Fixing a Frozen iPod
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.
April 1st, 2006 at 4:58 pm
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.
April 2nd, 2006 at 5:02 pm
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?
April 2nd, 2006 at 9:01 pm
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.
April 3rd, 2006 at 5:30 pm
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.
April 5th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
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!
April 12th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
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.
April 12th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
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’…
April 13th, 2006 at 8:03 am
The “technique” works! Just fixed it…was afraid to so but then went back to place.
April 14th, 2006 at 8:22 am
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?
April 19th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
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!
May 2nd, 2006 at 11:37 am
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!!!
May 3rd, 2006 at 9:12 pm
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.
May 3rd, 2006 at 10:52 pm
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.
May 6th, 2006 at 9:24 am
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!
May 6th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
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.
May 9th, 2006 at 10:49 am
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.
May 11th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
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.
May 13th, 2006 at 7:08 pm
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
May 25th, 2006 at 7:47 am
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!
May 27th, 2006 at 11:27 pm
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
May 28th, 2006 at 8:15 am
Yup. My 4G 20GB ipod has just been bought back to life by smacking it on a mousemat a couple of times :)
May 29th, 2006 at 6:47 am
OMG. Thank you so much!
Quality tip #6, and agreed…well satisfying :D
May 29th, 2006 at 6:05 pm
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
May 29th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
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!!!!!
May 31st, 2006 at 7:31 am
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?
May 31st, 2006 at 11:31 am
The smacking worked great thanks!
May 31st, 2006 at 3:09 pm
I just found this, having had my 60Gb drive go wonky again. I can also confirm it works. Precision engineering, 0, brute force 1.
June 3rd, 2006 at 8:26 am
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
June 3rd, 2006 at 1:58 pm
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.
June 3rd, 2006 at 9:13 pm
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.
June 4th, 2006 at 9:19 am
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.
June 7th, 2006 at 12:02 am
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
June 7th, 2006 at 10:20 am
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…
June 9th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
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
June 11th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
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!
June 22nd, 2006 at 4:56 am
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.
June 23rd, 2006 at 11:11 am
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…
June 27th, 2006 at 6:38 am
The banging on the knee technique worked for my 5th gen IPod as well. Recommend it.
June 28th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
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
June 29th, 2006 at 9:20 am
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!!!
July 2nd, 2006 at 5:26 am
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!!!
July 2nd, 2006 at 12:17 pm
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
July 2nd, 2006 at 8:48 pm
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.
July 9th, 2006 at 3:47 pm
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?
July 12th, 2006 at 4:58 am
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?
July 13th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
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!!
July 17th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
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…
July 26th, 2006 at 2:33 am
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.
July 30th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
I agree with almost everyone here. Who would have thought a few forceful love-nudges would fix the problem. Thanks a lot!
July 31st, 2006 at 12:17 am
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.?
July 31st, 2006 at 8:54 am
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?
July 31st, 2006 at 4:00 pm
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)
July 31st, 2006 at 5:57 pm
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.
August 5th, 2006 at 7:39 pm
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
August 6th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
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!~^_^
August 6th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
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
August 10th, 2006 at 6:34 pm
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. :[
August 12th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
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
August 15th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
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!!)
August 19th, 2006 at 9:40 am
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
August 19th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
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.
August 20th, 2006 at 8:17 am
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.
August 21st, 2006 at 6:35 am
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 Se