R.I.P. my dear iPod mini... or can someone help save it?

[Mr. Durden]

My mini has been acting very moody lately. Sometimes it dosent want to play the song, then after about 5 seconds it decides, "yeah, sure I'll play it now."

Well today on my way to work, it was playing just fine, but the battery went dead. So I get to work and plug it in via FireWire and iTunes says it cant access the mini, and to do a software update on it. So I do the update and now the iPod wont start up. i get the folder with an exclamation mark next to it on the start-up screen.

However, when I plug it in via FiaWire, I can see it in iTunes and even play music off of it. It just wont work when not plugged in. It does seem really slow, however. For example, it took about 15 minutes to copy over about 50 songs to it. I'm sure its not a battery issue, unless a relatively good battery can go bad overnight.

The Apple support site didnt have anything that addressed this exact issue, and it seems the great folks here are more helpfull anyway.

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP. I LOVE MY MINI AND CANT BARE TO SAY GOODBYE! :(

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

[...] So I do the update and now the iPod wont start up.[...]Did you do an update or a full restore...?

[Mr. Durden]

Did you do an update or a full restore...?

I did a full restore. I tried it a couple of times and got the same result. I even opened up the disc utility and erased the whole thing, then did the restore. Didnt work.

And by the way, I just realized I put this in the wrong section. Sorry. Dont know how to move it now... oops.

[mac-er]

Did you reset it?

1. Toggle the Hold switch on and off. (Slide it to Hold, then turn it off again.)
2. Press and hold the Menu and Select buttons until the Apple logo appears, about 6 to 10 seconds. You may need to repeat this step.
Tip: If you are having difficulty resetting your iPod, set it on a flat surface. Make sure the finger pressing the Select button is not touching any part of the click wheel. Also make sure that you are pressing the Menu button toward the outside of the click wheel, and not near the center.

If the above steps did not work, try connecting iPod to a power adapter and plug the power adapter into an electrical outlet, or connect iPod to your computer. Make sure the computer is turned on and isn't set to go to sleep.

[Mr. Durden]

still no luck mac-er. I'm afraid it may be gone for good.

As a last resort, I have my wife's mini... is there a way to make an image of her's and then transfer it to mine? That would insure that mine would be formatted just like hers, right? Then maybe it would work? (I dont know, I'm desperate...)

[dan-o-mac]

"i get the folder with an exclamation mark next to it on the start-up screen"
"it took about 15 minutes to copy over about 50 songs to it"

Same thing happened to a friends mini, i tried everything to fix it, and nothing worked. Lucky the mini was still under warranty, I just took it to the Apple store and they replaced it no questions asked.

[Sutekidane]

Sounds like the Mini HD is dead. Has it ever been dropped?

[FoxyKaye]

Sounds like the Mini HD is dead. Has it ever been dropped?

Just thinking the same thing - do those tiny drives make the "click of death"?

[Mr. Durden]

Sounds like the Mini HD is dead. Has it ever been dropped?

Ummmm. Yeah. A couple of times. But not recently. I'm thinking its the drive as well, at this point. Its well out of warranty now, so I guess I'll just lay it to rest. :(

Edit: Oh yeah. Thanks for the help and ideas, everyone. Its much appreciated.

[StarbucksSam]

I would suggest buying a new one, as much as it will probably pain you to have to. You ought to sell the one you have on eBay for parts. You can probably get $60 or so for a dead mini.

[ReanimationLP]

;) Or just go and dig a CF card or a Microdrive off of eBay.

[rtdgoldfish]

How old is it?? If less than a year, just take it to your nearest Apple Store. Don't tell them you dropped it. Just act like you don't know why it won't work. I got a replacement for my broken 3G that way.

[StarbucksSam]

;) Or just go and dig a CF card or a Microdrive off of eBay.

Who could he get to service it though... I mean that's.. not very safe...

[applemacdude]

I would suggest buying a new one, as much as it will probably pain you to have to. You ought to sell the one you have on eBay for parts. You can probably get $60 or so for a dead mini.


dead minis sell for 120 +

[jimsowden]

Heres what I do when iPods act up:
I zero them using the erase tab of Disk Utility (Options->Zero all Data). This completly whipes out any anomolies on the HD, and then restore it. Worked wondors on my old mini.

[Mr. Durden]

OK. The official solution I have come up with is this:

I have "borrowed" the wife's pink mini (she didnt use it much any way). The only problem is... well, the "pink" part of the mini. And my dear departed friend, the silver mini will find himself very soon on eBay.

Thanks for all the suggestions everybody. It seems I have exhausted all the options, and its time to pull the plug, so to speak on good old silver and move on.

Pinks not so bad... is it?

[sAy2k]

yeah, it's dead. I have ipod, and I dropped it flat on its back one day. the hard drive makes a horrible sound, it still plays, but I can't move it or else it will freeze. The hard drive is gone my friend. Try this company, http://techrestore.com/ I'm going to send my ipod here to get fixed. BUt in the mean time I bought a shuffle cuz it's flash based and has no hard drive to break if you drop it.

Ummmm. Yeah. A couple of times. But not recently. I'm thinking its the drive as well, at this point. Its well out of warranty now, so I guess I'll just lay it to rest. :(

Edit: Oh yeah. Thanks for the help and ideas, everyone. Its much appreciated.