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iPod 3G 20gb iPod won't play music on it's own

joecool85

joecool85

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 9, 2005
1,355
4
Maine
I just got a cheap ($50) 3G iPod off eBay, in the description it says:

"...It is able to play music perfectly plugged into a computer through itunes. It is not able to play on its own (it must be plugged into a computer)."

I was thinking that the battery was shot, but it shows a pic of the iPod turned on not connected to anything, showing a full battery...

Any ideas whats up with this?

This is the image:

51c6_1.JPG
 
If could be the audio connectors shot, the connectors can be a bit dodgy, and you may be able to solder them back into place (they are quite delicate though). If it's playing on it's own in the photo that seems like the most likely problem, it could also simply be the headphone jack is dirty and needs cleaning with some cotton wool.

EDIT: ask if it plays music through the dock.
 
Eraserhead said:
If could be the audio connectors shot, the connectors can be a bit dodgy, and you may be able to solder them back into place (they are quite delicate though). If it's playing on it's own in the photo that seems like the most likely problem, it could also simply be the headphone jack is dirty and needs cleaning with some cotton wool.

EDIT: ask if it plays music through the dock.
Click to expand...

Well, I already won it, and I'm good at soldering, so I'm not too worried. I've built my own guitar amps, effects pedals and other things so I have some experience with electronics. Here's hoping its just the battery, and maybe the jack. Both of those should be nice easy fixes.
 
joecool85 said:
Thanks :)

Not sure if I'll keep it or resell. I'll keep it for a while though, all I have for an iPod is an original 512mb shuffle. I love it, but it would be nice to have 20gb of music space.
Click to expand...

Don't worry, pretty soon you will change your tune and start collecting iPods. You'll say..."I already have two, why not get one of each generation!" That way you have no excuse to not buy every new iPod that comes out!

That's the way I see it anyhow.
 
MattyMac said:
Don't worry, pretty soon you will change your tune and start collecting iPods. You'll say..."I already have two, why not get one of each generation!" That way you have no excuse to not buy every new iPod that comes out!

That's the way I see it anyhow.
Click to expand...

That's exactly how I would do it, IF I wasn't a poor college kid lol.
 
Ok...well I got this back when I asked what exactly it does...

"You are able to turn it on, scroll through the playlist, but then it freezes once you pick a song."

Maybe it just needs to be formatted and reset?
 
joecool85 said:
Ok...well I got this back when I asked what exactly it does...

"You are able to turn it on, scroll through the playlist, but then it freezes once you pick a song."

Maybe it just needs to be formatted and reset?
Click to expand...

Hopefully...you'll find out as soon as you get. Either way if it's not what you wanted, you'll be able to at least get your money back for it, if not more.
 
MattyMac said:
Hopefully...you'll find out as soon as you get. Either way if it's not what you wanted, you'll be able to at least get your money back for it, if not more.
Click to expand...

Yeah, thats kinda what I was thinking, thats why I took the chance and bid on it anyway. I'm thinking a restore should do it. I sure hope so, that'd be great :cool:
 
MattyMac said:
Don't worry, pretty soon you will change your tune and start collecting iPods. You'll say..."I already have two, why not get one of each generation!" That way you have no excuse to not buy every new iPod that comes out!

That's the way I see it anyhow.
Click to expand...

Thats exactly what happened to me when I started fixing iPods. Often people wouldn't want to pay the money to get it fixed, so I'd end up buying em for $50 and fixing them myself, and then reselling. However, I kinda got attached to them, and ended up keeping them. I have 6 iPods now... and yes I am a starving university student. :)
 
lamina said:
Thats exactly what happened to me when I started fixing iPods. Often people wouldn't want to pay the money to get it fixed, so I'd end up buying em for $50 and fixing them myself, and then reselling. However, I kinda got attached to them, and ended up keeping them. I have 6 iPods now... and yes I am a starving university student. :)
Click to expand...

Hahah yeah its awesome isnt it. I'm also a college student...well not for too long, I just defended my master's thesis today!

Anyhow...
I have a total of seven now. A mint Fist generation, a mint third generation, a fourth generation (my first apple product), a 1G shuffle, a 2G shuffle, a 1G nano, and a Fifth generation.


Now I have no excuse not to buy the next best thing! Still missing a few in my collection though....soon enough!
 
Well, back on topic, the iPod should be here by monday or tuesday, I'll keep you guys updated with what was wrong with it.
 
joecool85 said:
Ok...well I got this back when I asked what exactly it does...

"You are able to turn it on, scroll through the playlist, but then it freezes once you pick a song."

Maybe it just needs to be formatted and reset?
Click to expand...

It would be very nice if that was all you needed to do, but honestly, for an object that expensive to buy, don't you think the original user might have tried something so easy? If it was my $300+ product i'd be trying every possible thing to get it to work again before i went and sold it.. I guess people are pretty dumb sometimes :rolleyes:

Oh well i hope it works out for you anyway.
 
rockthecasbah said:
It would be very nice if that was all you needed to do, but honestly, for an object that expensive to buy, don't you think the original user might have tried something so easy? If it was my $300+ product i'd be trying every possible thing to get it to work again before i went and sold it.. I guess people are pretty dumb sometimes :rolleyes:

Oh well i hope it works out for you anyway.
Click to expand...

This person seems to be EXTREMELY computer illiterate, so I wouldn't be surprised.
 
Well it came in today. I took it out, hooked it up to my PB, installed ipod software v2.3 (it had 2.2 on it) then did a restore, and it works great! I've been using it for the past hour with no issues what so ever. I'm giving it a full charge now and I'll test how good the battery is, then it'll be going up on eBay eventually. I'm thinking I'll keep it for a month or two and play around with it. So far, even though it is really cool and in great condition, it really doesn't make me want to use it instead of my shuffle.
 
joecool85 said:
Well it came in today. I took it out, hooked it up to my PB, installed ipod software v2.3 (it had 2.2 on it) then did a restore, and it works great! I've been using it for the past hour with no issues what so ever. I'm giving it a full charge now and I'll test how good the battery is, then it'll be going up on eBay eventually. I'm thinking I'll keep it for a month or two and play around with it. So far, even though it is really cool and in great condition, it really doesn't make me want to use it instead of my shuffle.
Click to expand...

Great news! Good investment i'd say :)
 
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