Q: I have recently bought a used third generation iPod touch and it has a password on it and I can’t reach the last owner. I’ve tried the solution in your article Reset Passcode after purchasing used iPod touch and it doesn’t work. When I connect it to my computer it tells me it can’t connect without the password. Please help.
– Kyle
A: More recent versions of iTunes will block a passcode protected iPod touch or other iOS device from even connecting with an iTunes library unless they have been synced with that particular computer in the past.
Unfortunately, this prevents you from even being able to access the restore option in iTunes, since if you click the “Cancel” button the device doesn’t appear in iTunes at all.
Fortunately, you can work around this by forcing your device into recovery mode. To do this, simply unplug the Dock Connector cable from the bottom of your device and power it off by holding down the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds and sliding the “Slide to Power Off” slider.
Once the device has powered off, hold down the Home button while plugging the Dock Connector cable back in, and continue holding the Home button until you see a “Connect to iTunes” screen. Once you release the Home button, you should see a dialog box on your computer that iTunes has found a device in recovery mode
Click the “OK” button and you should see a recovery mode screen in iTunes that can be used to restore your device back to factory defaults.
Once restored, the device will basically be returned to an out-of-the-box configuration. You can then set it up as a new device, or choose to restore a backup of a previous iOS device onto it.
