Filed under: Audio, iPod Family, iTunes, TUAW Tips
Apple warns: Holding the Volume Down button while docking iPod shuffle may cause iTunes to ignore it.
There was a interesting Apple Knowledge Base article recently posted and we thought we'd share it here as a public service. We're swell like that.Article #304693
Holding the Volume Down button while docking may prevent iPod shuffle (Second Generation) from being recognized by iTunes
While connecting your iPod shuffle (Second Generation) to the dock, inadvertently pressing and holding the Volume Down button ( - ) may cause the iPod to not be seen by iTunes. If this happens, follow these steps:
Mac users
- Remove iPod shuffle (Second Generation) from the dock.
- Reset your iPod shuffle (Second Generation). To reset, switch the power on, then off-and leave the power off for 5 seconds. This will reset your iPod.
- Reconnect your iPod shuffle (Second Generation) to the dock for it to be properly recognized.
- In the Notifications area of the Taskbar, left-click the Safely Remove Hardware icon. Note: If you don't see the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the Taskbar, you can remove iPod shuffle (Second Generation) from the dock.
- Choose Safely remove USB Mass Storage Device - Drive(E:) from the shortcut menu. In some cases, the drive letter may be different. If you have other USB drives attached, you may need to repeat this if you're not sure which drive letter corresponds to your iPod.
- Reset your iPod shuffle (Second Generation). To reset, switch the power on, then off-and leave the power off for 5 seconds. This will reset your iPod.
- Reconnect your iPod shuffle (Second Generation) to the dock for it to be properly recognized.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jonathan Allen said 11:07AM on 11-05-2006
THat's a strange one
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Robert said 11:11AM on 11-05-2006
I'm guessing they mean the volume down on the shuffle itself, which is probably a hardware issue due to the docking mechanism being the headphone jack itself...
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Guillermo said 11:21AM on 11-05-2006
It probably has something to do with the fact that the syncing/charging is done via the headphone jack. I'd really like to know how they managed to do that.
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Z Miguel said 11:48AM on 11-05-2006
Sometimes I don't know what these kind of posts are doing in TUAW...
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Daniel D said 12:05PM on 11-05-2006
Here is a better question: Who the hell does that anyway!? I can't see how this must apply to more then 5 people.
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thomas said 11:52AM on 11-05-2006
how about not posting during the wee hours... or not posting ever?
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Jason said 12:01PM on 11-05-2006
Red flag #1 about this post: It also affects windows.
If the problem is present in windows and OSX, its probably talking about the volume button on the iPod and not on the keyboard. In my freshman english course, we would have labeled this 'poor critical reading'.
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Nick said 12:11PM on 11-05-2006
You're all way to harsh!
I think that there might even be a conspiracy afoot. Maybe Apple is slowly leaking their plans of holding down the volume key when connecting an iPod to a pc partition on a mac for mac users so that the virus that they were testing last month can fully be released to the PC/iPod owners, but not their faithful mac friends. Then, then we will rule the world!
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James Donevan said 12:28PM on 11-05-2006
Not quite sure why the keyboard volume key pic was used to illustrate this item. A simple look at the AKB article makes it clear they ae referring to the Shuffle volume control... note the (-) which of course is the symbol on the Shuffle volume control.
"While connecting your iPod shuffle (Second Generation) to the dock, inadvertently pressing and holding the Volume Down button ( - ) may cause the iPod to not be seen by iTunes. If this happens, follow these steps:"
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jay rustle said 12:52PM on 11-05-2006
now if only they would explain why itunes 7 killed so many ipods. my wife's mini went into a death spiral of constant restarts after installing it and after reading so many similar accounts i have a hard time believing it was just a coincidence after not having a single problem for the year that she owned it.
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Joane said 2:18PM on 11-05-2006
thanks for this information
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Allan Leedy said 2:40PM on 11-05-2006
So when are they going to own up to the fact that docking your 1G shuffle after upgrading to iTunes 7 kills the shuffle?
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Mark Studdock said 2:42PM on 11-05-2006
What happened in your head that made you even think they were talking about the volume button on the keyboard? Did you skip over the (-) ? (it's not a new emoticon.) Perhaps you shouldn't write articles when you feel your brain is addled.
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John Meche said 2:44PM on 11-05-2006
Isn't there a key yo can hold down to make iTunes not sync the iPod when you plug it in?
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Zeke said 3:52PM on 11-05-2006
"warns"?
I call this a feature. Now that apple doesn't include AC adapters with their iPods, it would be nice to control whether or not the computer mounts the disk or not, or if it just charges (and plays through line output if you want).
I wish my iPod did this.
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Anthony Kendall said 7:06AM on 11-06-2006
You know folks, misinterpreting the knowledge base article is not exactly something worthy of scorn and derision. I'm sure everyone has misinterpreted some tiny little detail publicly before.
Thanks to the author of the article for the information, and to those commentors who provided useful supplemental information.
The rest of you should try interacting civily with other people for a change. Your comments wasted my time and others'.
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Mikey said 7:12PM on 11-05-2006
Hmm.. Its proably because the volume control is hard wired to let zero voltage through the headphone port on the lowest setting.
I dont want to go all jupiter and beyond the infinite with you, but imagine having a headphone splitter that let you 'hear' the sounds of the data going through the usb.. maybe you could hook it up to a cassete recorder 80's style and back up all your music and data to a compact cassette then play it back into the computer!!
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gko said 2:45AM on 11-06-2006
Guillermo, I hope you don't think the headphone port thing is some magical feat that could only be pulled off by Apple. This is same way the Mobibu Cube charges and transfers data. In fact I wonder if one could sync/charge the Shuffle using the Cube's cable.
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thomas said 10:14AM on 11-06-2006
Why is the photo of the volume key still there? Misinterpretation of a "tiny little detail" is forgivable. Misleading others and thereby ruining the credibility of a respected blog is not.
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Kevin said 11:46AM on 11-06-2006
This might explain why sometimes my shuffle seems to disappear after docking it... maybe it never appeared in the first place cus I was holding the vol button...
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