This is an update to my previous post about USB not working between my iPod photo and my Powerbook G4.
I went to my local Apple Store and took my iPod and Powerbook up to the Genius Bar (after a 2 hour wait, mind you) and had the resident expert take a look at my situation. He was able to get my iPod to sync with a PowerMac tower through USB, but he couldn’t get it to work on my Powerbook. He tried with a Firewire cable and it worked instantly. He asked me to get a new iPod Firewire cable from the rack, and after checking it out of inventory he gave it to me. Excellent customer service, and I am very happy that my problem is solved.
However, I still think there must be a problem between the USB chipset in the Powerbook and the new iPods, as I know I’m not the only person who’s had this issue. Hopefully if there is indeed a problem Apple will address it publicly instead of relying on users to use up their one complimentary customer service call to get a Firewire cable sent to them.
When I bought my first ipod (gen-1) it was mac-formatted. No windows software was available, I had to work with 3rd party software to have any use of it at all. (Mac filesystem access software and ephpod)
When I bought my new pod it had a firewire cable but no USB. My PC has USB 2.0 but no firewire. So I had to buy the dual USB-firewire cabe. It charges only on the firewire cable…
I understand that Windows users have long needed additional purchases to get iPods to work, up until the more recent models. This was a known issue.
My problem is that the box on the new iPod photos state system requirements for Mac as USB, which doesn’t seem to be working for Powerbook users (or at least a vocal segment of them). Therefore this isn’t a known issue, but is actually a bug that’s very very frustrating for Mac users. The last thing I ever dreamed of happening was an Apple iPod not working with a Mac computer out of the box.