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tonybeyondo Author

Level 1

2 points

FIX for iPod Touch Home Button

Hi Everyone- first post.

I decided to register for this forum after finding a definitive 100% fix for a 1st gen iPod Touch 16gb home button unresponsive or nonfunctional.

1. Place 1 drop of rubbing alcohol on the home button.
2. Press the button repeatedly with pencil eraser making sure to get liquid into area surrounding button.
3. Dry off area with paper towel.
4. Press home button until it works again.

I was ready to buy a new one- and this was my last ditch effort. Now it works like new!

Hope this is helpful- be careful with the amount/type of liquid used- do not use water!!

Powerbook 12" 1.5ghz, Mac OS X (10.5.6), iPod Touch 16gb 1st gen

Posted on Apr 8, 2009 8:25 AM

208 replies

Feb 12, 2010 11:38 AM in response to tonybeyondo

I was skeptical with this solution, but my ipod was not under warranty. The home button hadn't worked at all in more than a month. I thought it was worth noting that this did not work for me at first, but when I tried the button again a few hours later the home button started working again. A day later it is still functioning properly.

ITouched

Level 1

0 points

Apr 16, 2010 8:32 AM in response to tonybeyondo

Dropped my ITouch on a carpeted floor and the home button quit working. I figured it was a hardware issue. Just read this thread and thought I would give it a try.

Compressed air in the data port didn't work, but it cleaned up the port nicely.

190-proof alcohol on the home button worked! It took 3-4 applications and pushing the button a hundred times. Tried to be very conservative on volume of alcohol to avoid earlier posted problems of liquid under the touch screen, and had no problem.

Thanks to the original poster for your ingenuity.

Apr 19, 2010 2:55 PM in response to tonybeyondo

The Rubbing Alcohol worked amazingly. Please try to put a very small amount of rubbing alcohol though. The alcohol seeped into my screen and i'm finding a dark cloud in my screen. When doing this hold your ipod vertical or the alcohol will go into your screen.
Thank you for fixing the problem

Apr 27, 2010 11:02 PM in response to Crumas

Had to create an account to vouch for this one. While I didn't have a can of compressed air, blowing it seems to work just fine! (Although it probably isn't the absolute best for your iTouch, at least it seems less potentially harmful than the possible water damage.)

I don't doubt the alcohol method has a good chance of working, however, as I had a similar problem with my Nintendo DS's L+R buttons, which was solved simply with water and blowing. However, I wasn't willing to risk the same treatment to my iTouch as my handed-down original Nintendo DS. Crumas's definitely seems to be the safest first try, aside from shipping it to Apple.

Jun 22, 2010 9:00 PM in response to tonybeyondo

I've been troubleshooting this issue for, literally, 5-6 hours today, restoring, restarting, giving up, trying again, repeat - this solution really works! I used peroxide, because it was the only cleaning solvent I had and it worked like a charm! It's most certainly an issue pertaining to dust - I was completely shocked that this Touch, albeit now 2 and 1/2 years old, would break literally out of the blue - these things are incredibly durable - I've literally dropped it in a puddle and it was fine (after it dried out).
Props to Apple for making great hardware - now if they could just do something about this bloated, sluggish pile of dung better known as "Itunes" that would be perfect!

Lorett

Level 1

0 points

Jul 8, 2010 11:00 PM in response to tonybeyondo

I too just had to create an account to post my success with this method as well!!!

I'm just thrilled. My iPod touch is 1st gen, bought in 2006. I was impressed it lasted this long and now I'm even happier that it's working once more!!!

I tried the compressed air - didn't work (in the half minute or so I tried this method)

TIP: I only had alcohol swabs in the little packets in the cupboard. Worked great! Won't put "too much" on as there's very little liquid in one of those to start with.

Awesome fix. Thanks SO MUCH to the original poster for putting this out there!!!

MosesLam

Level 1

4 points

Jul 24, 2010 1:14 AM in response to Lorett

WOOHOO!!!
IT WORKS!!

I ALSO had an ipod touch (given to me because the home button is broken) and I used isopropyl Alcohol 99%, poured it into a cap, spooned some on top and worked the button ... AND IT WORKS!!

I kept the iPod at an angle so the alcohol would not move into the screen and clicked away. It took about 50+ clicks. I could here the clickity sound. Until after a while, it went away.

And now, I have a fully working ipod touch!

Saved me the $10 ebay fee on buying the button and replacement, and the risk of opening up the unit!

PTL 🙂

shuntor

Level 1

0 points

Jul 26, 2010 9:37 AM in response to Knixxed

I have been so frustrated over this problem as my warranty JUST expired! I tried the blowing into the port and now it works again. When I get home from Italy I'm going to invest in a can of air and use that to further dislodge dust particles. Thanks for the advice!

henryguy

Level 1

0 points

Aug 21, 2010 2:02 AM in response to tonybeyondo

Had to log-in just to comment on this.

BEFORE TRYING THE ALCOHOL SOLUTION:
1) Power down iPod, just press the power button.
2) Hold the iPod home button down.
3) Put mouth over charge port and create a seal like playing a flute.
4) Blow like you are trying to fill an air mattress, with force but not to hard as more moisture is contained in hot fast breathe.
5) If it worked like it did for me, while holding the home button down it should turn itself on!
6) Enjoy no headaches from your home button!

Oct 28, 2010 12:07 AM in response to tonybeyondo

tonybeyondo... you, my friend, are a bloody legend.

Tried your wee fix and it has revived an iPod touch that was about to get chucked.

Saved me a few hundred dollars and made my day!

Thanks mate.

Dec 16, 2010 9:12 AM in response to tonybeyondo

Hey everyone! This thread saved me the cost of buying a new ipod!!

I found that blowing into the port below the home button did the trick!! I guess the best method would have been using compressed air, but simply blowing into the port worked!!!

I had spent FAR too much time trying to find a fix, and this thread did it!

"As a last resort, blow into the port!"

YaMudda

Level 1

0 points

Jun 18, 2011 12:06 PM in response to imerg3tctouch

Well Yes I guess I Have to Vouch for this too!!

I Have spent countless hours (exaggerated really..3 hours) trying to fix my ipod home button until i saw this solution !! & ****! Alcohol worked!!! Also about 5 minutes after i let the alcohol seep into the home button and adjusted the ipod vertically so that it may drain down! now it didnt work right away but I tried the method (suggested by someone else who I would truly like to thank) Putting your mouth over the charge port and blowing it (NOT TO HARD!) but slow for instance full your mouth up with like a puffer fish and blow on the port slowly...now you might say in your head this sounds very idiotic (which i thought to) but hey it was stupid enough to work and PRESTO it did work voice control came up and a few minutes later the button was back up to Par!!! BUT MOST OF ALL it saves you Gas, Money & Time! (which we all dont want to waste right) once again thanks for the solution guys it worked for me. =P

aimmae

Level 1

0 points

Sep 9, 2011 4:09 PM in response to tonybeyondo

Did you have to use only one drop of alcohol? I have did it a few times, but it's still not working! Do i keep applying small drops? or do I just stop? I don't have a warranty and I am not trying to spend hundreds of dollars on it

jad000

Level 1

15 points

Sep 19, 2011 3:12 PM in response to Crumas

Brilliant! Thank you Crumas.

My home button was acting very unreliably - 1 push and the multitasking bar would come up, 2 pushes and I would be at the search screen. Never the same response two times in a row. I was starting to get annoyed and assumed it was a mechanical/hardware issue (and not due to the last firmware update, as some suggested in other posts).

A little burst of air while holding down the home button fixed it.

Dust is everywhere and unavoidable and I can much happier accepting the idea of dust getting into these openings then thinking the hardware failed.

I was also getting a warning that my dock was not optimised for charging my iPhone...that seems to be resolved too. Dust must have been inhibiting some of the pins from making contact correctly.

For what its worth...and i am glad the alcohol did work for some...it's just a very dangerous thing to introduce any liquid into the device. It will instantly void your warrenty and unless you want to buy a new phone it will be a costly repair to fix the collateral damage eevn if the primary issue got fixed incidentally.

Thanks to all for their helpful input here and all the advice.

jad000

Nov 19, 2011 12:41 PM in response to tonybeyondo

You are a genius! I can't believe anyone would put this idea down. They should have simply suggested that you use pure alcohol (technically that's what you recommended, you just didn't use the word pure). I had some 91% in the cabinet and it worked like a charm. Why would anyone do this anyway if the phone is still under warranty? I guess common sense is a scarce commodity these days.

As far as being a temporary fix, if it works at all, it indicates that something foreign is interfering with the button's normal operation and you should just repeat the cure with pure alcohol.

Thanks a bunch!

FIX for iPod Touch Home Button