Today, I learned the importance of patience.
Apple, as is their wont after a major conference, released new versions of both iTunes (7.6.0.29) and the iPod Classic Firmware (1.1). Silly me… I updated both. These were long updates, and iTunes went so far as to install some odd server as part of the software called Bonjour called mDNSResponder. When I started iTunes, it seemed to hang… so after 15 minutes of “Converting Database” with no movement on the progress bar… I killed it. That turned out to be my fatal error (or, as nsshere would argue, doing the downloads was my error… but I wanted QuickTime 7.4).
After I upgraded the firmware on the iPod, I discovered that the iPod would no longer sync. It would just hang there, with iTunes spinning its sync wheel, and the iPod doing nothing. So, given I paid for Apple Care, I called Apple. With the first care representative, we worked for 1.5 hours. We deleted and reinstalled iTunes. No luck. We rebooted the iPod. No luck. She was investingating some solution and had me on hold…when the call system transferred me to another front-liner in the Phillipines. With this fellow, we tried restoring the iPod (translation: “wipe ‘er clean, boys”). We still couldn’t sync songs, but we could sync songs manually. We also had the situation where when I disconnected the iPod, my system rebooted. As we were getting nowhere, he escalated the call.
That was where I was put in touch with Ryan. Now we were talking technie to techie. We tried a number of things: reregistering some DLLs. No luck. Backgrading the firmware to 1.0.3. (here, look for the red text). Surprisingly, that didn’t solve the problem. Putting our problem solving skills together, we figured that there had to be something causing the database to spin: either the new firmware wasn’t letting iTunes know what was on the iPod (but backing the firmware should have solved that)… or…. the iPod database was corrupted.
So, off we went to the iTunes library. Not the one on my removable hard drive, but the one in My Documents. We renamed the .xml file to be Library2.xml, and deleted the .itl file. Started up iTunes. No library. Import Library2.xml. Chugs away for a bit and we stop it. We attempt to sync with the iPod. Success! We delete the library again, and now it is chugging away on the over 16,000 songs in my library.
So, what did I learn from this, boys and girls?
Never, never, never interrupt iTunes when it is converting a database, even if it looks hung and isn’t using CPU.
Second, escalate the problem within Apple. Eventually you’ll get someone who knows what they are talking about and restores your faith. I thank Ryan for his patience in all of this.
Third (and I should have known this): Wait a day or two for upgrades (unless, of course, they are serious security problems… which QuickTime 7.4 addresses…)
