iPod Looking for a guide - 4G iPod hard disk replacement

[HereBeMonsters]

Found my Dad's old iPod 4G (clickwheel, b&w screen) at the back of a drawer, couldn't remember why he got rid of it. Charged it up, all seems to work except when you move it, you can feel the hard drive clicking and the song stops.
This freezes the unit or crashes it.
I'm fairly confident it's a hard drive issue - so what can I do to get it up and running again? Are they easy to take apart? I guess I can get a replacement drive (and I might as well get a battery at the same time!) on ebay, but can I upgrade it to a solid state drive?
If so, is it a Compact Flash card I need?
Would very much appreciate a link to a trusted site/guide on how to upgrade these old things. Can't bear to throw it away!

 

[asmith406]

Here is a link to a YouTube video on how to replace the hard drive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYZqTvlTkUU#t=10

Here is a link to a YouTube video on how to replace the battery:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v3Ug1ErP5w

The company that posts theses videos also sells the parts and tools on their website.

Good luck!

 

[HereBeMonsters]

Thanks for that, are these guides that you've used? Looking for tried and tested methods here!

 

[srshaw]

I bought a cf card adapter but I can't open it. Tried all sorts. Any tips?

 

[burne]

I bought a cf card adapter but I can't open it. Tried all sorts. Any tips?

Assuming you're right-handed..

Place your left thumb halfway down the display, at the place where you see the white tab in the picture. Squeeze. Try to insert your spudger/pick/etc below your thumb, where the gap between the first and second tab is. You don't need to squeeze very hard, but just enough to flex the plastic a bit so you can get your tool in between it and the metal back. The metal back is thin stainless steel which will flex quite a bit, as soon as you have some purchase on it.

 

[HereBeMonsters]

What hard drives can I buy that would fit it? Compact Flash?

 

[Yebubbleman]

I've seen guides that address the 5th Generation, 5th Generation (Enhanced), and the various iPod Classic models as well as SSDs that are compatible with them (you could put in up to a 480GB SSD that is compatible, if I remember correctly). Not sure how it would differ on a 4th Gen iPod, though it probably does.

 

[HereBeMonsters]

Yes, the 4th gen has a little monochrome screen for a start. Totally different dimensions etc.