The folks at MacFixIt.com have spotted a reported conflict between the current version of Norton Antivirus 10 for the Mac and various iPod models.

The conflict prevent the latest 30 gigabyte model iPod and new 8 gigabyte iPod Nano from both synching and updating themselves once connected to the computer (the resulting error message claims the device is in use by another application). The user also finds themselves unable to eject the iPod from their system, even after quitting iTunes.

Interestingly enough, the bug doesn't affect older models of iPods, including the 20 gigabyte iPods and the 4 gigabyte black iPod Nano units. The end result points to a conflict between the latest iPod firmware and Norton Antivirus 10.

In most cases, readers reported they could resolve the problem by disabling Norton Antivirus' AutoProtect feature. If this fails, the following items should be removed from the Library/StartupItems folder prior to rebooting:

NortonAutoProtect folder
NortonAutoProtect.kextcache file
NortonMissedTasks folder

If you've seen anything like this or have comments to add, let us know.