Friday, March 31st, 2006 at 11:46 PM
I’ve seen a number of questions on the web related to frozen iPods which either get stuck on or off. Holding the Hard Reset buttons indicated in the previous post will — if the iPod is accepting any input at all — force it to do a full reboot. In most cases, the freeze is a one-time issue, and this solution will get you out of the situation.
However, if the iPod reboots and gets stuck again, try resetting it yet again and holding the Disk Mode buttons to force the iPod to become a simple external hard drive. When connected via USB or FireWire, it can be Restored with Apple’s latest iPod Updater software. Sometimes a Restore is the best way to get your iPod working again, as it wipes the device clean and reloads all the factory settings. The Restore function is so deep that it will even fix an iPod hard drive which has been completely written over with zeroes!
If the iPod is still locking up, it may be the result of a more serious problem that can be determined by thoroughly testing the hard drive. Stay tuned for more iPod fixing tips in the very near future.
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My 3rd gen iPod froze a coupple of days ago and reset wouldn’t work. Then I toggled the hold button and toggled it off again, and the iPod started working, I was so relieved!
If anyone else is in the same situation, give it a try.
My 3rd gen iPod isn’t accepting any input at all, as if the touch sensitivity no longer works. Can’t reboot or anything else. It charges, and is still working (it keeps displaying callender reminders). Would an update fix this?
If the iPod is no longer accepting input, try plugging it into a computer and running iPod Updater. If it refuses to communicate with the host computer, let it sit and just drain completely. Then plug it in or charge it and see what happens.
If you’re adventurous, you can open the iPod and unplug the battery connector to force it to go off and shorten that long drain period.
When the iPod is OFF (very important, hard drive must not be spinning) put the hold switch on and give the ipod a few firm whacks on a covered surface. (I put a towel over a table). Hit is a couple times on each side (not front or back) and then plug it into power. That usually clears it up.
One is forgetting that the regular iPod is a hard-drive based device. They get knocked around pretty good while you jog/walk/ride and of course they go faulty all the time anyway. YES its a good idea to restore the iPod, but if the HD has bad blocks, once you start filling it up with songs again, once it gets to the area with the bad blocks it will just start freezing.
Best way to check is to get a utility that can scan for bad blocks like TechTool Pro, and run it on the iPod when in disk mode. (PS I dont work for them)
If it has bad blocks, that’s why it was freezing!
If your iPod turns on, but is unresponsive, hold the iPod up to your ear. If you hear a clicking sound from the hard drive (aka the “Click of Death”), try one more thing after checking for bad blocks:
Smack it around!
Bang it against your knee a bunch of times, trying different angles. Be careful not to hurt your knee.
Sometimes the HD arm gets stuck, and a few jolts will unstick it.
No joke–I just fixed a friend’s 3rd-Gen iPod with this “technique” last weekend.
Obviously, if this method works you’ll want to back up your iPod contents and so forth.
Heh. I suppose I could’ve read the other comments first. It’ll be worth the embarrassment if somebody finds this by googling for ‘”click of death” ipod’…
The “technique” works! Just fixed it…was afraid to so but then went back to place.
Hi!
My ipod shows a battery sign and warning triangle.
I kinda worked before i removed the battery and plugged it back in. Did alot of things i should’nt have.
When plugged to chager apple logo appears and thats all.
There is no connection or response to the computer.
There is no clicking sound. Tried smacking it around as well.
What to do?
I just wanted to say thank you for posting this online. The internet is a wonderful place when people get creative and helpful. Thanks again!
Advice #6 is excellent, it works. Had sad ipod icon with exclamation point in triangle, apple logo without reboot, and battery icon with lighting bolt all in succession. Toggled hold, Pressed reboot buttons, disk mode buttons nothing. Tried restore wouldn’t even register. Whacked it on my knee three times and voila hard drive arm got unstuck and I was able to reboot. Awesome tip!!!
yea..thanks fr the tip for the “click of death” mine jsut did that yesterday and it is not responding to the wall charger or pc. it will start to turn on click and start to spin but come up with the folder icon after a few mintues. I’ll try beating on it, and if htat doesnt work, get a bigger hammer i guess.
I’m amazed that the “smack the iPod” technique actually works and has had some positive results. Logically, one would think that beating on it would only risk damaging it further than it may already be, as a hard drive read/write head shouldn’t get “stuck” without some sort of jolt. However, sometimes things just need to be hit. At work we have a rubber mallet labeled “Plan B,” for just such an occasion.
could someone help me?
My Ipod is on, and it says the hold button is on, which its not, its not making any noises, wont respond to plugging it in, and is completely forzen, ive tried absouletly everything on the internet! if you can help please! tell me your advice!
Usually, when the iPod says the hold switch is on 24/7, the little connector that connects to the audio jack and hold switch is unhooked. I know from experience that, after unplugging it, the iPod believes that the hold switch is on. If you’re comfortable working inside the iPod, you could take a look and see.
Holy cow! My ipod was spinning it’s disk and I freaked! This is a replacement to a 4th Gen that had a hard disk that died. A couple hard resets and a whack to the knee, and it’s back up! Thanks response #6.
My 2nd gen gets stuck in it’s Disk Scan mode (icon of spinning disk with magnifying glass) when plugged into the Mac. It does this repeadidly. When it’s not plugged into the Mac, all of the playlists, songs, artists screens are blank, even though there are lots of songs on there. What gives? I want to restore it, but can’t get it out of this Disk Scanning.
OMG
PLAN B a.k.a “smack it around” works!
Just fixed my 4th Generation Monochrome iPod with it then.
Where can I buy the rubber mallet?
Thanks a lot
[...] How to reset your iPod: if your ipod is acting up and you want to reset it, you have to press a couple of buttons to do that–click on “hard reset” on that page to see the command for every type of iPod. This post on fixing a frozen iPod has a few more suggestions for a recidivist iPod. [...]
Thanks for the great advice as per point #6. My wifes 4th Gen Click wheel locked up and me in my innocence assured her that I would fix it, no problems! The disc was spinning and clicking but was failing to initiate. After half a dozen or so spin and clicks it would put me through to the unhappy ipod screen and that was it. Resetting did nothing. After a couple of hours searching on the web and trawling through the Apple site I was getting a bit desperate which is when I happened upon this site.
I quite enjoyed giving the ipod a sharp wallop after all the sh*t it put me through, and it fixed it! Huzzah!
OMG My ipod is clicking and is stuck in the apple logo screen too!! im scared to hit it cause i dont want to ruin it any more. It wont do anything and resetting it doesnt work. My computer cant detect it also. Well im hitting it right now hoping it will work
Yup. My 4G 20GB ipod has just been bought back to life by smacking it on a mousemat a couple of times :)
OMG. Thank you so much!
Quality tip #6, and agreed…well satisfying :D
[...] Here is an page which has a nice javascript which helps you find out the set of hidden keys for your iPod. Its for all the iPod’s until the fifth generation. You might wanna bookmark this page. Also check out the following page which describes how to fix a frozen iPod. [...]
Hey I have a question about my 2GB Ipod Nano:
I’m pretty sure that it’s frozen. It’s frozen on one screen and I can’t get off it of it. The Lock is not on I’ve already checked. It won’t shut off, I can’t go back, and obviously I can’t scroll. So I need some help please
You have GOT to be kidding me! I laughed when I first read #4 and #6, but after two trips to the Apple store hearing them tell me my hard drive was gone and about 6 hours of tinkering on my own I figured, what the hell? Right after I banged the edges on my mouse pad, I connected the iPod to my computer and it instantly recognized it for the first time in days. Now after updating all 4463 songs, I am rocking again. I’ll be spreading the word on this tip. Thanks again!!!!!
first here is the rundown, similar to most of you
4th gen ipod, 40 G had for 17 months.
for the last few months the click wheel has been a bit unmanagable but I have dealt with it and everything else worked fine. I have never dropped or been abusive with my ipod and even keep it in a case.
It froze yesterday, displaying the current song and I could not restart, turn off or reset it with any of the buttons that I know how to do.
SO I left it. Finally it shut off and when I got home I figured I would just put it in the cradle or plug it into the computer and all would be happy again.
NOpe, the apple logo would appear and then a sad face. There was no little beep either once put in the cradle. So I went to plug it in the computer USB style. Nothing……..just apple logo, sad face and then half a recharge sign. It was not showing up on the computer so there was no way to reinstall, wipe clean or do any of the other things various sites suggest.
So there is an apple sign, then sad, then half a recharge bar but it is not connected to the computer.
that is where it stands now. I am pretty much convinced it is toast unless I shell out big bucks to get it fixed. I have read various posts about cracking it open but I am not really big on that idea.
any suggestions?
So I tried the smack around thing and for the first time, the USB kicked in and made the beep I was so happy to hear. It did the dont disconnect screeen! YAY
but it ended in about 5 seconds and I am back to where I was.
am I close?? am I one good smack from getting it going?
The smacking worked great thanks!
I just found this, having had my 60Gb drive go wonky again. I can also confirm it works. Precision engineering, 0, brute force 1.
This is just silly!
My 4th gen photo 60gb iPod stopped working mid-walk! While I was listening to a really good rise against song :(
I searched the whole day till I arrived here:
advice 4# 6# and 24# works!!!
I knocked the corners of my ipod on the edge of my table and BAM the backlight came back on after the logo!
MY IPOD IS FIXED! thanks a lot
I have a third generation ipod. I bought a logic3 usb 2.0 and firewire for it. Now when i attach the USB to my computer it says that it has malfunctioned, sometimes it doesn’t say that and the ipod appears in itunes, when i try to transfer songs though in the middle of the transfere the ipod shuts off…can someone help.
What a great solution. I was tearing my hair out when I got the sad ipod face. I was expecting to have to replace my Ipod. Thanks a million you are a saviour.
I tried all the suggestions on this page to fix my frozen iPod w/ video – even the smacking! – and nothing worked. I found another webpage that said to hold the Menu button and the center button. So I tried it and it worked great! Within a few seconds, my iPod rebooted and was fine. Just thought I’d share this tip with everyone who is still having problems unfreezing their iPods, even with all the great suggestions found here.
Remember, Menu + Center Button.
The Ipod made the dreaded ‘ click of death ‘, So I googled that and found this site. Thank you person who told me to whack the ipod. I was skeptical at first but it did the trick. Thank you sincerely.
Victor
I can’t believe that friggin’ worked! My iPod was stuck in the locked position and I was in a full on painic. Thanks so much for the suggestion to knock it against your knee! I really can’t believe that worked…
I need help…my ipod is completely frozen and i’ve tried everything that i’ve been told except opening it up…i need this ipod for my trip im leaving tomorrow could someone please tell me how to safely open my ipod or any other suggestions that you might have would be greatly appreciated
My ipod completely frozzee when I tried to update it! Do not disconnect is on da screen, da locked symbol even when I unlock it, and computer won’t read it. HELP!
I had given up on the freakin ipod but thank god I accidentaly saw this website. The smash it hard technique worked like a F”$% miracle!!! ———i had the folder and exclamation icon on the screen. My computer didnt recognize the ipod as well. Then I smashed it against my computer desk like a monkey and voila! Got my Ipod back and I feel lucky like a kid in a candy store.
thanks.
wow about after to weeks of beating the crap out of my mini it finally worked… i figured it might before i read this… i took all my frustration out on it and it really worked…and for everyone out dont get someone to throw it to you down the stairs…
The banging on the knee technique worked for my 5th gen IPod as well. Recommend it.
Please can some1 help me i have tried everything to help reset my ipod. i have tried holding down the resetting buttons and it wont work the hold isnt on it just gets to the screen with the apple logo on it and dousnt do anything else it wont respond to smaking or from me trying to click somethin on the wheel pls can some1 help me with this issue?? its and ipod mini 4GB
I read a question extremely similar to mine, however the response didn’t help me at all. My ipod is frozen, and the lock in the corner representing that its on hold is showing, but ITS NOT ON HOLD! I’ve done absolutely everything. I’ve held all the buttons, i’ve tried playing with the hold switch, its frozen solid! Everyone else says reset it, what they don’t understand is… My ipod thinks its on hold! The help to the first girl posting this problem said to look inside the ipod if i’m comfortable. well what if i’m not? I know nothing about the inside of an ipod or what goes on there, so please someone help me out with another solution!!!
Tried turning on my ipod Nano and the screen displayed a big check mark which read “Okay to Disconnect” and it was in in disk mode. (I’ve only had it a month and didn’t even know what the heck “disk mode” was!) I was starting to get a little upset when the usual troubleshooting tips weren’t working and I was getting ready to reinstall the software when I found the tips on this website. Whacking didn’t work, but I tried suggestion #31 …
Menu + Center Button
It worked!!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!
For all those who think that it will hurt your iPod to knock it around on your knee… It wont hurt. My iPod was giving me its version of flipping me off with the “sad face”, and i went to the apple store. They said it was $250 bucks to send it in, and $50 shipping. But I was leaving for Europe in 4 days…. So they ran one more test in the back, and I went online at the store and found this website. They came back out and said they would have to send it no matter what. So I asked to see it one more time, and beat it on my knee 3 times on each side (not front and back, but the thin sides) and sure enough, all my music was there, all my photos… Everything. The guy said that that could have ended my warranty, but i figured it was over in 1 month anyways, and now i know how to fix it! IT WORKS
FYI, the “smack the iPod on your knee” trick won’t work on any of the flash-based iPods like the nano. In theory, it shouldn’t work at all on any iPods. The sheer volume of success stories posted is amazing, though.
[...] Read Fixing a Frozen iPod. If you’re fairly familiar with hardware, you really don’t have to read what’s noted on the article; its what noted on the comments: (#4) When the iPod is OFF (very important, hard drive must not be spinning) put the hold switch on and give the ipod a few firm whacks on a covered surface. I’ve been having issues with my 40G 4G iPod skipping songs, not being recognized by the PC, and I was bordering on desperation already on fixing the darned thing. The comments on the article related so many success stories, I just had to try it. AND IT EFFING WORKED. Tags [...]
I’ve got a 30GB Photo iPod and the ‘Click of death’ thing has been happening on mine. My warranty has run out and after being recommended to this site thanks to the success stories I thought I’d check it out. I tried the idea of smacking it on my knee but it still doesn’t work! So is there anything I can do before I open it up?
my 30g ipod video got submerged in flood waters for 4 hours
now it does not turn on, when you plug it the screen comes on blank. how do i fix it? is there schematic diagram for this?
ok so.. my ipod nano, not even one year old, froze while it was off. i tried resetting it, toggling the hold button, i even smacked it around, and nothing. it wont take any input what-so-ever.
PLEASE HELP!!
My iPod died after being left behind a sofa for a week (hey its easilly done when drunk). Good hard whack to the knee and its fine again (for now). Half the trick is to hit it harder than you think; hell if its out of warantee no good gonna come of being gentle to it.
Mind you the other two iPods this didnt work for…
My ipod has been freezing constantly over the past week. It was displaying the sad ipod icon and it would freeze any time i connected it to a computer. Never thought that banging it around the place would do the job! Thanks a mil.
I agree with almost everyone here. Who would have thought a few forceful love-nudges would fix the problem. Thanks a lot!
My 20gb ipod won’t shut of and and the backlight is on as well…I tried the hold menu+select and I tried the toggle hold then menu+select and I also tried the toggle hold then menu+play/pause…oh yeah and the banging didn’t do anything…what do I do..this is the first time it’s frozen like this.?
My nano is unlocked but now the screen is just blank white and when i touch the click wheel i hear it click.any help on whats wrong and what to do?
My 30G iPod w/video froze after I played a video snipet. I banged it around based on several suggestions, but this is the one that worked:
Menu + Center Button
Thank you Ashley! (Suggestion #31)
This is my second 30g ipod in as many days and the same thing happen with both ipods, after charging it up, then downloading the music into it, It diconnected by it’s self from itunes, and now it’s frozen with the apple logo blinking. I can’t reset it or turn it off. Hope you can help me tonight I’m leaving tomarrow morning.
Now it will not show up on my computer, can you please help.
help!i have a thirty gig video ipod broken.it boots up connects to the puter and itunes…stores music/video its all there…..but the click wheel does nothing,after updating and reformating it is now on the choose langauge screen cant scroll up or down or even select the langauge it is currently on….it hard resets i have gotten it into diagnostic mode where it gives me two options “menu:manual previous:auto or something and i understand at this mode the click wheel is disabled but pushing previous or menu does nothing…can some one help….please….im pulling hairs out..thanx
OMG THANKYOU IT WORKED. I was so scared that I would have to get another ipod fixed. The click of death shall bug me no more! I owe u 1!~^_^
Oh and to answer some of the questions. I had the problem of the frozen iPod that thought it was on hold. Sorry, dude. You r screwed. (no pun intended)That happened to me and I had to get it fixed 4 like two months. Just send it in if that happens. They have 2 open it up and like replace the hard drive or something. warning- wicked expensive. So look. of the click wheen is screwed, u r too, it’s broken and it needs some serious repair. sry
My 2G ipod nano is being a bitch. seriously.
it fell from my computer table onto the fllor a few days ago, but it was working fine. Then the battery died, and when i plugged it into my pc to charge and update my song list, the damn thing lit up like…vibrant white, then went off. It continued to do this, and still is. When ituns reconizes it is plugged in, the locked sign appears, even though the device is not locked. It makes a clicking sound when i press any of the buttons, like it does when it’s functioning and the clicker option is turned to speaker. Is there any way i can fix this without having to replace something? Please help. :[
i have a ipod mini 4gb when push a button it turn on with a apple sign flickering every 3-4 second when i connect it to charge it has the batterie sign and returns to apple sign
I have a 4gb mini that froze today and of course was freaking out that I’d have to buy a new one! I tried hitting is a few times and then read down to suggestion #31
and it worked!!!Try that first before bruising your knee with your i-pod. Saves me a trip to the Geek Squad at Best Buy (thank god!!)
my ipod had frozen for the past few days and after worrying about having to shell out on a new one, i thought what the hell, i’ll follow the advice given by a few people on this website and just smash it around for a bit. i didnt get any response for a while until, after one almighty smack against the kitchen wall, the light came on and it was good as new – cheers for the help! x
YESSSSSSSSS hell yea! i had a frozen i pod and i was goin crazy tryin to fix it. I just wanna thatnk who ever left comment 32 u fixed all my problems, thanks a million bro.
HEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!
my 3Og ipod video stpooed working this morning for no reason. I plugged it into my computer and it didn’t show up on my itunes. now it’s stuck on the apple screen, periodically lighting up, and making the evil click of death. I don’t want to lose my music because a lot of it isn’t backed up, and i’d have to re-download all of my videos and all that crap I don’t want to do. I gave it a few whacks on my knee and on the table and it still looks the same. That solution worked to fix my other mp3 player, but mine is stuck. please please help.
Yeah … this happened to me while I was updating my iPod this morning … blank screen which came again after I tried to reset the iPod. Finally I gave up and decided to restore my iPod to factory settings, even though it meant losing my songs. However … when my iPod came back to life … it had not earased the songs and is now working fine.
Reseting to factory settings:
Hold down Menu and Select buttons
When the iPod goes blank press play/pause button as well
Take your finger off the Menu button
Take your fingers off the the Select and play/pause buttons
Connect to your computer … and … well it worked for me
Wow!! the holding menu button and the cnter button worked great… I have been trying all suggestions and that definatly helped. It saved me from damaging my knee and the Ipod. It was definatly awesome. Thankz
I have the same problem as comment #45 except it was not for 4 hours. I kept it with me while at “Cave of the winds” in Niagara falls. Now it just doesn’t turn on. My computer does not recognize it anymore and I see the screen blinking with a buzzing sound. Please help.
So glad I found this site!!! My 4th gen iPod was frozen and had the “click of death”. I’ve gone through 5 other iPods with similar problems. I read through the posts and just knocked mine around a bit….it actually works now!
Thanks!!
Hi I have a 4 gig ipod mini — heres the deal after reading ALL of these entries — NADA— ok my problem is that the click wheel got stuck in menu pos- so I smacked it on my palm and un stuck it so alls good then I go to start it up on buttons respond and all it shows is the apple — after 50 HD resets smacking it and smacking it a sec after reset thinking that when something is spinning maybe it will be better– but noting — then I tried to connect to comp — no connect – but once it showed that the batt was charging then I unplugged it and by holding play to shut it off –it went off then I tried to turn back on and the apple came up again– and here I am back to step one — nothing — what do you reccomend — I have tried my knee– now I need a prostetic– tried wood and marble— maybe I was too light ?? where should I hit — and any other suggs???? aqhhhhhhhhhhhhh….thanks…
I just have to say that I thought the comment about whacking the ipod on a hard surface was a joke–but I was so frusterated because I had tried everything else in the world that I tried it. It actually worked! I’m amazed becuase for a month I had been trying to fix it and reading online help websites. Anyways if your ipod is stuck on the visit apple.com/support screen and you’ve tried everything hitting it actually might help.
i have and iPod nano, and i went for a bike ride and the next time i looked at it it had a white screen that would light up when ever a comand was hit, it would restart, show up on the computer and everything, but it wouldent play music at all. I’ve tryed every thing i could find but nothing is helping it….and im really sad cause its my baby and i dont want it to die….and i have no idea what to do.
my ipod is a 2gig and fairly new.
Hi, I have an ipod mini 4gb 2nd gen and was working ok, but suddenly started to slow down while hearing songs, reaching the point that some songs are stopped and another songs starts. I tried connecting it to my computer but it only slowed my computer too! i have to use ctrl+alt+supr to close itunes and work normally. I have ran the ipod updater and doesn’t get fixed, even when i play the songs on itunes (if it does not freeze my computer) the songs take a lot to play and start cut while playing. Can somebody help me please :’( ?
Thanks for this page!!! My Nano was stuck on check mark with “okay to disconnect” and wouldn’t budge. Your #31, hold menu + center button did the trick immediately. Great to have you guys helping us out. Love the web:-)
my ipod wont respond, the buttons dont even press,i can see the menu in the background, but thats it, it wont light up or anything, makes a noise when i pit it in the dock, but its unresponsive. is it broken?
i think its bricked, but i dont know how i did it, just pit my usb in to updte my vids and that happened, i dont want it to happen again when i get my new one (this is only 4 days old) how do i avoid bricking my ipod video? was it a virus?
i havent seen this ANYWHERE else and doesnt come up on google or msn when i type it in…ANY advice would be GREATLY appreciated…ok.
my ipod shows that its charging, even after its unplugged from the charger…off of the charger will work “charging” for about 15 min – 30 min. after that it will show the fully charged symbol…and about 10 seconds after that it will die. lol.
works when i plug it into my car with my fm transmitter and my computer detects it while its functioning, but if i plug it into my computer after its died then it does NOT detect it…any body know WHY this could be happening…again, ANY advice would be greatly appreciated! thank you!
As someone mentioned in an earlier post, in order to reset a Fifth generation (VIDEO IPOD), 30gb, just hold down on CENTER and MENU, and voila! problem solved! Because nothing else seemed to work! and the apple website sucks in helping! i love this website.
Ok, I played my iPod video and suddendly it stops playing as soon as its about to switch songs. The hold button is off but it says its on. There is no click of death. Plugging it into the comp or an outlet does absolutely nothing. Its like its not even on. Can someone PLEASE help me?
Just tried the “bang it on your knee” trick to reset my frozen first generation iPod after a restore – and it worked!! Many thanks for the suggestion.
my video ipod is frozen on the “do not disconnect” sign, does anyone know how to resolve this problem?
My 30BG ipod has frozen that backlight is stayin on, the battery is pretty much dead, and i have tried reseting, there is no respones to any buttons i press, please help as my little i-pod is gettin hotter!!!!!!
I’m desperate! I’m off traveling and have been for eight months, so my ipod is not backed up at all. Today it froze and I’ve tried everything on this site and no luck. It’s not responding to any of the resets- menu and hold, menu and select, nothing. I tried beating the crap out of it, nothing. It’s stuck on one song, says it playing (but its not), and the backlight is on. If I send it in, I’ll lose all my music AND I just spent like 80 bucks on itunes buying more songs. I’ve had this since December and this would be the second time i’ve had to get it replaced. any help would be much appreciated! thanks!
Those “Click of death” fixes work beautifully! I love all of you people and despise the cursed apple support staff.
(My sympathy to anyone who’s reading this and pissed off that it didn’t work for them. Keep reading cuz if apple can’t help you or wants money for repairs, chances are someone here knows the problem.) :)
thank you so much, worked like a charm
Hi, read most of the messages on the site, but none of them relate to my problem. I have the latest itunes installed on the Pc I can use my wifes 4gb ipod no problem. But for my 5g 60Gb Video every time i attach it to the pc it says “cannot read the contents, go to the summarey tab in Ipod prefrences and click restore to restore to factory settings. I cant do this i have whacked it slapped it reset it but still no luck.
PLease help me guys
We have a 30 gig video iPod which has froze a couple of times on us, after reading this page, we are glad that we didnt smack ipod around too much O_O… *pets it*
The “Menu + center” on the click wheel worked instantly!!
THANK YOU! ;D~
This is absolutel right
I banged the bottom left corner of the ipod, and it came to life!
I was amazed at this post and to find it works!
awesome.
thanks guys
So my ipod was frozen with the backlight on, (stupid update) and I tried the menu center button trick, it worked like a charm! Thanks so much to whoever found that!!
But just a note to anyone else, it didn’t work when I tried it through my case. I had to take it out, after that it worked on the first shot!
Nothing worked for me. Tried everything but #6. After a few laughter and banging, my iPod’s Apple showed up. Thank you for giving me the testimony for the technique and the bravery #6 hero for putting it up here.
– Nice day.
iPod 3G 20GB
as with alot of people, I was being a bit shy on the iPod bashing… but I got to comment #85 (after the bashing of a good 70-odd posts) and tried what I can only assume is correct for the insides of the 3G…
I gave it three sharp bangs on the bottom left corner, took it off lock, pressed a key and we-hey… iPod HDD starts spinning away.
needless to say, thank you everyone, especially #6 and #85
hey
my ipod nano (2 gb) is frozen on “do not disconnect” what do i do ?????
my iPod Video 30 G had a continuus beep and a frozen menu screen. Banged it around, which didn’t help. Thanks a lot for the tip to press the menu and center button. This worked immediately! Didn’t find this one on Apple’s support website.
i am having a lot of trouble with my ipod 4GB mini. tried the banging thing and it didnt work. i’ve tried basically everything… toggling with the hold key and trying to manually restarting my ipod. everything i could possibly find on the internet and nothing helps!
my problem is my ipod keeps blinking the apple screen it wont shut off or fully boot up it just keeps blinking the screen and it has been for about 2 hours now! i need help please!
thankyou thankyou thankyou! cannot tell you how much this has helped me cos it was my dads ipod and i thought it was gona for good! thanks again! most usefull site by far
yeah every1 with the 30GB ipod the menu + centre button works well good, lol dont bang it.
all u do is hold it for about 10 seconds sud reset and its all good then
I have a 5th Generation iPod, and I need to charge it. When I plug it into my computer, nothing happens. ITunes doesn’t come up, my iPod won’t come on, and when I go to iTunes and click on Preferences, iPod, then it just says, “No iPod Connected”. I’ve already tryed the “hold switch” trick, but that doesn’t work, and neither does holding down the Menu and Select buttons. I don’t want to reset my iPod, though, because I don’t want to lose all of my songs. I only have a couple of more hours until I have to go to a football game, and I want to have something to do while I’m there. Someone PLEASE help me!!!
*** The real time here is 5:03, by the way, not 2:00.
wow out of all these comment the only one that worked is
HOLD
menu + center button
and it worked again for being frozen for 2 hours =]
thanks!
My goodness! I love you people! Pushing the menu and center button solved my problem immediately! Now I wont’t have to quarantine my iPod in a soundproof Logitech case! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!
I was very excited to find this website and the hidden commands for Ipods, but I couldn’t get any of the commands to work. I have the Fourth Generation “Click Wheel”.
My hold switch was turned off and I followed these steps:
I did the hard restart first as the diagram shows and as soon as the Apple logo appeared I then moved one finger to the left button, as the figure shows on the Diagnostic diagram without moving my finger from the middle button. I held those buttons (as shown on the Diagnostic diagram) until the “sad Ipod icon” appeared with the following website listed below the icon http://www.apple.com/support/ipod.
So then I tried the using the Disk Mode steps:
I did the hard restart first as the diagram shows and as soon as the Apple logo appeared I then moved one finger to the bottom button, as the figure shows on the Disk Mode diagram without moving my finger from the middle button. I held those buttons (as shown on the Disk Mode diagram) until the “sad Ipod icon” appeared with the following website listed below the icon http://www.apple.com/support/ipod.
Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do now? I would really appreciate any info
I’m wondering if there’s any help out there for me.. My 3rd generation ipod was freezing and deleting my songs, so I called the local apple dealer, and i was told to do a restore with the newest ipod software. I did this and it worked fine for a little while, but about 2 weeks later, it just wouldnt turn on. I charged it forever and finally got it to show an “apple”, but thats all it would do. I put it in disk mode and plugged it into my powerbook, but it won’t show up in iTunes, just on the desktop. The apple dealer says its “clicking” and that the hard drive must have burned out. HAHA they are really stupid I guess, because it shows up just fine as an external drive. I’m really upset because I love my ipod and don’t want to throw it out. I think the problem was that I updated it with the newest software which is TOO new for my oldie, but goodie ipod! Is that possible? PLEASE HELP!!!
Hi, my ipod isn’t working banging won’t work and I’ve read this whole thing 5 times, any advice?
okay, i have a 5th generation 30gb ipod. i pulgged it into my computer, and the screen just froze. that happened like, 45 minutes ago, i’m sure the battery is dead by now. i can’t seem to find how to fix it.
4th gen ipod. Froze playing a song. The whacking didn’t fix so I held down Menu + center button. It worked!
5th gen, 80gb iPod. Had a lockup with the device on and the battery about half charged. Frozen on the song I was playing, then on the main content menu.
Tried the Apple reset procedure – no dice. Plugged into the computer and the device was recognized as usual, with normal access to all the tunes. Did a reset/update, which appeared successful. Device started normally with the screen on language choices. Still didn’t respond to control inputs. Tried the reset procedure and smacking it around a bit – no results.
I’ve only had the iPod for two days, so my first reaction is just to return the thing. I have no desire to open it up and monkey with the giblets.
Any suggestions?
Okay, I have 4gb ipod nano which i have had since march, actually scratch that, its already been replaced once before (after a spilt ice cream incident!) so ive only had it for about 4 months. I dropped it at work today and ever since then the HOLD button is locked on, it just wont switch off. Ive tried whacking it around more and more and tried resetting it. Im getting nothing but a very sore knee!! I dont want to travel 30 miles into the centre of london to get it replaced again, and i dont want to fork out more money to apple for a new one. Can anyone help????
P.S. I may cry very very soon!!!
ei, i have an 80 gb ipod video which my mom bought roughly 2 months ago. i just started using it 2 days ago. it was working fine til while i was copying some songs, it wouldn’t copy. later on my ipod could be read by my mac and its stuck on “do not disconnect’ screen. i tried all the methods shown on other sights like trying to reset and stuff like that. does any one have a useful remedy???
THANK YOU!!!
finally! My Ipod hasnt been working.. its been frozen on the “Do Not Disconnect” icon you get when you plug it in. I even unplugged it and it still had that icon.
I listened to Suggestion #31 and it worked! it went straight to the Apple Icon and than i plugged it back into the computer and its working again!!!!!
Just Hold the Menu button and the center button for a couple of seconds and it works!
THANKS!
i have the same prob as dafriend except i have a 4th gen. 60 gig
HELP! HELP! HELP!
3G 10GB iPod. ! with folder. I cannot get it into disk-mode from the > buttons. Apple symbol flashes and sticks on Apple symbol.
iPod goes into diagnostics ok, can copy backed-up files over to iPod without any problems in USB disk mode. Even if I don’t do this iTunes7 even recognises it.
Tried to restore from iTunes7, no luck as !folder appears after it restarts.
I’ve pulled it apart. I’ve let the battery drain etc etc. Banged it
Somehow I managed to get it into the diskmode after coming out of diagnostics once only. Have been trying to repeat with no luck
Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.
Had the frozen iPod for hours. On, light on, stuck in mid-song, banging didn’t work, only holding the center and menu buttons for like 2-3 minutes. Now it’s back to normal.
Thanks to the person who suggested holding the menu and center button to unfreeze the Ipod. I did try banging it around as everyone suggested but that didn’t work, so I tried the button suggestion and sure enough, my 30GB Ipod is working:) Thanks again!!
I have an ipod nano, it came up with 4 numbers and a spinning hourglass. How do I fix it?
I can’t freakin belive it. smacking it around actually worked! you just saved me 249.00 to buy a new ‘pod! thanks!!!!!
thank you!!!!!!!!!!!
IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!
I have a 2nd gen mini. Today the screen froze, and rebooting it brougth up the apple logo then the exclmation point/file icon, then off. It won’t mount, and I can’t restore it either. I ran the diagnostics on the iPod screen, everything checks out fine, but it gives “FAIL” on the hard drive screen. Am I screwed. Hitting it won’t help :)
thank you guys so much for the info!
Mini was stuck off. I read someone’s comment above to hold down the Menu and start button for a few seconds. Well, for me it was about 7 seconds, and it turned on…like a reboot. So, try holding down the MENU AND START BUTTON AT THE SAME TIME.
LOL, i would have to agree with a post that was made a while back :
“If your iPod turns on, but is unresponsive, hold the iPod up to your ear. If you hear a clicking sound from the hard drive (aka the “Click of Deathâ€?), try one more thing after checking for bad blocks:
Smack it around!
Bang it against your knee a bunch of times, trying different angles. Be careful not to hurt your knee.
Sometimes the HD arm gets stuck, and a few jolts will unstick it.
No joke–I just fixed a friend’s 3rd-Gen iPod with this “techniqueâ€? last weekend.
Obviously, if this method works you’ll want to back up your iPod contents and so forth. ”
I just did it on my 4th gen that was showing the sad ipod face and was clicking.
1.) Turned it off
2.) put “hold” on
3.) whacked it against my ironing board on all four sides
4.) plugged it in
5.) turned it on…
Works :D Thnx soo much
nano is stuck on apple icon blinking have tried everything on website to no avail…. it is 7 mths old..
Thanks! 2nd Gen Nano was stuck at high contrast apple symbol. Hard Reset was clearly doing someting, but wouldn’t get it off the apple symbol. But thanks to your instructions I tried doing the Hard Reset-Disk Mode combo…it worked! I was able to get the computer to recognize it finally. I then Restored the Ipod and for the moment I’m back to having it work again.
3rd gen ipod. dropped the dang thing and now the click wheel and buttons dont work. was able to do a full restore from the laptop, no luck. tried to reset it using menu/play, no luck. tried banging it around, no luck. I can play music from it using the remote control, so I know it still works. but how do I get the buttons to work again?
If the click wheel buttons aren’t working at all, but the wired remote ones do, then it sounds like the click wheel may have been jostled loose inside. Start by opening it and making sure it’s plugged in, then replace the clickwheel, then the motherboard. Right on down the line.
Hey,
I have an iPod nano that i just got for christmas and now every song i try to play it freezes and auto restarts. sometimes it even freezes and restards at the menu screen. Please help me!!!
Btw the banging around the iPod thing helped me sooooooooo much. my brother had an iPod that did that and after reading this i stopped him from throwing it away and fixed it right in fron of him!!!
If it’s a nano, there’s nearly nothing that can go wrong with it except a cracked LCD and a bad logic board. Plugging it in and doing a Restore in iTunes solves most problems with those models.
Er.
My 20GB Ipod was my brothers in the past, and he gave it to me on christmas. I tried to delete all of the songs, because he doesn’t have the same taste of music as I do, so i read on, and clicked on “Return Ipod to Factory State”. BIG MISTAKE. I don’t have an external outlet plug-in for charging my ipod. The only one i thought i really needed was just using the firewire. The problem i am having is with the screen. The only thing that shows is a little picture of a plug in reaching an outlit. I have tried the ‘banging’, and the ‘hold button’ method.. doesn’t work, the computer doesnt even read the Ipod anymore. it’s still just this little screen which i have no idea what to do with. Hopefully somebody can help me?
thanks
I have a 30gb 5.5 gen. Everytime i play a video it freezes, but i play songs it doesnt freeze
HELP PLEASE
well i tried that about 4 times but it doesnt help much. after about 15 minutes it does it again. ill take it in.
If anyone is having the issue where your lock button is stuck on and you can’t even reset your ipod I may have a fix. I dropped mine and after which it was stuck on lock. I was able to pop it open with a precision screw driver. Inside you will see a small system board (green) where the hold (lock) button is sitting. There is a copper cable with a black end on this board, this should connect to the main system board, mine had disconnected when I dropped it. I re-connected it and now it works fine.
My ipod was frozen displaying a CHECK MARK with the words OK TO DISCONNECT , and although the smacking around of my nano was quite fun, considering my aggravation…. what ultimately did the trick was pressing the MENU and CENTER buttons ! Thank you for the great advice. Now I can hit the gym in peace!
My ipod has been losing data repeatedly. A few months ago it froze during the transporting of songs and then when I took it off the computer all the songs were gone, but the data is still on there. So I move it to the computer and then reformat and then move it all back (losing about 20 songs each time I do this) Then it will happen again within a couple of weeks. I have moved all the music (through the file system) to the computer, reformatted, then back to the ipod about 4 times, and it has hapenned again. What is wrong? I will go through the process (which takes about a whole day) again, but want to know if there is anything I can do to make it actually work after reformatting.
… and oh yeah, 4th generation 40 gb is the model
Good call on the unplugged hold switch — that’s the most common problem with that board.
As for the iPod that’s losing songs, try just doing a Restore in iTunes and reloading the iPod software and songs.
I have restored the ipod and still get this error in disk utility even after updating the ipod with the ipod updater, “could not read boot block (input/output error)”
“The problem i am having is with the screen. The only thing that shows is a little picture of a plug in reaching an outlet”
I’m having the same problem, anyone know a solution to this one.
The only solution I know of for the power plug icon is to use an Apple AC adapter and plug it into the wall like it wants. Sadly, newer iPods don’t ship with them anymore.
I have a 30gb ipod video. It only works when i plug it into the charger and when its unplugged from the charger it is unresponsive and freezes ive tried the (play and menu) reset option. whatever is on the screen when i unplug it stays on there until the battery drains and i dont have the 2 generation cord and dock connecter to charge and sync at the same time. What should i do, Help.
Thanks for the excellent visual; I reset my Ipod with ease.
Does anyone know how to help my problem, My ipod only operates when its plug up to the charger. I have tried 5th generation ive tried everything. Reseting it and all. Also can any ipod usb cord serve as a charger for the newer ipods.
Hi everyone,I have tried all these ideas from smacking it to reseting ipod. I have a Video ipod 30gb. I even bought a new battery and a new screen. The ipod will come on but the screen will just be white(blank) then it turns off. When tried to plug in on computer wouldn’t even show up on Itunes. PLease Oh Please someone help me it has been broken for almost 5 months now and I really miss my ipod. Thamk-you to everyone for all the help.
My Ipod is frozen on the language select screen. The only thing that works is the hold button. The click wheel or the center button does nothing. It connects with my computer, but restoring and resetting do not work. Thank you.
I dont know if this question has been answered or not, there are to many entries to go through, but does anyone know how to fix a 5G 30GB IPOD when it is just a white screen.
2007-01-23 Tuesday
This is really important! Do *not* smack your iPod because it’s not necessary to fix the dead iPod/”click of death” problem that so many people on this board have noticed. The problem they’re encountering is probably that the ribbon connector between the hard drive and the logic board has come loose. When you smack your iPod you might get lucky and temporarily nudge the connector into place…or you can get unlucky and mess up a perfectly fine iPod hard drive.
How do I know this? Well, to begin with I read on another site that a technician suggested that disconnecting and reconnecting the iPod’s hard drive cable from both ends resolves dead iPods’ click of death problem. No smacking of the iPod/hard drive/read head necessary!
Why so sure? Well, he mentioned that in his experience traditional PC/Mac hard drives will sometimes have their hard drive connectors come loose and causes problems that are otherwise mysterious. He also realized that the iPod’s 1.8″ hard drive uses a ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) connector . I spoke with a bench technician and he confirmed that ZIF connectors are notorious for coming loose on their own in the small number of laptops that use them (and evidently in iPods as well). At this point I’m wondering how many other clicks of death on PCs and Macs are really just the side effect of loose connections rather than bad blocks or frozen hard drive read heads.
In any case I reseated the cable on both ends as instructed and it revived a “click of death” iPod without doing any smacking of $400 consumer electronics. I researched how to crack open the iPod’s case and how to disconnect the connector. Let me save you some serious Google time and trial and error and outline how to do it.
- get a tool that you can use to pry open the iPod’s case. ifixit.com sells plastic (nylon?) pry levers called spudgers
http://www.ifixit.com/cart/customer/product.php?p=PBF4500
They look nice, but I didn’t want to wait so I went ghetto and got a 1.5″ plastic putty knife ($1 at the local hard ware store) and a screw driver. I used the putty knife to pry open the seam along the side of the iPod then wedged thescrew driver into the crease and gently popped the top free from the tabs. You could just use a screwdriver but my guess is the average person is going to really scratch up their iPod doing that. Beyond using a plastic putty knife to get started, my technique basically came from reading the instructions below:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPod/iPod-4th-Generation/Hard-Drive-Cable
The above link gives instructions on how to replace an iPod hard drive’s cable. Don’t actually replace the cable, but follow the instructions on how to crack the case and disconnect the hard drive’s cable. Don’t skip the part where he says “Use the tip of your finger or a spudger to carefully flip up the black connector securing the hard drive cable to the logic board.” I noticed that a bunch of people who ignored that step really had problems getting the cable free. After you successfully disconnect the cable reconnect it making sure it’s in there securely on both sides and remembering to put the tape back on top of it and the cable.
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPod/iPod-4th-Generation/Hard-Drive-Cable
Here’s the article where the tech discovered that re-seating the cable fixes the click of death problem.
http://www.macgeekery.com/hacks/hardware/fix_your_dead_ipod_for_free
Good luck.
I cant get my froze ipod nano to work. i smashed it on my mouse pad the corner on my desk and my knee HELP!
Im really worried, I saw someone post this on here just a little while ago, but it got no response.
I had my ipod plugged into my computer to charge the battery. Something happened to my computer and the computer reset itself.
When this happened, the ipod was on lock, and now its stuck on lock, even when you turn lock off. I really need help.
My computer wont even recognise that the ipod is connected to it now.
Please, I really need help…i tried hitting it on my knee, and on the computer desk. Ive toggled the switch and held the menu button but it really wont work.
OMG I have been stressing all night(i leave on the plane in the morning) searching website after website- and lolw and behold a few taps with my tv remote and ahhhhhh! Perfection! I could kiss whoever posted that!
WOW this actually works! my ipod would play certain songs but itunes kept freezing whenever i connected it. i finally got it to restore but it still had problems. it kept coming up with the folder with (!) icon. smacked ipod around a few times and now it works, haha! wish i had known this before i restored and erased all my songs.
thanks man!
i slammed it on my leg a couple times, cleared it right up. I dropped it at the gym too many times and i guess that is what happened, things got out of line or something
HELP! My ipod mini(4 Gb) has frozen. it froze in mid song, and then i did the select and menu button thing. then the ipod went to the apple logo and has been stuck that way all night. ive tried hitting it but it doesnt do anything. HELP!!!!!!!!!!
PS the computer doesnt respond when its plugged in either
Thanks, after about 6 hours of screwing around tryingto get it back a few wacks on a mouse pad and it is being recognized in Itunes again….Incredible…I can’t believe this is a troubleshooting technique ;-)
thats crazy, i thought it was BS but it really worked
thank you #6!!!!
i think i may have hit it a little too hard though, because there’s a slight dent in the back and it makes a really loud whirring sound(but it works!!) and gets warm
Help!!! My 3rd generation Ipod is frozen with the backlight turned on and the song name still showing.
I tried togged hold and off, even tried the menu and circle buttons. Nothing happens.
I too ran into the issue with an ipod mini being “stuck on hold”… the screen displayed the lock icon, regardless of what position the hold switch was in.
I tried everything: draining the batery, restoring the ipod, etc. Nothing worked.
After disassembling the ipod and playing around, I was able to identify the issue: a busted hold switch. I was able to “fix” the issue by soldering together two of the leads on the switch itself. While this permanently destroyed the “hold” functionality, it made a completely unusable (and locked) ipod 98% functioning. Besides, based on how tiny the hold switch is, most likely the only repair option available would be to replace the motherboard.
I don’t recommend anyone start soldering their ipod without at least some knowledge of what they are doing, because you can rally easily mess something up. But, if you think you have the skills to solder 2 leads together, then it’s easy – remove the sound card from the motherboard, unclip the battery (to give yourself some working space), unclip the display, and solder the 2 leads coming off the switch closest to the edge/sides of the ipod. (Be sure to test it before you solder!)
My ipod is frozen on a game and i tryed banging but it won’t work! Computer reads it but i can’t find anything to do. HELP!!!
Great now i’ve noticed that it doesn’t read it.
try this technique only if your ipod can’t respond to the computer and you can’t press anything because it froze. mine froze in the middle of a game and i waited till the batteries ran out. that makes the ipod shut down by itself. Then put it into a charger then wait a few seconds press the middle circle button a few times then wala! ipod unfrozen! (you’ll have to wait for your ipod to charge up again)
i went to update my ipod and when i took it out it had the same song i had been playing before i went to update it. its frozen and nothing will fix it. the light wont go off it wont restart and the hold button does nothing!! help!!!!
My ipod 30g froze when i was changing a song, and so i left it. I came back about an hour later and it had shut off, and now I can’t turn it back on. WTF
Hey i have a 5th gen. ipod video 30 gig, and i dropped it once, and nothing broke but when i turned it on, all it was is a plain white screen. Nothing else, and when i plug it into computer my itunes doesn’t know it is like plugged in. So i took it apart and all the cords are in nice and tight so i was wondering if anyone knew what i could do or what, i am basicly dyeing with out it.
thanks (sorry about spellin)
5g 60 GB video. sad ipod face/clicking. I had the thing taken apart…put it back together…4 whacks on the knee, all good now!
I love technology.
My ipod nano was stuck once again and I tried what worked before: toggle the switch back and forth and then hold down the Menu and center buttons for awhile. I tried doing it over and over again — and finally went on the web and found this website. Unbelievably, it finally worked after hitting the nano a few times on my knee first. Tapping it on the back of the nano didn’t work but then I read that you need to do it on the sides. I did so and then toggled and held the buttons and it worked!!! Amazing!!!
Holy crap – I just droppped mine squarely on its face and it totally recognized my the booting process immediately upon being reconnected for the first time in a week!
The knee thing REALLY WORKS! No Joke, I banged it on my knee 5 times, held down the off button for 5 sec. and BAMM!! Worked. THANKS!
ok… this could get interesting. i have an ipod video. read most of the posts. tried the wacking technique… didn’t work. ive got the ‘click of death’ when i plug it into anything ie charger or computer. when i did plug it into the charger it would disievingly start up then shut down, fade away almost (the screen).. so im kinda screwed… if someone can help please tell me!!!
Does anyone know what to do if an ipod stops playing randomly after a few songs?
No Way!!! Bought my HP 40g 4th gen ipod and loved it! It died 9 months out. I set it on the shelf and 1 year and 1day (My fault) called Hp, they where very nice and replaced it. 4 months later it died again. I called HP they would not even talk to me, I have been without it for 8 Months when I found this web site. I tried the tech way with no sucsess, wacked it on the carpet a few times, No luck! Finaly after reading all the praise for wacking it, I put the mouse pad on the hard wood desk and started wacking, well you know what happened.
It worked !?!?!?!?!?
Thanks to all of you who reported back that it worked.
It convinced me to wack my Ipod.
Eric
Help! My I-pod won’t turn on. I think it froze. I tried puggiing it in on the adapter but it doesnt do anything..
I am a huge skeptic of crazy talk. I thought the talk about whacking the iPod was crazy talk, but I was desperate. I was getting every single one of the bad iPod symbols – sad face, folder icon, non-charging battery – and I even had a whir-whir-whir sound from the hard drive and then it would go dead. I whacked the iPod as said, and nothing happened. I figured I was right about the crazy talk. I then unplugged it from the hot USB port, toggled the hold switch on/off 5 times or so, whacked it on my knee, and I was able to reset it then force it into disk mode. Wahoo! I figured I’d better be safe then sorry so I’m now in the process of restoring it. Thanks for the great tips all.
Russ
well, sat myself down for a long hard study session, plugged in my ipod and got the fright of my life… totally frozen, and a hard reset only brought up the sad face…
well, i was getting a sad face and an annoyed face thinking about all the non-existent dosh i would have to fork out to get my ipod working, and all the music i would have to re-rip…
found this site, smacked it around a bit… it magically worked!!
SENSATIONAL!!
i’ll be recommending this little tip to my friends ;)
Hey Guys,
My ipod is 3 and a half years old.. pretty old school known to my friends as the IBrick anyway so i tried all these things and it was still frozen after 4 to 5 hours i was panicked! but then thanks to Ramona using the menu and center button for 30 seconds it works and was restored completly THANKS!! i’d definitly recommend it for old school ipods
My ipod is a month old and got frozen. I banged it on my knee and it began working, but then froze again and is now making a different more frightening sound. Should I bang it again? Did I break it?
can some body help me?? my 20gb ipod is frozen its not making any noise and wont respond when i plug it in..ive tryed resting it but that dosnt work ether..
this morning my 8gb nano froze in the on mode. whacking it around wasn’t working at all for me, but what did work was holding down the “menu” button and the center button at the same time. this reset the device and after the reset, it was back to normal.
So i just got a 60BG Ipod video, and i was in the middle of a song and it froze, still on and showing the song but not responding to any commands posted on ANY pages. HELP!!!
How satisfying is it to bash the f***er and have it start working?! Thanks to the genius how first figured it out and passed it on to the rest of us. There is no need to go to apple when the net is available to all and FREE!
so my ipod is stuck on hold so i kicked the F***ing S*** out of it but no use and the hold button slides back and forth but nothen happened i reseted it but now i cant get past the screen to select a language any one got any help for this or run into junk stuff like this
i was listening to some music on my ipod. and suddenly the whole thing stopped. I can hear no clicking sound. When i put it in the computer nothing happens. the screen shows the start of the song i am playing (now
playing). i can’t open my ipod. is there anything i can do apart from let the battery drain.
My ipod had the frown face and I followed the steps on apple’s website to try to force it into disk mode, but nothing worked. I threw it in a drawer a couple of weeks ago. I can across this page and got it out. It was completely dead now. I wacked it a couple of times on each edge and plugged it into my computer…
VOILA!!!! I got my menu back YEAH!!!!!!!!
guys, this is going to sound ridiculous, but the same thing happened with me, and i just used my knuckle and gave it a nice precise hit right on the lock/hold switch at the top. i then fiddled with the switch back and forth a few times and it started working again
hello!..
ah.. my ipod froze and i usually just drain it so solve the prob.. but this time after hours of waiting, when i checked on it if its drained already this “connect to itunes to restore” statement pops in… when i tried connecting it to itunes nothing happens.. now im tryng to reboot my ipod…can i fix it by just rebooting it? help!
Hi,
My 30gb Ipod photo’s clickwheel lost sensitivity. I tried smacking it, but no dice. The only thing that works is the middle button and everything else clickable.
I have two ipod nanos that have both frozen up and none of the updates have worked. One is a generation one an the other is a generation 2. The generation one i put into my ipod doc and it just shut off and i havent been able to get it back one. The generation 2 just shut off because of low batteray and now it wont turn back on. I’v tried everything. What would u suggest i should do.
Okay what about a screen that has combo lock?
[...] Apple’s official “Reset iPodâ€? Article4. LifeHacker: “How to reset your frozen iPodâ€?5. Command-Tab “Fixing a Frozen [...]
Thanks a heap, resetting it worked!
My ipod 30 gig video froze up and using the above commands fixed that. It’s ready to go again. Thanks so much for this web site.
sometimes “select/menu” needs to be held for a very long time…a minute or two. from my experience (ipod 3rd gen, mini, 2 nanos) as soon as this crap starts to happen, you’ve got about 2-6 months until unescapable death….
my ipod is stuck on the ipod lock not the hold button but the screen….i have the ipod 30gb video and i forgot my password to unlock it….plus my itunes has been giving me trouble…..my itunes will freeze up and i have to CTRL + ALT + DELETE it for it to unfreeze…..so i deleted it and tried to redownload it but now it wont even let me go into the itunes at all!! can some one please help me???
my iPod is a 20gb 3rd Generation
it has a picture on the screen that has the outlet plug to the wall
and its tellin me to plug my iPod to the outlet
wen i do it
nothing happens
and the screen juss turns blank…
then wen i touch the touch pad
the same picture pops up
wat should i do???
i want to listen to my music but it wont let me
:[
my ipod nano wont reset or reboot. the apple screen keeps blinking. ive plugd it to the outlet n comp but no help. it seems like it will turn on but jus shuts down then the apple screen starts blinking. any help please..thanks
My 5th gen 80gig never had problems till the other day. When i was syncing it it said i had 8gigs worth of other stuff so i restored it and that fixed it. Then yesturday im listeing to is and it suddenly goes to a blank white screen. ive tried everyhting. what should i do!?!?!?!?! PLZ HELP!!
I’ve seen a couple people with the same question as I have but noone has answered it. I replaced the screen on my ipod successfully and when I closed it and turned it on and found that the screen just stayed blank white. I have tried everything from menu + center to smashing to reconnecting the cords but nothing has worked. It will not show up on the computer, can someone please please leave a response as to what I should do, I would be extremely grateful.
Thanks
If you were just working on the screen, and it still has no picture and is pure white (i.e. only the backlight is on), then the cable must not be connected properly, or your connector is trashed, or the onboard video chip is toast. More than likely, the cable is still loose. Might want to crack it open and check again :-)
Thanks alot Collin! I also thought at first that it might be a problem with the screen, but when I pressed select a bunch of times no music would play like it normally would and I tried hooking it up to the computer and it showed nothing in itunes or on the comp. Do you know what else it could possibly be?
Thanks
i’m a college student and my ipod is my baby, and my baby broke last night.
i’ve been going crazy trying different things to fix it and almost resorted to ebay for a new ipod. tried the smack-it-around technique and voila- it’s back!
thought it was the craziest idea, but i nearly cried i was so happy.
My ipod is dead, I replaced the screen on it successfully and when I closed it and turned it on and found that the screen just stayed blank white. I have tried everything from menu + center to smashing to reconnecting the cords but nothing has worked. It will not show up on the computer, can someone please please leave a response as to what I should do, I would be extremely grateful.
Thanks
hey guys. mine just froze up while playing and while on hold. i couldn’t even get the lock to go away. but i tried the manual reset (turn hold on, turn hold off, hold down menu and center button for a couple seconds) and nothing happened. waited a couple minutes and play with the hold button a couple times and tried the reset again. this time i held down the two buttons for quite some time and it worked. i think this should help anyone because mine was stuck on playing a song with no sound coming out.
Ipod nano 4gb is not being recognised by windows when connected with usb and is making a buzzing sound and sometimes the light flickers. I’ve tried resetting the ipod
My ipod nano, 3rd generation, 8 gig,was almost out of battery, so I turned it off, and while it was off, I accedentally dropped it from about two feet above the ground. It didn’t look like it was messed up, so I went home, and when I plugged it in, it registered on my computer, but itunes didn’t even know it was there. I’ve tried everything, like smashing it, but all it does is stay black. Toggleing the hold switch didn’t help either. It’s frozen once before, but I just let the battery drain and I plugged it in my computer, and it worked just fine. I really need help. I’ve only had this ipod for 16 days.
PS- There is no click of death.
Hi there. Ive had my ipod ( 8 gb blue ipod nano model A1236 thats gen 4 i think?) a literal 4 days. I just so happened to lose my old one and my parents were generous enough to buy me a new one. This moring i went to get it from my goodmans speaker system, where it had been sat all night charging. I was about to put it on hold when i dropped it – not far, i was sat on the ground and it fell onto the speaker system. It didnt seem like enough to do any damage whatsoever. The nano emitted a stange short ‘beep’ sound, definately from the ipod not the speakers but aloud. Then the screen went dark and completely unresponsive. Ive tried repeatedly with the hold button, the reset buttons, trying to charge it on the speakers again, and when i connected it to the USB there was no sound to show it had been recognised and it did not appear under devices on the itunes program. please help me. I have checked for the click of death – nothing. I have tried ‘hitting’ it. Ive tried everything i can think of and nothing. I dont know what to do and really dont want to lose this one to. Please help me, thankyou.
help! I have a 5th gen iPod i haven’t used it in 2 weeks or less then when i finally decided to use it and connect it to the computer to transfer some documents to another computer. when i plugged it in it froze on the do not disconnect screen on the iPod. my heart sank I’ve tried the combo hold middle and play button together for a few minutes but no use. tried banging it around still no use. what am i to do? please help me
and my itunes has an unknown error which can’t work even though i’ve cleared any trace of apple in my PC and redownloaded it any solution?and my iPod is a 80gb 5th gen model
I have had my 30 gig video Ipod since x mas of 06′/
I might have dropped it a couple times but nothing so bad that it wouldnt turn on. I lost it for awhile ( i think for about 3 or 4 months) and now when ever I try to turn it back on it turns on, makes this noise so i know its trying but then the screen goes blank. I’ve only got it to work once in the last month !!!
PLEASE HELP ME !!!
My Music Is My Life W/o It I might Just Die
WOW. Holding down the menu and circle/middle buttons for a few seconds fixed my frozen Ipod. It was getting on my nerves so much that I was thinking about smacking it on the table a couple of times but I decided to hold the buttons down and VOILA it works now! Thanks a bunch!
Btw, I have the “iBrick” 60G Ipod.
hi yeah my ipod showed the sad ipod dude & the file with the explanition mark & the battery & basically everything there is to see. lol but i tried everything. i tried the buttons & the plugging it in.. everything. it happened to me before & i fixed it but i do not remember how then it happened again & i fooled around & got it then it happened AGAIN & it just wont work. what should i do ..?
i just bought a new 3rd generation 4gb ipod from circuitcity from ny and im back in my home country lebanon now, i plugged the ipod for the first time in the computer and it synchronized and recharged for about 2 hours, then i started using it and everything was just fine for the next two hours, that’s when i tried turning it back on after almost 2 hours, nothing happened, my ipod stopped responding to any input, i plugged it to the computer and itunes didnt recognize it as well, though the computer reads that there is a usb in the taskbar, but it doesnt show in “my compter” .. somebody help me please ?!?!?!
I plugged in my Ipod 2nd generation nano into my radio that was made for Ipods, On the screen it displayed something about a fire wall? And then It turned off and now it does not want to turn on at all. Tried the menu and center button thing, and it still dosent work! And when I plugg it into the computer nothing pops up! HELP! This is the second Ipod I’ve gone threw this year!
Hi there…I Googled for natasha amber, but found your page about Fixing a Frozen iPod…and have to say thanks. nice read.
hii there.. what happened was it that.. i wanted to play a game on my ipod nano.. (the newest one) and then something cam on the screen tat said error.. and that the game could luanch and that its the cuase of my ipod being full but i only have 87 songs so hows that poosible anywho..now the keys dont work.. ive tried eeverything like playin wit the hold button and the middle button nothing works.. some help!
Smack-around worked — thanks, Dan! unreal.
HOLY SH#*…smacking it on the floor 6 times totally worked. You all ROCK! Saved me a trip to the apple store, $$, frustration…YES! i’m going to go do a dance (whilst listening to some awesome music)!
I tried just about everything when mine froze when I tried to start a music match game…then I tried holding the center button and the menu button and it worked; i held it down for about 10 seconds (I tried the same holding down menu and play/pause but this was the only solution)….I think this only works with mini’s but i’m sure this post will help some1
just to let yall know, the smacking the ipod trick doesn’t work in the long run. eventually you will need someone to go inside and fix the connections. i’ve been fixing my ipod by hitting it for about 6 months now, and it gets harder to make it work every time
hey,
my ipod gen 3 is frozen i have tried resetting it with the menu and select button but it still wont work. i have tried to reinstall itunes, yet it still did not work. i restored the ipod. yet again it didnt work. i let the battery drain over night and recharged it again the next morning. it lasted 5 or 10 minutes before it froze again. when it seems to freeze once it doesnt seem to unfreeze. i dont know what i can do? it seems asthough i have tried everything. i considering taking it into apple.
thanks heaps guys if u can figure this one out.
omg!! thank you so much the center button and the menu thing worked. THANK YOU!!!
HOLY HELL, unbelievable! Can’t believe that worked!
I had an ipod a year ago that did this, so I took it to bestbuy, and (i had insurance) they just gave me a new ipod (but I lost all the songs I had stolen from friends comps in my travels)… if only I had known all I had to do whose throw the damn thing against the wall…
at any rate, didn’t have to lose all that music this time ;)
thanks!
help! mines is still not working…it hurts btw. its frozen, on screen lock AND not on hold but i smacked it around and it still didnt work. what should i do?
It’s ALL ABOUT the whack-you-ipod-on-your-knee technique!!! I had just about given up on my ipod when I figured, if it’s a goner, whacking it around can’t hurt it anymore. Quite the contrary, after a few drops on the floor and creative whacks at different angles, the light came back on, the apple logo changed into the main menu and it was fixed. THANK YOU!
I tried the whack technique on my 5th gen 30gb. It made a weird noise. Like the noise terminator makes when he’s shutting down. I can feel the hard disk move around. I keep trying to restore it. But I keep getting the error1418
Hey Jd on jan 4th. menu and middle button worked for my NANO. i just held it for 10 seconds and it finally worked after being frozen on a song screen for three days
thanks alot man really appreciate it
good karma coming your way
I HAVE FOUND YOUR SOLUTION TO BE THE BEST TO BASH THE IPOD. THE FIRST THING I DID WHEN I FOUND THE IPOD WAS NOT WORKING WAS I REACTED LIKE A SPOILED CHILD AND FLUNG IT AGAINST A PLASTER WALL. THE IPOD WORKS GREAT NOW!
I thought this was a wind up too- and I tried it with a 4th Generation that wouldn’t respond to a reset and kept spinning the disk up then showing an ipod icon with an exclamation mark and a refer to http://www.apple.com/support/ipod message. I gave it a whack on the bottom right corner a couple of times on to the arm of my chair and it worked!!!!
Fantastic
Thanks
I checked out the apple support page and tried doing a reset by holding the menu and center click button for 10 seconds and it worked for me! I tried the banging around technique a lot but no success. Thanks for the tips, though!
*carlitos
My ipod is a 1GB and is frozen with the apple logo on the screen and will not turn on.When I plug it into the computer it does not show up on itunes. What should I do?
My 4G ipod nano wont stom turning on and off in durations of 5 seconds what can i do to fix this
My 4G ipod nano wont stop turning on and off in durations of 5 seconds what can i do to fix this
OMG I LOVE THIS SITE!! THANK YOU!! IT DID WONDERS FOR MY IPOD!!
my 80GB ipod just froze on me..and it’s barely a month old..it froze on the games page..and wouldnt turn off or anything..none of the buttons worked..the song that was playing at the time played till it ended and then nothing..so i googled for help and found this http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1320?viewlocale=en_US ….the “toggle hold and then press menu+center for five seconds” worked for me…phew!!!..
BANGING WORKS!!!
i just banged my frozen iPod (which keeps making that clicking sound) to the sofa a couple of times and now it’s OK)
Just try it. It’s no joke!
The banging does work. I have a fairly new 80 gig classic and it froze after I ran with it for an hour. It was stuck on pause. It wouldn’t respond to anything the button the computer nothing. I held my ear to it, I didn’t hear clicking just a buzzing. I figured what the heck, I banged the back on my knee three times held the menu and select buttons after and it reset. Thanks everyone who posted.
Hi my ipod froze the other week so i held the middle button and menu to reset it and then a sad face or something came up with a triangle and now it wont reset or turn on or anything. can anyone help?
My ipod was locked and hitting it on the sides with the hold switch on really worked! Thanks for the tip!
my ipod froze when i was listening to a song saying that it was still playing. it was totally unresponsive. i tried resetting it by toggling the hold and then hitting the menu and the center button. this didnt work. so i let the battery totally die out and then tried turning it on. this worked. about two days later it did it again. i listened and i could hear the disk spinning but i didnt hear the click. i did the good old banging it around trick and it didnt do anything. i finally tired just holding down the middle button and the menu and it restarted. the battery was almost out but its working again. thanks for the help everyone!
Hooray for the Menu + Center suggestion! I did not find that suggestion on apple support site. My 5th generation was frozen, it was “on” had fully charged battery but all of a sudden got stuck on hold in mid-song. Toggle and soft whacks did not help…..menu + center, instant gratification!
I can’t use the menu + center because my ipod is stuck on hold. I have tried whacking it and toggling the hold switch on and off. It will still charge and my computer still picks it up (and says it syncs music to it), but I can’t listen to music because I can’t turn it on. The only time the light comes on is when I’m charging it or it’s hooked up to the computer, and when the light is on, I can see that the hold icon is on there, but my ipod is not actually on hold.
I can’t try letting it die and then recharging it because it won’t turn on, so it can’t die.
It is a 4G 20GB ipod, if that helps.
Please help me ):
I should add that it doesn’t really charge anymore because the battery is already full.
help! I left my ipod on my bathroom sink and i guess it got a bit waterlogged. everything works. it turns on when i plug it in. the only problem is it is stuck in “lock” mode or “hold” so i can’t work the controls! i don’t know how to fix it!
i had my ipod playing a song, and it was charging on the dock. i went to put some new songs on it, and i realized that it was frozen on the song, it was not on hold, and it wasnt showing up on my computer, (i have a mac)
how to fix corrupted files in my ipod? i have about 1700 songs in it and only about 20 plays…does this mean some of my files are corrupted? how do i fix it?
two days back my ipod got stuck. It was showing ipod logo with and exclamation sign when i tried to start it. I visited apple’s support site and came to know about the hard boot process, but it didn’t worked.I was frustrated and wanted to throw it on the ground, but could’nt do it was it is damn expensive :-).
while reading some of the post on this site i noted that one of the ways of restoring it by smacking its sides couple of time. I gave it a try and wow it worked.Thanks to the members who posted this useful tip, my ipod is now up and running.
arrrrhhh. my 3rd gen ipod wont turn on. its frozen off. what do i do? it wont respond to a computer or anything???
None of those worked for me. My ipod was on, but frozen, what i did was to put the ipod in disk more, formatted the ipod, then restoring the update, that made my ipod to be ‘alive’ again.
min is a classic and i got a sad iPod pic and it still doesnt work!!! please help me!
If your iPod is a nano and is frozen when its on just let the battery wear out then plug it back into your computer thats what I did and it works fine now. Hope this information helps you
my ipod got splashed with a little bit of water, hardly any, and it worked for a hole day, then froze twice, then gave me the sad looking ipod sign, and now it won’t even turn on! i even tried hitting on my knee and it didn’t work. tried toggleing the hold button, tried resetting it, charging it, it doesn’t even show in itunes, nothing works. if anyone has any information for me to help get my ipod running again it would be very much appreciated!!
Hi i just wanna say my ipod screen was whit and frozen and it didnt work and i was in tears coz id only just got it,.
so press menu and center button,. it really helped and my ipod was all normal again :))
My ipod is frozen in the locked position, with the “do not disconnect.” logo on it… even though the button is not locked, it still says it is. So does anyone know what I should do?
Ok letting the battery drain took care of the problem, although now I charged it and the ipod is warm… I don’t know if that is a problem or not.
My 30GB iPod has frozen 3 times in the past few months (not too bad, but I don’t use the sucker that often, so I was pretty disappointed it might be breaking.) Anyhow, the hold toggle thing didn’t work. Pressing Menu + Play didn’t work. I even tried hitting the iPod on the sides and that didn’t work … FINALLY, I pushed center + menu and the thing reset. THANK YOU!
i have a 30 gig.white vid. ipod. and i was adding songs when i disconected it and it froze.i was so upset and scared. cause this has never happened to me. i tried everything.beating it using other cords and my dads cord.and my computer said it didnt recognize the usb.at this point i was fed up.and i was about to just give up on my janked up ipod. when i came across a solution,hold the menu and center button down at the same time. and it should come on fine. now i kinda regret beating it cause i want my ipod in perfect condition. your ipod may have its own ways of flickin you off with that smiley face and the unresponsiveness. but just be patient.
my ipod classic 80gb wont turn on but every 10-15min it turns on to the apple logo but stays their so i reset it over and over and it goes to black screen and turns off or it will turn on back to the apple logo…i trade all the trouble shoots that apple gave me but when i reset if it keeps shutting down then what else could i do?
I have the 80 gen. I decided to fully charge it and upload a few songs, when I turned it on I noticed a few songs were missing that I uploaded so I went back to charging it and this time the songs were there, but now when I was taking it out of the charger, my iPod got stuck on the “Connected: Eject Before Disconneting” screen. I hit it around and held down the buttons and messed with the Hold button a few times, basically trying everything. Nothing worked. Since the iPod is a little new, no one online really knows what to do. Help? Is there anything I can do besides take it back?
do not ever smack you’re ipod for any reason at all it has very dedicated chips inside that’s up to you though
my 80 gb has the “click of death”. i tried the menu + center button thing and then I get the “do not disconnect” screen sometimes. I even tried the knee banging technique and still nothing.
Menu + center button saved my life! I borrowed my friend’s iPod and it froze, and I tried whacking it on the table AND holding the center + play/pause, and menu+play/pause. Nothing. Then I tried #33’s tip, and PRESTO!!! Thank you so much! =^.^= Saved my LIFE!!!
when i turn on my nano an hour glass shows up on screen. What should i do?
OMG! my 4th gen ipod nano froze, and since it happened to my sisters ipod video, and she fixed it, i tried the same tactic of discharing it and recharging it. didnt work :P but then on this site “Ashley” keft a comment tht said hold down the menu and center button at the same time. worked perfectly. thank you! Remember, Menu + Center Button.
suggest #33 worked great on my ipod. I tried everything .. yes even the smacking and i did end up getting a sore knee haha.
thanks so much! xx
So, I got my ipod wet a few weeks ago. I was an idiot and tried turning it on right away which apparently will cause it to short circuit. I let it dry out and tried plugging it in, but it didn’t work. I figured it was trashed, but just today when I plugged it in it blinks on the apple load up screen. It doens’t fully turn on, it just blinks. Now is it really screwed, or is there some way to fix it? If anyone has any tips, please let me know. I’ve tried smacking it but it’s still not working.
I have an ipod. It has the itunes disck on the front with the plug in adapter underneath. My computer recogizes it as hardware. Itunes doesn’t see it and it doesn’t do anything but that itunes logo and plug in logo on it. Even when you unplug it, it doesn’t do anything. I tried hitting it but no such luck. I dont’ know what to do. it desperately needs updated and I have not been able to use my ipod for a long time now. Please help me.
My 4G 20GB iPod was stuck in lock mode and nothing worked. I couldn’t do the Menu-Center button command or any other commands…it was stuck in lock mode, even though I put it in unlock mode…back and forth repeatedly. So,…like most people on this site, I kicked the living daylights out of my iPod, short of running over it with my car or taping it to a grenade. It was still stuck on lock mode. But, after all that, it let me Menu-Center command and reboot it.
Only problem now is, my iPod now hates me and is filing for divorce.
Okay. My 30GB 5G Ipod Video froze this morning, it just stayed on the apple logo. My itunes recognised it at first, so I thought I had to restore it – which I did. But then afterwards, everytime i reset it (Menu + center), it turns off, and goes back to the logo again. I can force it into disk mode (center + Play), and after I connect, Itunes give me something like:
“Itunes has detected an ipod in recovery mode, you must restore this ipod before you can use it with itunes”
So, I went ahead and restored it. I had the progress bar and everything… after restoring it, it boots up, and gets stuck on the apple logo again. I tried resetting it, disk mode, connect, restore again, and got the same result.
I whacked it around for a bit too (ouch my knee) but it doesn’t seem to be working. The click of death only comes on when I restart it for the first few seconds, Afterwards its just a really quiet humming.
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has the same problem? What did you do to fix yours?
help!!
this moring i turned on my ipod touch, and it was working fine, i closed the app it was on when i powered it up, and then it went to the menu screen like normal, then I opend my “myspace” app, the screen went white and had a crazy buzzing noise being emitted! I tried everything, i held the power button down, adn the menu button down and i even tried holding them push at the same time. Its still white and flashing, i cant even turn it off! I’m extremely worried, this has never happened before, and i always take good care of my ipod.
Do you have any idea what the problem could be?
my ipod nano froze up on my went looking on the net and found this page. gave it the smack down OMG!!! it works now.
THANKS,.,.,.,
Mi iPod 4GB froze, stuck on now playing while I was selecting a song, and I don’t hear a “click of death” coming from it. Please help! I tried smacking it around a few times.
Agh 4G not 4GB sorry lol
Yet, again! I made a mistake. I just checked and it was 4GB.
Sorry for the trouble, lol…
Mine is stuck in lock,
It has been for two days now.
How do you fix that without getting a new one?
It used to be i had to like barely push the lock thing over and it would work.
Now it just doesnt at all.
Any help?
I fixed my Ipod. It was frozen. There was no lock screen showing it was frozen in restore point. I reset the ipod. (on button and menu button pushed down at same time)I let go of the on button and kept the menu button pushed down and with Itunes up on my computer I plugged the ipod in and it let me restore it. Now here is the deal you itunes must be completely up to date and you must have all ipod updates on there as well. I don’t know how many times I did this exactly this way and nothing helped till I looked for ipod updates through Itunes. Once I got it which was only about a week ago or when ever I made my first posting on here. It worked just fine. Now it works like new. Don’t get a new one just keep dinking with it till you get it. Eventually it will work.
My ipod went into the wash a few days ago. It’s been through this kind of treatment before (twice actually) and within 5 minutes of connecting to the computer and resetting it, it has been fine. However, this time when I tried to reset it, it didn’t do anything. I plugged it into the computer and itunes automatically wanted to restore it. It no longer had any of my personalization included and I couldn’t access the songs on it. I tried to restore it, but itunes just lost connection to the ipod. I kept it plugged in for a while to charge it. I held menu and select and it started to reset. It just was stuck on reset. I turned lock on, held select and menu again, then turned lock off and it reset, but now it won’t even respond to doing THAT. It is an 8GB 3rd Gen Nano. Please help if possible.
My ipod has locked i have tried whacking it around i can hear the hard drive spinning, the battery seems endless after 3 days its still going strong , the computer fails to recognize it any advice.
just got it working if you hear harddrive spinning but whacking it doesn’t work or anything else hold down select and menu then it will return to apple logo start to click and a simple whack should do the trick
I have an 80gb classic but the click wheel in my ipod is screwing around. i can scroll through the menu and it registers when i want to turn my ipod on but as soon as i want to select something or do anything else it isn’t registering. it is still registering with the computher. what do i do?
Everything on this site has hepled up to now.
I unfroze the 30 gig, reloaded using the ipod updater, but now it
wants an external power supply to finish the job.
Is there a specific external power supply or will the Belkin ipod power supply?
It won’t get past the plug in the adaptor picture on the c\screen.
HELP!!
Holy crap, I gotta join the ranks of the knee-method worshippers.
My ipod was as dead as can be, but after a solid 3 minutes of beating up on it in frustration…voila! It’s back! It’s a miracle! Thank you.
I have hp ipod that just froze up and It also has the lock symbol on it and its been like that for a few minutes allready can someone plz help out.
One solid whack against my knee with the edge of my 4th gen iPod and the whirring/clicking sound went away. Call me a believer.
I dont want to sound stupid but I read some comments and it said to hold the hard reset botton. is this botton on my ipod ( a 4GB silver new ipod nano the square not rectangular one) because I looked and I cant find it. my ipod wont come on and it wasnt dead before. I have tried charging it but nothing happens. HELP!
My nano 4G Model no. A1236 it was working
but now the screen is just blank white and when i touch the click wheel i hear it click.
i connected it to the itunes and everything was ok
no still has that white screen
so i don’t know what wrong with it
help on whats wrong and what to do?
My ipod classic doesnot work when i connect it to system or use it.. else wen i connect it to charger it shows charged symbol and is working..wen in system it shows a dull apple symbol with screen blinking on it……
any one please help me…….
My iPod touch does not work. The screen is just black and it looks like it’s totally dead. Does not respond to charging, usb connection, holding the buttons down.
Any advice?
heyy i just just got my ipod touch and was trying to upload music but i have a passcode on it it said i had to unlock it first but even when i unplugged it it showed a sign of the end of the plug that goes into the computer underneath the itunes sign and it wont go away!! im really scared its broken any advice or anyone had this happen?? email me at 13sjackson@msad49.org thanks for any help
my third generation ipod is completley frozen on the song circus by britney spears i love her and me and my boyfrend andrew who isa insanely hot and high are goin to her concert in april. anyways it isa frozen and wont do anything do you guys think that leaving it in the steamroom with a waterproof case damages it forever cuz that isa kinda wat i did :/
i smashed it on the shower door and now it justa has a big scratch on the screen thank you very much.
help me!
- vaana
OMFG;
um; smaking dont work on nano;s
but holding the menubuttun and center button down WORKS (L)
ilovethissite B)
My Ipod 2nd Generation is Frozen on pause on a song and wont do a thing. You cant even do that apple 5 r’s and its not excepting any input. HELP!!!!!!!
my ipod is totally broken
i would try what #4 says but my ipod wont turn off. it keeps showing the apple logo and then turns on for a second and then turns off and then starts that same cycle all over again.when i plug it into my computer it says “Syncing Do Not Disconnect” and then when its done syncing it starts to disconnect itself and freezes on “OK To Disconnect”.I safely disconnect it from the computer,reset it, and then it just starts that cycle again.this is the second time ive had an ipod with this problem!! does anyone know what to do??
how do you fix a(n) Iopd that keeps locking all the time when litening to songs
my iPod nano gets frozen, then when i reset the iPOD,
it stays at the logo in stead of the menu display
Ok. So I have a 1g 2gb ipod nano. Right when I got it it had that clicking noise, but only when plugged into a computer. When I plugged it up into my wall charger, the screen would just go white. It wouldn’t show up on my computer or my iTunes. I read almost all of these and none of them seemed to have the same problem as me. So. I decided to plug the ipod into the wall charger and then do the menu+center button thing. Then after about 10 seconds, i switched my finger from the menu button to the play button. After about 10 more seconds, i plugged it back up into my computer. It made a beeping noise and it started working! Except for the screen is still white. Any help on that?
I have the the red x. I need help badly. Nothing seems to be working
hold Menu + center button….it really works
ok im scared my 4th gen 8gb ipod befroe when i was playing aegirs fire it kept restarting then at school it was fine but when i got it out again it was off and wouldnt turn on at home i plugged it in after half an hour it said it was corrupted so i restored it then it said it couldnt restore and still wont turn on plz help=(
my ipod 4th gen is frozen and it has the lock pic up. it has the connected, don’t disconnect up and it is stuck with the same time, i’ve tried all the normal stuff but it isn’t working, help
OMG!!!!!!!I thought my ipod was totally broken. It was making that clicking noise (click of death)and kept trying to charge going from the faint logo to please wait battery very low message. So after reading blog after blog for two weeks and no results I stumbled upon this site and #4 and DEFINITLY #6 was on point. After two weeks of not working and I thought it was already broken I said what the hell I can’t do anymore damage. So I hit my ipod on both sides (not the back or front side)across my knee and it popped back into diagnostic mode and from there I was able to restore it luckily my husband had over 90% of my music stored on his mac and the rest I was able to copy from my itunes library on my windows computer. Thanks #4 and #6 for the info!!
Whew… I have a ipod nano 3rd generation. I’d been trying for a couple hour’s to get it unstuck but number 66 really worked!!!
Thanks!!!
My ipod (4th generation nano) is no longer recognized by itunes and when plugged in freezes itunes.
When I unplug it all it says is: Connected Eject before connecting and will not do anything not even shut down.
I tried ejecting form my computer but it says it can’t because the device is busy.
my ipod 3rd gen is stuck on lock and will not show if it is charging. when I plug it into my computer it says that it has a hardware problem and that the ipod has been corrupted. is there a way to fix it here or do I have to send it somewhere, and if I do where can I send it to?
my ipod nano is silver and its one of the short and stubby kind. the middle button (inbetween the play, skip, and menu buttons) is frozen i tried everything. everything else works, it just wont let me get to my playlist, it is stuck in the menu section. can anyone help please, i really need my ipod to run.
Can anyone help ? Been trying to reset 30GB ipod and wipe it clean,been toggling it and holding centre button and menu with no success. Thanks
I bought a used ipod because i was tired of other mp3 players that are limited on space. I drive a truck and don’t want to changing CDs ever hour and a half. however after having the ipod a week the audio has stopped. the ipod says it is playing and i have not had any other problems. Is there a known problem with the audio boards in ipods? Please help if you can. oh, I am technically able to do repairs but no one seems to want repair men any more as i make more money driving a semi truck.
My 8GB ipod nano froze and would not come off the lock.. I held down the centre and menu button for about 10 seconds an apple screen came up then it was fine :)
I need help to fix my beloved ipod.
My first generation ipod nano has the lock button frozen. It responds when I put it in the computer and on my dock; I can even play music by using the controls on my dock.
But the buttons on the ipod are completely insensitive and the lock button signal won’t go off.
I’ve tried smacking it around on my knee, but it won’t work.
Can anyone give some suggestions please?
This thread still live?
Three people have already talked about a problem where after resetting, it freezes on the select language screen.
I have the same fault (I’ve run all the diagnostic tests and everything reports back A-OK).
Anyone familiar with a remedy?
5th Generation iPod Video. I’m stuck at the apple screen with no backlight. When I hold down Menu + Center, my iPod screen goes blank for about a second and then the apple screen is back.
It’s not responding to any of the button combos.
I’m not getting any backlight or any clicks either.
Banging it around and dropping it on the floor several times didn’t do anything either.
my ipod fell. screen lit up but no words. could still use click wheel and listen to songs tho. i pressed menu and center button and… NOW IT FLASHES DOES TWO BEEPS EVERY 20 SECS OR SO AND WON’T PLAY MUSIC AT ALL wtf is the solution????!!!!?!?!?!?!?
Suggestion #31 worked!!!! You just have to hold it down for a few moments!!! Thanx!( DO NOT TRY BANGING IT AROUND, IT DOESN’T WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
my 4th gen 20G ipod has been totally acting up on me. it freezes after about 5 minutes. the backlight remains on and in play mode but theres no sound. it stays this way until the battery drains. I’ve tried banging it around, even tossing it on the carpeted floor. And when it is working, after a full charge, the battery lasts maybe a few hours at continuous play. I am about ready to throw it against the wall or onto the street just to watch it come apart. I updated it and reset it. And now the only option left is a reboot, which I don’t want to do. Any suggestions?
You guys are fantastic. Using one the suggestions, I held down the MENU and CENTRE bottons simultaneously and viola IT WORKED my ipod unfroze. Thanks again guys.
hey my 5th gen ipod won’t restore it’s self and itunes won’t restore it keep sayin that it needs to restore it’s self but it wont work wat should i do plez help me email me at wicked-angels@hotmail.com
OMG!! my ipod nano froze up and i dont know what happened??
but thanks to this web sight my ipod is working again so THANK YOU!!!!!
My ipod 5th gen was frozen so I did the reboot (menu & clickwheel). It then said I needed to connect it to my pc and use Itunes to restore. I plugged my pod into my pc and loaded itunes. It reconized something wasn’t right and wanted to do a restore. I selected update and it trys to and then I get an message “The ipod “ipod” could not be restored. An unknown error occured [1437]. I’ve seen several postings on the web that all you do is reboot and everything is fixed. I’ve tried all kinds of things, and still doesn’t work.
Please help!
I had the sad face on my ipod and after reading these post i tried everything. The only the thing that worked was chucking at the floor. Can’t believe this worked. I didn’t throw it that hard and i have carpet but still. I’m amazed that its back…..but for how long?
My 4th generation Ipod is stuck on a folder, and it won’t respond whenever I press menu…What should I do?
Frustrated with my 3rd gen nano. I’m concerned I have ‘over-charged’ it by leaving on a dock for 2 days without listening to it – Is this possible? It hasn’t worked since then. Have tried everything suggested: toggling the lock switch, recharging it through my mac in case the battery had been drained accidently in my bag, pressing all combinations of buttons. Even resorted to a gentle ’smack around’. Nothing!!! arggghhhh
Oh and itunes isn’t recognising it when it is connected to my mac
HEY GUYS, MY IPOD NANO WAS STUCK ON HOLD AND I READ ELSEWHERE TO TAKE THE HOLD BUTTON OUT AND USE A PIN TO FLICK THE SWITCH BUT THIS DIDN’T WORK!! SO I PRESSED THE CENTRE AND MENU BUTTONS AND IT WENT BACK TO NORMAL, UNFORTUNATELY I DID THIS TO LATE AND NOW THERE ARE LITTLE SCRATCHES NEXT TO THE HOLD BUTTON =[
I connect it and it says it is in recovery mode and in order to use it I need to restore it. No surprise, I expected that. I click restore and enter my admin password. It seems to begin the process but then kicks out a warning that says it cannot restore because iPod is busy.
Alright everyone, so maybe about two weeks or so, my Ipod refused to turn on anymore.
I got the little Ipod icon with the x’s for eyes.
I suspect I got water in it, since the top white part came off from wear and tear over the years, and I tend to leave it on my Ihome when I take a shower. So it’s possible water vapor could’ve gotten in there as well.
Problem is, it’s been dried for a week now, but still no luck.
I’ve tried smacking it around, but probably not enough as I should have.
Any ideas?
One trick that has worked for me: If your iPod was formatted for Windows, find someone with a Mac and reformat it as a Mac hard drive. If it was formatted on a Mac, reformat it on a Windows PC. That may restore its functionality under iTunes. You can then reformat it in the format you desire for your regular iTunes use.
All of a sudden only flashes the Apple Screen over and over. I believe I’ve read every post by now. I have a iPod Nano (Mac) Below are all the things I’ve tried with NO results.
1) Select+Menu – 10 Times
2) Disk Mode Restore – 5 times
3) Ran Diagnostics. Select+Prev Key (all 14 items)
4) Banged it around
5) Ran Mac Disk Utility –
5) Ran Disk Warrior in Disk Mode (Rebuild) No errors
Since the drive is recognized I assume it working OK. I’m at a loss.
My 3rd gen ipod just stopped working and I can’t find the ‘fix” anywhere. The lock switch logo on the screen won’t disappear even though I tried the lock on/off and menu/centre button. I’ve restored the ipod and there’s communication between itunes and the hardware. However, I still can’t listen to anything, the #$%#$% lock logo is still appearing. I even tried banging the ipod. Nothing works. Any ideas?
Someone told me to put it in the ‘quick freeze’ part of my fridge for half an hour – anyone braver than I am…. :-)
Saying that, mine is out of warranty so why not… I’ll let you know.
Umm… Last Monday, I dropped my iPod on the tile floor, and if I “reset” the iPod 100 times it will work, but then if you move it even the slighest, it will freeze up again. Its a first generation and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas to fix it?
Thanks <3
My Ipod Classic has frozen on Low Battery and the screen is on Connect to power. We have connected to power but it is still frozen… Can someone help me fix the problem please???
okay i have joined the ranks of the frosen on locked position people. Throwing,beating,restoring DOESNT WORK!!!!!! help me i’m freaking out. and the dumb thing won’t die cuz it won’t use power beacuse it is locked. and the menu center button thing won’t work beacuse the buttons are locked!!!
I have a ipod 80gb and when i try to turn it on the apple log comes on and then the next thing i get on my screen is an x sign in circle and under it is visit http://www.apple.com/support/ipod and my ipod does not come up on itunes and my system
omg thanks for the smacking thing….my ipod was frozen on hold for hours even tho it wasnt on hold…i even cried myself to sleep after many attempts of trying to recovering my ipod with itunes which completley froze itself…after i read this…i tried smacking it a couple of times…and tried resetting it and it works perfectley…THANK YOU
I have the same problem as a few others here, but couldn’t find a solution that worked.
I have a 5th gen Ipod video that is stuck on hold. Tried resetting it, ran a system restore on it twice, tried the smacking thing, even went so far as to open it up and replace the hold switch assembly – and it still doesn’t work! Is it a problem with my hard drive? What gives? Any one have a fix for this?
Thanks!
My 30 GB classic ipod just randomly stopped working. The screen is completely black but it keeps blinking white every now and then. I have tried everything. I hooked it up to my computer hoping that by charging it, it’ll go back to normal, but it isn’t even recognized. Please help me.
My Apple Ipod 4GB Product Red just barely 1 year old just stopped working the Wheels nothing works even when i tried reseting it and also smacking on it. Its crazy cuz i’ve not put too many stufs on it. Its charging now i only get to listen to it by the shake control but nothing else seems to work fucking pissed off pls HELP?
if your ipod is stuck in that screen with the apple logo (reset mode) and yur ipod is a 4g, u just have to do this, and trust me it works coz i was up allnight lookin at websites that dnt help so i did my own this and it wrked XD
just hold down select and menu (middle button and the top one) for 6-10 seconds, then let go and quickly press the select button and the bottom button and hold for about 15 seconds
it goes into disk mode so the plug it in and reset the default stuff and it starts downloading the settings agen.
Banging your iPod works! My very reliable resource told me his mom’s neighbor’s friend’s ex-wife’s son-in-law got his similarly described iPod to work by banging it with a hammer… and then bought a new one!
Seriously, if by chance banging it works (it’s possible), you’re only putting a bandaid on something more serious. Back up all your stuff and see if Apple can fix it or sell it for parts. Either way, it’s well on the way to crapping out for good.
If you’re more technically inclined, there are a lot of FAQs out there on restoring your iPod.
- Battery dead? There are a lot of places out there that sell batteries and replacement kits.
- Stuck on the logo? Try resetting it (flick the hold button on then off, push and hold the center button + menu until it blanks and resets)
- Totally farked? Put it in disk mode (Reset then hold the center button + play when it blanks). If it says disk mode, you’re in luck. Grab the latest version of iTunes, select your device and hit RESTORE. This will put the iPod back to it’s original factory state. And yes you will lose everything. Better working than useless.
- Nothing works? Grab a hammer and pound your frustrations away! … or, hit up your local Apple store or try your luck at Apple.com to see if they will repair it.
I have an 80gb Classic and when it gets down to about 30gb’s it stops syncing and does not disconnect. Unsure as to the cause. I have tried re-installing the software no help. Any ideas?
I am extremely afraid that my iPod is gone forever. It’s a 5th gen 30gb video iPod, and I’ve had it for about 2-3 years. The backlight is off, but I can see the main menu. The ‘hold’ or ‘lock’ icon is there, but it’s not really on hold. It stays that way even if I toggle it repeatedly. I’ve tried to reboot (center & menu, etc.), charging it (the computer does not acknowledge the iPod, and the iPod does not react in any way either), and even giving it a few good whacks on the knee. Nothing. I can’t even hear the insides of the iPod clicking/moving. It’s been this way for about 2 hours now and I’m getting anxious. Any help, please?
My iPod works again. It was on the main menu screen for a day and a half. I looked at the screen earlier and it was unexpectedly blank. With baited breath I plugged it in to charge and… VOILA! The screen lit up. No known method was proved to work, though.
“With baited breath”
LOL. I meant ‘bated’. That is all :)
I need help PLEASE>>>my ipod is not working at all. When you plug it into the computer it works fine but as soon as you take it out it goes blank and no matter what you do it doesn’t work. Resetting it and hitting it a couple times didn’t help neither…PLEASE HELP ANYONE!! :[[[[
I Didn’t Have The “Click Of Death” But It Had Frozen In the Lock PostionI Tried Post #6 The Whack And It Really Worked Gave It A Little Tap In Each Corner Then Held Down The Menu And Centre For The Reset And It Worked :D Thanks So Much
When i play a game the game frozen on and i can not comeplet the game…..SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE=[
If your nano i-pod is stuck in LOCK mode and frozen then hold down CENTER BUTTON and MENU (as someone suggested earlier) and it will reboot itself and be fine! I was freaking out that mine was toasted but this actually worked. Try this before whacking it! Thanks for the advice!!
Umm… this is probably on here somewhere, but my 30gb classic stopped working suddenly when I was jogging. Now the screen keeps blinking and it isn’t responding to the “menu + center” thingy or plugging into itunes. I think maybe I might have perspired on it while jogging. Would that impact it at all? Maybe it over-heated. I don’t know. I’m a tech moron.
I’ve got exactly the same problem (with the same ipod) as #338. The computer doesn’t recognize my ipod. When the ipod is not connected via USB I can’t get it to do anything at all, just a black screen (I’ve tried all combinations of button pushing, smacking the thing around, etc.). When I connect it to my mac a dim, flashing apple icon appears and continues flashing indefinitely. If I try holding down the center button with the menu button while it’s connected, this momentarily alters the pace of the flashing, but does nothing more. Any help? Anyone? Please!
Okay. I go to sync my iPod to my iTunes, right? And then my computer (which is ridicously sloow quits responding and shuts ITSELF down WHILE my iPod was syncing. Now my iPod is stuck in LOCK and SYNC mode. I have a 3rd Generation iPod nano. What do I do? I’ve tried EVERYTHING on here!!! I’m soooo frustrated! The smacking thing didn’t work. Mighta killed my iPod, but I think it’s dead anyway. Somebody help me!!!!!!!!!
reply 33 worked in 2 seconds for my 60 G, Hold Menu and Center buttons same time, it rebooted, no smacking, banging
my ipod is stuck but only when i put on charging it works even though the battery is full and then when i unplug it frm da charger it hangs again
Hi everyone, I have an 80 GB video Ipod that just froze upon loading a video and it is stuck on a black blank screen that shows a play button on the top left hand corner, and the battery power on the top right hand corner, I tried rebooting it and it will NOT turn off. Does anyone know how I can fix this problem? if so I would greatly appreciate it, Thanks.
what do you sugest when it has the circle with an x in it? i tried the disk mode but i think i did it wrong. does the hard bang wor for this too?
DONT SMACK!!!!!! Theres always a less violent way to fix your frozen on lock ipod, try the menu and centre button together it only takes a few seconds. Do it with the switch in unlock.
I turned my iPod on and went to charge it. my brother had an old charger, and I used that because I had lost mine. As soon as a plugged it in it froze in pause. I cant do anything to get it to unfreeze or even turn off.
Im assuming this happened because my brothers charger wasnt nessicarly made for my version of the iPod or something of the sorts.
I was just wondering if any of you have seen this and would know what to do.
Amazing! the internet is a wonderful thing!! number 352 worked! My 4th generation ipod completely froze up without any response… i tried smacking it on my knee, i tried resetting it, but nothing worked! I pressed the menu and middle button together and BAM!! It worked! Thankyou!!
THANK YOU number 352!!! i was sitting here for an hour reading everything then i got down to the bottom and found your and it worked. Im so relieved! Im gonna tell my friends about it so they dont smack their ipod half to death like I did and then find out that you didnt even need to! Thanks!
banging knee only hurt. thanks though. found this tip on an apple forum. and it worked.
my ipod get frozen when i was listening to music.
its simple to resolve this.
you have to slide the Hold switch to HOLD and back again. Press the Menu and Center buttons at the same time for about 6 seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
Excellent! Thanks very much #352, Jeremy Clark, I was almost about to smack my 6th generation 160GB iPod around when I saw your post. It was frozen and completely unresponsive. I tried your technique and you fixed it for me.
I am very grateful for your post.
Cheers Mate.
PLEASEEE HELP :(
My Ipod Nano 3 Gen is stuck on a black screen. It will not turn on or respond to anything. before it went black, it made the noise of a waking up alarm ? I’m not sure what it is all about , but I need my BABY FIXED. D:
I’ve tried restoring with Itunes, hard resetting, sticking a pin in the hold button, whacking the darn thing. Nothing works! My iPod has only frozen up once before and I was able to get it back working by resetting. There’s only one thing I could think of that may have caused this. Sweat from working out may have shorted the hard drive.
my ipod is stuck on the select language screen and is unresponsive to everything ive done. any advice?
OMG! #105, Ryan!
Thanks a bunch, I was so bummed b/c I thought my 2gb i-pod was comatose-locked but the menu and center button really did the trick! THANKS SO MUCH!! I feel like a monkey who was on the verge of banging my i-pod desperately on my knees! ;D
Thank you guys _so_ much! I accidentally turned my ipod photo on just before unlocking it _and_ plugging it into my iTrip. (Hey, I was multitasking a bit too much. :)) My ipod would only show “now playing” when I clicked on a song. I took your “whack a mole” advice–and it works like a charm. Gracias mondo, dudes!!! :)
OMG! I had the ‘click of death’ happen with my U2 ipod and did the banging around technique I read at the beginning of this blog and it worked!!!!! Yay!! I am a writer and had a really important interview on it which I thought I had lost forever! Thank you so much!
I am so thoroughly impressed with how folks will report a problem and all those incredible responses out there to help – and for nothing in return. I have a 30 mg iPod (don’t know generation – mine’s old!!!) that just froze in the middle of a song. Googled for info and found this site. I tried talking, threatening then whacking! Nothing. Then I found a comment suggesting holding down the Menu and Center button. In about 10 seconds it was restored to just the Apple logo. So plugged it in to my Macbook and voila! Music has returned to my life. Each of you are to be commended for your generous and giving spirit.
my ipod nano 4g 8gb is stuck on the apple logo sceen i tried smacking it on the table and it worked for a minute then it froze again.
plz reply back!!!!!!
Found the trouble shooting tips very helpful. My ipod was stuck on pause and I tried various things, to no avail.
Toggling the hold button freed it up and I was able to do a reset.
Thanks!
Seriously considered NO6 advise and when I did exactly was was said to do I heard my hard drive spinning then all of a sudden it stopped. What has happened to my ipod classic? The click wheel is not engaging at all. No matter what I do or how I do it…nothing!!!!!
omg thank you so much my old ass ipod isnt on lock mode after i banged the shit outta it and i was so sick of listening to the damn radio. thanks :)
So I accidentally dropped my ipod in a puddle and didn’t realize it was there until 2 days later .. like an idiot. When I finally found it I put it in rice for a few days. After that when I put it on my ipod dock it played the songs perfectly but all the screen does is blink so I can’t see what I’m doing. Any suggestions?
Smacking is definately for the Click of Death fix.
my ipod all of a a sudden one morning decided to go ape shit on me and went all white i cant access the commmands and it wont turn on it only glows white when i plug it in and the computer wont read it at all what do i do its really pissing me off please help me!
I got a aplle ipod 30gb video…but i don’t know what happend..
its blocked on aplle logo..how cand i repere it ? pls help
Can’t put Ipod mini into disk mode cuz the play button seems to not work. All other parts of the click wheel work. I replaced the battery and was careful to disconnect the molex cable before I slid out the motherboard but now have the trouble above.
Any ideas??????????
I had the same problem as #9 and I cou8ldnt find any answers to the problem so i saw some people were saying to bang it so i did against my knee and it turned on! I also saw someone says that it dosnt work, well it does!
okay so i plugged in my ipod nano 4gb it says connected eject before disconnecting okay that went fine but now it has a lock sign and and the battery has a thunder sign on it and it is frozen please help
thank u leah 344 done as u suggested worked
My Ipod Nano 5th Generation is off and won’t turn on. I have tried whacking it.king it around and it doesn’t work. I have also tried have tried charging it and plugging it in the computer. It just won’t respond. What do I do?!!!!!!!!
Okay I thought nothing was working. My 3rd generation ipod was stuck and I smacked it on a table! Didn’t work! MENU AND CENTER BUTTON WORKED FOR ME, THANKS ASHLEY!!!!!
i had a ipod nano. I stopped using it cause i got a 80GB ipod. However, for the first time i used the nano charger in the 80GB i pod, it was ok…. Listened 2 ma music all day an the battery died. Trying to get it charged now and nothing happens…no sound, no charging light, no apple sign, nothing…tried resetting and that didnt work either…. all i see is a flash of light in the screen jus for a split second, like a lightening flash…
my ipod 4g nano is being retarded. this morning it was working fine except the backlight would not come on. you could kinda see the screen but barely. then i dropped it, and then i would not work at all. screen showed the song that was playing, and that song was stuck playing. It would not respond to any imput. so then i used the center button+menu trick and it restarted, but no apple logo. just a completely blank screen and 2 beeping sounds, no music, no nothing. so then i went through an entire school day w/ it in my pocket, and when i got home i plugged it into my computer and restored it. still nothing. after restoring 3 times, i could get songs to play and could get the shake shuffle to work but nothing else. the screen stays blank and sometimes if i leave it paused or leave it playing music for too long, it will freeze and need to be reset w/ center button+menu again. i have tried everything, including hitting it. can anybody plz help?
Hi I have a 80GB IPOD that became frozen. I did the soft reboot 5 times and no luck. I then reset it via ITunes to the factory settings still no luck. Then I got a message to say that it was not working because it needed v7.6 (I think) so I upgraded it to the new version 9???. I then sync it and uploaded all my songs again. It is now just displaying the Language page but will not let me scroll or select any language. Can anyone please hell?
Plugged in Ipod as it was experiencing battery death and little “wheel” was spinning on screen. Ooops! Wrong thing to do. Thank goodness for the net and this page. First time I tried center button and top on-off button together, I got a good re-boot. This ipod is only 2 weeks old and BRAND NEW and NEVER came with ANY warranty information. The only thing I can guess is that Apple rakes in the money forcing you to repurchase a very expensive toy or do without even when it is a brand new lemon!!
I have a 4th gen ipod chromatic nano, and the screen is blank. when i put it to reset it will go black then back to white and beep twice. what should i do
After smacking my ipod 4th gen about, quite severly, i stumbled upon holding Menu + Centre button, works a treat!! thanks for everyone who suggested it!
i have an apple a1236 i pod..it suddenly got off wen i clicked the shuffle songs option,its not getting on nor connecting to the computer.it doesn’t display anything…could some one pl help me
HI…
I HAVE A IPOD NANO AND I DONT KNOW WAHT TO DO BECAUSE MY IPOD JUST STAYED ON. ALSO I HAVE IT CONNECTED ON THE COMPUTER AND IT DOESNT RESPOND.. COULD SOME PLEASE HELP ME FIX MY IPOD PLZZZZ…
AB,
If you have an ipod classic (the first classic generation,80 or 160 GB)
do not use itunes 9.
There is a chance that it will kill your ipod.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2151907&start=420&tstart=0
Apple doesn’t say anything, so still more people lose there ipod.
Good Luck
no memory after i restored my ipod it will not let me sync what can i do? no songs at all I’m sad can you help? Thanks Sharon
WOW! This post has been running for almost 4 years now!
Also, I just fixed a bricked 4th gen ipod click wheel by the “smack” technique. Thank you!
my ipods clicker really dosent want to work its unresponsive ive tried reseting it leaving it until its battery dies and rebooting it after and the restore button on the itunes menu that didnt work either im just now trying the ‘’smack it” technique its not working yet but ima keep trying but if it dosent any other suggestions?
I have a big red x showing on my ipod classic 80GB. What can I do? Its driving me crazy and I dont think the smacking thingy works for me … any help please?
Press and hold play and middle button it will take you to disk mode then itunes will recognize it you can do factory restore then reload your music.
Hiiya I recently locked my ipod and realise I’d forgotten the combination. I wanted to restore the iPod to get it working again, but I didn’t want to lose all of my songs and other data. I realised that when I plugged my iPod in and iTunes came up it ad automatically been unlocked! I don’t know if it was just luck, but anyone with the same problem should try this before restoring their iPod and removing all data . Hope this helps
So.. I’ve got a 30gb iPod 5th Generation Video.
I’ve tried everything here – Whacking it against my knee, disk mode, Menu, Centre buttons, Play buttons, forward and back button, and after i’ve tried every thing on this site, it’s still not working.
Then i tried whacking it against the corner of my desk.. and all i got was a few dead pixels on my iPod now. Great.
It’s stuck on the backlight ‘apple’ screen and the bugger won’t get off it.
Grr… any responses? all are greatly appreciated. I hate it when i have to live without my music ):
My older ipod nano 2GB freezes sometimes and the screen gets frozen between the menu & what I am trying to listen to – pressing the center button and menu together and holding for a few seconds gets it to restore–thanks Ashley for remining me of the sequence.
The SMACK AROUND THING WORKS!! .. I chucked mine on the ground with some force after trying everything possible and it started working imediatly !!
Thanks susan
80 gig classic with a hard drive froze on a song. Smacking and dropping on carpet didn’t work.
Simply holding the center button and menu button made it shutoff then I turned it on again and voila it works again. Phew.
Okay so i tried the whole “hold the center and menu” thing, it worked the first time my ipod stopped working,so this time i thought it would work and it brought me to a black screen with the apple logo showing only. I plugged it into the computer and NOTHING ive also tried smacking it around and NOTHING. it wont do anything and im sick of the radio PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!
Need help with hp ipod 30gb. I have reset it tons of times. But the screen keeps going from the apple to Language menu and it won’t let me go past the language menu. I have run the diagnostic test and restore it. I did plug it into itunes and it gave a Don Not Disconnect but I was able to sync songs but when thru it went back to the Language menu. How do I get past it?
thanks ninjapaper your the best #259
Not sure if my ipod problem is one that’s already on here, but I couldn’t read thru all 400 posts… I have a 5th gen ipod nano. I was listening to it my car today and then all of a sudden it stopped playing. When I got home I connected the ipod to my Itunes and it said “itunes has detected an ipod in recovery mode. You must restore ipod before it can be used with Itunes.” I clicked ok, then restore, and after a few seconds of it trying to restore something pops up that says “The ipod “ipod” cannot be restored. An unknown error occurred (1437)”. Any ideas what to do??? Thank u!!