Q: I have just downloaded 3.0 software update for my iPod touch 2G. Now when I plug it into the USB port of my car it says it doesn’t exist. My son’s iPod which has not been upgraded works perfectly fine. Is it my iPod or the download? Seriously thinking of getting rid of 3.0 and going back to previous software. Please help.
– Sarah
A: Maintaining accessory compatibility with various iPhone and iPod touch firmware updates is a common problem, particularly between major version updates.
That having been said, however, you may want to ensure that this isn’t just a temporary problem by going through a few simple diagnostic procedures.
First, try rebooting your iPod touch by holding down the HOME and SLEEP/WAKE buttons simultaneously for about 10 seconds. This is the same concept as rebooting your computer, which of course often works to resolve computer-related problems as well.
If this does not fix the problem, your next step should be to try restoring the iPod touch back to its default configuration. To do this, connect your device to your computer and select it in iTunes. From there, click the “Restore” button that appears in the main iTunes window.
iTunes will wipe your iPod touch and reinstall the 3.0 firmware onto it. This process will take about 5 minutes or so, and the your iPod touch will reboot. At that point, iTunes will offer to restore a backup of your previous iPod touch configuration. Respond instead that you want to set it up as a new iPod touch. From here, you can load some music on it and try it with your car to see if it works. Note that you can always restore your backup onto your device later from iTunes by right-clicking it in the devices list and choosing the “Restore Backup” option.