How can I access songs on my old iPod?

Seaside999 wrote:

That's disappointing - are you able to tell me why that would be?

Why does the iPod need a Restore? Because that's one of the processes Apple have designed to get a confused iPod working again. Apple don't tell us specifically why.

Just to lose everything that I have built up on my own device seems rather unfortunate.....

But (and this is why I specifically asked about this), if the music all in your iTunes Library, as it should be, then if the Restore is successful, simply set iTunes to add the same music back on to the iPod. So, not totally lost.

An iPod is not a backup for your music, nor is a phone. They all get lost, damaged, broken or even stolen. All the music in your library should be subject to backing up onto an external drive in addition to being kept in your library, because even computers fail.

If you had music on the iPod that is not in your library, you will simply have to go back to your original source and make a new copy from the CD, or download purchases from the same account that you used to purchase them.

If you have an iPod that tells you it needs restoring, then that is likely to be the only option.

But the first question is where did the music on the two iPods come from? Is it all from the same iTunes Library that is on your Mac?