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iPod iPod Erased! Help!

wheezy

wheezy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 7, 2005
1,280
1
Alpine, UT
My friend has a 4G iPod 40GB, and sent me a frantic text msg this morning that his iPod is erased. He has a 20" iMac G5, and when he went to eject it today, he said the icon wasn't there, but rather had something saying a "disk with undetectable files"...after he unplugged it, it showed a Triangle with an "!" in it, and a picture of a file...he rebooted, and now nothing is on his iPod...any ideas?

Sorry I don't have more details, he can't call me yet so it's all text messages.
 
Not

He had an old G4 before his iMac, and it had a smaller HD, so he didn't keep his music on the tower, and didn't put it back on his iMac when he got it.
 
I think your gonna have to start from scratch, unless you can find the original itunes files.
 
wheezy said:
He had an old G4 before his iMac, and it had a smaller HD, so he didn't keep his music on the tower, and didn't put it back on his iMac when he got it.
Click to expand...
Do you still have the old HD and is it still intact. The files could still be in there.
 
MacNut said:
Do you still have the old HD and is it still intact. The files could still be in there.
Click to expand...

Outlook is pretty bleak, unfortunately no old HD, he actually sold it on eBay. I'm heading over now to try diskwarrior on my PB (maybe a different Mac can save it??) while he keeps rippin his Library.
 
I hate to be the one to say this, but it needs to be said for the benefit of all:

BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT FILES TO REMOVABLE MEDIA (CDs OR DVDs). THIS MUST BE DONE REGULARLY!

Backing up to a hard drive is an OK *temporary* solution, but hard drives crash or get sold in old machines. CDs and DVDs will last a LONG time if stored properly. As time progresses, you should even make backups of your backups. There's no good reason to ever suffer data loss.

This announcement has been brought to you by the Shimata-Dominguez Corporation... helping America into the new world.
 
clayj said:
I hate to be the one to say this, but it needs to be said for the benefit of all:

BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT FILES TO REMOVABLE MEDIA (CDs OR DVDs). THIS MUST BE DONE REGULARLY!

Backing up to a hard drive is an OK *temporary* solution, but hard drives crash or get sold in old machines. CDs and DVDs will last a LONG time if stored properly. As time progresses, you should even make backups of your backups. There's no good reason to ever suffer data loss.

This announcement has been brought to you by the Shimata-Dominguez Corporation... helping America into the new world.
Click to expand...

Actually, backing up to hard drives is just as good, but in the long run DVDRs are better.

If you have 1 TB of Data, HOW do you back it up?
 
dotdotdot said:
Actually, backing up to hard drives is just as good, but in the long run DVDRs are better.

If you have 1 TB of Data, HOW do you back it up?
Click to expand...
Sorry to disagree with you, but I've suffered a few hard drive failures over the years. I've NEVER lost the data that's stored on a CD or DVD. Hard drive backups are only good temporarily, i.e., until you can back up to something more permanent.

And if you TRULY have 1 TB of data, you should have a redundant hard drive setup (RAID, striped set, etc.) AND a tape backup. 1 TB of data requires a full backup mechanism and process. For most home users, a good DVD (or DVD DL) burner should suffice.
 
This exact event happened to me this weekend. I had to reformat my iPod and take te loss. Sorry, I tried everything and searched the forms and that seemed to be the only logical path. Good thing all my songs are still on my hard drive. ...Beginning to burn DVD backups... :cool:
 
I have been backing up my purchased music to dvd every month or so... I am up to 4.2 GBs, so I might have to spring for a dual layer burner :-D

As for all the CDs I ripped, I would probably end up reripping them if I ever lost my G5, Mac Mini, and 40 GB iPod all at the same time...

As for backups... using disks is fine as long as one uses a good raid system.. The best will use hardware raid cards instead of software raid... hardware has a higher recovery probability, or so I have heard...

Of course with a G5, one would only be able to install two drives without additional hardware and possibly cooling... I know a few places that use disk based backup for things like email stores... multi-terabyte raid systems... For the average home user, that is probably overkill...

Since not everyone can have an xraid racked up in their basement and run xsan... I guess dvds are the next best thing :)

Has the iPod user tried to mount the drive on a linux machine? Something else to try...
 
i back up to Cdrs as i dont have a dvd burner, whats the best way in your guys opinion to store them so they dont become damaged? hard slimline cases or a cd wallet?
 
PlaceofDis said:
i back up to Cdrs as i dont have a dvd burner, whats the best way in your guys opinion to store them so they dont become damaged? hard slimline cases or a cd wallet?
Click to expand...
Hard cases, and keep them in a cool, dry place out of sunlight. Ideally, you should also keep them somewhere besides where your computer is; at a relative's house, or in a safe deposit box or offsite storage unit. If your house burns down (as has happened to iJon's family recently), you don't want your backups going up in smoke along with your computer.
 
clayj said:
Hard cases, and keep them in a cool, dry place out of sunlight. Ideally, you should also keep them somewhere besides where your computer is; at a relative's house, or in a safe deposit box or offsite storage unit. If your house burns down (as has happened to iJon's family recently), you don't want your backups going up in smoke along with your computer.
Click to expand...

cool i have nothing super important to back up at this point, basically MP3s and some school papers. but as i get my poetry typed up i will have to put those in a safe place.... i just didnt know what kind of case to put 'em in
 
How about storing the original CDs in a small storage unit with a good insurance policy... Enough to replace all the CDs with new ones... Perhaps keep a dvd of the ripped music at work or a relatives...

As for documents... .Mac has more than enough space for the most important files (pgp encrypted tax forms)... Plus I back up my most important files on my iPod... And of course having a second computer makes backups even easier...

All these things cost money though... You might end up being better off with good renters/homeowners insurance and documenting everything that can be replaced and backing up things that can't...

Forget about music, I care more about my iPhoto library... Music can be repurchased or ripped.
 
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