[DoGoodDrugs]

this has now happened three times to my ipod... ill be walking down the street and the thing just freezes... i tried to reset by hooking it up to the power, toggling the hold switch, and holding down the play and menu buttons... but it doesnt reset.. the only way i can use it again is to wait for the battery to die... would it be a good idea to earse the ipod and start over, or is there a better soln. anyone heard of this before?

p.s. 4g 20 gig

thanks for any advice

[tpicco]

Wish I had an answer... but my 40 gb does the same thing... it usually occurs for me when I am transferring files to it as an auxillary hard drive... then it will freeze, ignore every command until the battery wears down, and then I can "restore factory settings."

If I don't restore, it will be sluggish and "goofy" when I try to listen to any music, responding to commands anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute after I make them

Damn...


Oh, and BTW, I edited this to add that I sent it back to Apple and they sent me a spiffy new one that behaved for awhile (45-60 days) and then started doing it again...

What drives me crazy is, I'm a freelance graphic artist and I use the thing to go pick up memory heavy jobs and take 'em back to my studio... looks bad when I go... "oh ****... can I burn a disk?"

[powertrippin]

When my 1st gen iPod does that (probably happened like 8-10 times), what I do is pry the case open, unplug the battery, and plug it back in. As soon as I plug it back in, POOF, works great again for a few more months.

>shrug<

[tpicco]

PRY THE BACK OPEN???
I am not that brave... though it does have the same effect as waiting for the battery to die...

[tpicco]

oh...

One other thing to add... when it's "frozen," if I hold the unit up to your ear, I hear a building "whirrrrrr" and then a dull click, and the whirr stops, only to start building again... over and over...

Waaaaaah...

[ThinkInsane]

Is it still under warranty? Sounds like you have a hard drive problem. Have you gotten the sad iPod icon?

[tpicco]

No sad iPod icon yet, but I already had the iPod replaced by Apple two months ago... and the same problem occurred!

[LLcoolJ]

same here

[proton]

Originally Posted by DoGoodDrugs

this has now happened three times to my ipod... ill be walking down the street and the thing just freezes... i tried to reset by hooking it up to the power, toggling the hold switch, and holding down the play and menu buttons... but it doesnt reset.. the only way i can use it again is to wait for the battery to die... would it be a good idea to earse the ipod and start over, or is there a better soln. anyone heard of this before?

p.s. 4g 20 gig

thanks for any advice

To reset a 4G iPod you need to switch to hold and back off hold and then hold down the Menu and Select (middle button in the wheel). The Menu+Play combination is for previous model iPods.

Apple has documentation on this here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61705

- proton

[tpicco]

&$%^#@$%&*
I have been wrestling with my iPod for the past week... it keeps freezing... and I keep resetting and restoring factory settings... and when I plug it back into the computer, it keeps automatically downloading all the songs before it will let me reset the prefs... and then it freezes in the middle of that.

Is it just the 40gb model that does this???

[Infini-t]

Yes, I've been having very similar issues with my 4G iPod 40G. I've had many portable music devices in the past and the iPod has been the most unreliable! Maybe I'm unlucky just like some of you posting here...suffice to say my iPod's been sent back to Apple and now just waiting to get it back either fixed, replaced or worst case sent back to me with nothing resolved and me having to pay the postage fee for sending it in.

[Phil Sherry]

One of mine does this from time to time. Sometimes I have to boot it into Disk Mode (select + play), hook it up, and then run Disk Utility on it. Other times, just running Disk Utility seems to fix things. It doesn't always work first time, but it usually fixes things.

[tpicco]

...but for me, right now, I haven't been able to get my computer to recognize or mount my iPod, so I can't run Disk Utility, can't restore it to factory settings... when I hook it up, I either get the Apple screen, the "do not disconnect screen" or the folder with the exclamation mark in the triangle screen... and it seems to go back and forth among these screens with no prompting from me...


arrrrrrrggggh
tomorrow I'm taking it down to the Apple Store in Soho...
I hope they just replace the damn thing... it's still on warranty

[DarwinX]

Originally Posted by tpicco

...but for me, right now, I haven't been able to get my computer to recognize or mount my iPod, so I can't run Disk Utility, can't restore it to factory settings... when I hook it up, I either get the Apple screen, the "do not disconnect screen" or the folder with the exclamation mark in the triangle screen... and it seems to go back and forth among these screens with no prompting from me...


arrrrrrrggggh
tomorrow I'm taking it down to the Apple Store in Soho...
I hope they just replace the damn thing... it's still on warranty

I have my 4G 40gig into Best Buy three times. The last two were symptoms exactly as has been stated in this thread. They replaced the hard drive both times. I think that is where you are headed with your iPod. After the third time I've decided to simply use my Shuffle on the go, and my 4G when it can remain stationary. Just my 2 cents.

[tpicco]

I used to love Apple until I got my iPod... >grumble grumble whine bitch fume<

[topcat74]

Just had my 20GB freeze. A bit frightning, wouldn't turn off, mount, nothing. Followed someones earlier advice: toggle hold on then off, then hold down the menu and middle button. Bam, back to life. Thanks

[Randman]

Disk Utility can help. If you have DiskWarrior, run it on the iPod. It does wonders (especially if you have been moving lots of files to and from it as an external hard drive.

If it's locking up and you're sure it's not the 20-minute buffer being overrun by vigorous movement, consider taking it in for repair/replacement.

[tpicco]

What is "the 20-minute buffer?"

[Randman]

iPods are supposed to have about 20 minutes of skip protection (except the shuffle which doesn't need it as it's a flash drive).

[drumm311]

Originally Posted by tpicco

No sad iPod icon yet, but I already had the iPod replaced by Apple two months ago... and the same problem occurred!

what does the sad iPod icon mean?

[Randman]

The sad icon means something bad happened and you'll need to reformat your iPod or take it in for repairs.

[JimFear]

my 20 gig freez sometime ... the only thing ive find to do is to wait for the battery die ....

[ashal]

Ok i have an 20GB ipod, it froze, i have held down the buttons like it has said to. But it wont shut off what do i do?

[ipodGuru]

Dear Ashal Not sure if you had tried this out

If you're an active iPod user, you've probably experienced a system crash or at least a freeze (and in some cases "silent" tracks or random skipping of tracks). Hey, it's an electronic gadget with moving internal parts and an operating system! When your iPod gets frosty, chances are that you can revive it within minutes. But other times, you'll to practice some tech triage.

Knowing a few tricks (some quick, others more involved), you'll quickly get back to your treat.

Here's what to do:

1. First things first. If and when your iPod's screen freezes (the equivalent of Windows blue screen of death or a Mac's infinitely swirling rainbow) or it just won't turn on, try plugging it into a power outlet or your computer. You might just have a dead battery, in which case you should backtrack to Monday's menace.

2. If that doesn't do anything, try a soft reset. Any iPod owner should know the old Menu+center button trick. Press these together for a few seconds to perform a soft reboot, which will force the iPod to start anew. Don't worry about your music or data--as long as the iPod reboots, it will be safe. Seeing the Apple logo pop onto the screen means you've successfully performed a soft reset, and you should be well on your way to normal iPodding.


Before you take any drastic measures, try a soft reset: hold the Menu and Center buttons down for three seconds. Your music and data will be safe.
3. If the above technique doesn't work and the screen is still frozen, you may have to let the iPod drain before you take any new steps. Once it runs completely out of batteries, try recharging it.

4. Still not working? Don't get desperate yet. You can always try a factory reset. The iPod Updater is a utility that ships with the iPod; it's also available from Apple. It automatically checks for and installs firmware updates, as well as facilitates a factory reset. Connect your iPod to your computer and select Restore. You'll lose all your music and data, but if the freezing problem has to do with your firmware, this restore will fix your iPod.

5. Windows users may want to check out Anapod Reinitializer from Redchair Software. This is a little utility that helps you reinitialize and reformat your Windows-formatted iPod.

6. If you can't get your iPod to work, it may have a faulty battery or hard drive, or you could just have a lemon. If your iPod's under warranty (one year is the standard), definitely check with Apple.

Source: Zolved - Technical support for computers, laptops, MP3s, cell phones, PDAs, wireless networks, game consoles and digital cameras

[aaron.420]

ok so i found an iPod yesterday when i was walking home from a buddies... i was so happy... ive always wanted one and my old creative brand mp3 broke. anyway i was walkin to school this morning when the stupid thing froze on me... i was turning up the volume and it just froze. well anyway.. i looked at this forum and i was takin the advice that i should open it up and remove the battery and then replace it... it took so much work just to get one of the corners lifted... i was using a push pin lol... anyway there was a guy sittin there with a nano like mine, so i asked him if he knew how to fix it... he just simply tool it and pressed down on the menu button and the middle button for like 10 seconds or something and then it powered down and when i turned it back on it worked again. im not sure that this will help everyone with this problem but it certainly worked for me so i suggest giving it a try ... good luck