Welcome Back my dear iPod!
My iPod just returned from a trip to Apple Care… an un-needed trip to Apple Care I should add.
A few weeks ago, I updated to Microsoft XP SP2 RC2, having installed an used most of the previous SP2 betas. Around the same time I updated my iPod to software version 2.2 and iTunes to 4.6.
I normally only “dock” my iPod when I want to upload some new tunes. When charging I plug it straight into the mains socket. This is how I’ve always done it and it’s served me well.
However, when removing the Firewire cable from the mains adapter, the plastic sheath that covers the Firewire plug came loose, so I decided I’d charge my iPod while docked with the computer… This is where the problems began!
Whenever I would connect the Firewire cable to my Audigy 2 ZS’s “Firewire” port the computer would BSoD or restart. As I hadn’t updated any music recently I hadn’t experienced this before.
At first I thought that the problem was related to the iPod software upgrade and tried to restore the iPod to it’s factory settings, only to encounter the dreaded “folder with exclamation mark icon” on the iPod’s screen. Nothing I tried returned my iPod back to life… so of to Apple Care it went.
A week later UPS returned my iPod to me with a note stating nothing was wrong and that they had restored the iPod’s firmware. Great I thought… just my luck.
On plugging the iPod back into the dock the computer restarted, again, and I began to seriously scratch my head. After Googling for a few hours this morning, phone calls to Apple, I’ve concluded that the problem lies with Microsoft or Creative Labs. Apparently the recent upgrade to XP SP2 RC2 doesn’t like iPod’s being plugged into Creative’s botched implementation of IEEE1394 — the SB1394 port.
So a new Firewire port later, my iPod is feeling better and so am I.
I thought I’d post this incase anyone else is having the same problem… at the very least it’ll save their iPod a trip to Apple Care.
I had XP SP2 RC2 (wow, doesn’t that sound like a Star Wars droid?) installed for a while and then a couple days ago removed it from my system. I noticed a dramatic decrease in memory performance after installing it, and of course, and improvement once it was uninstalled.
Also, it was messing with some of my other programs which utilize certain ports, etc. Hopefully the final release will prove to be a better experience.