Since iTunes 7 I have not had any success updating software on my iPods. I have a nano and a mini (both earlier generation). When trying to update software using iTunes 7 (rather than the old iPod Updater) I get an error about my firmware file being corrupt. I have tried the solution on the Apple site for this (delete update files in library/itunes/ipod updater and then try again) but it just redownloads the file and gives the same error.

Anybody else run into this?

Assuming you're using Mac OS X, first try creating a temporary account and try the updating from there. If it works, then there's some files are corrupted on your Mac.

If it fails, I would try* resetting your iPod back to factory defaults:

1. Reboot the iPod by holding down the "Menu" and "Select" buttons simultaneously
2. Immediately hold down the "Play" and "Select" buttons while your iPod boots
3. Use the Apple Restore Utility to reset your iPod

*I have not tried these instructions. I do not know if they work. I simply read these instructions from a website, and do not take any responsibility for them.

will rebooting clear all songs from the hard drive in the ipod?
my deal is that my back up hard drive got toasted and the only music files i have are on the "corrupt" ipod.
any suggestions?

If your music files are important to you, read up on Engadget's guide for getting music off an iPod. Once you've got your music files safe on another hard drive, restore the iPod to factory defaults and load the music back on with iTunes.

There are a number of free software programs that can pull the songs off your iPod. Chances are they will have mangled names. Use MusicRenamer to rename the files based on their ID3 tags. I've used it before when I ran into issues with my iPod not running right and had to reformat it.

...but if you have the 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized' option on (which is the default) when you re-add your songs, iTunes will take care of all the file names.