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Simple Fix To iPod Madness?
doce writes "After chunking my seemingly dead iPod off my balcony while reviewing a rubberized case, the darned thing started working again, though not quite perfectly. After taking it apart, I managed to fix it properly just by reseating the hard drive cable. Could this be the cause of all the click-of-death "sad iPod" failures users are seeing?"
Maybe.
Yes.
Hey, you've got something here! Maybe ALL broken Macintoshes can be fixed this way too!!
-:sigma.SB
WARN
THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM
Apple tries so hard to make their hardware look nice and seemless that when it comes to simple little fixes like checking to make sure you're hard drive is plugged in, most people end sending it away for 4 weeks for 5 minutes of labor.
Well, good to see that he tried throwing it off a balcony before he tried taking it apart to see what the problem was...
This guy's the limit!
And that's the maximum this story deserves.
If all that happened was a disconnected hard drive cable, you were lucky, or the rubberized case worked very, very well.
The click of death probably comes from a moving part, and in full-size and mini-iPods (non-nano or shuffle), the only moving part is the hard drive.
Imagine what would have happened if the hard drive of your iPod was actually spinning at a couple thousand RPM when you chucked it off the balcony.
I have to think that bad drives, cracked screens or bad batteries are the biggest hardware problems ipod users face.
Is it plugged in?????
Do you mean chucking?
Creative HD based players all have a problem where they move the headphone connector off the motherboard.
After 6 months the headphones start stuttering and slowly fail. This is due to this problem and can be solved by soldering the wires.
It happened to at least 7 players that I know of and it's a huge problem.
Ipod problems seem worse, but not much worse.
Isn't planned obsolesence fun!
the Universal solution to many problems
Proper Application of Force (ie when in doubt use a hammer)
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
After taking it apart, I managed to fix it properly just by reseating the hard drive cable. Could this be the cause of all the click-of-death "sad iPod" failures users are seeing?"
Maybe Apple has secretly contracted with Iomega for their increased memory supply needs...
You can have my cynical agnosticism when you pry it from my cold, dead logic.
I've had my (4th gen) iPod reach click-of-death stage twice, and both times I've been able to resurrect it by opening the case, and reseating the drive cable. The second time, it seemed to me that the problem was actually the zif socket at the drive end of the cable, which was displaced on one side by about .5mm.
I think the key to knowing whether this is the problem is to put your iPod into test mode, and look at the smart data. If you see lots of retracts, but no reallocs, then (my hypothesis is that) the hard drive isn't dying, it's just being reset a lot (which involves retracting the heads, and hence the audible click), due to transfer errors as a result of the flaky cable connection.
I don't have an iPod (just don't really need an mp3 player) but I have an external hard drive that seemed to die on me after my cat knocked it off my desk. It turned out that the cable in the enclosure had simply come unplugged. I now tell folks when they say a drive died to check the cables. So far, that's been the problem 1 out of 4 times with my customers.
I dream of a better world... one in which chickens can cross roads without their motives being questioned.
Suffice to say, I'm planning on building a Linux box for my next computer. I guess it was a lesson learned. Mr. Jobs had me at "hello", but he lost me at "450 [goddamn] dollars".
I've been through two different 3rd generation iPods with dying/dead hard drives. The second, a 40 GB, was acquired, used, to replace the drive in the first (a 30 GB). That means I popped them both opened and did a drive swap, being extra careful to make sure all connections were properly seated.
The first drive was still dead in its "new" enclosure. The second drive still worked -- but only for a few weeks. After that, it exhibited the same symptoms of clicking and slowly dying over time. No amount of reseating helped.
The hypothesis given in the article may very well apply in many cases, but it is not the cause of all the click-of-death "sad iPod" failures users are seeing.
Say hello to zMac.
Here's a few
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
I have been through 4 ipods in the last week, and the 5th is on the way. iPod #1 I had a 4th generation iPod for about 9 months when I started getting errors saying "unable to read/write to iPod" and after I did a soft reset it wouldn't go beyond the Apple symbol. So I brought it to the Apple store, it was under it's 1 year warranty, but after the 6 month mark, so for $30 shipping and handling, I got a new iPod. iPod #2 In 3 days, I picked up the iPod from the Apple store, brought it home and the SAME @#$#@ problem. "Unable to read/write to iPod" and after a soft reset it wouldn't go beyond the Apple symbol. A second Apple store had just opened up, so I brought it there (and also picked up a MacBook), and same great service: walked in, under warranty, hand me a new iPod. iPod #3 This one got farther than iPod #2, I didn't get any errors while syncing it, but songs were missing in playlists when I started playing songs. I did manage to listen to it for a day. However, after I plugged it into the wall outlet, same problem, it wouldn't go beyond the Apple symbol. So I brought it back to the 1st Apple store. iPod #4 Same problem as iPod #3, no errors while syncing, but missing songs, and then after the battery drained once, it wouldn't move beyond the Apple symbol. This time I called Apple. iPod #5 I don't have this one yet, but they sent me a postage paid DHL mailer to ship iPod #4 back to them. They're trying to track down all 4 of the dead iPods so they can figure out what's wrong with them. I have NO idea. Some used firewire, some used USB 2.0, some were plugged into my Powerbook, some were plugged into a wall charger. I also have a nano and a 30 GB 5th generation iPod without any problems. The only thing I can think of is that it's a bad batch of iPods. The nice lady on the phone said if they can't figure it out then I should call her and she'll see what she can do for me, which I hope means just giving me a 5th generation iPod. I'm really suprised they care so much. Why do they care if they fix a problem with a 4th generation iPod that doesn't appear to be a problem with the latest ones? I mean this time isn't free for Apple or for me. They have technically done a very good job honoring their warranty, but then again for $400, they better be. However, I wish they would find better solutions than giving me broken iPods after I returned iPod #3.
Seriously, all I seem to hear these days are stories of iPod problems, Macbooks overheating, and other such nonsense. And its always about simple things like misapplied thermal paste or loose connections or bad batteries.
Seriously, they're great designers, but they've got to get quality control under control.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
Actually, I had the same challenge with mine. However, I took the crude approach: bang it down very hard on the dashboard, as per instructions I found in the Apple iPod discussion forums (!). It worked, and the poor 'pod has done lots of playing since! Call it the poor man's fix to the clicking of the iPod.
You computer scientists and your crazy loose-cable theories. I just like to believe that the Fonz works in mysterious ways.
ENDUT! HOCH HECH!
Mine's been dead for 6 months, pried it open (was scared to up until this point, decided 'screw it, why not', and its working like a charm now.
Add a small dab of hot glue to the connector next time to keep it from popping open. It won't (shouldn't) damage the plastic, and if you ever have a need to open the connector, the glue can be peeled off with a small amount of force. I used to repair point of sale debit machines, which are constantly being dropped, thrown, punched, etc. Often it's a case of cables popping out or battery leads snapping from an acute case of inertia.
and drop it.
Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking about an Apple III....
Just a few hours ago, my 60 gig photo iPod showed the "saddy" face. Since it has required an almost daily re-boot I thought it finally went TU. Just happened to stumble on this topic. After reading the lead and comments, I tried a last ditch maneuver. This after multiple attempts to boot in the approved manner. Cuing on the balcony toss, sharp blows etc. I gave the machine a sharp downward thrust to a teak table. Think setting a hammer head on a new handle. Reboot normal. 5000+ plus songs, 2600 pics and over 10 gig of data BACK TO LIFE!
Thank you all
The "Throwing it off the balcony" part is just an extreme version of a common fix for stuck harddrives. Giving a dead drive, especially one that is "ticking", a good firm smack will often get it working again. Works best on small (2.5" or smaller) drives. I've resurrected quite a few drives with the same trick, including the one in my Rio Karma, as someone suggests here at riovolution . The way it works is sometimes the heads and/or platters will get stuck, possibly due to suction between the two, and the smack frees them. It often causes minor physical damage (a couple bad blocks), and a drive resurrected this way's days are probably numbered, but its great for fixing drives long enough to get the data off, or in the case of devices with nothing overwhelmingly important on them (like mp3 players) simply getting a few more weeks/months/years of use out of them.
I've never had any actual problems with my old G2 10G iPod except for the expected and understandable issue of battery wear. But a couple weeks ago, I dropped $7.50 for an 1800mAh replacement for the built-in 800mAh battery, and haven't had a problem since. I like having second generation gear when I can get it, because the bugs have been worked out of the first generation toys and the big enhancements are usually kept for the third generation of a consumer electronic device. New iPods seem too small to me, and I really like the solid feel my old iPod has to it.
My only bitch with Apple about this whole thing is that they didn't backport some of the functions new iPods have, like on-the-fly playlists. That's -all- I friggin' want. And no, I am not going to run iPodlinux. I actually don't mind buying from iTMS because it gives me what I want at a reasonable price. Until the RIAA screws that up, at least.
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
"Simple Fix (Score:-1, Troll)"
:(
Heeeeeyyyy...
in general, the vast majority of sad iPods are caused by falls damaging the spinning disk. I used to deal with dead iPods daily, and I saw this kind of thing all the time. It actually is quite difficult to kill an iPod, as it requires a confluence of circumstances, including it being on, having the disk spinning, and then dropping it at just the right angle. Obviously, as the force of impact increases (be it from a fall, etc...), the number of requirements to render it dead, goes down . But, in general, this is my experience... however, I have also seen a number of more creative ways of iPod death. But that's another post. :)
I refuse to engage in a duel of wits with the unarmed.
Once in a blue moon, something other than a wire will fail.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
click ..... the dAMN THING BROKE AGAIN! ARRRRG!
slap -=SMACK=- tinkle
ahhh, that feels better.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
My old Zen Xtra once died due to 'stiction'. This is when the read head gets too close to the platter and sticks to it preventing the HDD from working. The eventual solution was to give it a good hearty whack as it was attempting to spin up, freeing the head and bringing the player back to life.
"After chunking my seemingly dead iPod off my balcony while reviewing a rubberized case, the darned thing started working again, though not quite perfectly."
Once again the proud tradition of percussive maintenance fixes another "broken" electronic device!
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
That's exactly how I kept my old Amiga's 1084s monitor, complete with its whiny flyback, going for years and years - right down to the relaxed palm and loose fingers that whack it slightly after.
My computer died so I threw it out, but then I found out that power was lost to my neighbourhood.
Look, Apple has a warranty plan, and an extended Apple care plan. Call up Apple, tell them about your iPod problems, and they will fix it. Apple's service is top notch, and I know of a few people that returned an iPod and received an upgraded refurbished model. This is true if you have an older generation model that Apple doesn't sell or have refurb stock.
I know that people love to go after the top guy and start stirring up crap about them, but when it comes to Apple's and iPod's, iPods maintain a level of quality that few other consumer electronics products can offer.
Apple will have the same manufacturing nightmares that any other company can have. Steve Job's doesn't caress every iPod as it leaves the factory (although I am sure he would want to). So, your going to get batches with a bad hard drive connection or some other problem, its simply the nature of the game.
But, to pitch it out the window or to write up slanderous articles about iPod and how Apple singled you out and screwed up your life because your iPod failed, well, that is just childish.
Apple has excellent customer service and technical support. Use it. Write an artcle about how good their service was and how quickly you got back a fixed iPod, don't write a story about you throwing a tantrum.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
A friend of mine's IPod died after it fell out of his cart into a rain filled gutter. He let his one-year-old daughter play with it. She would shake it around and drop it on the carpet repeatedly. After she was done playing with it, he picked it up and hit the play button. It worked!
My guess is that his daughter managed to shake it just enough to fix whatever was loose without knocking something else out of place. Of course, he doesn't let her play with the iPod anymore.
It's good to see that Henry Winkler aka Tha Fonz from Happy Days, has left a legacy grander than a thumbs up "ayhhhhh!" and "Jumping the Shark".
;-p
For those too young to remember Happy Days, The Fonz was the only one who could get the Juke Box (a music player) to work at the local hangout... and he did so by hitting it.... all sorts of ways, though I don't recall if he ever threw it off a balcony
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
How about chucking (with a c) rather than dividing the iPod into chunks?
I paid the going retail price for a Windows screen reader and got a free Unix computer!
I object to the practice of referring to iPod misbehavior due to a bad physical drive connection as "click of death".
Those of us who had to deal with Iomega Zip drives know the real meaning of "click of death". It involves drive heads snapping off their arms and the severed stump tearing a horrible gash through the media surface.
You iPod nancies have it easy by comparison.
Actually, hitting your ipod on the upper right hand corner has been lauded as a fix for dying ipods for the last couple o' months on the apple knowledgebase. It is amazing that this actually works.
...my wife purchased an iPod last year, just before the year warranty was up it gave up the ghost, they replaced it with a refurbed model which then failed after four months - 1 month out of the warranty extension. I should also add she spent a fair wodge of cash on an iBook as well, so Apple has done fairly well out of her.
Apple have simply said the same thing over and over - it's not their problem since it's out of warranty - even when confronted with the fact that they are essentially saying it is normal for an ipod to fail after four months.
Never mind the fact that recent cases brought in the UK have said that warranties of only 1 year are insufficient for "luxury" items (items costing several hundred pounds, such as an iPod).
I'm sorry, but you shouldn't have to purchase an extended warranty for an item like this (dish washers costing a little more now come with 5 year warranties) - it's apple trying to be cheap. An item costing this much which has gone through this many hardware revisions (we're not exactly early iPod adopters!) should not fail in as little time as both units we had failed.
Pity, I was about to plonk down the cash to buy a MacBook Pro - money that is now going to another company than Apple - I don't trust their workmanship anymore.
I am NaN
We service iPods where I work and I've seen countless iPods come back with resetting the hd cable as the fix.
A friend of mine had hers in her purse with a bottle of tea. The lid came loose, drenched the iPod. He dad bought her a new one, then opened the old one, which she only received this past Christmas, and closed it again. It worked somehow. It seems that when these things are abused, they work again. And about Apple's warranty? An ex of mine kind of battered his Shuffle, and the guy at the store had no problem exchanging it out for a new one. This has got to be my lamest post ever.
It's a girl!