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ipod corrupt? error message 1439.

so i went to use my ipod today and it said "connect to itunes to restore ipod" so i did. and it did its thing i pressed restore and it says "cant restore unknown error 1439". and when before i clicked restore i noticed that it didnt tell me howmany gigs of music or free space i had...it just said N/A. ive tried the 5 Rs like 10000000 times. still nothing. and the warrenty ran out...is there any way to fix this? please help i really need my ipod. its a classic 160 gig 5th gen by the way...

acer, Windows Vista, Its a good computer.

Posted on Dec 12, 2010 1:29 AM

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21 replies

Dec 12, 2010 3:01 AM in response to EuphoricPsycho

160Gb makes it some flavour of the 6th generation.

*Check your iPod with Diagnostics Mode*
It's possible that your iPod's hard drive has started to fail. Take your iPod and place your right thumb on the centre SELECT button and your left on the top MENU button. Press down both thumbs for about 6 seconds until your iPod reboots. Immediately move your left thumb around to the rewind button |<< on the left and hold this down together with SELECT for a further 6 seconds. Your iPod should now switch into Diagnostic Boot mode. Press MENU for *Manual Test*, then select *IO > HardDrive > HDSMARTData* to reveal your stats. For comparison here are mine for my 2 year old 6th Generation Classic:
Retracts: 889
Reallocs: 12
Pending Sectors: 0
PowerOn Hours: 2202
Start/Stops: 894
Temp: Current 24c
Temp: Min 10c
Temp: Max 50c

Take a note of your results. When finished press *SELECT & MENU* for 6 seconds to reset the iPod again.

With modern disc drives sectors are no longer marked bad by a disc scan, if the SMART firmware detects a sector it has trouble accessing it will attempt to invisibly reallocate it to a spare area of the disc.

Note that I've only 12 remapped sectors and none pending. To help explain what the numbers mean here is an extract from the Wikipedia S.M.A.R.T. article:
*Reallocated Sectors Count*
Count of reallocated sectors. When the hard drive finds a read/write/verification error, it marks this sector as "reallocated" and transfers data to a special reserved area (spare area). This process is also known as remapping, and "reallocated" sectors are called remaps. This is why, on modern hard disks, "bad blocks" cannot be found while testing the surface – all bad blocks are hidden in reallocated sectors. However, as the number of reallocated sectors increases, the read/write speed tends to decrease. The raw value normally represents a count of the number of bad sectors that have been found and remapped. Thus, the higher the attribute value, the more sectors the drive has had to reallocate.

*Pending sector count*
Number of "unstable" sectors (waiting to be remapped, because of read errors). If an unstable sector is subsequently written or read successfully, this value is decreased and the sector is not remapped. Read errors on a sector will not remap the sector (since it might be readable later); instead, the drive firmware remembers that the sector needs to be remapped, and remaps it the next time it's written.

Large numbers of Reallocs or Pending Sectors would suggest your drive is failing and that you may need to repair or replace your iPod. Check your stats after another attempt to update your iPod. If the numbers increase that again points to hard drive failure. While it won't be good news at least you'll know it isn't some random software problem and you can decide what to do next.

tt2

Dec 15, 2010 4:48 AM in response to EuphoricPsycho

I've obviously no idea of how carefully you've looked after your iPod but you should be aware that the hard drive is a fragile component. Drop the iPod with too much force, or once too often, get it too hot, too cold or wet and it is likely to die. The 12 month warranty is usually enough to cover any product that was sub-par at the time of manufacture. You would probably have had an option to take out an extended warranty (at a cost) when you purchased it. Personally I always think such things are poor value for money as I'm more likely to have an accident with it which I can't claim for than a slow-burning defect which I can.

tt2

Dec 16, 2010 12:19 AM in response to turingtest2

I have a ipod classic 80GB
I am having the same problems but what do you do after you do the manual test? my numbers where

Retracts: 144
Reallocs: 49828
Pending Sectors: 3256
PowerOn Hours: 337
Start/Stops: 23824
Temp: Current 33c
Temp: Min 5c
Temp: Max 53c

and after trying to update it again they stayed the same. so what now?

Dec 21, 2010 12:05 AM in response to turingtest2

hi
My Classic iPod also have the problem that error 1439. Then I checked in \HDSMARTDATA

I got the result here:

Retracts: 174
ReAllocs :1
Pending Sectors :35
Power On Hours :748
Start/Stops : 1907
Temp : Current 31 C
Temp : Min 24 C
Temp : Max 45 C

Then i reset my ipod and made the disk mode again. And connected to my PC and restore it. Then iTune said ipod is restarting and it will detect ipod after restart.

After restart, iTune doesn't recognize ipod. but I can enter to my iPod.

How should i do to recognize my ipod from itune?


MK

Jan 1, 2011 10:05 PM in response to EuphoricPsycho

Last week, I was listening to my ipod 30GB 5.5 Gen at work. It quit playing mid-song, and the white "you must restore" screen came up. So naturally I waited until i was home and attempted a restore like all of you on here. I also go the Itunes was unable to restore message, and the 1439. Actually I got 1439 MOST often, but did get another number, but i regret not writing it down. Long story a little shorter, I took it apart, with the plastic disassembly tool, and found the ZIF cable loose in the hard drive, causing the contacts to be misaligned. As soon as I re-inserted it, and locked it down with the little black lever, it worked fine, no restore needed. 1439, may be a sign of a bad hard drive, but it clearly means there is no access to the drive. Apple probably knows exactly what it means, or it wouldn't be assigned a number, but they won't tell you to take apart an ipod, EVER. If you have this kind of ipod, try it and see, what do you have to lose? I gained my old ipod again, and I'm grateful, as I hate using my newer touch at work, as it's too easy to damage the screen.

ipod corrupt? error message 1439.

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