Re: Brand new Ipod Nano is malfunctioning right out of the box

Robert Montgomery <info-block@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Shawn Hirn wrote:
In article <%p9ti.64463$Io4.35384@edtnps89>,
Robert Montgomery <info-block@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


I just bought my first Ipod – an two-gigabyte Nano.

As soon as I plugged it into my USB 2 hub, Itunes and the Imac froze and
I couldn't even restart because the color wheel kept spinning on my
screen and I couldn't even get to the Finder to quit any programs, so I
pressed the power button and even that took a while to have any effect.

The Ipod screen still says "Do no disconnect" and a burgundy circle with
a line through it is flashing on the dark screen.

There's supposed to be a Setup Assistant that automatically opens, but
it didn't, and after restarting the computer, Itunes won't open.

At home, the Ipod hadn't shown up under "Devices" in Itunes, as it did
when the salesman at the Apple store demonstrated, but at home I was
able to scroll to "Eject" in Itunes.

Unfortunately the Ipod manual only says on the last page to look at the
Apple Web site for more complete help, and it's only on the Web site
that the instructions say to plug the Ipod into the hub first and then
into the Ipod. Because I was only reading the skimpy little Ipod manual
that came with the manual, I plugged the USB cord into the Ipod first
and then the other end of the USB cable into my USB hub, so I think that
probably caused the glitch, or maybe it's because I plugged the cable
into my hub and not into my Imac (Late 2006 model with OS 10.4.10).

At some point during this process, Software Update asked if I wanted to
download the latest Itunes. I pressed "Okay" but the installation
stalled so I cancelled the installation and now
Itunes won't open.

I tried relaunching the Finder but that didn't help.

What should I do?


Apple has tons of information about all its products on
http://www.apple.com including an extensive array of troubleshooting
documents. Check out
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61705 and see if that
helps. If not, take a look for other info on Apple's web site or simply
take your iPod nano back to the store and tell them its not working. It
is after all, under warranty. Good luck.

Thanks. I got it to work again after a lot of experimentation.

I tried to download a free sample song from the Internet to see if I
could load it onto the Ipod, but I couldn't find any because all the
links in Google for free songs led me to paid music sites (typical of
the Internet swindlers), but I found a site with some free music loops,
which I managed to download to Itunes and copy onto the Ipod and deleted
them and downloaded some more and re-synced the Ipod.

But it's a difficult, stressful, slow learning process. A 'steep
learning curve' as the cliché goes. The way you scroll with a light
touch, for example. At first it wasn't intuitive; I've never used a
device like that. It feels so strange - like learning to use a computer
for the first time.

I kept thinking I've broken the machine, but then I get it to work
again. For example, when i pulled the USB cord out of the Ipod, I had to
pull like hell and nothing happened, because they stupidly camouflaged
the release buttons, and I've never seen a connector like that before,
and there's no instructions in the manual that comes with the Ipod about
how how to disconnect the USB cable and I didn't know if I had to have
one side up or not to connect the USB cord to the Ipod.

I'm done for today, and I'm having a drink to try to steady my nerves
(which where shaken because I kept thinking my brand-new device was
broken because I kept getting the damn "Do not disconnect" message amd
had to keep restarting the Imac to try to rectify the situation and then
I finally blundered into how to reset the Ipod to the factory settings.)

(And when I bought the Ipod this morning the salesman didn't give me
much confidence because he said if it's broken, don't bring it back to
us; send it back to Apple instead. I don't think I want to shop there
anymore.)

This device is certainly not all it's 'cracked up to be' as the saying
goes. Not exactly 'plug and play' to use yet another cliché. Certainly
is not intuitive. As another example of that, there's no button marked
"On" or "Off" or "Power" - standard things on devices like a TV or
radio. Instead, the off button, which doubles as the pause button, is
marked by an arrow and two vertical lines. Like what the hell's that
supposed to signify? They should have put more buttons and some words on
the machine to make it easier to learn and use. I think they put too
much precedence over the simplicity of the design over the ease of use,
because more buttons would certainly help - like on a TV remote control,
with each button labelled with a word instead of some unfamiliar symbol.
(That's what I hate about my Olypmus camera, too, it's got all these
goddamn symbols instead of words, so you have to try to remember what
all the frigging symbols relate to to use the camera and my old Alesis
multi-track sequencer and what makes it even harder to learn is when a
hierogrlyphic symbol has two functions.)

Robert

I would guess that the problem was as likely to be the hub issue rather
than just a specifically iPod issue ... having to take account of the
sequence of cable/iPod connecting seems something of a pain. I would
tend to avoid using a hub for the iPod unless absolutely unavoidable.

I agree about the extent of "assumed knowledge" which is prevelant in
computing generally, and that's a problem ... but the iPod is definitely
not a complicated device ... and iTunes IMHO is probably the finest
piece of free software you'll ever come across. As you say, there's a
learning curve, but in a few weeks you will wonder what all your fuss
was about!

--
Adrian
.

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