Ipod Mini 2nd Generation -- Won't Connect, Need Help!

[undegaussable]

Until a few weeks ago I was running Windows and using iTunes to manage my 4GB Ipod Mini (2nd Gen.).  I recently installed Ubuntu Linux on another partition and was using Amarok to manage my iPod, still using the standard Apple firmware -- but I decided to try Rockbox, for fun.

I downloaded the auto-installation software for Rockbox 3.1 in Linux, but it wasn't auto-recognizing my iPod, despite the fact that it was mounted in the /media folder and was there on my Ubuntu desktop.  So I followed the Manual Installation instructions in the manual, and everything went fine.  But after installation, when I ejected the iPod, I got some weird (but very generic, non-specific) error messages.  Thinking nothing of it, I shut down my computer and listened to my iPod with Rockbox on it -- everything was (and is) working fine internally in the iPod, I can play all my songs, games, etc.

My problem is that my computer now will not recognize the iPod at all.  Nothing happens when I plug it in.  Nothing shows up in /media, nothing shows up on my desktop, nothing shows up in Amarok or gtkpod.  I have tested my USB ports and they are all working properly, so this is not a hardware issue with my computer.

The worst part of this is that I decided to just restore the Apple firmware in Windows -- and when I plug the iPod in in Windows, Windows doesn't recognize it either!  Nothing happens!  I can't get iTunes to recognize it, so I can't even restore factory defaults.

So what can I do?  Is there any way to get my computer to communicate with the iPod?  I have tried restarting the iPod and the computer, both with the iPod plugged in and unplugged.

Here is the output of the "mount" command in Linux, with the iPod plugged in, if it helps:

/dev/sda5 on / type ext3 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
tmpfs on /lib/init/rw type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
/proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
varrun on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
varlock on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=620)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
lrm on /lib/modules/2.6.27-9-generic/volatile type tmpfs (rw,mode=755)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/matt/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=matt)
/dev/sda1 on /media/disk type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I don't want to lose this iPod!

[Chronon]

Does this happen both in Apple's emergency disk mode and through their firmware?