How to reset your iPod

Chris asks: my ipod has a strange error message on it and I can't play my music?

Solution:

Important: If your iPod is frozen or won't turn on,
it may be because iPod is paused or the Hold switch is in the locked
position. If so, a lock symbol appears on the screen. Slide the Hold
switch to the unlocked position and check the screen.

"If the iPod displays shows any of the following messages you should eject the iPod from within iTunes instead of resetting it:"

• Connected. Eject before disconnecting
• Sync in Progress. Please wait...
• Do not disconnect

If your iPod is frozen or won't turn on, the steps to reset it vary by model. You can easily tell which iPod model you have if you're not sure.

If you have an iPod with a click wheel. Which is probably 95% of people. Here is how to reset your ipod.

1. Toggle the Hold switch on and off. (Slide it to Hold, then turn it off again.)

2. Press and hold the Menu and Center (select) buttons simultaneously until the Apple logo appears, about 6 to 8 seconds. You may need to repeat this step.

If this doesn't work, try connecting your iPod to a power adapter or to your computer as your iPod may have no battery life left to perform the reset.

Most of the time this solution will fix the problems you are having and in a few seconds you should be able to listen to all your music again. If it still isn't responding then you may have a bigger issue. If so you could contact us here or go directly to Apple support.

My Heart Will Go On

I love the classics. No, not Beethoven and Mozart, Super Nintendo and N64. The great news is, rather than dragging out your old console system from your parent's basement, you can use an emulator on your computer and relive all those great classic gaming moments.

Super Mario World looks great on SNES9x

I am a Mac user, so the emulators I use are SNES9x for Super NES (donationware) and SixtyForce for N64 (shareware, but worth the $16 fee). I'm not a fan of using the keyboard to play console games, so I bought an XBox 360 USB controller and downloaded a 3rd party driver to make it work on my Mac.

My 5 year old son LOVES playing Super Mario Kart with SixtyForce

One of my favourite things about gaming with an emulator is that they allow you to freeze your game at any point and return to it later. FAR better than leaving your console paused for the evening because the wife HAS to watch Juno for the 15th time this week, only to have her shut it off. Love you, Honey!

Anyways... what about the games? Consult almighty Google for websites that have ROM's for these emulators (CoolROM.com has a bunch). ROM's are basically images of the old cartridges for these systems. The best part is that you don't have to blow into them to make them work with your computer, you just keep them in a folder on your computer's hard drive and open them with your favourite emulator.

Awesomeness!

Note: The screenshots are of the windowed mode in these applications, but you can run them in full screen mode too.