iPod What is wrong with my iPod?

[KevinRightWing]

I have a 20 gig click wheel 4th generation.

When I try to turn it on the Apple logo comes on and you can here a faint whine as it tries to boot up, but then there is a clicking sound and it stops. Then it tries again, there is a click and it tries again. Ultimately it displays a support web address.

I really like this iPod and would like to keep it. What is the most cost effective way to repair it?

Thank you!

 

[BrettApple]

Sounds like a simple hard drive failure. Not to worry though, it is replaceable!

There is a very nice iFixit guide for it here

There are also some options other than getting a hard drive to replace it. Such as using a CF card or SD card (flash memory) so failures down the line would be greatly reduced not having a spinning disk.

Something like this would work. It just adapts the old IDE standard to work with a CF card. This would also let you put in a larger drive. And maybe replace the battery while you're at it if you want.

They take some time and skill to open up, but with the right tools and a good guide it's pretty do-able.

 

[jruschme]

Agreed... I have the same adapter and a 32GB CF card in my iPod Color. It's a nice reliable combination and lighter to boot.

 

[KevinRightWing]

This may sound like a dumb question, but do the adapter and CF card JUST FIT, or do you have to put something in there additionally to keep things from moving around if they are smaller than the original hard drive?

 

[jruschme]

They are a bit smaller, mostly shorter end-to-end. What I did was trace the original hard drive on a piece of cardboard, then overlay it with the CF card and adapter and cut out the "extra" to use as a brace. Mostly this is to prevent flexing of the hard drive cable.

 

[andreyirra]

When I got mine it had the same symptoms and after reading for a while I came to the conclusion it could be dead or it could be a "stuck drive" so I did what was recommended for those cases:

Let it go from knee high so it falls face up in a cushioned carpet. It didn't work so I tried doing it waist high and it fixed itself. It always fell facing up so the entire mecanism was getting the impact, not a specific part of the iPod so no scratches or dentures.