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wallinbl · Dec 25, 2003, 04:03 PM

So, I got an iPod for Christmas. I'm happy. I plug it in to the computer (Windows laptop - Mac is at home), and get 'Do not disconnect'. Okay. I leave it alone for a while. I come back and it is turned off. I turn it on. I get a picture of a battery that quickly goes away and it turns back off. Fine, I'll plug it into the wall for a while to charge. I let it sit until it is fully charged. I plug it back into the computer and get 'Do not disconnect'. This persists for more than an hour. Finally, I come back and find the iPod turned off again. I try to turn it on and get the battery picture again.

Am I missing something? What is the matter with this thing?

FYI - The laptop has iTunes (4.1) on it and I'm using FireWire (with the 4pin adapter).

maxintosh · Dec 25, 2003, 04:10 PM

Hmm. Well, a Windows laptop cannot charge the iPod, so while it's plugged into the laptop, it's draining the battery. The "Do Not Disconnect" symbol just means that the iPod is mounted on the laptop. To get rid of it, you basically have to eject the iPod, and it will say "OK to Disconnect". FWIW, I rip my iPod out all the time when it says do not disconnect and I'm not updating it without a problem, I'm just too lazy to drag the icon to the trash.

wallinbl · Dec 25, 2003, 04:30 PM

Originally posted by maxintosh:
Hmm. Well, a Windows laptop cannot charge the iPod, so while it's plugged into the laptop, it's draining the battery. The "Do Not Disconnect" symbol just means that the iPod is mounted on the laptop. To get rid of it, you basically have to eject the iPod, and it will say "OK to Disconnect". FWIW, I rip my iPod out all the time when it says do not disconnect and I'm not updating it without a problem, I'm just too lazy to drag the icon to the trash.

I assumed it was doing something while it said that.

Why does my iPod not show up in my source list in iTunes? The iPod updater recognizes that it is connected.

biscool · Dec 25, 2003, 06:29 PM

Is this a fresh install of itunes? On windows there is a little app that watches for the ipod to connect. If someone disabled this, itunes will not see the pod...

CatOne · Dec 25, 2003, 11:16 PM

Originally posted by maxintosh:
Hmm. Well, a Windows laptop cannot charge the iPod, so while it's plugged into the laptop, it's draining the battery. The "Do Not Disconnect" symbol just means that the iPod is mounted on the laptop. To get rid of it, you basically have to eject the iPod, and it will say "OK to Disconnect". FWIW, I rip my iPod out all the time when it says do not disconnect and I'm not updating it without a problem, I'm just too lazy to drag the icon to the trash.

A Windows laptop *can* charge the iPod, if it's a 6 pin firewire connector. He's using a 4-pin so it won't charge. But your statement isn't true in the general case, FWIW.

OreoCookie · Dec 26, 2003, 05:29 AM

Originally posted by CatOne:
A Windows laptop *can* charge the iPod, if it's a 6 pin firewire connector. He's using a 4-pin so it won't charge. But your statement isn't true in the general case, FWIW.

I have yet to see a Windows laptop with a 6-pin connector. Hence, the implied reason is the most likely one.

Ditto for USB 2.0. No charging possible, hd operation drains battery.

wallinbl · Dec 26, 2003, 08:14 AM

I got it working by doing a reset of the iPod from the iPod updater. Dunno what happened to need that. Got 4GB of music on there in just a few minutes. Haven't used it yet. I'm hoping the miserable battery life was related to something that was happening due to being connected to the PC.