AKICLDW/LJ?

[redbird]

In the last few days, my iPod Touch has started giving the error message "charging is not supported on this device" when I plug it in to my Mac. When I google, what I find is that (a) a lot of other people have been puzzled by this message in the last few years and (b) it's what the device is supposed to say when attached to a FireWire port.

I am not using a FireWire port. I am plugging the iPod Touch either directly into the Mac, or via a USB hub, with the USB charging cable that came with the device. This is how I've been charging it, successfully, for the last couple of months.

The current situation is that the iPod will charge happily when plugged into cattitude's Linux/Windows box. It also syncs to my Mac as it should. And after a couple of days of giving me that message every time I plugged it into my Mac (though sync'ing when I told it to via the iTunes desktop), it now alternates between charging and displaying the exclamation-point-in-yellow-triangle symbol and the error message.

Cattitude has suggested that this may be a result of having, a couple of weeks ago, used the charger that came with his iPad (which plugs into the wall) to charge the iPod and that, if so, letting the battery run down a bit may help. So I am leaving it unplugged for the instant, and will see about running the battery down a bit.

However, I am puzzled. The Apple Website goes no further than "this will happen if you try using FireWire," and nothing else has told me even that much. Thoughts? Similar experiences? Chocolate?

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Have you tried the reset?
Hold power button until the black screen with push red to power off
Leave off for an hour
Hold down home button until sleek white Apple logo appears and then let it run through its wakeup routine.

If you have an Apple store nearby, they have a utility where they plug in your touch and it reads out how much total battery life there is; that could be an issue (especially if it's 1st Gen, those babies are getting gray). Meany-pants Apple, however, doesn't offer that utility for download.

[redbird]

It sounds like I may need to go to the Apple store and hope they aren't too busy being hipsters to talk to a middle-aged woman. In my copious free time (which might actually manage to be this week after work). I've already tried the reset, though I didn't leave it off that long.

[geekosaur]

I've been seeing this a lot too of late, and suspect there's an iOS 4 bug involved. But I also notice that as my iTouch (and also the old iPod gen5/Video) gets older, the sync cable socket is getting more finicky; I'm actually using a 3rd party sync cable with the 5g now because it uses a heavier connector which grips better.

[drplokta]

My best guess would be a dodgy cable, with the power line failing, so that it's not getting power from the computer but the data connection still works. I'd try with the iPad cable, which should work with an iPod Touch.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

This.

Alternatively: Macs sold since around late 2008 can deliver more current via USB than the regular 5W maximum -- this is why they can charge iPads (which draw 10W). Firewire also pumps out more juice than the standard USB 5W. It's possible that either your Mac's USB power management is dodgy, or that your iPod Touch's power management is dodgy.

But I reckon Dr Plotka's diagnosis of a dying cable is much more likely.

[avram]

Thirding the suggestion for swapping out cables. In my experience, most problems of this sort are cable problems.

[redbird]

I think I've already tried cable swapping, but I suppose it's possible we have two cables that have started to fail at the same time.

[rdkeir.livejournal.com]

I've seen this with cheap (<$3) cables, which tend to fail quicker than the Apple cables. I've also seen it when my iPod fell and got some snow in the USB connector. I'd get this message randomly for a couple of weeks, till suddenly it went away, presumably after the last bit of moisture inside the iPod had evaporated.

[redbird]

Well, this is the apple cable. But if the iPod is still acting up in a few days, I may stick it in a bag of rice.