Help my iPod know (in the Biblical sense) some other equipment

August 6, 2006 3:29 PM

I'm having trouble connecting my iPod to my PC and to an external speaker system.

1. I had an old 3G ipod. I broke it. So I just bought a new one -- a 5G 6GB Video iPod. To my shagrin, it needs a USB 2.0 port. My creaking old PC, with my music library on it, only has USB 1.0 ports. It didn't occur to me that I'd need USB 2.0, because my 3G iPod connected through Firewire. I bought a USB 2.0 card and tried to intall it, but it screwed up my computer (Ethernet stopped working), so I removed it. Is there such a thing as a USB to Firewire converter? If so, will it work with my iPod? Is ther ANY way I can plug my new iPod into the Firewire port on my old PC? My guess is no, but I quake at the prospect of trying to get USB 2.O working on this old machine. Has anyone had similar problems installing USB 2.0? How did you get around the hardware conflict?
2. I have a speaker system with an iPod dock connector built into it. It works great, but in order to plug my iPod into it, I have to remove the iPod from it's protective case. (The case makes it too big to fit -- even though the case has a hole in it to supposedly let it plug into a dock.) I HATE removing it from its case, because that's how I broke my old one. I'm a butterfingers and I drop the iPod often. As-long-as it's in its case, it always seems to emerge okay. Is there such a thing as an iPod extension chord? I've searched and can't find one. To be specific, I want something that I can plug into the bottom of my iPod, and, at the other end, into a dock. I hope that makes sense.

posted by grumblebee to technology (10 answers total)

Regarding #1. USB 2.0 devices should work when plugged into USB 1.0 ports, though at greatly reduced speed, so, for the time being, you should be able to sync your iPod up, though it may take all night.

As for getting your card working, what version of windows are you using? In my experience, such upgrades usually just work, and do so without conflicting with other devices. You might try updating the driver for your ethernet card, and also try sticking the USB 2 card in another slot.

Don't know about the extension cord. It sounds like a good idea, I'd be suprised if someone hadn't come up with one, given the breadth of the iPod accessory market.
posted by Good Brain at 3:49 PM on August 6, 2006

1. move your music onto an external hard drive? share it with another computer? a new computer is cheaper than an ipod nowadays!

2. get a different case that has the spot where you put it into the dock connector without taking it out of the case... there are tons of cases out there. I have a rubbery one and roll the bottom up to fit into a dock connector and I have another one that fits into a dock connector fine with the case on.
posted by k8t at 3:51 PM on August 6, 2006

You could buy this.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 4:02 PM on August 6, 2006

Ignore me; I can't read.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 4:04 PM on August 6, 2006

Good Brain, I'm running Windows XP. And the iPod refuses to work with USB 1.0.
posted by grumblebee at 4:06 PM on August 6, 2006

does it really refuse to work or do you just get impatient with it? my computer has USB 1.1 ports only and my 60GB works fine on them - it does take for-freakin'-ever for the computer and iTunes to figure out it's there, though, and sometimes I wonder if it actually is working. I get the Do Not Disconnect screen right after I plug it in, though - do you get that? as far as the USB 2.0 card goes, how did your network stop working?
posted by mrg at 5:06 PM on August 6, 2006

mrg, I'm trying it again. I get a message that says "A highspeed USB appliance was plugged into a lowspeed USB port" and then the Do Not Disconnect comes on.

Maybe I just didn't wait long enough last time. This time, I'll wait.

It would take iTunes about three minutes to recognize my 3G iPod over firewire.

As for the network, I couldn't connect with the Internet anymore, because my PC thought it didn't have an ethernet card. And in Hardware Profiles, there was an exclamation mark next to the ethernet card.
posted by grumblebee at 5:21 PM on August 6, 2006

Okay, mrg, I feel like an idiot. I plugged it in, and it worked. It took about 10 minutes for iTunes to find the iPod, but in the end, it found it.

Thanks!!!
posted by grumblebee at 5:38 PM on August 6, 2006

The highspeed/lowspeed thing is just Windows' inscrutable way of telling you you'll be waiting a while.

If that were my machine, I'd pursue the USB2 card option, and if the first one I tried broke my Ethernet, I'd give it back to the vendor and get a different make.
posted by flabdablet at 5:45 PM on August 6, 2006

glad to hear it does work - seconding what flabdablet said about the card though, as you should be able to pick up nearly any of the $7 USB cards at newegg and use it without issue. I'd say the one you got was buggy or broken (or the alternative, your computer's weird).
posted by mrg at 8:47 PM on August 6, 2006