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Chris Allbritton · Jan 29, 2002, 08:54 AM

Hope someone can help me on this one. A friend of mine gave me her iPod (it was a gift to her and she's didn't like it much... go figure.) Anyway, i got it home, and was able -- I thought -- to reset it for me. Even upped the new firmware to 1.04. It now says it belongs to me, I can hook it up to iTunes, etc. So far so good.

The trouble comes when i actually try to use it. It won't play. I can scroll to a song, hit the middle button (or play) and it then looks like it's starting to play (the drive spins up, it feels like) and it just hangs at 0:00. I can scroll the wheel, and it looks like the volume is moving up and down, but if I hit another button, such as prev. song or next song, it just freezes up and i have to two-finger reset. Here's a picture of what it looks like when I hook it up to my Powerbook:

Note the lock in the lower right (which my brother, who also has an iPod, says isn't there on his), and also note the grayed out songs. Any idea on what's going on?

Thanks very much,
chris

Leaping Gnome · Jan 29, 2002, 09:30 AM

Your songs are grayed out if you have the iPod preferences set to 'automatically update' instead of manage manually. I believe that is also why the lock is there. You said you updated to 1.04 right? Instead of doing an update, do a restore. This will completely format the iPod and load 1.04 on it from scratch. Then let it sync up again and try to play a song.

Chris Allbritton · Jan 29, 2002, 10:08 AM

OK. I took your advice and restored it to 1.04, and turned off the automatically update. (That made the lock and the grayed-songs go away, thanks.) But the unit still won't play! It just hangs there at 0:00 until i hit another button and then it just freezes up entirely! I can feel the drive clicking inside, like it's trying to do something (when i hit play, i mean) but after that, nothing. Do you think my friend broke this thing?

thanks,
chris

Leaping Gnome · Jan 29, 2002, 10:16 AM

Yes, if you can hear the drive clicking when you try to play a song and you've already done a restore then chances are your drive is broken. (This is probably why your friend just gave it to you

). Call Apple and they'll fix it for you assuming it's still under the 90 day warranty. If your friend happened to register it under their name Apple might want to talk to them to verify ownership.

Jerommeke · Jan 29, 2002, 10:32 AM

yep

but first try another mp3.... it can be the mp3 that's corrupt

Chris Allbritton · Jan 29, 2002, 11:34 AM

I've tried lots of different MP3s, Damn. I was hoping it was just a software problem.

mitchell_pgh · Jan 29, 2002, 12:52 PM

" Yo Apple, I found this iPod in the trash and want you to fix it, but don't want to bother the original owner, you know, so they don't think I am a bum, can you hook me up?"

Chris Allbritton · Jan 29, 2002, 01:24 PM

yo, i'm legit, and i registered the iPod. I can't help it if a friend gives me a bum iPod and I try to get some advice before I send it in for repairs. And for what it's worth, my friend is calling Apple on my behalf, so keep your jumping to conclusions to yourself, buddy.