iPod ipod160 problem- playback/recognition

[Darsy]

Hi,
I am new to the forum. To date I have avoided using apple products as I find the itunes software limiting, complicated and primitive.
However, my brother disagrees. He saya I can keep his 2009 ipod160 if I can get it working..... I am using Windows 7/ Itunes 2.0.4/ Ipod 160 classic.

I can only get the ipod recognised by itunes if I put the ipod it into disk mode, re-format/wipe the memory.
Each time itunes recognises the ipod it says it is corrupted so through itunes it suggests I restore it which i do...then sync...then all songs are on the ipod successfully.
That done, playback of tunes on the ipod stays at 0.00 or skips 5 or 6 tracks and stays at 0.00...sporadically it does play. The ipod shows no signs of a fault until it won't play.
I have several times gone through this process / deleted itunes and downloaded again several times.

Listening to the ipod I hear a healthy hard drive sound - like a flea's hair-dryer constant, then a slight interruption to it when it is performing a new task. When I press play there is that brief 'laser' sound which I understand is characteristic of the ipod160 in good working order.

I'll bring it into the local ipod man today but if anyone is in the mood for suggesting some other action I can take (other than throw it in the bin) I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you
Darragh.

 

[BrettApple]

It certainly sounds like the HDD is bad. It can sound fine and still have major issues, such as tons of bad sectors and pending reallocations that can't be completed because the drive is hosed.

There is a simple way to check this luckily.

First switch the hold switch on and off
then hold Menu and Center for a few seconds till it resets
then immediately after it reboots switch to holding Previous and Center
this will get you into diagnostic mode where you can navigate to IO > HardDrive > HDSMARTData

This will give you the SMART info of the drive.
What you're looking for are reallocs and pending sectors. A few reallocs is normal, but if it's a lot you may have a bad drive. If the pending sectors has a number, that's defiantly bad news. This means it has sectors to reallocate but it can't because there's nowhere for the data to move at this point since the spare part of the disk is used up.

Luckily, a replacement is easily available and relatively affordable. I replaced an older 80GB iPod classic with a 120GB drive for about $50 a while back for reference.

Here's a bit more detailed explanation from an Apple Support forum.

Check your iPod with Diagnostics Mode

It's possible that your iPod's hard drive has started to fail. Take your iPod and place your right thumb on the centre SELECT button and your left on the top MENU button. Press down both thumbs for about 6 seconds until your iPod reboots. Immediately move your left thumb around to the rewind button |<< on the left and hold this down together with SELECT for a further 6 seconds. Your iPod should now switch into Diagnostic Boot mode. Press MENU for Manual Test, then select IO > HardDrive > HDSMARTData to reveal your stats.

For comparison here is a sample of mine from 6th Generation Classic after I'd had it for about 2 years.

Retracts: 889
Reallocs: 12
Pending Sectors: 0
PowerOn Hours: 2202
Start/Stops: 894
Temp: Current 24c
Temp: Min 10c
Temp: Max 50c

Take a note of your results. When finished press SELECT & MENU for 6 seconds to reset the iPod again.

With modern disc drives sectors are no longer marked bad by a disc scan, if the SMART firmware detects a sector it has trouble accessing it will attempt to invisibly reallocate it to a spare area of the disc.

Note that I've only 12 remapped sectors and none pending. To help explain what the numbers mean here is an extract from the Wikipedia S.M.A.R.T.article:

Reallocated Sectors Count
Count of reallocated sectors. When the hard drive finds a read/write/verification error, it marks this sector as "reallocated" and transfers data to a special reserved area (spare area). This process is also known as remapping, and "reallocated" sectors are called remaps. This is why, on modern hard disks, "bad blocks" cannot be found while testing the surface – all bad blocks are hidden in reallocated sectors. However, as the number of reallocated sectors increases, the read/write speed tends to decrease. The raw value normally represents a count of the number of bad sectors that have been found and remapped. Thus, the higher the attribute value, the more sectors the drive has had to reallocate.

Pending sector count
Number of "unstable" sectors (waiting to be remapped, because of read errors). If an unstable sector is subsequently written or read successfully, this value is decreased and the sector is not remapped. Read errors on a sector will not remap the sector (since it might be readable later); instead, the drive firmware remembers that the sector needs to be remapped, and remaps it the next time it's written.
Large numbers of Reallocs or Pending Sectors would suggest your drive is failing and that you may need to repair or replace your iPod. Check your stats after another attempt to update your iPod. If the numbers increase that again points to hard drive failure. While it won't be good news at least you'll know it isn't some random software problem and you can decide what to do next.

tt2

 

[Darsy]

HI,
Thanks for the reply and sorry for not getting back sooner.
Mine reads-

Reallocs: 1713
Pending Sectors: 312

I brought it to a repair man who removed and replaced the software and it was recognised by itunes and synced ok - however the ipod play back did the sporadic skipping and 0.00 playing.

I took it apart and know how to replace the HD. Available on ebay from USA but is there a seller more local to ireland?
I might just risk it and replace the HD - is there any way of knowing if its something other than the HD?

Thank you,
D.

 

[Darsy]

So, I got a new correct HD and installed it correctly myself -
Retracts: 0
Reallocs: 0
Pending Sectors: 0
It was instantly recognisable and synched perfectly my entire iTunes. Settings and funtions all work correctly on the ipod itself except the same issue exists - it skips without playing tracks, gets caught a 0.00 and plays the odd track when it feels like it.

I'm in too deep to cut my losses - It could be to do with the type of files from my music on my computer react badly with iTunes but some songs will play on one day but not on the next so they are not unrecognisable....

What now?

thanks for listening
Darsy

 

[noodles5666]

So, I got a new correct HD and installed it correctly myself -
Retracts: 0
Reallocs: 0
Pending Sectors: 0
It was instantly recognisable and synched perfectly my entire iTunes. Settings and funtions all work correctly on the ipod itself except the same issue exists - it skips without playing tracks, gets caught a 0.00 and plays the odd track when it feels like it.

I'm in too deep to cut my losses - It could be to do with the type of files from my music on my computer react badly with iTunes but some songs will play on one day but not on the next so they are not unrecognisable....

What now?

thanks for listening
Darsy

How deep money wise have you gone into it? I might be willing to pay a price for it.