Today I had my 4th gen iPod connected to my work PC on a USB 1 port. Everything worked fine. I was able to play the music on it through iTunes. I restarted my computer, and continued playing music. Then iTunes crashed. The iPod remained in a "Do not disconnect" state. iTunes would not restart. I restarted my computer. The iPod remained on "Do not disconnect," but did not show up in iTunes or as a connected device. I disconnected the iPod. It remained on "Do not disconnect." I tried to restart the iPod by holding down Play/Menu without effect. I tried holding all the buttons. No change. I moved it to another computer, and it showed up as a USB device that could not be started. No change on the iPod.

It's now about three hours later, and the battery is almost dead, which is remarkable since it's apparently not doing anything. It must have the disk spinning non-stop to use the battery this quickly, but I can't hear the disk so I'm not sure.

I imagine the only way to reset it is to let the battery die, short of opening the iPod and disconnecting the battery. What a pain in the neck. Anyone else have this problem or hear of it?

Edit: since everyone seems to want pictures, here's one.

Connect iPod to the iPod Power Adapter and plug the power adapter into an electrical outlet.

Toggle the Hold switch on and off. (Set it to hold, then turn it off again.)

Press and hold the Menu and Select buttons until the Apple logo appears, about 6 - 10 seconds. You may need to repeat this step.

Tip: If you are having difficulty performing the reset, set the iPod mini on a flat surface. Make sure that the finger pressing the Select button is not touching any part of the click wheel. Also make sure that you are pressing the Menu button toward the outside of the click wheel, and not near the center.

If you are still unable to reset, use only one finger from one hand to press the Select button, and one finger from the other hand to press the Menu button.

When you reset iPod all your music and files are saved, but some customized settings may be lost. Date and time is preserved (unless the iPod reset itself because it had no power and then was reconnected to power). Other customized settings, such as Bookmarks, On The Go Playlists, Shuffle, Backlight timer, etc. are preserved from the last time the hard drive was spun up.

If your iPod does not respond to these steps, then see additional steps in the "iPod troubleshooting basics and service FAQ".

or.

i am on a mac, so i don't know the windows way. but if you connect the ipod and run the update software it should tell you if your computer is finding an ipod or not. if it is there and it is not mounting, try restore it, and then just put your music back on

sorry to hear that. listen to mdc

I can't believe that finally worked. I had been pressing Play/Menu, not Select/Menu.

Thanks.

Might wanna look at the manual sometime