Ipod Nano 2 - no connection and other problems

[Andrea77]

Hi there.
I hope I can explain my problems to you all. I'm pretty much stuck! I bought an used Nano 2 and wanted to install Rockbox, but I am a complete newbie in the world of Ipod and Rockbox, to tell you that right at the beginning.

The Nano was previously discovered under win10 and Itunes, so it worked. I downloaded the Rockbox setup from this page and started the program. The Nano was discoverd, I chose it as the device in the drop-down-menu and pressed the start button, when then suddenly a problem occured and rockbox shut down - I have no idea what the problem was or still is. Since then I have major trouble because my Nano isn't detected anymore neither from windows nor from itunes, the attempt to continue the installation doesn't work, because in the rockbox menue my device isn't found anymore, it tells me something like the mounting point is missing (I'm German and trying to translate the messages best as possible). But I can't also change something from D: to another drive letter, because there is no option or access to it in the programm.

When I check the device manager for not recognizing the nano, I see that there is an unknown usb device, which has a "device deskriptor failure" and when I right click on that unknown device and check the properites I can read that "the device is stopped, because of an error 43" (or pretty similar in words).

The Nano itself shows the following screen:
Rockbox boot loader
Version 1.0
Loading Rockbox...
Error!
Can't load rockbox.ipod:
File not found
Hold Menu+Select to reboot then SELECT+Play for disk mode

I can set the nano into the diskmode, but the device is still not found under win or itunes. I can also set it back to the ipod mode, so i can "switch" sreens, but so far that didn't help me.
The Nano also doesn't charge any more... it shows the loading symbol for a while but doesn't load, as the battery does not appear in a full mode, only in a half loaded mode.

So I'm pretty much stuck. Any idea how to fix that problem/ these problems? I am happy about any idea...

Andrea77

[saratoga]

It sounds like the device disconnected during the installation or somehow screwed up, so you have the bootloader but not rockbox.  Put the device into disk mode, download a build of rockbox from the links on the left side of your screen, and then extract the zip file to your player.

[Andrea77]

Thanx for the idea. But how should I do it when the connection between the nano and the pc doesn't work?

[saratoga]

Worst case you can still use the apple disk mode I believe:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201544

[Andrea77]

When I put the nano into disk mode the screen says "ok to disconnect", but doesn't connect to the pc. So even in the disk mode my pc won't recognize it... it has problem "identyfying" the usb. In the device manager there is the unkown device with the error message I posted in the beginning.

[saratoga]

Do you have a different PC you can try? 

[Andrea77]

I have two with win 7, and in both cases the pc's don't discover the nano. I could try to install xp to my old laptop in case that might help in identyfying or "awaking" the nano.

[saratoga]

I don't think you need XP.  As far as I know it should be impossible to actually break a Nano 2G, you can always use the ipod disk mode and then restore it with iTunes or reinstall rockbox.  I'm not sure what the issue is here that is preventing that.

[Andrea77]

What I wonder about is the fact that I get this strange error messages/ codes in my device manager and my ways of reinstalling the driver manually don't help either. But what can I do to get rid of that error 43 in the device manager?
Or might installing a linux system help? I'm not very good with linux so far.

[saratoga]

That error means that the device couldn't mount for whatever reason.  I don't think it's the cause of your problems.

What happens if you boot into the apple firmware? Does it still load or does it report an error?

[Andrea77]

What do you mean with "boot into apple firmware"?

[saratoga]

You still have the apple firmware I believe. I think you hold left while powering on to use it.  If that doesn't work check the manual.

[Andrea77]

When I want to leave the disk mode I first hold Menu and Select, when the apple appears I shift the hold toggle into the holf position and then the "normal" player screen appears. Is the apple firmware boot you meant?
When I connect to pc in this mode my pc still tells me, that my usb device isn't recognized.

[saratoga]

I mean the normal apple firmware. Can you boot up and play music in it?

[Andrea77]

You mean getting back from disk mode without the hold toggle? then the nano falls back into the error screen with the rockbox message.