Over the last two hours I’ve been trying to get my 5th Gen iPod Nano to sync with Apple iTunes on my 2009 model MacBook Pro, but all I got was the dreaded error message ‘iTunes cannot read the contents of the iPod’. iTunes tells me to restore, but as the iPod won’t appears under the Devices section, I can’t actually perform a restore.
Googling for this error message turned up numerous sites with different methods to fix this issue – they ranged from doing hard resets to hooking your iPod Nano to a Windows box (but requires your iPod to be in hard drive mode). None of these worked for me.
After two hours – I discovered the problem ….. make sure that your iPod isn’t plugged into an unpowered USB hub!
I eventually still had to do a restore since by then, I had well and truly corrupted my iPod drive with all the various previous attempts at fixing the problem. However the ipod was now appearing under devices in iTunes and the restore was quick and painless. Hopefully your problem ends up being as simple to fix as mine …
18/01/2010 at 6:13 am Permalink
Hey, I am dealing with EXACTLY the same problem – same computer and iPod as well. Except for me, a reset is not possible, as my only back up for my music is on a hard drive in New Zealand (and I am in Canada O_o). So a restore is out of the question. Any awesome suggestions?
Also, what do you mean by an unpowered USB hub? You mean, whether your computer is plugged in or not effects the outcome? Because I’ve tried both on battery and plugged in…?
Cheers,
Shannon
24/04/2010 at 1:47 am Permalink
Found an easier way! just download and install i-funbox http://i-funbox.com/ Connect your iPhone, Go and find “iTunesDB” using i-funbox and delete it, Open iTunes on your PC\Mac and Walla!!! You’re back to Syncing and no more Messages! Enjoy
22/10/2010 at 4:57 am Permalink
harold B, I have seen this comment in several forums, but no answers, I tried it and it did not work. Is this a serious fix, or something else??
27/12/2010 at 2:12 pm Permalink
I had this same problem and searched high and low with no avail. I did everything, the reseted and restores and while the ipod synced afterwards, the next time the problem resurfaced. I nearly pulled my hair out! the only solutions I could find were to use i-funbox, but my ipod isnt jailbroken so that wasnt an option. Eventually I did the most simple thing I could have done in the beginning, and that was to close itunes (but not uninstall) and download it again (i already had the latest version so i assume there was a corrupt file somewhere) and reinstall it, using the repair option upon attempting to reinstall. Working perfectly know so can only hope the problem doesnt come back. I’m surprised so many people have this problem, but thereis not one solution on the apple website or even a mention of anything related to the problem, they should really get this sorted!
09/02/2011 at 7:53 am Permalink
I too have had the same issue, mine is with an iPod Touch…both 3rd and 4th Generations. Apple replaced my 3rd, 3rd Gen with a 4th Generation and it worked my first couple of syncs, but now it won’t sync again. I have had a number of previous generation iPods and have never had this problem. It’s so frustrating and none of the fixes on the web or Apple forums seem to help in anyway.
The search goes on…
23/02/2011 at 9:20 am Permalink
Hey Harold B
You Were Spot On. Ive Got A Jail Broken Ipod Touch And I Had The Exact Same Problem Where Itunes Couldn’t Read The Ipod. I Tried Your Theory And It Worked. Thankyou Very Much
24/02/2011 at 5:20 am Permalink
After spending an hour trying to fix. Here is an ideal approach IMHO.
1.) Unplug and replug the ipod. Change the USB port.
2.) Reset the ipod (Menu + OK)
3.) Restart the computer.
4.) Reinstall the itunes. Do a repair instead of a fresh install.
For me the first three didn’t work. Reinstalling iTunes + changing USB port solved the problem instantly.
Hope that helps.
15/03/2011 at 2:22 am Permalink
Forget about all those fixes. Thanks to Blaring Pixels, I figured out where the issue is. It’s with iTunes, not really with your iPod. Just try to “repair” iTunes (no need to uninstall and reinstall) and you’re done.
1. Go to control panel where you can uninstall a program.
2. Click on iTunes from the list of programs. There should be a button on top of the page that says “Repair”. Just click it.
Good luck!
28/03/2011 at 4:06 am Permalink
Harold B,
Thank you soooo much!! I’ve been going round in circles for 3 days since iTunes mysteriously decided not to recognise my ipod anymore. Deleting this file worked. I used Iphone Explorer instead, but it did the job all the same. The file took some finding so for anyone looking for the file it’s located in Root Directory/user/media/iTunes_control
VERY much appreciated
01/04/2011 at 8:51 am Permalink
Hey, i’m sure harold b’s method will work, but I tried Pinoy Ako’s method. Worked for me. Thanks
09/06/2011 at 5:39 pm Permalink
Harold B’s solution was very simple but awesome. It worked for my iPod 4th. Thank you very much.
12/06/2011 at 7:20 pm Permalink
Pinoy Ako’s solution worked for me 1st time. A thousand thanks, I can stop panicking!
18/07/2011 at 10:10 pm Permalink
I followed up on “egg”‘s solution and it worked perfect! However, the file I found was ItunesCDB.
05/08/2011 at 10:01 pm Permalink
i tried everything, repair itunes delete itunesdb, noting!!
10/08/2011 at 1:13 am Permalink
i tries everything but atlast this worked!
Root Directory/user/media/iTunes_control/iTunes
delete the iTunesCDB file!
14/08/2011 at 10:57 am Permalink
Tried Harold b’s idea, deleted the file, and nothing. With pinoy ako’s suggestion, I can’t find iTunes among the applications. SOMEONE HELP PLLZZZZ
01/09/2011 at 8:41 pm Permalink
Will somebody PLEASE HELP me out before I go nuts!! Harold b, I tried to use your method but when I click on the iTunes folder in i-fun-box the whole program exits in a flash and leaves behind some random file which I cant open. I tried Coco’s method but my iPod is still not showing any of my music and videos. If I could sue Apple for this I would because they themselves don’t even know of such problem or have a damn solution. Grrrrrrr!!!!!!!! I’ve litteraly searched the entire internet for a solution and I’ve tried every one of them and none of them don’t work!! What the hell is up with technology these days!! This sucks Big time! *Pissed Off*
29/09/2011 at 7:51 am Permalink
OK everyone I found what to do. I used iFile to delete iTunesDB and iTunesCDB. iTunes recognised my ipod like normal, BUT IT WON’T SHOW ANY OF MY MUSIC!!!
27/10/2011 at 12:29 pm Permalink
I tried Pinoy Ako’s solution, but it didn’t work. Message still pops up when I plugged my ipod back in. I’m really not sure what to do at this point. This isn’t my first ipod problem today. The first was that there was an error backing it up, so I couldn’t sync it completely, or install ios5. Then I tried it in my other computer which still has itunes installed and all my stuff, and it said it couldn’t read my ipod. So I came back to this computer, and now it says the same thing. I don’t know what to do!!! Can someone please help me?? This is the first time I’ve tried syncing my ipod to this new computer.
07/11/2011 at 2:58 pm Permalink
That’s it, I’m screwed. Hopeless. I’ve had this problem for months now, and now I’m running out of space on my iPod touch 2g. I’ve been downloading songs through MewSeek, and now I can’t delete them because stupid ITunes can’t read the contents of my iPod. I’ve tried everyone elses methods, still jack nothing. Unless there’s a way to delete songs directly off my iPod, I’m stuck with a completely full iPod with no space left. Someone please help.
11/11/2011 at 12:11 am Permalink
getting “itunes cannot read the contents of the ipod [ipod name]“? first close itunes. then search the ipod’s hard drive for “iTunesDB”. make a backup copy of iTunesDB and iTunesDB.old_mlpmp to your computer. now delete iTunesDB and rename iTunesDB.old_mlpmp to iTunesDB. now open itunes.
30/01/2012 at 8:19 pm Permalink
thnx u r awesome
05/04/2012 at 5:28 am Permalink
d.w. , Thank you so much! it worked!
09/04/2012 at 6:28 pm Permalink
I had the same problem with an iPod touch 4g, and found that trying to sync it wirelessly over the wifi network didnt work as one of the USB ports on the plug that I use to charge it wasn’t working. I then plugged into my laptop after reading this article, and it worked! Although I have now discovered that two out of the three USB ports on my laptop don’t work either… Any suggestions?
09/04/2012 at 7:43 pm Permalink
I also find this, but update your itunes to the latest version, that sorted it completely for me.
01/08/2012 at 1:01 pm Permalink
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16/08/2012 at 8:53 am Permalink
Mewseek screwd up my phone I had my baby so perfect but I keeped looking for new tweaks, dowloaded this CRAPP ( MEWSEEK ) now I have one song on my iPhone that I can’t remove which compromise my iTunes. I tried everything possible.I deleted the mp3 with iFile but the file still exist on my iPod not the song.I deleted mewseek to no avail, iTunes does not recognize my phone no more, search YouTube for answers nothing googled for help still nothing that’s effective. I’m going NUTS don’t know what else to do I don’t want to restore my phone if any body can help me with a clear solution, I will be your best friend.
03/10/2012 at 12:38 am Permalink
How can i find the rootdirectory/whatever/whatever/whatever file? Thanks in advanced.
07/10/2012 at 9:07 am Permalink
Here’s my problem, for years I never had an issue with syncing my ipod. in April of 2011 I got a new laptop, my ipod still synced fine. Then, in July 2011 my cousin hooked her ipod up to my laptop to let it charge and suddenly, her ipod just got completely wiped out. I didn’t think anything of it, and plugged my ipod in to sync a week later and suddenly, MY ipod got wiped. In order to sync music, I had to reset the ipod, uninstall itunes, restart the computer, reinstall itunes, restart the computer, and then finally it would sync. I thought maybe once I got my new ipod (the ipod touch 4th gen) the problem would go away but it hasn’t. it still gives me the damn “can’t read the contents” of my ipod message and I have to repeat the process all over again. I discovered 2 of my 3 USB ports don’t really work (I tried moving my mouse USB to a different port, it doesn’t work) so it might be that, I’m not sure. I just know that this is a VERY frustrating issue and I’d like to be able to sync my ipod without problems.
18/04/2013 at 4:51 am Permalink
FINALLY
an intelligent and accurate answer
unplug
replug
work
Hey Apple, you suck