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eperezf

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 17, 2011
21
0
Hi,

I just recently found my old 30GB iPod Video. I replaced the HDD when I bought it because I bought it second hand with a damaged hard drive (many dead sectors and skipping songs).

It was working well but then started to fail to boot (sad iPod icon) and I just abandoned it as smartphones started to get cheaper and accept microSD cards.

I found it again a couple of days ago and tried to boot it, leading me to a sad iPod icon. The Hard Drive spins up but stays there. No clicking sound. I bought a new battery and changed it, to be sure the battery was not a problem but still the same icon.

I went to diagnostic mode, to HDSpec and sometimes it says "Model Number:" and nothing else. Other times it displays some messed up characters and nonsense:

Model Number: some random pixels (I can recognize a 3, C, q, < and O)
Total LBA: 201326592
Total Size: 96GB
Temp: Current -85374493C and then some more messed up text

I tested the hard drive with a ZIF to USB adaptor and it was reading OK, so it's not the hard drive. I'm suspecting either the flex cable or the connection on the iPod itself.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue and found a solution? I'm trying to find a replacement HDD cable to see if it's the culprit or not. I want to use a CF card and revive it as a DIY project.
 

markfc

macrumors 65816
Sep 18, 2006
1,071
2,905
Prestatyn, Wales, UK
Haha I'm in exactly the same boat with my iPod video 60gb.

I bought an iflash quad with 128gb to swap the drive as I assumed the drive was bad.

Exactly the same symptoms except mine was occasionally throwing in a "battery very low" message.

I just put a new battery in to see if that helps and if it doesn't, then I guess I'll try a new flex cable.
 

markfc

macrumors 65816
Sep 18, 2006
1,071
2,905
Prestatyn, Wales, UK
Okay, so new battery fixed the very low battery warning but still not booting.

Strangely even without a disk installed the hd-info is the same.

I'm starting to think the logic board may be at fault.
 

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markfc

macrumors 65816
Sep 18, 2006
1,071
2,905
Prestatyn, Wales, UK
So happy! New flex cable solved the issue. Best £3.65 I've ever spent. I now have a quad iFlash running on a single 128GB ad card which is syncing nicely.

Hope this helps you to get it sorted.
 
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