Apple today released “iPod shuffle Reset Utility 1.0.1 for Mac” which restores the First Generation iPod shuffle. The restore process completely erases all music and data on iPod shuffle and reinstalls software version 1.1.5.
Note: iPod shuffle Reset Utility is only for First Generation 512MB and 1GB iPod shuffle. Any other iPod, including Second Generation iPod shuffle is not supported.
More info and download links:
• iPod shuffle Reset Utility 1.0.1 for Mac
• iPod shuffle Reset Utility 1.0.1 for Windows
First post! I have no issues with mine so I’m skipping it.
I don’t NEED it now either, but I am going to download it so I have it if my shuffle needs resetting. I can only assume that Apple is responding to a need with this software—a need that may show up tomorrow for all I know.
Yeah.. weird to release a util for a discontinued product. There must be a known serious problem.
The 1G shuffles had this deal where they would brick easily. By, say, plugging the shuffle into an Apple USB extender cord instead of directly into your machine. (I had to send one back.) Maybe this fixes that.
exuce me, know this is not the right place for these questions, but I have read worse things here.
long time iPod user, with 4,ooo plus songs, just switched to Mac, when I plug in my iPod, iTunes wnts to reformatt my iPod to Mac??, any way to transfer my “window formatted” iPod music to my new Mac??, any links to an iPod forumn, would be welcome.
I am sure there is a simple way, but it took this long to switch to Mac, so you know I am not that bright
iTunes doesn’t want to format “to Mac”, you’d get the same thing on a new Windows computer. You need to copy your iTunes library from your Windows machine to your mac machine. So you’re looking for a “switchers” forum (there might be some advice on apple.com)… general problem of moving your files to your new mac.
If you don’t have your Windows machine any more, you’re doing something that Apple “doesn’t support” (remember ipod is only a satellite for your computer home base–it’s the file in iTunes that matter.) I believe there are programs that will copy music from an ipod onto a computer… that’d be an ipod forum question.
I network macs and windows machines together all the time so I’ve never needed the latter “unsupported” approach. And I’ve never actually “re-homed” my ipod or my music library, so I probably shouldn’t have tried to answer this at all. I just seem unable to focus on work today.
And you’re right, much worse off-topic things appear here =).
The best way to move your iTunes media, whether DRM’ed or not, is to network your old PC with your new Mac via Ethernet (or wirelss network if both machines support it). Then just copy over your iTunes library from the PC to the Mac. Alternately, you can use an external USB hard drive (or even use your iPod as an external hard drive) and transfer the files. Or if you can burn CD’s or DVD’s on the PC, you can transfer the files that way (while creating a backup at the same time). The bottom line is to transfer your media files from one computer to the computer, then let the Mac reformat and synch up your iPod with the newly transferred iTunes library. If you buy from the iTunes Store, be sure to de-authorize any computer you no longer plan to use with the iTunes Store. The limit per account is five computers.
A good place to ask questions is in the Apple Support Forums. Just look for the iPod category that best fits your question, and ask away…
After about 18 months of use and abuse, my 1G shuffle lost sound on the right side (it’s not the headphones and I did all the usual troubleshooting steps). Somewhat suspiciously, the problem happened at the same time as me upgrading to iTunes 7. I would be cool if this reset utility fixed my problem. I assumed the headphone port got damaged physically, but maybe not… I’ll give it a try.
I put the update. Now I can’t sync music to it, it will freeze uploading upon the first or second song now.
Maybe Apple might also get around to making 3rd generation ipods fully compatible with itunes 7x. Oh but then again, you’d have to admit that you’ve turned my first ipod into a paperweight. My reseller knows about the problem but Apple won’t accept responsibility. That’s the thanks I get for being a long-term Mac user.
Congrats on your new Mac. Your question about using your Win-formatted iPod with your Mac makes me think of some points that will be helpful in the future. Here are the points.
1) Tell your iPod NOT to auto-sync the songs to the iTunes Library. That is important if you want to properly manage your music and not always keep the same stuff on the iPod as is on the PC or Mac. (Click on the iPod name in the Source list of iTunes and tell it not to auto-sync.) I never use auto-sync, as it’s a pain in the you-know-what.
2) Keep your PC going for now, until you know you’ve got everything working on the Mac. As far as iTunes and songs go, you should simply make DVDs of all the files from the PC that are in the iTunes music folder; this will keep the artist-album structure intact. (Don’t use iTunes to do this of course; just burn a disc of the songs and their enclosing folders right from your PC’s hard drive). As someone else mentioned, this also has the benefit of backing up your iTunes library in one go.
3) Be sure to de-authorize the PC for the iTunes Store when you are done, as someone else already mentioned.
4) If you need to move purchased content from the iPod to the Mac, plug the iPod in to the Mac and choose File -> Transfer Purchases From iPod. This will bring all purchased content in to your Mac from the iPod. You should also have this backed up.
5) If you are moving other content from the iPod to the Mac –stuff that is not on the PC any more perhaps–, then I highly recommend Senuti (find it on VersionTracker.com). Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Senuti other than a happy user when I needed to recover my lost library of music). It works really well.
6) Gradually build up your iTunes library on the Mac, and File -> Add To Library any music you may have burned to DVD from the PC. This will make your Mac the new master collection of all your content.
7) When all is working well, use File -> Back Up To Disc in iTunes on the Mac to make a good full backup of your music and other content.
Remember, when you are done building up your Library (whether in iPhoto or iTunes) on the Mac, do not try to manage your collection by messing with the files themselves within the Pictures and Music folders, respectively. You should use iTunes to manage all your music, and iPhoto to manage your photo library. It’ll save you a lot of headaches if you remember these simple rules.
Good luck and don’t forget the Apple Discussion forums if you need more help.
My shuffle froze yonks ago, as did hundreds of other peoples’ if we believe the forums. This morning my Shuffle was made to live again by this reset. Better late than never, Apple.
Hooray!! My old shuffle has been resurrected. I used it for only a few favorite songs and mostly to transfer our company’s web page data back and forth from home to work. I had a backup on the server when my shuffle light turned orange and blinked and showed a charge, but would not be recognized by any of my 5 Macs.
Today, my shuffle has a new life, and the new setup view in iTunes 7 is awesome!
No more digging in the prefs! I even bleached my lanyard, so it looks spank’in new. I am so happy!! Thank you, Apple. Also, thanks for opening up a store 5 miles from my house this spring at Mall of Georgia along with the coke machine iPod vending machines already there.
DrMacNut,
Thanks for typing it all for me. That is what I was going to say to Hotinplaya. I think Senuti works best for reverse transfers (iPod to computer) and it’s free!
Hotinplaya,
Yeah, what he said.
Cubert
Thanks Apple. This has resurrected two shuffles for me and I’ll be telling everyone on my 600+ computer-related mailing list about it… I’m sure some of them will find it useful too.