If you missed it, first read Part 1 of The iPodyssey

I realized that these old iPods didn’t come with USB adapters (either that or it was lost somewhere in my teenage sister’s room, so either way I was screwed). I’d need a firewire PCI card in order to connect this little guy to my PC and actually manage the songs contained within. Luckily, it was not difficult to find such a card, again on eBay, this time for the unbelievable price of $0.99 (plus ONLY $9.99 shipping!). Again — padded envelope, this time perhaps a total cost of $1.50. (For the record, I’ve now spent a grand total of $26.93, however if we don’t count the first adapter inherited by my GF, we’re really only at $19.97.)

After installing the firewire card, I came to the unnerving realization that the firewire cable that connects to the A/C Adapter also connects to the computer, meaning I can’t keep my pod charging while plugged into the computer. Since the battery barely keeps enough charge to play one song, I thought this could be the end. Pressing on, I hooked her up anyway, and was pleasantly surprised to see it seemingly charging while connected to the PC. Crisis averted. (I do plan to replace the battery, but I want to get her up and running first, before spending $25 on a new battery.)

Let’s just get this out of the open: I don’t like Macs. I once was a die hard Mac fanatic, but over the years I’ve watched as Microsoft beat Apple at their own game, creating easier to use operating systems that were actually more reliable. Mac fanatics will battle to the death on this one, but this recent iPod experience only confirmed what I already knew — Apple products are difficult to use and consistently problematic. Figuring out how to format the iPod for Windows was an odyssey in itself, taking a full three days to conquer.

My first step was to download the latest version of iPod software from the Apple site, which seemed to install correctly, but continually told me that it was not compatable with the iPod that was connected to my computer. Great, thanks! After some additional research, I found another version of software, iPod Updater 1.3, and got a very similar message. Apple is clearly out to get me.

The iPod is showing up as a removable storage drive on “My Computer”. After yet more research, it seems that some people are having success by “formatting” the “removable drive” on a PC to Fat32, then running the iPod updater software. (Others are using a Mac to reformat, then moving over to PC, but I don’t have a Mac on hand so I’m up for trying the reformatting thing.) I’m skeptical, but desperate. I reformat the drive, and it seems to work, at least as far as my PC is concerned. The iPod itself is completely washed clean, and all I get is a folder icon with an explanation point. I’m not panicked though… not yet at least.

After completing the formatting, I still can’t get the updater software to work (same error messages as before), and now I’m beginning to worry. After some time, I manage to find yet another program, iPod updater 2.1 for Windows, so I give it a try. At last, it recognized my iPod and provides “restore” as an option! Could this be it? I click restore, and it starts to do its thing. I think we may be in business! Then, when it is 99% done, it hangs. and hangs. and hangs. First I wait 30 minutes. an hour. 3 hours. Overnight. Still 99% done. Absoulute heartbreak is the only way to describe this… as if Aaron Boone’s late inning heroics have foiled me again.

Will our hero be able to save the iPod? Will he actually have to use a Mac? Tune back in next week for the exciting next chapter of the iPodyssey.