[coho]

i recently bought a used 2 month old 3rd generation 15gb ipod with firmware version 2.1 from a reputable person off ebay...it is currently formatted for mac and I use pc..so i haven't even used it myself yet but i noticed that when I plugged it in to charge it...it indicated the unit was charging on the lcd screen and everything seemed honky dory. When I came back at a later time to see the screen indicating that it was "charged" and no longer flashing/moving as the manual describes...i unplugged it and to my surprise the battery indicator said it was only half charged? I thought "what the hell?" i recalled reading that if it wasn't used in a while it would do weird things so i plugged it back in...again it said the unit was charging and then when i unplugged it later after it said it was charged...the battery indicator said 3/4 full? I did it 2 more times before it indicated a full charge! Is this normal?

In addition...i haven't used it since but I have noticed that the battery level has dropped...which i understand it normal without use, but...I've noticed that the bloody indicator will start at a certain level once I turn it on...and then increase??? Anyone have any insight? Thanks a lot in advance.

[Mobile Mod]

I have been having nothing but problems with my 15GB ipod that maybe is a few months old. It is to the point where everytime I go to turn it on it resets and erases all my music. I too have the problem where it will say its fullly charged and then when I remove it the indicator is off... AND, everyitme i plug it into the computer (my 17) it fricking does a disk scan... EVERY TIME!!!!. I think I might take it in to best buy and have them swap it for a 20GB (i have that 4 yr plan).

Arg!!!!

Justin

[Lizard7]

I have noticed some strange battery indicator behavior since upgrading my 3G ipod to the latest firmware. It normally shows no more than half a charge after full charging. But, it still lasts for a long time so I assume it's just the indicator being bizarre.

[kpne1home]

Ya, my 10 gb 3rd gen. does the same thing. I charge it and its not full on the indicator but after a couple of minutes of use it goes to full.

[ender]

I'm about to investigate how to DOWNGRADE the firmware on my 15GB iPod. It worked without ever having a problem until I upgraded to 2.1. Now it behaves exactly as described here. Basically, you should ignore the battery indicator after you have charged it. After you've been playing music for 15-20 minutes the indicator will show increase to fully charged and you'll get normal playing time.

What's most frustrating is that everytime I let it charge overnight, the screen is blank the next morning and it's reset itself. And it's been getting worse. Now while it is rebooting, the screen flickers and the horizontal row of pixels in the middle of the screen go crazy! I've not plugged it into my Mac in awhile, and based on the postings here I'm not sure I want to!

[tonton]

Originally posted by coho:
i recently bought a used 2 month old 3rd generation 15gb ipod with firmware version 2.1 from a reputable person off ebay...it is currently formatted for mac and I use pc..so i haven't even used it myself yet but i noticed that when I plugged it in to charge it...it indicated the unit was charging on the lcd screen and everything seemed honky dory. When I came back at a later time to see the screen indicating that it was "charged" and no longer flashing/moving as the manual describes...i unplugged it and to my surprise the battery indicator said it was only half charged? I thought "what the hell?" i recalled reading that if it wasn't used in a while it would do weird things so i plugged it back in...again it said the unit was charging and then when i unplugged it later after it said it was charged...the battery indicator said 3/4 full? I did it 2 more times before it indicated a full charge! Is this normal?

In addition...i haven't used it since but I have noticed that the battery level has dropped...which i understand it normal without use, but...I've noticed that the bloody indicator will start at a certain level once I turn it on...and then increase??? Anyone have any insight? Thanks a lot in advance.

First of all, there's no such thing as a "Mac Formatted" 3rd generation (i.e. docking) iPod. They all work on PCs and Macs without modification.

Secondly, the battery indicator showing partly full after a full charge is a known issue with the current firmware. IT DOES NOT AFFECT YOUR ACTUAL BATTERY LIFE but if you charge again when it's already fully charge you quite possibly could overcharge the battery, causing a HIGHLY reduced life of the battery. Those people who complain about 18 months? They likely overcharged their batteries.

Thirdly, the battery indicator issue only lasts for a few minutes before the indicator rises back up to where it should be. There are so many improvements with the 2.1 firmware that it's surely better to withstand this slight and temporary annoyance for all of the benefits, is it not?