continous reboot, won't charge

[PotRoastMan]

my 3g ipod continously reboots with the apple icon and the folder with exclamation point. The drive spins up but makes some clicking noises. I have a USB cable and a charger, separate cables. In this continous reboot mode, it will not charge. and it dies before I can get it into diagnostic or disk mode, even when plugged into the wall. I assume if I can get it into disk mode I might be able to format it and get it working, but in this continous reboot mode I can't get it to do anything at all!

Suggestions? Please don't tell me to search - I have searched, and all I find is people telling others to search.

[Blue_Dawg]

Your HDD does need to be reformatted but it does not sound hopefull. I had a similar situation on one of my iPods. I left it charging over night and it did charge even though i could not see it charging. I also had to format it with a Mac as no matter what I did I could not get my windows machine to see it. If you can get it to charge then you should be able to get it to disk mode and force it to try to format. Also, when in forced FW mode I don't know if usb will work. You are on the right track though.

[PotRoastMan]

Is there a way to force it into charge mode? As soon as I plug this into the charger it starts the continous reboot. I left it this way for a bit more than 8 hours today but it doesn't seem to charge the battery. Maybe the battery is fried, too, I don't know. I'd like it if I could plug it in and have it sit idle, instead of doing this continous reboot where it's trying to access the HD constantly... I think if I can get it charged I could at least get into diag or disk mode and have a chance.

[Fadingfool]

My 4 gen 40gig Ipod did this a little while back - a little percussive maintenance* has solved the continuous reboot issue but I still experience the clicking and failure when it ties to access files (the files are not corrupt as they play sometimes other times not). I believe it is the heads of the drive becomming unreliable rather than bad sectors on the disk.
I sense my ipod will be going back to its maker (well at least the shop I brought it from) very soon. I just hope it lasts the week out and I can back up my music (40 gig of music does not fit easily onto my 40 gig laptop).

*a gentle shaking just before the heads "click". Or a less gentle "tap". Warning - abuse your ipod at your own peril as I am not responsible for your actions and it violates your warranty.

[tankado]

guys if your still under the one year warranty why not hv it repaired? u might have a lemon on your hands.

[Fadingfool]

I will be taking mine back but I need to back-up my music first.... Hence the wait until the weekend... Problem is; as I can get mine to work it is bound not to play up when I'm trying to show the shop assistant what is wrong.

[tankado]

backup your music? dont u have it on your hard drive?

just show it to them. Where did u get it from?

ahh your in the UK.

[Fadingfool]

My hard drive is only 40 gigs and my ipod is 40 gigs = hence the problem. As I'm in the UK we do have pretty good consumer rights over here. My contract is with the people I brought it from and not Apple therefore if the item is defective or is not of a suitable quality (300 notes for a item is expected to last longer than 8months) then I am within my rights to reject the item and get a full refund. As it was brought on a credit card I can if things get diffficult seek redress from them.
Sometimes it is ok to live in a country which has been around for over a thousand years!

[PotRoastMan]

Mine is not on warranty. If I can get it into diag mode and run the disk check, is that a sure thing? If it fails, is is no doubt a bad HD?

If it is bad, what options do I have? It is 10gb now, can I go to a high capacity with a different hd? Where's the best deal for that, ebay? new? refurb? Of course cheap=good.

[Blue_Dawg]

if you need to replace the hdd you could get a 20, possibly a 30. You need to be careful and not go too big or the back will not fit back on.

[tankado]

I found a link on how to remove the case and replace the batteries and hard drive.
http://eshop.macsales.com//tech_center/Video/ipod/4g/high.mov

[PotRoastMan]

I opened her up and disconnected the HD, and without the HD I am able to charge the battery. After about 10 minutes I plugged the HD back in, and got into diag mode. I ran HDD SCAN and it reports HDD FAIL. Is the disk for sure broken? I want to be 100% sure I can not fix it before spending money on parts.

[Fadingfool]

Well I toook my ipod back - and as I feared it was a dead 'un. Unfortunately they didn't have anything bigger than the 20Gig photo to swop - woe , woe and thrice woe. So I am now the owner of a 20 gig ipod photo and a 120 gig external hard drive; bit of a locking the gate after the horse has bolted situation I know. At least I now have something to do on the long summer evenings :(