Is this ipod dead?

sbsquarepants

Hi folks,

Hopefully someone can help me out, i have an ipod classic 80g about 5 years old, well used but not mistreated. In the past couple of months it has started behaving strangely, freezing, skipping songs and so on, each time a reset fixed the problem but it inevitable came back a week or two later. A couple of days ago i tried to sync to add a few new albums on but it refused to sync, done the usual thing of changing cables, ports, removing the new music etc and eventually decided to restore it and start from scratch - problem is it stil wont sync and now has no music whatsoever on it (it was 3 or 4g from full).
Diagnostics say there are almost 5000 reallocated sectors and that available space, although it's completely empty, is only 51g. Windows on occasion offers to fix the disc, but makes no difference when i tell it to go ahead.
Is there a way of fixing it, or is it time to go in the bin?

Thanks

Bazsutto

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Hi folks,

Hopefully someone can help me out, i have an ipod classic 80g about 5 years old, well used but not mistreated. In the past couple of months it has started behaving strangely, freezing, skipping songs and so on, each time a reset fixed the problem but it inevitable came back a week or two later. A couple of days ago i tried to sync to add a few new albums on but it refused to sync, done the usual thing of changing cables, ports, removing the new music etc and eventually decided to restore it and start from scratch - problem is it stil wont sync and now has no music whatsoever on it (it was 3 or 4g from full).
Diagnostics say there are almost 5000 reallocated sectors and that available space, although it's completely empty, is only 51g. Windows on occasion offers to fix the disc, but makes no difference when i tell it to go ahead.
Is there a way of fixing it, or is it time to go in the bin?

Thanks

It all depends on what you would be willing to spend on fixing it. You can pick up a replacement hard drive for it on eBay for approx €50. That should solve your problem.

sbsquarepants

Cheers bazsutto, i wouldn't mind splashing out €50 to sort it. Is it an easy thing to fit? Don't have it in front of me now, but from memory, i don't think there are any screws or anything like that, how would i go about getting it open? Also if i was to change the hard drive, would it be feasible to upgrade it to the 160g.

Bazsutto

Is it an easy thing to fit?

Not to difficult with the correct tools. I would advise getting an opening tool that is readly avalable on ebay for a few quid. There are guides online to show how it is done. Just make sure you know the correct model of iPod before purchasing.

Link below will help you identify the exact model you have
[HTML]http://www.ifixit.com/Info/ID-your-iPod[/HTML]

Also if i was to change the hard drive, would it be feasible to upgrade it to the 160g.

No, if you think you have a 4th Gen. This is due to the physical size of the hard drive.

sbsquarepants

Thanks Bazsutto, you've been very helpful!

sbsquarepants

Just to update - after several months of procastinating i finally got round to actually replacing the hard drive last night. I followed an ifixit step by step guide, took about an hour and a half but that was being super cautious not to damage anything (as i'd never repaired anything electronic before).
Ipod is back together, looking and more importantly working perfectly, and also upgraded from 80 to 120gb( the biggest that would physically fit in the old case) and all for the region of €60 including tools, saving me at least €200 in the process - so i'm very happy with the outcome and would definitely recommend anyone unsure about undertaking the repair themselves to give it a go.
The only thing i would recommend is that the plastic opening tools aren't all that great - a stanley blade does the job better i found, the tools are then fine for holding it open, but i doubt i could have gotten it open with it in the first place.
Thanks again for the help folks!:D