General Troubleshooting

If you have encountered a problem which root cause cannot be determined, please try the troubleshooting procedures below.

Install the latest version of MGTEK dopisp

Previous versions of MGTEK dopisp may contain software bugs that cause problems. To ensure that you are not troubleshooting a problem that has been fixed already, please install the latest version of MGTEK dopisp.

To download the latest version of MGTEK dopisp, click here. For a list of changes that were included in the latest software release, click here.

Use a USB port on the back I/O panel of your computer

A surprisingly high number of problems, such as slow syncs, errors during sync, or iPod database corruption, are caused by a bad USB connection. Especially USB ports located on the front of your PC are known to cause problems. Also the USB cable for the 2nd Generation iPod Shuffle may expose USB connectivity problems. If you experience random problems, please try a USB port located on the back I/O panel of your computer.

Check your iPod cable connection

Often, a bad or marginal cable connection to your iPod can cause problems when MGTEK dopisp connects to the iPod.

Make sure that your cable is securely connected to your iPod and the USB port of your computer.
If you are using a USB hub, try disconnecting and reconnecting it in order to reset the hub.
Verify that your iPod appears in Windows Explorer, and that you can access the iPod through a drive letter.

Reset the Windows Media Player device cache

If you are experiencing problem during sync, for instance if MP3 ID3 tags or ratings do not update, resetting the Windows Media Player device cache may help. This procedure will force Windows Media Player to forget any portable devices you used before and re-detect your iPod as a new device.

Unplug the iPod.
In Windows Media Player 11: Click the Now Playing tab twice to open the pull-down menu, then point to Plug-ins and click Options.
In Windows Media Player 12: Click the menu Organize, and then click Options.
On the Privacy tab, click Clear Caches.
Restart Windows Media Player and plug in the iPod.

Rebuild the Windows Media Player music library

If you are experiencing problem during sync, for instance if MP3 ID3 tags or ratings do not update, rebuilding the Windows Media Player music library may help. This procedure will force Windows Media Player to re-index all music and videos found on your computer.

For help on how to clear and rebuild the Windows Media Player music library, see the Microsoft Knowledgebase Article 925718.

Format your iPod

Under certain conditions, it may be possible that the data on your iPod becomes corrupted. As a result of this, you may not be able to connect to the iPod, sync music, or play music on your iPod. For instance, this problem may occur if the iPod is disconnected while a program is accessing the device, or if you use other software to modify songs or playlists synced with Windows Media Player.

If you have reason to believe that the iPod database got corrupted, formatting your iPod may solve the problem.

For more information on how to format your iPod, see the MGTEK dopisp manual.