IPOD - dead?

I am MAN

Hey,

I bought an IPOD mini for my girlfriend in December and was working fine until last night. She tried turning it on but got no power and then tried charging it but still got no power, I believe IPODS have a history of bad battery problems so is this most likely the case? It didnt fall or anything like that.

If it is a battery failure what are the options?


Mark.

rubadub

Its not the battery if it is only dec. The battery issue is only is you are using it about 8-10hrs a day for a year.
It still is under warranty so bring it back, apple are meant to be ok with warranty. Also the battery is covered for 1 year if it does run out. So if anybody uses it for 6hr a day and is near the 1 year limit, I suggest running the thing into the ground to get your new battery.

I am MAN

rubadub wrote:

Its not the battery if it is only dec. The battery issue is only is you are using it about 8-10hrs a day for a year.
It still is under warranty so bring it back, apple are meant to be ok with warranty. Also the battery is covered for 1 year if it does run out. So if anybody uses it for 6hr a day and is near the 1 year limit, I suggest running the thing into the ground to get your new battery.

She deffiently does not use it 8-10 hours a day, I would be suprised if its over an hour. I will discuss the above with her later.

Thanks,

Mark.

Winters

rubadub wrote:

Its not the battery if it is only dec.

It could be caused by a faulty battery. It would appear to be if the thing doesnt even charged when plugged in. Apple are believed to have fixed the battery problem that was evident on the 3rd gen iPods with the latet 4th iPods. However, we can not be sure for another year or so.

I'd easily do 8-10 hours on my Zen Touch a day

I am MAN

What is required for warranty? Im pretty sure I dont have the receipt anywhere and im not sure what documents she kept when opening the ipod.

lomb

bad move! hard drive music players are at best an unknown quantity and at worse unreliable. they can and do break many in a surprisingly short time. even applecares ridiculous 79 euro for a 1 year extension may be worth it.
your problem is not battery related, the main circuit board is gone most probably. they might still warrant it based on the manufacturing date/serial number. ring apple and c.

scargill

is the iPod completely dead ? is there anything on screen at all ?

I have a 3G ipod that I got as a present in June 2003. It locked up on me once about 6 months where it was stuck in a bit of a loop - the apple logo would appear and just as the menu was about to come up it would reboot again.

I eventually came across a solution on this website.... http://www.ipodlounge.com/

might be worth a look in the forums to see if anyone else has same problem as you.

If its only a few months old then really you should bring it back - credit card statement might do if u can't find receipt (if you bought it on cc)

scargill

touch wood, i haven't had any of the battery problems that everyone talks about whenever ipods are mentioned.......but i do have this bookmarked just in case !!

http://www.2guysamacandawebsite.com/article.php?id=588

Enygma

This happened my iPod mini a few months ago, only had it a month and it just died one night, wouldn't come back on.
Tried to get support online but it said that my Serial Number didn't exist! So I rang Apple support and they said the serial number didn't exist. They asked me to fax the box with the number on it up to them, which I promptly forgot to do.

A few weeks later I was clearing out the room and found the iPod, decided to plug it in for the laugh, see if I'd missed anything. Whaddaya know it worked!

Never had a problem since!!! Bizarre.

My guess is it got damp or something in the car. Maybe put it somewhere dry for a night and see does it work in the morning.

I am MAN

scargill wrote:

is the iPod completely dead ? is there anything on screen at all ?

I have a 3G ipod that I got as a present in June 2003. It locked up on me once about 6 months where it was stuck in a bit of a loop - the apple logo would appear and just as the menu was about to come up it would reboot again.

I eventually came across a solution on this website.... http://www.ipodlounge.com/

might be worth a look in the forums to see if anyone else has same problem as you.

If its only a few months old then really you should bring it back - credit card statement might do if u can't find receipt (if you bought it on cc)

Completely dead, I will have a better look at it later...woman

Winters

lomb wrote:

bad move! hard drive music players are at best an unknown quantity and at worse unreliable. they can and do break many in a surprisingly short time.

Thats quite a generalisation and probabably totally wrong. EVERYTHING at worse is unreliable, thats why you said ... 'at worse', right?

HardDrive based music players are no better then cd players, or tape players. I have no problem with mine, and I dont know anybody who has had any real problem with their <insert brand here> hard drive based personal audio player.

lomb wrote:

your problem is not battery related, the main circuit board is gone most probably. they might still warrant it based on the manufacturing date/serial number. ring apple and c.

It could be any problem, a faulty battery, a leaking battery, a broken clip, a snapped wire, a broken clip somewhere. Usually, a problem such as the one being explained where it will not charge or switch on is battery/power related. This could be anything from a bad connection inside from the charger pins to the battery itself, or even a broken power pin to a faulty battery.

However, you can never be sure until its looked at inside. Your bet to contact apple support [You might be on hold for a long time from what I've heard] or bring it back to the retailer you purchased it from. It is still under warrenty providing you can show proof of purchase.

StickyMcGinty

your best bet is to ring apple and get a website to fill out the tech support form. they send you a UPS box, they pick it up from your gaff for free, and you'll have a brand new ipod in 2 or 3 days, apple tech support is brilliant!! my ipod was picked up on the monday, and i had a new one by thursday morning!

I am MAN

VinnyL wrote:

your best bet is to ring apple and get a website to fill out the tech support form. they send you a UPS box, they pick it up from your gaff for free, and you'll have a brand new ipod in 2 or 3 days, apple tech support is brilliant!! my ipod was picked up on the monday, and i had a new one by thursday morning!

Now thats what I like to hear.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Mutant_Fruit

some players have a little reset switch that you have to poke with a pen, if the ipod has one, then try clicking that reset switch.

KeRbDoG

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

some players have a little reset switch that you have to poke with a pen, if the ipod has one, then try clicking that reset switch.

iPods dont have a reset switch, do what daveirl said

lomb

Winters wrote:

Thats quite a generalisation and probabably totally wrong. EVERYTHING at worse is unreliable, thats why you said ... 'at worse', right?

HardDrive based music players are no better then cd players, or tape players. I have no problem with mine, and I dont know anybody who has had any real problem with their <insert brand here> hard drive based personal audio player.

with all due respect that is total crap. hard drive players due to having moving parts where the platters are spinning at crazy speeds, a shock while the heads are touching the platters will almost certainly break the drive a 300euro component, ie the ipod is beyond economical repair.
i know numerous people who use ipod for backing up as well, and all of them say they last 1-2 years of daily use on average.

pjthefarmer

This problem has just happened me. Apparantly it happens when the battery gets too low. I have no warranty and live in Ireland. I have NO idea what i'll do. Any1 any ideas?

heggie

lomb wrote:

bad move! hard drive music players are at best an unknown quantity and at worse unreliable. they can and do break many in a surprisingly short time. even applecares ridiculous 79 euro for a 1 year extension may be worth it.
your problem is not battery related, the main circuit board is gone most probably. they might still warrant it based on the manufacturing date/serial number. ring apple and c.

the resident apple basher strikes again!

damn u are getting annoying to read on every thread i look at, and what do u mean the MIGHT still warrant ? of course its still covered. GO AWAY PLEASE. anything i read on boards about apple products has u bitching total crap, its really a pain in the ass.

lomb

heggie wrote:

the resident apple basher strikes again!

damn u are getting annoying to read on every thread i look at, and what do u mean the MIGHT still warrant ? of course its still covered. GO AWAY PLEASE. anything i read on boards about apple products has u bitching total crap, its really a pain in the ass.

all hard disk players are vulnerable to this it is not unique to apple, apples flash players would be 100% fine. soon i hope flash players will come in 2 or 3 gig formats. apple dont even make the hard disks for these anyway so its nothing to do with them
hard disk failure isnt the end of the world, if one can afford to replace it every say 3 years of normal use thats grand. they tend to last 2 years though if used hard, ie left in car door side pocket and jarred about.
its true the poster doesnt have a hard disk problem but a main board problem, but i was advising him about lack of receipts etc.

lomb

heggie wrote:

anything i read on boards about apple products has u bitching total crap, its really a pain in the ass.

please give me an example.

Jammer

lomb wrote:

with all due respect that is total crap. hard drive players due to having moving parts where the platters are spinning at crazy speeds, a shock while the heads are touching the platters will almost certainly break the drive a 300euro component, ie the ipod is beyond economical repair.
i know numerous people who use ipod for backing up as well, and all of them say they last 1-2 years of daily use on average.

iPOD doesnt have any moving parts

Apple's industry-leading 20 minutes of skip protection, the iPod can keeps playing without missing a beat. iPod has a 32MB solid-state memory cache, meaning that it has no mechanical or moving parts. Skip protection works by continually preloading up to 20 minutes of music into the cache, so your iPod is not affected by sudden movements.

lomb

Jammer wrote:

iPOD doesnt have any moving parts

the ipod might njot but this in it might
http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=810000000007000000010000659800000000/81000000010D000000010000659C000003B7

the buffer basically preloads songs so the hard disk is not always seeking(improves reliability and battery life) basically u would b unlucky but if it receives a bump at the precise moment the drive spins up it will fubarred, it would need a jolt obviously at a certain angle and velocity to send the heads crashing into the platters. ALL hard disk players are like this, the more ram the better.
http://www.comp-buyer.co.uk/buyer/macuser-features/67347/replacing-your-ipods-hard-disk.html

lomb

what about it, do u deny there is a hard disk inside an ipod, and that this disc like any hard disk spins at high speeds, and has heads pressing against it?

scargill

pjthefarmer wrote:

This problem has just happened me. Apparantly it happens when the battery gets too low. I have no warranty and live in Ireland. I have NO idea what i'll do. Any1 any ideas?

i have a solution to this....i came across it on www.ipodlounge.com , for the life of me I can't find it again! But I do have it pinned on my wall at home - will post it up here later on for you.

Moojuice

take it outside girls. The guy just asked for help sorting out his problem. No need to turn it in to a slagging match. Start a new thread and argue your points there.

In reply to the original post, this has happened to a few people I know. USUALLY it is because the battery is too low. How are you charging it? If it is not charging off the mains then try charging it off a computer USB or Firewire port and vice versa.

Hope this helps,


Moo

Moo

scargill

have a look here.....might help

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60942

Hobbes

lomb wrote:

with all due respect that is total crap. hard drive players due to having moving parts where the platters are spinning at crazy speeds, a shock while the heads are touching the platters will almost certainly break the drive a 300euro component, ie the ipod is beyond economical repair.

Maybe five years ago, but some of the more recent expensive players can handle shock quite well. The IPOD is designed to be able to jog with.

Btw, heads never touch the drive platters.

Winters

lomb wrote:

with all due respect that is total crap. hard drive players due to having moving parts where the platters are spinning at crazy speeds, a shock while the heads are touching the platters will almost certainly break the drive a 300euro component, ie the ipod is beyond economical repair.

Same goes for a Cassete Tape (sp? I've never used the word in so long). That has moving parts.

The HardDrive on iPods, Zen's etc. isint constantly running. They run only when needed. Saving, as you said, power etc. They are also slower speed hard drives, as they are cheaper to get etc.

lomb wrote:

i know numerous people who use ipod for backing up as well, and all of them say they last 1-2 years of daily use on average.

Well, they would have obviously been using the older gen models which would probably not have been as reliable.

lomb

Winters wrote:

Well, they would have obviously been using the older gen models which would probably not have been as reliable.

correct , micro hard disk reliability is improving, and players have more ram these days so the drive is off alot of the time.
in shuffle mode on the sony20gb i have the hard disk keeps turning on at the end of each song even though there is a 256mb cache built in. annoying to say the least and battery life suffers on shuffle because if it also reliability worries. sony need to sort this out in new models pronto

tigerwex

why do you guys use this thread to bitch at each other or about products why dont you just answer the question that was asked thats if you have some help to offer and leave it at that and if you wana bitch start your own bitch thread.


anyway to answer the question do as was mention before a hard reset it will most likley work and if not ring apple support they are very helpfull and will most likley sort the problem for you

scargill

this is what solved my iPod 'not turning on' problem a while back.

http://forums.ipodlounge.com/archive/topic/23100-1.html

I am MAN

Enough of the handbagging !

Thanks for the info

ZENER

The Mac Basher strikes again and ruins yet another Apple related thread

From the 1st gen up to the 4th Gen iPod the following procedure usually recovers a unit that appears "Dead"

1. Disconnect from the charger.
2. Slide the "HOLD" switch from Off to On and back Off again.
Press and hold the Menu and Play buttons together until the Apple Logo appears on the screen.

My sons 1st gen iPod needed this done a few times recently.

By the way, The platters in mobile hard disks are made from glass usually to make them resiliaent to head slap due to shock. Hard drive pickup heads DO NOT touch the platter, the float above it. Also more memory does not make a player more reliable or use less power. A balance between RAM and HDD has to be met, putting in more memory uses more power because it is on all the time, the disk can be turned off during loads to save power.

The battery problems documented with regard to the iPod will effect ALL players eventually. The chemistry of the batteries used dictates the life of them not Apple or Creative or iRiver.

ZEN