I am trying to upload a test file into my iPod that I have made in Foobar using the Nero AAC encoder codec. My options are set at

Output format: MPEG-4 (AAC)(.mp4)
use .m4a box checked
Variable Bitrate - Normal::High
Encoder Quality - High
AAC Profile - LC

Using Foobar2000 v0.7.7b special
iTunes 4.2
ipod g3 15g 2.1 firmware
latest version of Ephpod

When the file is created it shows up in the folder as an AAC file with .m4a extension. When I double click it iTunes opens but then it freezes and does nothing and I have to cntrl+alt+delete to get out of it. When I try to sync with Ephpod it hangs on 69% and says the file is being used by another program.

Am I doing something wrong? I thought the Nero AAC file was compatible with iTunes and iPod?

I haven't had any problems with iTunes itself crashing, but having Sound Check enabled in iTunes did cause some problems on my 3G iPod. See this thread:
AAC Compatability with iPod

Do you have Sound Check enabled in iTunes when you're importing the songs?

-Atreus

No, his problem is different, it won't even play in iTunes. That thread is regarding files that can't play on the iPod. I too have encountered one of these "poison" files that crashes iTunes. I have also found that it won't play in Winamp either, so it is definately a Nero AAC problem. So far it has only happened on one file. I have tried encoding the wav multiple times with Nero, but it always results in a bad file. If i encode it using iTunes, it works fine. Part of the problem may be that this track is only a 5 second clip of silence. Seems silly I know, but it's necessary for the album to be recognized by freedb if I ever want to burn it. Anyways, here's some samples of the file:

Ripped WAV File
Nero Encoded File
iTunes Encoded File

Anyways, the only solution I can offer you is to encode that one file with iTunes. Of course, our problems might not even be caused by the same bug...

- Matt