This has been asked a few times before (
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=50773.0), but there's been no answer: Why do I get this "Device information cannot be retrieved. Please reboot your PC and retry." error message?
This is an interesting case, because I've been running MC13.0.172 (and lots of earlier revs) on my computer for years with no problem hotsyncing the same 60G Rockbox'd iPod (mounted as my "R:" drive).
I then replaced my original hard drive with a SSD, reinstalled Windows XP using the same CD I used to install Windows on the original drive, reinstalled the same version of MC13, backed up and transferred my MC13 library, and now I see this error all the time - I ca not get MC13 to talk to the Rockbox/ipod. If I reboot using the original disk, everything is fine, the device is recognized and I can sync. Windows Explorer recognizes and mounts the R: drive with no complaints on both systems.
So to summarize: I have 2 installs on the EXACT same hardware with semi-identical Windows installs (both of which mount and see the R: drive), the same version of MC13, yet one works fine while the other constantly gives me "Device information cannot be retrieved. Please reboot your PC and retry.".
And needless to say, "reboot and retry" doesn't work...
I don't know why MC has a problem when Windows Explorer does not. Is there anything special MC is looking for on a "device"?