My iPod Classic Keeps Randomly Resetting Itself!

Question

My iPod Classic Keeps Randomly Resetting Itself!

I have owned an 120g iPod Classic for around 2 years. It has hasn't been well in the past few months however- at random times during listening it 'resets' iself, showing the white screen with the Apple logo on it. There is no pattern for this error- the iPod simply resets itself at random times during listening. My iPod is probably out of warranty by now. What can I do to stop this problem? My iPod means a lot to me and this disease is ruining my enjoyment of good ol' music. PLEASE HELP!

Windows XP

Posted on Mar 26, 2011 4:33 PM

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Answer 1

planb77

Level 7

32,446 points

May 4, 2011 9:34 PM in response to Youthful Roger

Roger,

You have your iPod repaired by Apple by setting it up for service through this link or by bringing it to a local Apple Store/Genius Bar.

https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do

Another option is to send the iPod to a 3rd repair company instead. This route is much cheaper and there are several different options. Just do a simple Google search for iPod repair and you should get a plethora of results.

B-rock

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Answer 2

planb77

Level 7

32,446 points

Mar 26, 2011 10:54 PM in response to Youthful Roger

Hello Youthful Roger,
And welcome to Apple Discussions!

Are you able to successfully and properly sync the iPod with iTunes still? If so, I would try perform a restore of it via iTunes.

It might be necessary to manually place the iPod into *Disk Mode* first. This will prevent the iPod from continuously rebooting.
[Putting iPod into Disk Mode|http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1363]

If the problem continues, it's likely a hardware related issue and will need to be serviced.

B-rock

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Answer 3

Mar 27, 2011 9:57 AM in response to planb77

Thanks for the reply Planb77!

I'm rather skeptical about restoring my iPod. Firstly, that would mean losing my play count, which would be disappionting. Is there anyway to restore play count after it has been deleted?

I have a feeling that restoring my iPod would lead to further problems. When I got the iPod, many of my albums showed the wrong album art. I'm worried that if I restored the iPod that problem would start again.

I think this random resetting issue may be down to corrupt files on my iPod. Do you know if there is a program I could use to locate and delete corrupt files on the iPod?

Finally, would simply putting the iPod in to disc mode sort the problem? I'm aware the Restore function is accessed through Disc Mode, it's just your wording made it sound like putting the iPod in disc mode would be a solution.

Please Help!

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Answer 4

H555

Level 1

35 points

Mar 28, 2011 6:23 AM in response to Youthful Roger

Hi there

The play count should be reset as this is held by the library on your computer not the iPod. I've restored my old iPods on a number of a=occasions and it hasn't affected the play count on the computer.

H555

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Answer 5

Mar 28, 2011 9:57 AM in response to H555

Thanks a lot H555- that answered one of my questions.

Can anyone help me answer these questions.

1. Could restoring lead to any other problems on the iPod?
2. Is there anyway to scan for corrupted files?

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Answer 6

planb77

Level 7

32,446 points

Mar 29, 2011 11:51 AM in response to Youthful Roger

Roger,

1. Could restoring lead to any other problems on the iPod?

Not usually. A restore is intended to resolve problems.

2. Is there anyway to scan for corrupted files?

Not that I have ever heard of it. A restore is the only way to remove these corrupt files. However, it's at the cost of wiping everything from your iPod and starting for scratch.

B-rock

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Answer 7

planb77

Level 7

32,446 points

Mar 30, 2011 5:56 PM in response to Youthful Roger

The problem is if I don't know what the corrupt files are, won't I just sync them to my iPod again when i'm putting all my music back on it?

And there is really no way of telling. It could be some of the music/media files themselves or one that makes up your iPod's software. If it's a file that is related to your iPod's software, a restore would help get rid of it. Restoring your iPod loads a fresh copy of your iPod's OS onto it.

B-rock

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Answer 8

Mar 31, 2011 1:23 PM in response to planb77

It's frustrating really. You'd think someone would invent a program to scan for corrupt files. If the problem is because of a corrupted music/media file, then there is nothing I can do. Hopefully it will be an iPod file problem. Looks like i'll have to restore the iPod. I hope this'll work...

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Answer 9

Apr 21, 2011 5:04 AM in response to Youthful Roger

I restored my iPod. Everything appeared to work for about 3 hours. Then as a test I decided to manually reset the iPod. Forty minutes after this my iPod began randomly resetting itself again. Did my manual reset start the problem again? PLEASE HELP!!! Now that restoring has failed, what are my options?

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Answer 10

planb77

Level 7

32,446 points

Apr 23, 2011 1:52 PM in response to Youthful Roger

Roger,

I'm not sure if the manual reset of the iPod caused the issue. How full is your iPod?

Because the restore did not resolve the issue, it's likely indicating a hardware issue, more than likely related to your iPod's Hard Drive.

B-rock

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Answer 11

Apr 24, 2011 9:34 AM in response to planb77

How full is my iPod? Before the restore, it was around 50 gigabytes. Now it is around 41 gigabytes.

The reason I think that the manual reset caused the problem is because everything was working fine for around 3 hours of playback until that happened. This whole problem started in the first place when I manually reset my iPod.

But if my Hard Drive is damaged, what can I do?

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Answer 12

May 5, 2011 10:36 AM in response to planb77

Thanks for the reply. But does anybody know how much repairs cost in the UK? And if the repair doesn't work and there is another cause for the problem (for example corrupted files) can I get a refund? And what exactly will they do to try and fix it? Sorry for all of these questions, by the way. It's just i'm in need!

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Answer 13

May 6, 2011 1:03 AM in response to Youthful Roger

Hello,

I have the same problem with my Ipod 120. The problem started during the warranty period therefore it was replaced by a new one. Unfortunately the problem is still there with the new one.

I don't think the problem is related with any bad sector or so ever on the disk because the same title can be played without any problem or can cause it. I rather think that it is a hardware/software problem that concerns the buffer memory wich is not big enough and/or not managed correctly.

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Answer 14

May 21, 2011 3:34 PM in response to Youthful Roger

Hey Roger,

Unfortunately I can't answer any of your questions either. I have had a similar experience though.

I have a 160GB ipod classic that is randomly resseting itself. I first noticed the issue when attempting to start a genius playlist off a song i was currently listening to. This "start genius" reset seemed to be the extent of the problem, not huge, but still frustrating. I restored the ipod twice, with the second attempt only loading the ipod to half capacity, and the resets still occurred.

This ipod was still under warranty. I went into an apple store and explained the issue to them, and luckily my ipod performed its reset on command in front of tech support. They enquired if I had restored the ipod already, I responded yes. They swapped out the old one (less than 4 months old at that point) for a brand new one, with the suspicion that it was a hardware problem.

Upon finishing uploading to this new ipod, i began using the device normally again. Although the "genius" functionality will successfully create a new playlist more frequently with fewer resets, this second ipod still has its random bouts. The second ipod will now actually even reset itself when I attempt to only navigate through various menus, which the first ipod never did.

The tech had mentioned that if this second ipod also reset, that this would indicate the hardware was fine, that it must be my music library. He suggested that it could either be a corrupt genius file, or a corrupt music file that was ruining the system.

After a decent amount of searching, i've noticed that other people have had similar issues. Back in late '07 there was apparently a glitch with album artwork causing the ipod to reset, but there seems to have been a resolution to that matter via a firmware update.

My next attempt is going to be deleting various files from my itunes folder in attempts to discover the corrupt file. I've backed up my exact library folder on an external harddrive so I wont lose everything (perhaps a few album artworks and minor play counts). I am hopeful that the problem file will be the "iTunes Library Genius" file (due to the first ipod only resseting with a genius attempt). But I'm suspicious it might be the "iTunes Library" file, or a corrupted smart playlist file, or (worst case) a random music file/album artwork that is corrupted and tarnishing the entire device.

I suppose my final bit of advice for you would be to attempt more research online and or troubleshooting the device yourself. Unless you have a completely different issue than mine, this would not appear to be a hardware problem (I am ignoring the possibility that apple gave me 2 defunct 7th gen 160gb ipods). I have not had any issue remotely close to this with any of the prior ipod models (2nd gen classic, 5th gen classic).

Hope this helps, I will let you know if my troubleshooting reveals anything.

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Answer 15

May 22, 2011 3:46 AM in response to micscopau

Thanks for the reply.

I really hope it isn't due to a random music file. There is no way of discovering which files are corrupt and which aren't, unless you know of a way. If so please tell me! My iPod generally resets either randomly when searching about my iPod or at the first few seconds of a song. Sometimes it resets in random points during the song, but that is rare.

Anyway, please help!

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