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Sad Face on IPod for no apparent reason.

I didn't drop my Ipod, I didn't do anything close to it, for it to give me the sad face. My Ipod was working fine, when it froze for no reason, so I tried resetting it, and I got the sad face all of the sudden. I tried resetting it again and the apple logo appeared and then the sad face, I did it repeated times ad nothing. Then I connected it to my computer and it didn't recognized my Ipod either so I couldn’t restore it, and then I got this battery like icon with a light bolt on it like it needed to be charged, so I got it on the AC power adapter and it didn't want to charge, it kept restarting itself back to the sad face. (First the apple logo appeared and then the sad face. I got this Ipod on August 05, I really don't want to send it to service, please help me, I’m really sad, I take good care of my things, and it makes me sad that I only have it for this short period of time and it won't work. My dad it's going to get really mad. 😟

I have the Ipod photo of 60G.

I tried also to get it on disk mode, and nothing, it just kept going to the apple logo then the sad face.


HP Pavilion Windows XP

Posted on Jan 26, 2006 2:12 PM

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Posted on Jan 26, 2006 6:01 PM

hey dotgrl,
Have you recently updated your iPod?
Same sequence of events happened to me.

the night before mine froze up, I had uploaded 2 CDs onto it. I currently have 9.28G on my iPod.

I left the ipod alone for 9 days. Bad move. I went to restore it just now... plugged in my ipod to USB... And I got the black and white depleted battery icon. I plug it into the plug outlet charger... and it tries booting up, and I get the lighted apple/black background, then I get the sad-face ipod, and then the screen flickers, then back to the apple. Reading into this, i found out battery lasts 14-28 days, and that I need to have it fully charged to restore it or go thru ANY of the five R's.

I left it plugged in for an hour, and it won't charge up via the plug outlet... tried USB... got the black and white battery for about 10 minutes then it went to the apple then sad ipod back and forth like in the plug outlet...now its back to the black and white thinger, flickers every few seconds... it just won't charge...

... is there any hope for my ipod? I don't wanna send it in because I've only had it since July05 (I originally got a ipod photo that was discontinued, 40 or 30G, and then i got the 60G because it was the new release)... being a teen, I don't wanna tell my parents that it's broken or that it needs to be service or sent out...

... my desperate measures include banging the ipod on the desk... i haven't gotten there yet...
141 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Jan 26, 2006 6:01 PM in response to dotgrl

hey dotgrl,
Have you recently updated your iPod?
Same sequence of events happened to me.

the night before mine froze up, I had uploaded 2 CDs onto it. I currently have 9.28G on my iPod.

I left the ipod alone for 9 days. Bad move. I went to restore it just now... plugged in my ipod to USB... And I got the black and white depleted battery icon. I plug it into the plug outlet charger... and it tries booting up, and I get the lighted apple/black background, then I get the sad-face ipod, and then the screen flickers, then back to the apple. Reading into this, i found out battery lasts 14-28 days, and that I need to have it fully charged to restore it or go thru ANY of the five R's.

I left it plugged in for an hour, and it won't charge up via the plug outlet... tried USB... got the black and white battery for about 10 minutes then it went to the apple then sad ipod back and forth like in the plug outlet...now its back to the black and white thinger, flickers every few seconds... it just won't charge...

... is there any hope for my ipod? I don't wanna send it in because I've only had it since July05 (I originally got a ipod photo that was discontinued, 40 or 30G, and then i got the 60G because it was the new release)... being a teen, I don't wanna tell my parents that it's broken or that it needs to be service or sent out...

... my desperate measures include banging the ipod on the desk... i haven't gotten there yet...

Jan 26, 2006 6:48 PM in response to JoeyLeigh

Hi Joey.

I didn't get to update it even. So I don't think that has anything to do with it. I really thought that Apple was a realiable brand and had no problems. But I guess I was wrong. Now I'm waiting for my battery to discharge to see if I can charge my Ipod and hopefully make it work.

I'm really interested in knowing if some of you have experienced this because I find it so weird.

Jan 26, 2006 7:04 PM in response to JoeyLeigh

I've been thinking, that if this doesn't work, I'm going to take it to an Apple dealer here to see if they can help me with my problem, because i live in Dominican Republic not the States, and I can't even begin to imagine all the paraphernalia that it will take to send it to support to get it fixed and all the procedures and what not.

Jan 27, 2006 1:34 AM in response to dotgrl

I have to mention that I am not a techician, I may not understand the reason behind, I could be wrong and my suggestion may not work in your case. But, I must say that all the suggestions I made are basically from my past experienece fixing more than 10 iPods (from my friends and family members). I do not and have no intention to make a suggestion purely from what I heard and read (otherwise I would indicate). These have been tested and proved to work in my cases. I also have to deal with iPod problems such as:-

1. Sad iPod
2. Folder with exclamation mark
3. iPod failed to be recognized by the computer
4. broken iPod with 'clicking' sound

I can simply post a link from the apple article - which would suggest you to do a Reset and Restore actions, however, most of the users would agree with me that the iPod with the aforementioned problems would not able to get mounted with the computer. In that case, how could you do a Restore. Should I just suggest the user to send their iPods for repair?

I have tried myself with different ways, and I discovered a trick to solve the above problems. First, we must understand what is the problem behind - in my opinion, the problem mainly caused by the head of HD of the iPod getting stuck at a certain point and unable to read the sector properly. If an iPod is an external Hard Disk, how are you going to fix it, I believe that all of us would suggest one to do a Reformat. Right, but unfortunately, the iPod could not be mounted, so what next? I find an interesting way - when the iPod is formatted in PC and connected with a Mac computer, it will "Force" mount, then why not do a Restore there. And once it has been completed, re-connect it with your original PC, and this time with the iPod being formatted to a different format, a window will pop up, indicating that it cant read the iPod and ask whether you would like to do a reformat. Then open the iPod updater and click Restore (back to PC version). Again, interestingly, it works the other way as well i.e. Mac's iPod fixed with a Window based PC.

Jan 27, 2006 1:39 AM in response to Mitch 751

If still does not solve try to run the iPod in “Diagnostic mode” . which can be accessed by pushing the “hold” switch into the “on” position and then “off” (into the original position). Then press the following buttons in the following order: “menu” plus “select” (centre button) then press “reverse” plus “select”. This will take you to the hidden diagnostic mode screen menu. It may take a few trials and pressing the buttons in the right way for this to work, so be patient and keep trying if you have to. The diagnostic mode will give you 7 choices which are: Memory, IO, Power, Status, SysCfg, Diskmode, and Reset. Don’t bother trying “reset” because in my case it didn’t work it just took me back to the same problem. Instead, choose “diskmode”, after which you should get an odd looking “ok to disconnect” sign on the iPod screen.

Jan 27, 2006 6:52 AM in response to Mitch 751

Hi Mitch.

I tried the diagnostic mode just a few minutes ago, just as you suggested and the Folder Icon kept appearing. I even got in one moment the backlight on but nothing on the screen, on other occasions the screen would appear with nothing in it and I heard this electronic chirp. It's like the Ipod is confused, and now is making a clicking sound, just like the one you mention above. I'll try again later.

I have to find a Mac to try the Mac suggestion. Hope it works.

Thank you for these suggestions! 😀

Regards,

Dot.

Jan 27, 2006 12:26 PM in response to JoeyLeigh

okay... so i pluged it in to charge via USB last night. Then I gave up once I was done doing homework on the computer. Well, interesting enough, I went to my room, plugged it in a power strip, with the intent of charging overnight. But before that happened, the ipod slips out of my hand onto the wood desk not even 3 inches below my hand. Well, it made the noises (clickity-chirp-chirp). I pushed reset. Eureka! It works, battery full. I was like "There is a God in Heaven!" Got so optimistic.
This morning, went to the computer for homework and to see if I could try restoring or anything. Hooked up the ipod. Well, my OS locked up - "explorer.exe". I didn't have enough time to fuss with it to I shut down the computer. The ipod still said "Do not disconnect". I disconnected anyways. What more can happen? It still said "do not disconnect" so I reset. Then it went sadface on me. I plugged it into the powerstrip the past 6-7 hrs. Came home from school. Tried turning it on. Sadface. Tapped it lightly on my desk, shook it. And I reset it. Eureka! Currently I have it plugged it. It cannot mount the iPod. How lovely! And ipod says "Do not disconnect". I haven't disconnected it yet. And it froze on the time... 3:01PM. But with the track record, I'd end up getting a sadface once I try to reset it.

Which should I try first? The Mac mount or the diagnostic screen? I can "force" mount it at school, on a Mac. Restore it there. Hopefully that'll work.

Dell, Mac IIci Windows XP Pentium 4 CPU 2.80GHz, iPod Photo 60GB

Jan 27, 2006 2:52 PM in response to dotgrl

^^^no need for sarcasim

FIXED MY IPOD 🙂

OK thanks ot everyone wo replied i took a bit of everything and got it working

1) Charge using COMPUTER
for about 30mins

2) Unplug then use these buttons
Hold on then off
Menu then Select (MIDDLE BUTTON)
Reverse then select

MAY take a few times - it should then light up on the apple screen

Plug onto Computer WALAH

Itunes reocnises it and all music you thought was wiped is there

I just got a Ipod backup from web backed up all music then restored to factory settings currently going to try new updater to see if it works

Hope this works 🙂

Feb 6, 2006 7:51 PM in response to Neil Smith2

I didn't even have to force mount the ipod to a mac. It just linked up and asked if i wanted to download the library. I said no. but then the tv station manager at school said he had an Window platform on a Dell and that I could restore my ipod there since he was the only PC with iTunes at school. It was been working since there until today. Battery was low, it locked up, went "sadface", i bumped it on the desk and it functioned. well, battery was still low and i tried listening to music. It went "sadface". Afterschool I plugged it in. When back and forth between apple and sadface. I bumped it, it made the whirring sound whenever I plugged it in. i let it be for about 15-20 mins. You can only take so much of that. So oops I gently bumped it on the desk table again, and Eureka! It lights up. Let's just say I left it plugged in for a few hours just to make sure it charged completely. I'm thinking about taking a few hundred photos off my ipod tho, the ones I don't need to show people. But it's just frustrating. So i learned some stuff too....

... the kinda sad but true stuff:
-don't let iPod battery get too low, that causes it to go sadface.
-when battery get's very low, don't try even operating it. Just shut it off and plug it in for 4 hrs.
-when it does the whirring, you may be screwed, unless your willing to try something stupid and risky.

Due to personal experience and "worst-case senario", if nothing worked I bumped it on it's side on a hard wood surface (being about 2-3 inches or 5cm from the surface not to damage the beautiful casing). I have only told you what has worked for me on "worse-case senario" and will not be responsible if you kill your ipod by dropping it too far away from the surface.

Dell, Mac IIci Windows XP Pentium 4 CPU 2.80GHz, iPod Photo 60GB

Sad Face on IPod for no apparent reason.

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