ipod alternates between sad face and very low battery

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ipod alternates between sad face and very low battery

I have a 5th generation 30gb video ipod that I had plugged into a third party car charger for a long time. The ipod started freezing up in the middle of songs then I got the sad face and very low battery please wait screen alternating. I let it sit for about 6 months then plugged it into my computer with the USB cable and it WORKED! it let me restore it and load it with new music. Then it just stopped working again and went back to the sad face. Is this a logic board problem or a HDD problem? When I hit menu it goes to the black apple symbol and wont light up and then the sad face appears all lit up. If I plug it into the USB cable on the computer it goes to sad face then very low battery please wait then back to sad face. Suggestions?

ipod 5th gen 30gb, Windows XP

Posted on Feb 15, 2011 7:29 AM

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Answer 1

planb77

Level 7

32,446 points

Feb 15, 2011 8:11 AM in response to splash07s

Hello splash07s,
And welcome to Apple Discussions!

Usually the sad face icon is a sign of a damaged or failing hard drive. However, the shortness in battery life could mean a shot battery as well.

See this post from Mitch751 on a couple of different solutions that may work to solve the sad face error.
http://discussions.info.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2186783

B-rock

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Answer 2

splash07s Author

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Feb 15, 2011 10:59 AM in response to planb77

I dont think that its the battery because I just replaced the old battery, however, the new battery did not come charged so maybe that is why I cant get it to work. I put the new battery in but I dont have a wall charger only the USB cable. I ahve also tried disconnecting the battery and hard drive from the logic board for a few minutes then reconnecting them to see if that would do the trick. no go. I am thinking that it is either the HDD, the logic board, or the ribbon that connects the two. What do y'all think??

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Answer 3

splash07s Author

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Feb 16, 2011 5:39 AM in response to splash07s

OK, so an update: I plugged the thing into my girlfriends mac last night for a while then was actually able to force it into disk mode. Once there I plugged it back in and let it charge for a while, I did not do a full restore as I just did a restore about a week ago. Once charged I turned it off and got up this morning and tried to shuffle songs then it froze on me. I reset it and all I get is the black apple logo and it does not go to sad face or turn on. What the @#$%* is goin on?

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Answer 4

splash07s Author

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Feb 17, 2011 5:55 AM in response to splash07s

Yet another update: Last night I plugged the **** thing into my computer for like 2 hours then tried to force it into disk mode. No go. But then all of a sudden it sprung to life after like 20 resets (menu+select) so i put it on the USB cable on my PC and updated itunes, then did a full ipod restore and then let it charge for like 7 hours. This morning I put about 30 songs on it just to see if it will work and I was able to listen to it all the way to work with no problems. I am worried that it is going to freeze up at some point and I will have to start this mess all over again. Do y'all think that it was just a bad battery that needed to be charged or are these the tell tale signs of a failing hard drive or logic board???

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Answer 5

splash07s Author

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Feb 18, 2011 6:09 AM in response to splash07s

Last update. Yesterday it started to freeze up while playing a song, I was able to get it back to the main menu but it was going really slow. Then it started playing fine again. I turned it off all night. This morning it would not turn on and I am getting the sad face again. ?????????????????????? Come on guys no one even has a theory as to what is going on here.

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Answer 6

planb77

Level 7

32,446 points

Feb 18, 2011 7:00 AM in response to splash07s

Again, it sounds like a damaged and/or dying hard drive. Not much else to consider at this point.

You could always send it to a 3rd party repair company such as this one for a free diagnostics test on it.
http://www.missionrepair.com/MissionRepair_1st_Gen_iPod_Video_Diagnosiss/275.htm

B-rock

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