White Screen, but iPod not dead...

Hello,
Yesterday morning I turned on my nano (black, second gen) and the screen lit up white, but nothing displayed. I though "uh-oh, white screen of death!" but, when I hit the play button, it started playing! But, still, nothing comes on the screen — just bright white. I've tried draining the power, resetting (more times that I can count), resetting in iTunes to Factory Default, etc. and nothing works. The iPod totally works, shows up when plugged in, but the screen just won't work. It lights up bright white, and that's it (and then dims after the alloted time until I touch a button again).
Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kristin.

20" Intel iMac 2.16Ghz, 12" PowerBook G4 1.33Ghz, Mac OS X (10.5.2), 8GB Nano, Epson R2400, Canon 30D

Posted on Dec 5, 2008 5:08 AM

23 replies

Feb 8, 2010 4:57 PM in response to kristin.

This "white screen of death" has been around for a long time. Apple knows about it but refuses to fix the affected ipods. I have sued my nano, 2 gen no more than 4 hours total since I received it as a gift several years ago. It just sits in a desk drawer. After recharging last week I got the WSOD. There appears to be no permanent fix. The quickest fix I have found is temporary - a gentle heating w/ a hair dryer. But the WSOD returns after the unit is turned off.

< Edited by Host >

Feb 26, 2010 4:45 AM in response to kristin.

The WSoD (White Screen of Death) began happening a couple of weeks ago on my 2nd gen Nano. I tried the gentle warming with my hands and this seemed to help with a restart but now it does not. Performing various steps of the '5 Rs' will temporarily resolve the problem but like others have pointed out the WSoD is back again after turning the iPod off and on again.

I was considering purchasing a replacement iPod. 'WAS.' Now I see that not only has apple not done enough to correct this problem but that other iPods as new as a few weeks are experiencing similar problems. I've invested too much money in my iTunes library already. I feel like my investment is being held for ransom. If I don't buy another 'expensive' device from Apple then all my files are practically worthless to me unless I want to carry around my laptop to listen to my music. Can I get an armband for when I'm at the gym?

I think from now on I'll avoid agreements that involve using only devices provided only by one company. This is a sore lesson learned!

kristin. Author

Level 2

265 points

Apr 8, 2009 12:20 PM in response to kristin.

The iPod died.

dolsy

Level 1

0 points

Jul 24, 2009 9:48 AM in response to kristin.

Hi, kristin my ipod nano 2gen has exactly the same problem as yours. And your quetion is marked as "answered" but i don't find the answer. How did you solve this problem?

Thx

Tinuk

Level 1

4 points

Jul 25, 2009 2:04 PM in response to dolsy

@dolsy, I believe there is no answer so far except using alternative firmware (revert back to older version or using Linux for iPod). However I have not found a way currently to do this...

Jlilypb

Level 1

0 points

Aug 8, 2009 4:30 AM in response to akam1

Heyyy this worked for me!! 😀 Thanx!
my ipod turned white after i took it out of my speakers, 2 years old. this worked though, even when i turned it off and back on.

Laurag2

Level 1

0 points

Aug 12, 2009 2:46 PM in response to kristin.

I have tried the reboot thing on my nano 2nd generation and it still has the white screen. Has anyone gotten a response from apple on this issue?

MacDE

Level 1

0 points

Oct 8, 2009 1:13 PM in response to Laurag2

+1

me too!!! see other thread

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White Screen, but iPod not dead...