ipod froze and now a ! and a folder icon appears

[sc0u8100]

Ipod froze mid-song, so had a look on the Apple help pages and try to charge the battery. - My ipod didn't recognise that it was being charged (nothing happened).

So tried to reset it by pressing the buttons, but now I get and ! with a folder icon (I think Apple refer to it as an alarmed ipod).

I've tried to connect it to my computer and nothing happens.

I have also uploaded the 'updates software' that Apple recommend and have tried to restore my ipod, but a message appears which says "Cannot mount ipod".

Can someone help??

[studogvetmed]

Try to put the iPod into disk mode before you connect the iPod. See my signature for a link to how to put an iPod into disk mode.

Have you gone through apple's folder/! support document? The link is in my signature as well, if not.

[sc0u8100]

Tried to manually put ipod into disk mode. - With ipod plugged in to charge. The Apple icon appeared, so tried the next stage, but nothing happened.

Then stopped pressing the buttons and the ! + folder icon appeared again.

Also read the notes on Apple's web pages, but not sure if they are any help. I think I have tried most things.

Is there anything else I can do??

[studogvetmed]

That's as about as far as you can go on most days... Are you following the disk mode instructions for your appropriate iPod? Sometimes we mistake the directions for one when we should be doing the other and it will appear not to work because we are doing it wrong. Something to double check.

Can you see the iPod in my computer at all? If you can, you can try to format in windows explorer to FAT32 and then try to run the iPod updater on it...

You don't happen to still be under warrenty do you? You might have the unexpected excuse to upgrade your iPod...

There are a few "out there" suggestions for fixing the folder/! like hitting your iPod on a flat surface, or temporarily exchanging out hard drives with other working iPods... You may be able to find these threads with a good search, but I don't necessarily recommend them, but when one has nothing to lose...

[sc0u8100]

Yes, my ipod is still covered by it's 1 year warranty. - It's only 10 months old.

I shall go into my local Apple store at the weekend and see if they can fix it/ offer to repair it. - But the idea of an upgrade is appealing!

Many thanks for your help. It's good to know that I wasn't missing any obvious fixes to the problem.

[rockwater]

You might want to try resetting it and when the apple icon appears shake it vigorously a couple of times. Might be that the hard drive is stuck...the shaking it unsticks it. This happened to mine last night and it works fine now. If it works...great, if not...you are back to square one.

[sc0u8100]

Hi, thanks for your advice.

I tried the 'shake ipod' approach and nothing happened. But someone else gave it a go (and I think shaked it a bit harder!) and it is now working!! :)

Apparently my hard drive was making a 'whirring' sound, like it was stuck.

[rockwater]

That happened to mine too....glad it worked

[Wes06]

This will be a recurring problem.

Bring it in for a replacement before the warranty runs out.


Originally posted by sc0u8100
Hi, thanks for your advice.

I tried the 'shake ipod' approach and nothing happened. But someone else gave it a go (and I think shaked it a bit harder!) and it is now working!! :)

Apparently my hard drive was making a 'whirring' sound, like it was stuck.