Q: iPod Classic

Hi again turingtest2,

     I sent my iPod off and they replaced it with a brand new one for me. Synced it last night; still having the freezing/skipping issues. Obviously I have some corrupted files in my iTunes, then? Is there any way I can figure out what it is that is causing the issue and fix it quickly (as I have 20+gb of music)?

Thank you so much,
Haylee

Clone your iTunes library to an external drive using this backup tip. Should there be any files that cannot be read from the source drive in the first pass then a subsequent run may pick these up.

tt2

Thanks for your response.  Most of my music (everything except for what I have purchased in iTunes) is already stored on an external hard drive - will this still work? Should I attempt moving all the music to my computer, re-adding everything to my iTunes library,  and syncing without the use of my hard drive to rule it out as the problem?  Thanks.

In that case the point is to move everything to a different hard drive. Hard drives can and do fail without warning. Two copies of all your important data should be the bare minimum. Ideally you should get your library configured in a portable form so that it is easy to backup and move around. See Make a split library portable for details. The backup process may reveal any currently obscured issues on your source drives..

You should also look at my tip on breaking up large transfers.my Corrupt iPod classic post.

tt2

I hoenstly cannot thank you enough for all your suggestions. I will let you know what ends up working, now that I know that it isn't an issue with my hardware.

Have a great day!

You're welcome.

Best of luck getting it all sorted out.

tt2

So - developments!

I've been at work all week and was saving the attempted fixing for the weekend. But then I got to thinking. Everything is correct about how much music is on my iPod - if so many songs are cutting off at 0:49, surely I shouldn't have such a high amount of GB stored. So I tested things, and tried fast forwarding through the "broken" spots of the skipping songs. Music plays. I decided to try and play the same song again.... No skips.

It doesn't seem to work every time - I have to try fast forwarding through each "broken" spot a couple times and let it play a little bit, and eventually the songs stop skipping.

Weirdest fix ever.... But I'm so happy. Thought I would let you know in case anyone else is having this weird mystery issue.

Thanks a lot!

After doing ALL of your suggested fixes, I get this message when I try to repair disk in the utility app on my MacBook Pro: Error: Live file system repair is not supported. Any suggestions?

I'm afraid I don't know enough about the OS X disk checking utility to make suggestions. What are the iPod's HDD stats?

tt2

I reset the computer, and now I'm in the process of erasing/partitioning the iPod. However, it seems to be stuck about half way, and the estimated time keeps creeping up. How long should I let it run before disconnecting it if no progress is made?

I had a similar problem and one very dull day I went through half of my 24GB, 4000+ song library and discovered around 10% of songs were being skipped straight over by my 2009 160GB ipod classic and others were playing halfway through and then stopping.

Until I found this thread I couldn't find a fix. I repaired the disk in disk utility and then restored it in itunes back to factory settings. I then added all the music back on the ipod, one letter of the alphabet at a time (that was a few hours wasted!) After going through 1% of my library, I've come across no problems so far, I think it may have been fixed!!

Only other thing that may have attributed to this is that I had previously stored all my music on an external HDD, and recently upgraded my mac to 1TB and moved all my music back across. I wonder if somewhere between the external hdd and the ipod it was corrupting the files??

Only issue I've come across is its now showing an error in diag mode when I run the HDSMARTData test, it worked before... any ideas anyone??

Hey Turingtest,

So the other day I was walking home from work when my iPod Classic 160GB died on me. When I tried to reboot it however, it gave me a red "X" with "www.apple.com/support/iPod/" underneath of it. I looked online for ways to troubleshoot it, and so far it appears that I cannot get it into disk mode. I did manage to get it into the diagnostics mode, but when I went to the IO > HardDrive > HDSMARTData, it gives me an error saying "[Can't Open Device]" with "ERROR! Diag Halt" flashing underneath of it. I feel like these are signs to call it a day and get a new iPod, but I wasn't sure and was curious if you had any input.

Thanks for time,
Petri

Outside shot: http://joshhighland.com/blog/2006/03/29/fix-your-ipod-by-spanking-it/

Or you could take it apart and make sure the drive cable is connected properly.

tt2

Did you manage to get it checked out at the itunes store? I'm having the same issues, stats are:
Retracts: 1
Reallocs: 9624
Pending Sectors: 0

PowerOn: 30
Start/Stops: 7005
Temp Current: 36C
Temp Min: 1C
Temp Max: 57C

I'm wondering if at the store they just tell you to pay for repair?

I bought the ipod for my partner just a year and a half ago, and its already dEAD!!! I've looked into repair/help from tech support and feeling utterly ripped-off,

I can't pay nearly £70 in shipping/support and can't pay £20 just for a **** phonecall for them to probably tell me that yeah the iPod's f*$ked.

If it's under 2 years we can try and get some help with consumer rights but where on earth that receipt is I don't know.
What a waste of £200.

According to what I read so far I’m pretty sure my drive is dead but I thought

it will be interesting to show how screwed my numbers are.

This iPod Classic 80GB is seven years old.

Check this out!