I purchase a 2008 Ford Edge Limted AWD approx one month ago and was experiencing the same issue in terms of getting the "USB Cable Removed" error. I tried several new cables including both 3rd party and Apple cables, but still got same error.
In a last ditch effort to correct this issue, I purchased the Sync KeySpan cable for $60.00 and it RESOLVED the USB Cable Removed error and my 5th Generation 80GB video ipod works perfectly with the Sync system - no more error.
To order the Sync Cable from KeySpan, go to www.keyspan.com.
Thanks for the help.
