Help .. brand new mini- folder with "!"
[780 byte] By [jkcoon] at [2007-11-9 17:40:09] 
HELP! Due to severe iPod envy, my girlfriend just bought a new iPod Mini today the problem is it doesn't work. I ge thte folder with exclamation point. I've reset it, I've run the updater and nothing, I still get the folder with the exclamation mark on it. Windows (i know, I hate MS too, cant afford MAC) reconizes the iPod Mini as a hard drive but there is absolutlely nothing on it, no flolders or anything. I am able to drag files to the iPod in explorer and it appears to writ ethem fine, so i sassuem the hard drive is funcitoning. However, iTunes does not reconize it. Additionally, I dont have access to menu functions when "undocked". Its almost the hard drive is blank. Any ideas woudl be greatly appreciated. My girlfrined is all bumed out now.
# 1 Re: Help .. brand new mini- folder with "!"
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61003stevesnj at 2007-11-15 14:08:11 >
# 2 Re: Help .. brand new mini- folder with "!"
realzed the problem. Aparently when plugginin the ipod mini for first time is was somehow flashed with the 15gig's firmware... who knows? I' betting user error. I formatted using windows explorer (last resort) per an article i read on web. Reinstalled mini 1.0 software adn all is good. Thanks. JCjkcoon at 2007-11-15 14:09:11 >
# 3 Re: Help .. brand new mini- folder with "!"
We're having the exact same problem here as I tried to hook up his mini last night on my mom's laptop which already had her 20g ipod loaded in iTunes. Can you please describe step by step what you did to get it up and running again? I'm not real computer-literate and don't know how to reformat the mini as you suggested.
Thanks for any help on this.
Sam
Sam Emerick at 2007-11-15 14:10:10 >
# 4 Re: Help .. brand new mini- folder with "!"
Sam- i believe what happens, is if you plug in the ipod without loading tha appropriate software, it assume it is the 20 gig. It looks a the iPod and thinks that the firmware is out of date. It then tries to update the firmware. The problem is that the iPod mini and the iPod use different firmware. The steps I used are as follows: Bear in mind this worked for me.. it may not work for you and I assume no liability for the actions.
1) format ipod usng windows explore. This is done by clicking on "My Computer", you will see you ipod listed as an external hardrive. (mine didn't ahve any files inside it) Right click on the iPod icon adn click format. It will bring up a format screen, make sure FAT32 file format is selected and click start. (this should only be done as a last resort after you have tried everything else)
2) Next, I uninstalled everything iPod related by using "Add/Remove programs" in the control panel. Bear in mind, I had a seperate user profile set up for my girlfrind on my XP machine so it did not impact my 15 gig's settings.
3) I then reinstalled the iPod Mini software from the included disk. This will be iPod mini's software 1.0... quite different than iPod software 2.1 (I really think this is what screwed things up)
4) I believe i then reset the iPOd min per the instrucitons in the manual. hold button on off, hold tow buttons (check your manual)
5) Finally, I ran the iPOd mini updater ad all was good.
One after thought to this is tha I have not tried my 15 gig iPod on my sytem yet. I just logged on using my profile nad notice that all I have is the iPod mini software on my machine.. this could be a roblem.
Is anyone else runnign two iPods, particularly a Mini adn 3G on the same machine? ANy suggestions? I'm almost afraid that my 15 gig might not wrok now... I'll ahve to try when I ge thome from work. I will update this with more info at that time.
Thanks,
JC
jkcoon at 2007-11-15 14:11:15 >
# 5 Re: Help .. brand new mini- folder with "!"
Thanks for the detailed instructions. I had so much trouble . . . I finally called Apple Support and the guy there had it all working in no time at all -- probably only 5-10 minutes! He was so helpful. You're right in your idea of what happened with the software/firmware. I don't know all that we did as I didn't write it down, but I do know that we went into the ipod program under the Start window. There's a restore feature that you can choose if you need to. That's what we did, but it was a little more complicated than that. Thanks for taking so much of your time to help me with this. I really appreciate it.
Oh, and yes, my Mom's 20G will still work and so will my brother's mini. We just have to use manual sync, instead of automatic and we have to make playlists for each of us. Once you have a playlist (we made a smart list where my songs are going to have my name in the comments field) you simply drag that playlist up to your ipod once it's connected. We've done a couple of songs now and it seems pretty easy.
Sam
Sam Emerick at 2007-11-15 14:12:13 >
# 6 Re: Help .. brand new mini- folder with "!"
I just don't get it.. I come home from work tonight and check the 15 gig and now it wont sync with iTunes. I noticed that I must have uninstalled the 2.1 software so I reinstall. Now it wants to restore my 15 gig... it works fine undocked... should I allow it to run restore? Update is not an option, it is greyed out. This is nuts, surely apple intended for buyers of the Mini to possibly also have the 3G on thier machines. Please help... JCjkcoon at 2007-11-15 14:13:15 >
# 7 Re: Help .. brand new mini- folder with "!"
Sorry that I can't be any help on this. Why don't you call 1-800-SOSApple. They were so helpful for me and we got it all worked out very quickly. Sam
Sam Emerick at 2007-11-15 14:14:19 >
# 8 Re: Help .. brand new mini- folder with "!"
OKay... i think i have this figured out... apparently the problem was with the profiles. Apparently my girlfriend's account wasn't completely logged off. That was cuasing my profile to bomb out... thanks again for the help.jkcoon at 2007-11-15 14:15:11 >
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