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iPod: where did my music go?

exisexis Registered User regular
edited May 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
:(

Last week while trying to add some music to my (4th gen) iPod, Windows gave me a "can't write to there" file error. I tried to disconnect my iPod, iTunes froze. So I tried ejecting it via the system tray, that dialogue froze too. All I could really do to get it out without just yanking it free was to shut down my PC and pull it out then (though I don't know if this was much better, in hindsight). Next time I connected it and tried to open iTunes, I was told that my iPod needs to be formatted for Windows. I booted into Ubuntu to see if I could at least get my music off before I formatted it... but Ubuntu didn't detect any device.

Immediately after quitting Ubuntu, I checked my iPod. All my music was gone. But according to my iPod and Windows Explorer, it's still on my iPod, just not accessible (as in the space is still taken up). I can see it with Explorer at iPod_Control/Music. I try to copy it onto my hard drive but it keeps failing.

I run iTunes again. Tells me "the iPod *** cannot be synced. The file or directory is corrupt or unreadable". Well it shouldn't have been trying to sync in the first place, but fine. Now according to iTunes all that space is freed up (wasn't when I first ran iTunes this last time). Now all those folders in iPod_Control/Music are empty.

So. Is there anyway to get my music back? Probably a quarter of it is no longer on my hard drive; a lot of it is from CDs I've long since lost etc. Also, is this indicative of something that's going to be reoccurring? I've been thinking about getting a new iPod... I may just splash out now, especially if I have no chance of getting back what I've lost.

exis on

Posts

  • NumeroNumero Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Double click on your iPod's icon to access it from My Computer. Then go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and check 'Show Hidden Files and Folders.' After that, go into the 'iPod Control' folder on your iPod, then the Music folder in there. You should be able to drag and drop all your music to your hard drive. Don't worry about the songs being renamed, your tags should remain the same.

    Numero on
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  • exisexis Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Números wrote: »
    Double click on your iPod's icon to access it from My Computer. Then go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and check 'Show Hidden Files and Folders.' After that, go into the 'iPod Control' folder on your iPod, then the Music folder in there. You should be able to drag and drop all your music to your hard drive. Don't worry about the songs being renamed, your tags should remain the same.
    exis wrote: »
    I can see it with Explorer at iPod_Control/Music. I try to copy it onto my hard drive but it keeps failing.

    ...

    Now all those folders in iPod_Control/Music are empty.

    exis on
  • KyanilisKyanilis Bellevue, WARegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I'd say it sounds like your database went corrupt (This happened to me, all the music was still there, just couldn't play it with my ipod, could still double click it and listen to it and move it around though via my computer), but it honestly sounds like your entire iPod went corrupt. You may just have to try restoring it in order to have functionality at all, but in all likelihood? If you can't copy the files over manually, you really don't have much of a chance of recovering the music from it. You could try just scanning the drive for errors, but I really don't know how much that will help.

    And it's possible this could be a sign of a failing iPod, so yeah, grabbing a new one might be a decent idea. I know the database error on mine hasn't happened again, but mine is a 5th gen video.

    Short answer: I don't see much of a chance of getting your music back, particularly if there's nothing in iPod_Control/Music now. Scan it for file errors, see if that helps, if not a restore through iTunes will format it and bring it back to being usable, unless it is a major disk problem then yes, get a new iPod.

    Kyanilis on
  • exisexis Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Kyanilis wrote: »
    I'd say it sounds like your database went corrupt (This happened to me, all the music was still there, just couldn't play it with my ipod, could still double click it and listen to it and move it around though via my computer), but it honestly sounds like your entire iPod went corrupt. You may just have to try restoring it in order to have functionality at all, but in all likelihood? If you can't copy the files over manually, you really don't have much of a chance of recovering the music from it. You could try just scanning the drive for errors, but I really don't know how much that will help.

    And it's possible this could be a sign of a failing iPod, so yeah, grabbing a new one might be a decent idea. I know the database error on mine hasn't happened again, but mine is a 5th gen video.

    Short answer: I don't see much of a chance of getting your music back, particularly if there's nothing in iPod_Control/Music now. Scan it for file errors, see if that helps, if not a restore through iTunes will format it and bring it back to being usable, unless it is a major disk problem then yes, get a new iPod.

    Okay, that's about what I expected to hear. Just didn't want to give up if there was a chance of recovering everything. Thanks.

    exis on
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