lundlund
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Q: My iPod fell out of my pocket and won't work properly now

Hi, I've had my 160 GB iPod classic since 2007 and it's been working really well since then. Freezes up every so often, but never been an issue. But I was riding my bike yesterday and my iPod fell out of my pocket. It seemed to be fine so I kept playing music, but after one song finished it wouldn't play anything else. So I tried restarting it, but I kept hearing a clicking noise as it tried to start up and eventually got a red X and the phrase "www.apple.com/support/ipod". I tried restarting it a few times to no avail, tried checking the hard drive specs but couldn't, and I couldn't even go into disk mode. But after a while I gave it a firm shake during another attempt at restarting it, mainly because I was curious what the **** that clicking noise was, and then it suddenly started making a loud whirring noise. I was quite worried, but eventually it stopped and suddenly my iPod started working again. Success! I played some music from it and everything seemed to be working well.

 

But that's just a little backstory. I still have an issue. I eventually plugged my iPod into my computer and started syncing it. It seemed to be working, albeit much slower than usual. Slowed down my iTunes as well. Then I ejected it and much to my chagrin my iPod claims that it has no music on it. It's still showing that all the memory is still there. It's telling me that it only has 103 GB free space, so the files are still there. If I try plugging it into my computer, it shows that it's there and everything, but I can't access it. I can't do anything with it while it's connected to my computer except slow down iTunes. If I enter the Hard Drive Smart Data on my iPod, it shows me the following:

 

Retracts: 39

Reallocs: 525

Pending Sectors: 3

 

I'm not very tech-savvy, so I'm not entirely sure what these mean. But I believe that the pending sectors used to be at 0 while I had this problem earlier, but it seems to have gone up a little bit since I've been plugging it into and out of my computer and trying to access it and stuff. My memory could be playing tricks on me though. But that's what it's telling me now anyway. I'm suspecting that the hard drive is just loose, but I really have no idea. Restarting my iPod also takes significantly longer than it used to and it's making some slight noise as if there's a small computer fan inside of it (never noticed this sound before), and if I shake it while restarting it makes a sort of clicking noise. I really don't know what to do and I don't want to lose this iPod I've had for the past 8 years that I can't really replace. Thanks in advance for any help!

iPod classic, Windows 7

Posted on Oct 18, 2015 8:32 AM

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lundlund

Q: My iPod fell out of my pocket and won't work properly now

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  • Helpful answers

  • by turingtest2,Helpful

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 19, 2015 1:49 PM in response to lundlund
    Level 10 (85,368 points)
    iPod
    Oct 19, 2015 1:49 PM in response to lundlund

    See Corrupt iPod classic. The iPod has a mechanical hard drive which is not silent, and may get noisier with age. Your stats aren't that bad, but if the database on the device cannot be read then the device will appear empty even though there is space taken up by media. You shouldn't shake or knock the hard drive, particularly when it is active as this can lead to physical damage.

     

    tt2

  • by lundlund,

    lundlund lundlund Oct 19, 2015 12:05 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 12:05 PM in response to turingtest2

    Hey, thanks for the reply.

     

    Unfortunately it doesn't seem like I can do much as every time I plug it into my computer and try to do anything with it it just says it can't access the disk or it can't find it. It says it's there, but it can't access it.

     

    I just now tried doing the DFU Restore you're talking about in that post, and it first says it detected an iPod in recovery mode and needs to be restored. So I click restore on iTunes and it tries to do its thing before showing me this message:

    "The iPod "iPod" could not be restored. An unknown error has occurred (1439)."

    I could either click OK or More Information, which linked me to this.

    If you see error 1415, 1417, 1418, 1428, 1429, 1430, 1436, or 1439 when restoring or updating an iPod in iTunes - Apple …

     

    I'm still suspecting that the hard drive might be loose. I'm not sure if that's possible though.

  • by lundlund,

    lundlund lundlund Oct 19, 2015 12:34 PM in response to lundlund
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 12:34 PM in response to lundlund

    I'd like to add that after trying to restore and failing at it, I can't do anything with my iPod any more. It just tells me that I need to restore it when I eject it and try to start it up.

  • by turingtest2,Helpful

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 19, 2015 1:49 PM in response to lundlund
    Level 10 (85,368 points)
    iPod
    Oct 19, 2015 1:49 PM in response to lundlund

    Try again. Try the low level format too. If you have a Mac owning friend ask them to try restoring it, then try again in Windows. Check the stats again. Any pending?

     

    tt2

  • by lundlund,

    lundlund lundlund Oct 19, 2015 1:37 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 1:37 PM in response to turingtest2

    Tried the DFU restore multiple times to the same result. I just formatted my iPod and successfully restored it. It restarted and is now connecting to my iTunes. I will try to sync a few tracks and get it started and check the stats in a minute. It seems to be working well now though. I can finally access it properly via windows though. Thank you so much!

  • by lundlund,

    lundlund lundlund Oct 19, 2015 1:45 PM in response to lundlund
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 1:45 PM in response to lundlund

    So my iPod seems to be working perfectly yet again. Thanks a tonne! Now I just have to sync the remaining 40+ GB of music onto it. I saw your tip on breaking up large transfers though and will resort to that. I checked my settings now though and I have the following:

     

    Retracts: 44

    Reallocs: 525

    Pending sectors: 3

     

    The pending sectors seems a bit worrying, but I'm not sure if it's something worth worrying about.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 19, 2015 2:02 PM in response to lundlund
    Level 10 (85,368 points)
    iPod
    Oct 19, 2015 2:02 PM in response to lundlund

    One would have hoped the pendings would have cleared with the restore/reformat.

     

    tt2

  • by lundlund,

    lundlund lundlund Oct 19, 2015 2:09 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 2:09 PM in response to turingtest2

    I'll try scanning and attempting recovery of bad sectors on it and see if that will fix the pending sectors.

     

    I did notice an issue though; when I restart my iPod it resets all settings and prompts me to choose language. Otherwise it seems to be working perfectly.

  • by lundlund,

    lundlund lundlund Oct 19, 2015 2:52 PM in response to lundlund
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 19, 2015 2:52 PM in response to lundlund

    Umm... I seem to have a new issue... So I synced some music onto my iPod and it worked great. Tried syncing some more music and everything was going well, then I ejected it. It didn't want to restart. I know you aren't supposed to restart it when it's ejecting, but it was seriously stuck on that screen for five minutes so I forced it to restart. Now it won't restart at all. I can check the disk and it has the same values. I figured I would maybe try formatting it yet again, so I plugged it into my computer and tried to format it but now it doesn't seem to want to.

     

    I really appreciate all the help you're offering though. Thank you very much. Sorry for bothering you with such a troublesome iPod.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 19, 2015 3:04 PM in response to lundlund
    Level 10 (85,368 points)
    iPod
    Oct 19, 2015 3:04 PM in response to lundlund

    All you can do is try again, and again. With luck a few rounds will identify all of the problem areas on the disk and map them out. Or it could be an iceberg, and you discover that more and more of the drive is damaged as you go on. Best of luck.

     

    tt2