked cause my Pod is empty now!) and even reformatting my permissions and doing a disk verify in that Disk Utility thing. I've tried two different Firewire cords (the one from Apple and a third party one) on three different macs, and none of them recognized the drive, it just charged the thing.

The only thing I can think of is to drain the battery, then charging it with the Firewire, maybe that might do something. The other thing I thought of was to do a Hard Reset with it plugged into the wall charger, but using a Firewire wall charger, not the USB one I have. I'll have to borrow my friend's charger to try this, and I'll post back if I can get it to work.

Failing that, I think maybe it's a problem with iTunes or even the new iPod Updater (09-23-05), in which case I encourage everyone to harass Apple with the problem and see if they can figure it out. I'll keep an eye on this thread for any help too, hopefully someone figures it out.

-J
Click to expand...
Massive thread resurrection :D
I'm now having the same problem. 4G 40GB iPod photo plugged into any port on my PMG5 isn't recognised. Not under iTunes, Disk Utility or Finder, and it sends System Profiler into a permanent loop (or Infinite Loop if you prefer ;) ). Weirdly, my PowerMac also emits a very high pitched, very fast low volume ringing when it's plugged in.
Took it to the Apple Store who plugged it into one of their machines, where it showed up and I got them to restore it.
10.4.3. Repaired permissions, run Cron jobs, created new user account and all the other things that have been suggested (I did search :p ).
If the FireWire cable is damaged would it still be able to charge? Don't have access to a USB cable right now, so....
Any ideas?
 
iMeowbot said:
Yes, the power and signal travel on separate wires.
Click to expand...
Aah. You learn something new every day. Have to give the Apple Store a ring and see if they'll swap it for me.
Ta muchly :D
 
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