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Loyalty4Life · Jul 21, 2006, 03:35 AM

Well, here's my pity story. I never imagined my iPod dying on me.

I was just starting up a song, and about 4 seconds into it, the screen just freezes. Nothing I do helps at all.

So eventually I go back home, plug it into the computer, and now I get the sad face and partially charged chrome picture but the charge goes nowhere, even if it is charging. Battery life is not an issue - it was near charged when it happened.

It won't let me reset the device - it just goes back to the sad face. The updater on the computer won't recognize the iPod... I've troubleshooted everything for the Apple website.

So, now what do I do? I'm nowhere near an offical Apple store. There is a store locally (The Mac Store) that I believe has a repair department. What should I expect from them, if anything? What should I ask be done?

Any advice would be very much appreciated, from one iPod user to the next...!

Many thanks.

brokenjago · Jul 21, 2006, 04:21 AM

If your iPod is within it's one year warranty (which every 5th generation iPod is,) all repairs by an Apple Authorized service center should be 100% free of charge (they charge Apple for the repairs.)

Just take it to them and they should get everything sorted out.

sad-ipod-face · Jul 25, 2006, 11:01 PM

I am having the exact same problem but I am about 4 months out of warranty. Is there a self help option available?

iREZ · Jul 26, 2006, 03:38 AM

i think somebody is using two names

sad-ipod-face · Jul 26, 2006, 08:55 PM

? What are you talking about. Can I assume from your response that you can't offer any help?

ghporter · Jul 26, 2006, 10:20 PM

I don't know about where you are, so I can't tell you anything about what's in your area. But I CAN tell you that you should FIRST reset your iPod. That means holding the Menu and Select buttons for 6-10 seconds, until the Apple logo shows up. If that doesn't fix it, then restore it using the iPod updater software (which you can download from Apple). This will delete all your songs, but you can just reload them afterward. If THOSE steps don't help, go to Apple's iPod web site (www.apple.com/support/ipod) and go through their troubleshooting steps.

sad-ipod-face · Jul 27, 2006, 11:10 AM

Thanks for the response. I have tried to reset it, but it goes straight to the sad ipod face after the logo appears. Neither updater or itunes will recognize my ipdo when I plug it in, so I can't restore it either. My next thought is to throw it against the wall, but I assume that there is a more subtle approach that I haven't considered.

iREZ · Jul 27, 2006, 12:08 PM

what model iPod is it that youre having trouble with?

sad-ipod-face · Jul 27, 2006, 02:40 PM

Its a 30G ipod photo. Thanks.

brassplayersrock² · Jul 29, 2006, 03:27 PM

thats funny, my 60gig photo is on its way out right now too. as we speak im backing it up with senuti because the harddrive is doing a high pitched "mooing" mine is about 3 years old. it was my first ipod

got the entire sad face thing too, so i let the batery drain and i was able to get it started so hopefully it wont explode until after i get all of my songs off of it

sad-ipod-face · Aug 5, 2006, 12:11 AM

Bump. Any thoughts out there?

IrishFairy · Aug 7, 2006, 09:57 PM

OH my gosh I just made a topic about this...sorry for the double post. Anyways, I have a 40gig Ipod Photo that had the same frowny face ipod icon and it wouldn't let me reset it. Anyways, I bought mine at best buy in April 2005, so I'm several months away from my warrenty, and I bought a service plan with it. When I took it back to best buy they shipped it out to either be fixed or replaced if fixing it isn't 'cost effective.' I wonder why all the ipod photos are dying now?

the macimum · Aug 7, 2006, 10:38 PM

Dude, bad idea. I bought my iPod from best buy, my warranty from apple.com

Anything you give to the geeksquad:

Takes too long, (talking months for ipod and computers).
You can do if you call text support or read the manual.
Is badly Scratched or damaged cosmetically.
Is way too expensive.
Has useless expensive parts added to it.
Has been completely searched for personal files, (My father opened his "my Pictures" folder on his Sony, and all his pictures had been viewed 15+ times while they had it)
Has probably been spat on.

ipodGuru · Nov 1, 2006, 10:36 AM

Try doing this and provide your feedback if you have resolved the issue

In most cases, the sad iPod icon indicates a hardware issue
More..
Found this solution here

ghporter · Nov 1, 2006, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by IrishFairy

OH my gosh I just made a topic about this...sorry for the double post.

Please do more review and searching before posting next time, and it'll all be good.

Originally Posted by IrishFairy

I wonder why all the ipod photos are dying now?

Your statement is like saying "My 99 year old grandmother just died, and I saw in the obituaries in the paper that five other grandmothers died, so I wonder why all the grandmothers are dying." You're seeing a few posts about well used iPods wearing out, not a rash of catastrophic failures of relatively new devices (this is NOT like the Sony battery fiasco, either). It's just something that sometimes happens to mechanical devices, particularly small ones with a lot of very dense electronics in them.

Loyalty4Life · Nov 1, 2006, 05:14 PM

I replaced my iPod a few months ago, as it was still under warranty. They said that they don't go into the iPods anymore and try to fix it. They now view that if the iPod isn't working, they replace the entire thing, not just one part of it.

The replacement has been great.

ghporter · Nov 1, 2006, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by Loyalty4Life

I replaced my iPod a few months ago, as it was still under warranty. They said that they don't go into the iPods anymore and try to fix it. They now view that if the iPod isn't working, they replace the entire thing, not just one part of it.

The replacement has been great.

It takes a LOT of labor to open one up. The parts are also pretty expensive, so when you add parts and labor you wind up with a net loss for most real problems. It's more efficient (for Apple AND the customer) for them to simply test the iPod and determine if it's really defective or not, and then replace it if it fails.

Trav · Nov 7, 2006, 06:34 PM

I had this happen to my Ipod a few days ago. I've got a 60g picture Ipod and one day it got the sad face/apple/monochrome battery drained icons and that is it. I tried everything to reset it that I could find. The fact was that my (or any) computers were not seeing it when I hooked it up via USB and the "select and menu" and "menu and play" buttons were not working either. Some one gave me the idea to bang it on the back. I thought it was crazy but it was either that or spend $250 to have apple try and fix it. Well guess what? It worked in instantly. Only try this if nothing else works; I would hate for someone to break a fixable Ipod for no reason. I didn't have to hit it hard, just a couple of solid whacks with the palm of my hand.

ghporter · Nov 7, 2006, 07:55 PM

A "bang" on an iPod needs to be VERY judicious-it's possible to dent the case with your hand if you whack it too hard. This is something known as a "maintenance tap," and electronics maintainers since Marconi released the first commercial piece of electronic equipment, have kept it shrouded in lore and mystery. Basically because it's something that you can do, learn and teach, but not describe in any quantifiable way. One knows how hard to tap or one gets used to paying for broken equipment.

Trav · Nov 8, 2006, 10:31 PM

Yes, GH, I wouldn't start off by hitting it very hard. Try it as soft as you can and move on to as hard as you dare. Two solid hits fixed mine. If someone else does this and it works, please post it. The word of someone who has one post isn't worth much but it worked for me and I figured everyone should know about it if they are having the same trouble.

And I wouldn't do it unless you try everything else first.

ghporter · Nov 8, 2006, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by Trav

And I wouldn't do it unless you try everything else first.

Quoted for emphasis-LOTS of emphasis!!!! This is a LAST DITCH STRATEGY.

With that said, it's what some iPods need to get unstuck. To anyone who thinks this is something they should do, be VERY cautious.

stephanielamb · Nov 11, 2006, 02:58 AM

My 30gb photo just died a week or so ago as well. *sigh*

Well it was actually a few weeks ago, it was stuck at sad iPod face. And then I mashed a lot of buttons, and it got stuck at the Apple. Four hours later, when I mashed buttons again (it was still stuck at the Apple), the thing just started working again..

But hey, now it's dead again.

Anyone ever sold a broken iPod to iPodResQ or something similar? I got a quote from them, I think i'm going to send them my iPod carcass.

Jackonicko · Nov 12, 2006, 04:38 PM

If you have any of the 'fatal' displays (folder/exclamation mark, folder applesupport.com, sad face, etc) try a restore, then try putting the iPod in Disk Mode and restoring it, and then try reformatting the disc.

This will often do the trick.

Good luck.