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New iPod randomly skipping songs

I got a new iPod classic 120GB, replacing my old 60gb. I loaded it up with my songs and stuff, and started using it, but after a while it skipped to next song halfway through a song. This happened a few times, and once the ipod even restarted itself (after displaying a low quality 8bit colour apple logo image). I then restored my iPod, and checked for latest software, and it seemed to be better for a while, but it just skipped a song again.

I'm pretty sure all the song files are mp3, but maybe some AACs. Songs that skipped played fine other times. iPod hasn't been dropped since I got it... I guess I have to take it to an apple center for warranty... Does anyone elses new 120GB skip songs?

Thanks
Rodger

New 120GB Classic, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Sep 16, 2008 8:05 AM

258 replies

Arweljos

Level 1

0 points

Nov 5, 2010 9:13 AM in response to Rodger Sutherland

I too am waiting for apple to acknowledge that this is a genuine fault, I had dead pixels on my 120gb classic and sent it for repair under warranty which only had two weeks left.
They sent me a replacement ipod which as you can probably guess skips songs randomly and resetts itself randomly, sometimes with the grey apple logo and other times with the screen of death, I sent it back immediately with the fault reported and they sent it right back stating that they could not find a problem with it.

Iv'e had it now for 6 months and I wish to god that my dead pixels would have waited two weeks before starting as that would have been much more bearable that this annoying random fault!

I have tried all types all software updates and restores to no avail. scanned all my mp3 files for corrupt or problematic ones, fixed or removed them again to no avail. will try defragging my ipod now.

It has never happend when I'm watching Video though which I find strange as it happend so often with music.

Jan 6, 2011 7:32 AM in response to Rodger Sutherland

It's been a Year of still having this problem with the iPod.
Where is the solution?

b.ling

Level 1

0 points

Jan 7, 2011 8:28 PM in response to Rodger Sutherland

Sorry to be a downer in this post, but I visited my local Apple store this evening and was told, "The needle that reads the hard drive in the iPod classic (120gb) is "broken/defective". I was told that I have two options: have it replaced or repaired.
Apple offers a discounted price of $129 for a brand new one, but I am not sure I want something with the same technology in it. I am not pleased that this type of engineering was accepted as the "latest and greatest" when this particular iPod was released.
We need to make some noise about this so that Apple will offer much more than a measly $129 replacement fee. I bought this particular model due to the amount of data it can hold and the longevity I planned to use it for. I am very disappointed about the fact that I am having to replace it after only owing it for a little under two years.

work2do

Level 1

0 points

Jan 22, 2011 12:58 PM in response to Rodger Sutherland

Same skipping issues here with my 120GB ipod. I've had it nearly two years now and skips even more as time has gone by. It also started randomly restarting with the blueish black apple symbol. I've only tried resetting and doesnt work. Seems to skip more when I've had it connected to my Bose docking station, then removed it and listened through my headphones. Apple has got to fix this issue for present/future Classics!

Jan 27, 2011 8:24 AM in response to Rodger Sutherland

I have been following this post for about a year, tried defragging my iPod and some other methods. The songs that were skipping in my case were not actually random, they were always the same songs. I do not believe the problem is with the iPod because of the way I got the songs to stop skipping. As a caveat I am not an Apple computer user and don't have any Apple gadgets except my iPod.

1. Deleted the songs from itunes.
2. Synched my iPod.
3. Re-installed the music on itunes.
4. Synched my iPod

Skipping step 2 did not stop the problem because the corrupted files were not over written, alas there are no shortcuts in life.

I did not try some of the software other people have written about that will fix corrupted music files but it sounds like they would work as well.

ROBYER1

Level 1

0 points

Mar 11, 2011 2:21 PM in response to RickHollandHFX

Similar song skipping problems here with my new 64gb 4G ipod touch... so frustrating 😟 however i just tried restring my ipod then copying the problematic songs i remembered back over... no problems so far!

Mar 27, 2011 12:11 PM in response to ROBYER1

I don't think this is a hardware problem as someone suggests above. After restoring and resynching my ipod classic, the songs skip in exactly the same place. It happens to all types of tracks - different bit rates, codecs, tracks that I've bought and tracks that I've ripped myself recently. Very disappointing that this defect has been around for several years without being acknowlegded or fixed.

May 23, 2011 8:58 AM in response to gewddoogie

Anyone find a definite cause for this problem yet? My iPod is out of warranty so if the cause is the hard drive, I'd rather pay $75 for a hard drive on eBay than $129 for a replacement from Apple. If it's a software issue, then I'd like to know so i can look around for other portable music player options.

nw0307

Level 1

0 points

Jun 8, 2011 3:51 AM in response to CoreyScogin

I'm adding my name to the hat. 6.5 generation 120gb ipod. I've had it over two years now so past the warranty date unfortunately. My experience is like many on here:-

started skipping occasionally but never on same song or in same place
started skipping more often and the odd crash
started skipping every other song and the weird 8bit color crash
restored the ipod and put music back on

this cycle has happened for a third time now. The songs played fine on my old 30gb video. It skips songs that are both mp3 and aac, various bit rates, some songs even without album art. It's even skipped songs that I've just imported from cd via iTunes. I've even done that Mp3 Validator program on all the mp3s.

However....I have noticed that the skipping happens more often when used in my car via the headphone to aux and the ipod is in a vertical angle on the dashboard. It also skips occasionally on my dock speaker system when it's again upright. I'm now typing this at work with the ipod flat horizontal with headphones and I've not had one skip. Could this be one of the factors? If so, would this not suggest the HD needle problem mentioned earlier if the ipod is upright in a car/dock? Or on another forum, someone suggested it was a loose zif cable connection to the hard drive.

It skipped on 4 songs on the way to work this morning and now I've been listening for over 2 hours with it laying flat and nothing?!

any more thoughts? Have you all tried laying it flat?

Jun 8, 2011 4:10 AM in response to nw0307

Yes, mine still skips.

Mine just skips randomly, or will pause, or if i turn it off, it will turn back on and keep playing (btu whenever i want it to play it keeps pausing/skipping).

Even laying it down and not touching it with the lock on, it will still skip/pause.

Jun 24, 2011 10:38 AM in response to Rodger Sutherland

I know I'm late to the party, but I'd just like to throw my name into the hat as well. My old 80GB iPod finally crapped out on me so I had to upgrade to the next gen 120GB that the apple store so graciously gave me a discount on.

Unfortunately, like all of you it seems to randomly skip songs at random intervals. Some of you are saying that maybe i need to "validate" my mp3 files as the may be corrupt but I assure you that this isn't the case for me, and probably most of the people that have posted here. The song skippings are completely random, and completely annoying. Even if my files aren't "perfect" they work fine on my iPhone and my computer and shouldn't need to be "validated" so that they work on a different device.

With that being said, I found that the backlight "always on" and the brightness set to 0% has surprisingly worked for me as a temporary fix as it has some of the rest of you.

I think it's absolutely ridiculous that apple's core mp3 player, the classic iPod, has such a rampant problem just simply playing the music stored on them.

nw0307

Level 1

0 points

Jun 30, 2011 2:31 AM in response to kennechiwa87

Right another update....

My ipod has started skipping and crashing again, flat, using headphones or not, in dock, randomly so....

I have replaced the hard drive with a new Toshiba one and a brand new zif cable. Restored. I have now been playing it in my car this morning, and guess what? - I've had 3 songs bloody skipping again! No crashes as yet but I'm expecting that soon.

So, for my ipod I can eliminate the hard drive and zif cable from the problem. I'm now beginning to think it could be either the click wheel or more disastrous, the logic board on these ipods could be faulty. I'm getting a few spares/repair 6th gen ipods so I'm going to try the click wheel next. If it isn't that, then it's the logic board and basically not worth repairing so I'll strip it for parts. I'll keep you all informed.

MarkWH

Level 1

10 points

Jul 7, 2011 8:24 AM in response to nw0307

I have a touch that I purchased in October after 4 months it started to skip song.. then recently my 2 year old 160gb classic started to skip as well on the same songs..

Here is what I know

* The same songs skip on the both the touch and classic

* The song plays great when played directly from iTunes (win7)

* When I navigate directly to the song on stored on the touch or classic it plays fine in quick time and in zune

* I did a binary comparison of the files stored on the touch and on the classic against the source HD and everything was indentical.

* Over time more and more songs are getting into this state...

Anyone want to help troubleshoot more so we can isolate this problem?

If somone from cupertino wants to contact me directly to troubleshoot I would be happy to help.

stingom

Level 1

0 points

Aug 20, 2011 10:49 AM in response to Rodger Sutherland

One more frustrated customer here. I have had Iphones, first with ATT then with verizon, do this. We finally got it solved (I thought) with ATT, and I replaced my ipod for $49...and was problem free for a few months. Then my husband decided we needed to move to Verizon, and the problems started again. Full wipe and restore didn't fix it, a new device on verizon hasn't fixed it. Mine skipps randomly, but when it does, it skips the same track in each playlist. Really really really frustrating, since I'm a fitness instructor, and it throws my whole class out of whack when I can't play the same song in each playlist!

Shanna

Aug 24, 2011 7:22 PM in response to Rodger Sutherland

another name to the basket.

my 120 classic decided to start to skip just outside of the warrenty timeframe, and has progressivly got worse.

its at the stage where it just doesnt get used as it cant even play a whole album.

the interesting thing is my partner has a 120classic, shares a lot of the same music as me and is 100% trouble free.

luck of the draw i guess... regardless though, it is pretty disgusting that the problem has not even been acknowledged, or any attempts made to fix the problem.

WOULD SOMEONE FROM APPLE LIKE TO OFFER US SOME INSIGHT ON THIS SITUATION?

and alternatively, what music devices have people turned to?

i dont think my next music device/smartphone will be coming from apple, simply cause of the lack of quality/resolve ive experienced with my ipod.

New iPod randomly skipping songs