Comments on: iPod Death and Rebirth

By: Huw

Huw — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:15:12 +0000

I couldn’t believe it. You just have to be joking - drop it or hit it - a delicate computer device! But with nothing to lose I closed my eyes and whacked it delicately at first to no avail and then what I thought would be damagingly hard, expecting it to break into pieces. My trust in humankind was restored - the 60GB ancient one works again. Thanks to you all.

By: Grace

Grace — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:41:03 +0000

http://www.usaipodclinic.com

By: Grace

Grace — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:39:48 +0000

I was hapy with usa ipod clinic

By: Parka

Parka — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:22:59 +0000

Mine died Sep 2008. I got an iPod Touch to replace it. Since the iPod Photo is out of duty, I decided to drop it to try. One drop and it was able to enter target disk more. A few more drops all my songs and playlist and even files(!) came back. Like many others, I can’t imagine that this actually worked!!

By: Joel Hanson

Joel Hanson — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:28:07 +0000

I never thought dropping my wife’s ipod would revive it. But it did. I was able to restore it and am loading it up again right now. Long live the ipod drop!

By: The Matt

The Matt — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:43:20 +0000

yay for domestic appliance abuse! it actually works, you are brilliant. thank you so much, now i can at least keep my files.

By: ur a genius!

ur a genius! — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:19:49 +0000

HOLY CRAP! I can’t believe this actually worked! Thank you so much! (4th gen here)

By: iPod Death

iPod Death — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:07:05 +0000

[...] cherish every moment I have with my iPod, as it’s due to die soon. Not good news. I found another blog suggesting that I bang it on the table. I’m only going to try that once I’ve exhausted all other [...]

By: artie

artie — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:17:15 +0000

has anyone tried this company, http://www.ipodrefresh.com. Their very cheap…..

By: zcollvee

zcollvee — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:02:56 +0000

My 5th Gen iPod Video (30GB) died… I took it to the Local redistribution center of apple products (I live in a place without Apple Stores:() They had it replaced it exactly 5 days.
Same sad face and all

By: Ruth

Ruth — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:28:25 +0000

Believe it!! I had a sad mac for a week, nothing worked…. a good smack on a book and it works again!! Thanks to the Toronto public library the ipod works again!!!

By: Bert

Bert — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:35:23 +0000

This made my day - I had bought this 20 GB 4th Gen iPOD on EBay to use it in my car (good battery was not an issue). It arrived - I unpacked it, switched it on and all I got was the sad face… Tried resetting etc - all to no avail. After reading this story I made a last ditch attempt: A good smack on the butt - and - hey presto - it works!

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 05:44:24 +0000

I didn’t believe the slamming thing. I’ve had my ipod for two and a half years, and as I was listening to my anatomy and physiology lectures on it earlier, it just gave out. I went through the phases of grief: anger, denial, acceptance, and then I slammed it on my palm and tried to reset it and the little apple popped up just as nothing had happened between us. It’s incredible. Thank you.

By: Alley

Alley — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 19:01:07 +0000

Hallelujah! I had almost given up on my old friend but thought to search the net in one last attempt to save it. Slammed my 4thGen on the table Really hard and it came back to life, just like you said!
Thank You!

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:24:25 +0000

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Amazingly this has just worked for me. My 60gb iPod Photo had been dead a week. I tried everything, been in diagnostic mode, nothing. I resigned myself that I needed a new hard disk and phoned Apple. Out of warranty, they don't do repairs, so they were no help. Phone a local Apple reseller who said there was a replacement scheme and they could send mine off and get a refurished one back for 65 english pounds. I decided that was the best option, but did a final google on whir and iPod and got this blog. I followed your instructions, I held my iPod and slammed it hard on a carpeted floor, and it was resurrected. Then I laughed out loud in shock and amazement. It was a funny moment. Cheers.

By: kimmmy p.

kimmmy p. — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 00:29:33 +0000

YAY!!! I JUST TRIED THIS AND IT WORKED!!! YIPEEEEE!

By: Justine

Justine — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 06:12:38 +0000

I have the same iPod and it’s been acting up….surprisingly hitting it did work for a while, but mine just officially died….boooo

By: Amber

Amber — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 01:46:08 +0000

Dropping the iPod after a frustrating trip to the Genius Bar (where I was told the hard drive was shot forever) was not only therapeutic–it fixed it! When I picked it up and hit the menu button, everything queued up as if nothing had ever happened. It’s charging happily on its stand, and I haven’t seen the iPod face of death since the fall.

Thanks for saving me a couple hundred bucks.

By: BustyBoots

BustyBoots — Thu, 31 May 2007 21:06:03 +0000

I don’t want to wait till the end of Summer , I want it now. Who with me?
save your time and join me.

By: KittB

KittB — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:18:18 +0000

Just wanted to add that my husband used to work for Apple and when my 4th Gen photo died, I took it up to Apple and my husband and a fellow employee took it in the back and apparently gave it a good hard smack on a counter top and it sprang to life! I had to reload everything I’d put on it, but I got my iPod back. Even if it only bought a few more months of life, I’m happy because as soon as hubby gets the iPhone, I’m getting his 5th Gen video!

By: patrick

patrick — Tue, 22 May 2007 14:38:32 +0000

three firm slaps on the back…and it works again….yihaaaahah! thanks everybody!

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:31:06 +0000

Hey thats really funny I thought that I lost my ipod for good until I read about slamming it on the table… Well I did slam it and it came back on and I didnt lose any of my songs I had on it!!! Well I just want to say thanks for this information it really worked!!!

By: rampancy

rampancy — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 01:13:43 +0000

Here’s another who can vouch for the technique of beating the tar out of a broken iPod. This is an old 1G of which I had the hard drive and battery replaced. While charging, I noticed that it would get very hot - it was then that I noticed the hard drive would fail. However, even when it cooled down it gave me either the sad iPod face or the Folder + Excalamtion Mark screen.

One hard slam on my desk later (I recommend you leave it in an iSkin-type silicone rubber case of some sort!) it works, er…sort of…

By: MIchael DeMartin

MIchael DeMartin — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:42:29 +0000

Thank you very much - my iPod did the same thing. I didn’t want to drop mine since it’s in near-perfect condition, so I put a towel on a table top and I banged the iPod on it’s back hard a few times. Shockingly it came back to life and it now seems perfectly fine. Thanks for the tip - Apple told me it couldn’t be fixed so I’m grateful now it works!

By: DBL

DBL — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 03:34:47 +0000

Yes, this can work with any stuck hard drive (thought not all hard drive problems are caused by sticky heads). You can even do this with your laptop drives (but DO take them out of the laptop first!) So I found that claim that 5G iPods are immune to be incomprehensible. No hard drive is immune to this eventual form of failure, nor to possibly be revived by a good smack. (If just airing it out works, then it isn’t very serious YET. If you leave the hard drive powered up and going click-click-click for three hours, well, you have just delivered a wear and tear on that head (what is that, like 10,000 failed attempts to move itself? mechanical components don’t like this kind of thing) that is probably equivalent to dozens of hard raps, so just give it a single good rap and get it over with. Do NOT let any hard drive click away indefinitely for hours on end.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:01:14 +0000

Yo man, I have a 5th generation iPod (Photo iPod). I was having the exact same problem, and after reading this I neglected to read the very last paragraph which talks about how this technique would not work with a 5th gen; turns out I proved that theory wrong. I dropped that piece on the floor and it went right back to working properly. Good deal so far, hopefully it stays in working condition.

By: Jorge Quinteros

Jorge Quinteros — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:54:34 +0000

I found myself in the very same predicament a couple of weeks ago. After a while, my iPod would only work if I held it on a certain angle. Subsequently, I gave it and purchased an 80GB Black iPod last week and I haven’t look back ever since.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:32:13 +0000

Yep. I’ve been having loads of problems with my 60G iPod Photo and every time it goes crazy on me I try a series of restarts, switching between a usb connect to my computers and a firewire connect, and failing these I will give that little jerk a few hardy slaps and the occasion, “oh… someone wants to fall out of my hand onto the floor… well… ok… oops *smack*” … The next thing you know, resurrection! I suppose it is comforting in some morbid way to know others have discovered a similar violent fix to these issues. Anyone want to buy an ipod? haha

By: Nathaniel Perales

Nathaniel Perales — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:52:29 +0000

My 3rd and 4th Generation iPods stopped working a couple times in my life and the way I always fixed mine was very similar to yours. I basically just took an exacto knife and got right in between the white and the silver part of the ipod, opened the “pod” right up and let it air out all day. I closed it back up the next day and it was working perfectly again. : ) I’m glad yours is back to normal.

By: Claus

Claus — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:45:54 +0000

Amazing - it really worked. I’ve had a 4G iPod laying dead for more than a year. I turned it on and slammed it on the desk twice, and it worked as described. The sad mac changed to the folder icon, and iTunes offered to restore it. I’m copying music onto it right now, and it seems to work - fingers crossed.

By: Louis Gray

Louis Gray — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:03:31 +0000

DBL, I’m not in any state of misguided utopia. My hope is that I can extend the life of the patient for another product generation, or at least until Apple delivers a widescreen iPod (sans iPhone). If I bought an 80 GB iPod Video today, and the next rev came out shortly after, I’d certainly be disappointed. I like your idea of hoisting on someone else though. Maybe I should wipe the drive and eBay it to some poor sucker. (Not really)

By: Jer

Jer — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:59:07 +0000

I had a 4G 40GB ipod stop working on me. I bought a 5g 60GB to replace, and the old one sat in a box for 4 months until I read somewhere that hitting it on the right side fixes most of them. It was a brick for me anyway, so I put a book on the table (didn’t want to damage my coffee table or floors) and gave it one good whack. It came up, and to make a long story short, needed it’s firmware reloaded. I now have a working 40GB that is a great place to back stuff up. Could it be that ipods are like cats, and they have more than one life?

By: Free Nature Photography Wallpaper

Free Nature Photography Wallpaper — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:56:39 +0000

I am traveling with my Ipod this May for an entire summer, and going to use it as a backup. But this really scares me… I have the 20 gig video ipod. I wanted to use it as a storage device for my images, since I plan on taking about 7 thousand images in raw files…

By: DBL

DBL — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:55:39 +0000

I’m sorry to have to tell you that this was just the equivalent of shocking the patient with paddles in an emergency room. Your iPod gets to live a little longer, but it still has heart disease. I would just be thankful that I got my data back and replace the thing immediately. Turn it in for the $35 (better than foisting it on somebody else).

By: Mrad

Mrad — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:22:54 +0000

Yeah, I had something similar on my 3G. After not using it for a week or two, I hooked it up to my MBP. Nothing appeared on the screen, but I could hear the hard drive clicking inside. I considered it dead, but left it hooked up anyway.

Three hours later, it whirred back to life.