I ran into a problem I've resolved but thought 1. other's might run into it and 2. it might actually be a bug that needs addressing.
as above.. I installed 2.5.4.969 over my previous versaion (which was 2.5.3 something). This worked and when I added the Dword value as in the link, it worked.....
however, I since formatted my computer and so I installed 2.5.4.969 straight away.. then when I went to add the Dword value, the ipod was not listed... so I tried updating my ipod and it worked.. (and copied all the music to the correct place fo rhte ipod firmware) but it did not create the ipod DB so the music was on there but it couldn't be seen.. after having connected the ipod a few times I checked the registry again and the ipod was still not listed.
I finally installed 2.5.3 and then installed 2.5.4.969 over that and the problem was fixed.