Sync issues with iPod Touch...

I don't mean to SPAM this board with the same issue that othyers have previously reported and discussed but this iPod sync issue doesn't seem to ever get solved in any of the threads that I have read.

I've seen this problem reported hundreds of times and almost always the symptoms are reported slightly differently. I think the reason is that the storage device that the sync software is trying to access is not actually the iPod and the error the user gets is based on what kind of device they have installed that is "in the way".

I have this problem when I connect to an external WD My Book (e-Sata) and it has an assigned drive letter D:. I disconnect the external drive and the iPod instantly syncs successfully. I aslo have the issue since installing my USB-connected HP 6500 All-in-One and it used drive letter D: for it's internal card reader. In either case I can get the iPod to connect and successfully sync just by disconnecting the conflicting device. If I have either one of them on then the sync process just hangs or [sometimes] gives me a device-related error. The iTunes log file specifically says that it is attempting to access an invalid/un-recognized device.

I tried changing the drive letter assignment of the external drive and that worked. When I connected the iPod Touch it immediately brought up iTunes and synced. However, if I change the drive letter assignment of the printer's card reader -- the only DLA associated with the printer that I can find -- it does not solve the whole problem. The printer then begins to give me a printer scanner error.

There is no issue between the external drive and the all-in-one printer if the Apple software is not installed.

It's pretty clear to me that the iPod/iTunes installation will assign a device id that is already being used. It's also clear that when other devices are installed after the iPod they do not detect the drive assignment already in use by the iPod.

I just don't know how to get that last little bit of absolute confirmation. The iPod Touch [by design] does not show up on the drive list when connected like the older iPods did and when I look in Device Manager it just shows it as a portable device without a DLA.

What I need to be able to do is to confirm the device access assignments for all of the installed devices. Does anyone know how I can do that?