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iPod erasing ipod in disk utility.

H

hkala

macrumors member
Original poster
so my ipod was not working, i kept getting the folder with the exclamation icon.
i decided to erase using disk utility which i started last night but it is taking forever.
is that normal?
it not even close to being a quarter of the way done.
 
When my 5g was acting up, I used Apple's iPod update utility to restore it back to factory defaults. It worked very quickly, and came with the iPod+iTunes installation CD.
 
Yeah, I think you really want to do this with the software updater.... what format is your iPod in? I guess it might be slower if it's a windows format drive. But the drive is not that fast to begin with...if you're doing a non-quick-format, it will be slow. Plus... I suspect it won't work anyway, when it's done, because the iPod stuff will be gone. Which means that I think you will have to go back to iPod software updater anyway.
 
what do u mean, what format is it in?
it is a 1st generation ipod....i know i know.
yes, i'm zeroing it out.
 
I don't want to make you panic, but This is a HORRIBLE idea!


The iPod's HD was not meant to be run for any significant amount of time. Its normal the the zeroing is taking for ever, however it is NOT a good idea to zero an iPod. At this rate, you have a high chance thet you're either going to crash your HD, or sizzle your battery.


Why would you zero an iPod? 😕
 
blaskillet4 said:
Why would you zero an iPod? 😕
Click to expand...


I did it to my old one. The hard drive was failing big time and it was a bit of a last resort. It helped a little bit. I then put the firmware back on and had a semi-working iPod for another few weeks. Yay! 🙂
 
At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I'm affraid I have to ask what "zeroing" means, what does this do, and how is it done?

Thanks😕
 
What Mad Jew and the others are alluding to is that the iPod HD has a "usable life" in terms of the number of hours of operation and the ability to sustain continued operation, that is at least a factor of ten smaller than laptop hard drives.

It isn't made for things like being over-written with random zeros and ones seven times so that you don't have to worry about data being lifted back off it. Doing that is pretty likely to reduce it's life expectancy. 🙁
 
well it is taking this long to write to the drive, and you were getting the folder with exclamation point.....

1+1=2 right?

so to me this seems that your iPod Hard Drive is dead or dying.

sorry.
 
PlaceofDis said:
well it is taking this long to write to the drive, and you were getting the folder with exclamation point.....

1+1=2 right?

so to me this seems that your iPod Hard Drive is dead or dying.

sorry.
Click to expand...

i was afraid that might be the case.
 
Do not use disk utility to "Fix" the problem. The iPod was designed to be used in a format known as FAT32... There is maybe one other that it works with but as far as I know FAT32 is the optimal working format. So as fixes for the issue go I would recomend iPod updater 2005 - 09 - 23. If this doesn't work make plans to journey to your nearest apple retail store.
 
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