Sad iPod, is there a fix?

[Komentra]

I have a 80gb iPod 5g that I wasn't using and decided to let a friend of mine borrow and use it for a couple of weeks while he was going out of town. I told him that he could format it and put whatever he wanted on it because I had all my music backed up and wasn't worried about it.

When I said "format" what I really mean't was he could hook it up to iTunes and use the restore option thus clearing anything on it. Unbeknownst to me he was using the Linux operating system and since I said "format" he actually formatted the iPod to FAT and ever since he did that the iPod just makes a loud clicking noise until the battery dies and neither Linux, Windows, or OSX will notice it.

It just says "please wait. low battery" then gives a sad ipod icon. Then repeats.

[Edot]

If it's not a hardware issue, you might want to try to take it to an Apple store. They may have tools to get it restored to factory settings. They also may be able to determine if it is a hardware issue. It may have just been a coincidence that the hardware failed at the same time your friend had it. Good luck.

[vincenz]

Sounds like the firmware got screwed up somewhere along the way. Best bring it into apple and see if they can do anything for you.

[Komentra]

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately the closest Apple store is about three hours away. I'll probably just throw it on eBay as-is and see if I can get some kind of money out of it.

[jamied95]

You can send it to Apple and they might be able to fix it - https://expresslane.apple.com/

[Edot]

Have you tried to use Disk Utility is OS X to reformat it? It may be able to recognize it while iTunes cannot. After formatting with Disk Utility you could try to restore using iTunes.

[cawesjmu]

You've tried all these things?

Apple Support page for iPod 5g

[Komentra]

Originally Posted by Edot

Have you tried to use Disk Utility is OS X to reformat it? It may be able to recognize it while iTunes cannot. After formatting with Disk Utility you could try to restore using iTunes.

Doesn't detect it unfortunately.

Originally Posted by cawesjmu

You've tried all these things?

Apple Support page for iPod 5g

Yes. I can't even fully charged it. It's as if it killed the battery and the hard drive in one fell swoop.

[Shagrat]

You may have to get a new iPod. And a new friend!

Seriously, WHY did they do that?

[lostless]

Sounds like an issue i've seen with many 5G ipods. The Hard drive just gives out and does the clicks of death. My old 30GB 5G did that on a few songs, then a movie, and then just stopped being read. They aren't meant to last forever. Either you buy a new hard drive or iPod. I replaced my Hardrive with a 32GB flash drive. The ipod is still running perfectly with no moving parts.