After 6 months without using my iPod, I decided that I'd try to figure out once again what was wrong with it.
It is a very old 80Gb Classic. It had been buggy for years, but after passing hours doing various stuff on the computer, I had always been able to fix it.
But the last time, I just really couldn't figure out what was wrong.

I have found this tutorial which seems like it would solve the problem, but it is looking complex/complicated.
http://forum.macbidouille.com/index.php?showtopic=316047
The biggest issue here is that it is for MAC users, and I'm on Windows 7. Anyone knows how to adapt it easily?
(Sorry, it is in French.)

The problem with my iPod is that it freezes iTunes when I plug it in, and once iTunes unfreezes I cannot find it to change the sync'ing stuff. (iTunes simply DOESN'T detect it at all...)
The Browser (Window + E) shows it, however. Right-clicking on it freezes the window for about 2 or 3 minutes and then it pops up the prompt. Clicking "Format" or whatever just doesn't do anything: it's never able to start or finish the process.

Some of the problems back years ago when it had started to get buggy, were:
- Skipping songs (the number of particular songs skipped increased over time)
- Showing a lot of extra "Other" space usage (something like 17 extra Gb that popped out of nowhere)
- One of my videos which used to play with sounds wouldn't anymore (but playing it directly from iTunes would still have sounds)
- The battery indicator would be quite unreliable (showing "full" could very well mean "a few minutes left" some times, and "hours left" some others)

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Apr 22 2014, 11:33 pm by payne.

Apple iPod troubleshooting: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1382

If you can't get it recognized by iTunes, try an older version of iTunes. Or try contacting Apple Support.

Once you get it properly recognized, do a factory reset: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1339

At some point I somehow did get my iTunes to recognize the iPod for a little while. I cliked on "Restore" (the factory reset) and it bugged for a little while before saying "this driver is being used by another application", but I had not other application aside from iTunes which could've been using it...
I had to close iTunes, and then tried to eject the USB, but when I'd try that it'd again say "being used by another application"... so I had to unplug it manually without ejecting. (Something I have been forced to do for a very long time because it would always display stupid stuff like that and prevent me from ejecting properly.)

Try a different computer, preferably a Mac. If you get the same problem, it's an issue with the iPod, possibly with the hardware, in which case, you should contact Apple if it's under warranty, or buy a new iPod if it isn't.

You could also contact Apple Support and see if they're familiar with the issue.

With Windows' "cmd", how do I change the disc I am under? (I tried "cd .." to go before "C:\" but I can't, which was somewhat expected.)
I want to go on "H:\" which is the Disc ID my iPod is using. From there, I'll like to format the disc with a command: what would it be?

My iPod is far from having a warranty: I have had it for nearly 10 years now? It is normal that it is buggy, but in the past I have -always- been able to actually fix it and add a few more songs (and then I avoid plugging it in PC for a year to prevent that damn bug from happening).

I just can't find a way to Restore the iPod...

Format in cmd: http://www.techhack.co.uk/2011/03/31/format-a-hard-drive-with-command-prompt/

So I realized it would never work normally with an exFAT type reformating, but it somehow worked with NFTS...
But I have no idea what could be the difference.
Oh well, that allows me to change the Disc Driver ID it was being assigned to (from H to Z).
Now it seems like WinAmp has no problem detecting the iPod without exploding so I'll give that a try, and if it doesn't work I'll return to the cmd try-outs.

EDIT: So far so good! I am currently sync'ing my songs!
Haha, Apple can suck it. I can't believe I have been able to get this iPod to live for so long.

Thanks for help guys. I'll post an update once I can confirm if the whole sync'ing process worked properly.

Also, as a side-note, I realized that it seems like the songs which had COMMENTS were the ones that the iPod would skip... weird!

EDIT: Seems like it bugged out after reaching pretty close to half of the library (2700-ish songs out of 5888). Darn.
Now I'll just wait it out and cross my fingers. I'm too afraid that if I eject the iPod, I'll have to mess around with it for another few hours...

Post has been edited 5 time(s), last time on Apr 23 2014, 9:49 pm by payne.

No.
That just changes the current directory of the H:\ drive to the root directory, but it doesn't change the letter of the command prompt.
To makes sense of that you have to know that the current directory is different from the directory of the command prompt, which is the directory where any command by default is executed. Or simply, where you "are".
So you can change the current directory of a drive you're not currently "in".

I guess an example should clarify it: (commands green, prompt white (most of the time))
At first I'm at C:\ and then change to D:\ to show what it's current directory is (D:\, aka root) then I go back to C:\ and change D:'s directory. Note that the command prompt remains unchanged at C:\>. But when I change to d: now you see the cd command was executed (and remembered in the background).

So as you can see the command to change drive/current prompt is "D:", not "cd D:\".

I know it was irrelevant to the question as it's not necessary to change directories or drives to execute a format command, but I felt the need to clarify that anyway.

Latest news:

When iTunes bugs out, it seems like it's because the PC doesn't recognize the iPod as being plugged in anymore. I verified this by trying to access the 'Z' driver through the Explorer.
It took the explorer about 3 minutes to figure return an error saying nothing was plugged in as this driver.
Then I try to Eject USB Driver and it sends me an error message saying I can't do that because the driver is being used by another application (I assume it is iTunes, even though it is bugged out...).
A minute after clicking 'OK' on that error message, iTunes wakes up and says it couldn't sync stuff properly...
My iPod now SEEMS to have a bunch of songs in it, but I can't verify that right now. iTunes seems to recognize that it is plugged in so I'm trying to work with that...

This stuff is so weird. T_T

EDIT:
I successfully ejected the iPod and there were only about 30 songs on it. I shall keep trying to sync!

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Apr 23 2014, 9:58 pm by payne.

My second try at sync'ing bugged at 2762/5861... seems like I'm seeing a pattern here. It's the second time it bugs at about that spot. What could that mean?
As I suspected, I think the very first link I provided in this thread would probably help me fix that, but I have no idea how to transpose those MAC commands into WINDOWS commands...

bad sector on HDD.

How to fix?

I get this kind of stuff when I let Windows "fix" the problem: http://i.imgur.com/3el8QYI.png
And then it actually changes nothing because the iPod still bugs out after a few songs sync'd in.

http://www.ifixit.com/Store/iPod/iPod-Classic

buy a new HDD.

Rofl, there isn't even one for the 80Gb, only for the 120 and 160... and guess how much they're worth: nearly as much as a new iPod. And now they only sell the 160Gb... for 240$: wth? 80 was more than enough...

Damn you, Apple!

I'll just use my iPod as a fire starter and be free.

Are you suggesting burning it? Because that's probably the worst thing you can do. xD