cannot restore ipod.

[voiceontape]

i successfully installed rockbox to my 60gb ipod video and i toyed around with themes and plugins and what not, and then i decided that while rockbox is really cool, it's just not practical for my everyday use. i then chose to remove it. i googled, "uninstall rockbox" and clicked the first result that was provided, but i neglected to run the updater first.. i deleted everything rockbox from my ipod and unplugged it - without removing the bootloader. now my ipod hangs at the apple start up screen before loading ANY bootloader at all, and refuses to enter any kind of disk mode. is there any way to force the ipod into disk mode and then recover it? i just want my native apple firmware back. i am running windows xp pro, but i have a mac laptop at my disposal as well, and though i'm no expert, i am capable of booting into linux via a usb key if needed. help?

also, i already asked about this on the irc channel, so you might want to check out this link: http://www.rockbox.org/irc/reader.pl?date=20070517#05:54:18 (fyi, i was josh_)

thanks in advance!

[betamaxman]

Run the ipod patcher again pressing U rather than i to uninstall the bootloader, hard start your ipod then press both the center button and play to enter disc mode and itunes should see your ipod and either sync or restore it. Seems no matter what you do to the firmware even partition table every thing is recoverable, see my thread in this same section.  8-)

[voiceontape]

Run the ipod patcher again pressing U rather than i to uninstall the bootloader, hard start your ipod then press both the center button and play to enter disc mode and itunes should see your ipod and either sync or restore it. Seems no matter what you do to the firmware even partition table every thing is recoverable, see my thread in this same section.  8-)

i can't do that because my ipod will not enter disk mode. therefore my computer won't even recognize it as a portable hard drive, which would first be necessary in order to run the uninstaller. i already tried that. the uninstaller does not see my ipod.

[bluebrother]

Go to emergency disk mode:
hold Menu + Select until the Ipod reboots. Now press and hold Play + Select. The Ipod changes to emergency disk mode. You can now access the Ipod as removable usb drive. To leave that mode you need to reset the Ipod again.

[aliask]

If disk mode doesn't work, you should try switching hold on IMMEDIATELY after resetting the ipod - if you get hold on fast enough it should load up into the apple firmware, and you will be able to connect to a computer from there.
Good luck!

[voiceontape]

Go to emergency disk mode:
hold Menu + Select until the Ipod reboots. Now press and hold Play + Select. The Ipod changes to emergency disk mode. You can now access the Ipod as removable usb drive. To leave that mode you need to reset the Ipod again.

i had tried that before, and i couldn't get it to work until now.
i guess you just have to hold it for a REALLY long time. like 15 seconds.
i got the ipod back into disk mode, and connected it to my computer.
i ran the ipodpatcher.exe and typed "u" for uninstall and it worked.
i updated it in itunes and ejected it properly and now everything is fine.

If disk mode doesn't work, you should try switching hold on IMMEDIATELY after resetting the ipod - if you get hold on fast enough it should load up into the apple firmware, and you will be able to connect to a computer from there.
Good luck!

i also tried that, but to no avail. :[
it's irrelevant now, anyway.
but thank you for your help here as well as on irc, aliask.

now, i have another problem. it's actually more of an annoyance right now than anything else, but i can see it becoming a problem in the future: just to be safe, after   removing everything and updating in itunes, i was going to try to do a fresh, clean install of the apple firmware, you know, just to be 100% new. when i run the ipod updater from apple (ipod updater 2006-03-23), it gives me an error message that reads: "invalid ipod service version" and all i can do from there is exit the updater. i know i have the most current apple firmware on my ipod, but what happens when (if) a new one is released and i have the same issue? awhile back, i was interested in hacking the ipod's graphics, but i never did. however, i remember finding this: http://www.engadget.com/2004/12/08/how-to-hacking-the-ipod-firmware-changing-the-graphics/comments/731190/ maybe i'm just jumping to conclusions, but if i was to go through with what that guy said, do you think there'd be a chance of tricking the ipod updater into running? or should i not even bother...

at least i have a working ipod again, though. thank you all!

[Llorean]

The iPod service is something installed on your computer, not your iPod. It means some part of the iTunes/iPod software is out of date, probably.

[voiceontape]

The iPod service is something installed on your computer, not your iPod. It means some part of the iTunes/iPod software is out of date, probably.

so should i try re-downloading the installer from apple's site?
maybe i could stop the ipod service and start it again...

[betamaxman]

If you are comfortable in linux, and if not installed on your system, are comfortable with knoppix you can always try this from the wiki, worked for me. Just be real sure about what linux denotes your ipod as. Should be /dev/sd(something) but if you have sata drives it can be more tricky. also if you go this rout be sure to unplug any other usb drives and such things as card readers.  8-)

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodManualRestore#How_to_restore_an_ipod

[shivyo]

had the same issue with my 30 gig video ipod, was no recognising the ipod at all in the computer ...upon flicking arnd a lil in the rock box settings area in the ipod, in the battery section, it showed "....docking=disabled...." tried most of the solutions here, but in my case most dint work, what did help though was i restared the ipod after plugging in the usb and put the hold button  on an dbooted straigth into the natiev software, and then restarted the computer with teh ipod still connected. and when windows started up again the ipod was recognised by the comp and i could run the patcher and uninstall. nt sure of this is an anomaly in my case but i suppose its worth a try if all else fails.