iPod whirring of death...

[ChePibe]

My poor iPod. It died so young, yet only a few weeks past warranty...

I'd rather not pay $100 or so to send it back to Apple for repair, but I'm fairly competent myself and I'd like to take a shot at fixing it. The worst that could happen is that my iPod would be totally unusable, which isn't exactly a change from the status quo. It's a 4G, non color with a 20 gig drive. If you've got any recommendations for the symptoms below, please let me know:

- iPod goes to standard "sick iPod" screen on boot-up with link to Apple's iPod support site.

- Problem is obviously hard drive related. When holding the iPod up to my ear, I can clearly hear it begin to whir and then die several times in succession. It doesn't just "click" like the hard drive won't start up, the hard drive clearly begins to work then cuts off, then comes back on again, then whirs for a moment, then cuts off.

- I cannot get the drive to mount on a comptuer, so I obviously cannot use any disk utilities on the drive.

I've heard that this does not necessarily mean the HD is fried - it could be the cable that connects the hard drive to the iPod's other innards that has the problem, and that would be easy for me to fix. I think I'd rather take my chances with cracking it open and trying to replace this cable rather than sending it to Apple where I know my HD will be wiped/replaced and my wallet emptied.

Any other suggestions?

[Lacero]

I dropped my 2G iPod and the HD whirs. It hasn't failed on me yet. *knocks on wood*.

This was about a year ago.

[Josh396]

I just had the same exact problem. I thought it was a sign that I should buy the new 5G but if I could somehow fix it I would love to have a shot at it. Mine failed about a month after the warrantee was up. I can however get mine to mount on the computer but I can't get any of the disk utilities to finish the process. Is that at least a sign of hope or sign that I have no chance at all?

[mad jew]

Originally Posted by ChePibe

- I cannot get the drive to mount on a comptuer, so I obviously cannot use any disk utilities on the drive.

Try Disk Utility all the same. Sometimes it won't mount for me but Disk Utility recognises it.

[lilstewart]

I had the same problem and my iPod got sent in and it was totally Füçkéd

[ShiggyMiyamoto]

This has happened to me once before, and I got it resolved. Just this morning it happened again. What gives? I learned the trick of how to get it into disk mode (reset it, and then keep down the center button and play/pause) and that should allow the iPod Software Updater app to access it to restore it. That started to work, but then the app just hung forever, and never did the task. Mine is still covered, but only until early December. I'll be going to my Apple store soon, like this week sometime, and maybe I can get a replacement. I'm pissed, because I hate it how the iPod filesystem gets corrupted so easily...

I have a 4th gen 40 gb btw...

I'll be music-less for the rest of the day... oh well...

Wish me luck ppl...