sad faced ipod, but my computer won't recognize it?

well, i dropped it again, but from a little higher (plus it hit my chair) and it works...
but i have the same question posted above: is this a permanent fix?

Good to hear, do one know whether it is a permanent fix or not, I have the same experience and my 60G iPod Photo started to jam and skipping songs, so I did the following

1. Open the disk utility, hope your iPod appears there (left hand side), highlight it
2. Go to Tab “Partition”, click either “Delete” or “Partition”, if fails, skip this step and go to 3
3. Go to Tab “Erase” , choose Volume Format as “MAC OS Extended (Journaled), and click Erase, again if fails, skip it and go to 4
4. Same as step 3, but open the “Security Options....” and choose “Zero Out Data” before click Erase. It will take 1 to 2 hours to complete.
5. Eject your iPod and do a Reset
6. Open the iPod Updater and click “Restore”

I only managed to fix 80-90% bad sector, from time to time it is still have songs skipping but the frequent is acceptable

I was experiencing the same problem. So against my better judgment, I dropped my iPod from waste high, and WALLAH it works fine now. How bizarre!

PB G4 15 1.5GHz 1.25 RAM(reads 1 gig tho) ibook G3 600 12 Inch 640 RAM,iPod20GB Mac OS X (10.3.9)

i have the same problem.. the sad face comes up, then when i connect it to the computer a frozen battery symbol comes on, then nothing.. i even tried dropping it from waist height, hitting it with my palm.. nothin... it's gettin really frustrating..

No one knows how long would this fix work. My 60G iPod Photo, started to skipping and jamming songs after this fix. Therefore I need to do the following to solve it

For Mac computer
1. Open the disk utility, hope your iPod appears there (left hand side), highlight it
2. Go to Tab “Partition”, click either “Delete” or “Partition”, if fails, skip this step and go to 3
3. Go to Tab “Erase” , choose Volume Format as “MAC OS Extended (Journaled), and click Erase, again if fails, skip it and go to 4
4. Same as step 3, but open the “Security Options....” and choose “Zero Out Data” before click Erase. It will take 1 to 2 hours to complete.
5. Eject your iPod and do a Reset
6. Open the iPod Updater and click “Restore”

I must say that it does not manage 100% fix the skipping problem, but at least reduce the frequent of the skipping

I had this exact problem and I am with in warranty. So I made an appointment. I went in and they replaced my ipod. The only thing I am sad about is I don't have my ingraving anymore (if I wanted to keep the ingraving I would have had to pay around 20 dollars for shipping). If you are within warranty I would say just go in and get a new ipod, who knows when you are going to have the same problem again

5th generation ipod

Hello

Glad to hear that you managed to solve it. But no one knows whether it is a long term fix or short term. My suggest is to do the following, and hope it can fix some bad sectors on the HD of the iPod:-

For Mac computer
1. Open the disk utility, hope your iPod appears there (left hand side), highlight it
2. Go to Tab “Partition”, click either “Delete” or “Partition”, if fails, skip this step and go to 3
3. Go to Tab “Erase” , choose Volume Format as “MAC OS Extended (Journaled), and click Erase, again if fails, skip it and go to 4
4. Same as step 3, but open the “Security Options....” and choose “Zero Out Data” before click Erase. It will take 1 to 2 hours to complete.
5. Eject your iPod and do a Reset
6. Open the iPod Updater and click “Restore”

THANK YOU! i tried about five times in vain, but then i thought that maybe dropping it vertical but upside down would help, and it did the trick. the problem is, i have a hunch this fix is not permanent. is there any surefire way to have it permanently fixed?

PLEASE SOMEBODY TELL ME HOW TO GET INTO DISK UTILITY


i cannot bear to go into school tomorrow without my ipod,i cant put it into disk mode because every time i try, i get the sad ipod face
OMG I MUST BE HELPED :O

PLEASE SOMEBODY TELL ME HOW TO GET INTO DISK UTILITY


i cannot bear to go into school tomorrow without my ipod,i cant put it into disk mode because every time i try, i get the sad ipod face
OMG I MUST BE HELPED :O

i'm assuming that by coming onto this thread you have the same problem we all do. that means that whenever you turn your ipod on, it goes to an apple logo, and then it goes to a sad face, and if its charged, it goes to an unmoving charging icon, and then starts all over again. to fix that problem, you need to drop the ipod from waist-height repetadly. if that doesn't work, try dropping it vertically, but upside down. that did the trick for me. if your computer can recognize the ipod, then there's no trouble, just go into ipod preferences in itunes and check disk mode.

Mine's a 4G 40gig. Sad face appeared just prior to its one year anniversary. I brought the iPod to the Apple shop suspecting failure of the battery. According to the service rep after testing, they concluded that it was not the battery's problem but since it has passed the one year warranty period, it will cost me C$400 to check and fix it. Thanks and no thanks. I heard the hard drive clicking but didn't keeping running. Instead of dropping it, I tapped it vigorously by my palm and it brought up the main menu screen, but not every time works. Recently, I bought a replacement battery from Sonnettech which costs me C$40. They have that neat small tools to crack open the case and by following the video instruction, I replaced the battery. Then I went to Apple.com and downloaded the updater for 23-3-06 and restored the whole iPod. Now for over 2 weeks my iPod has been working fine and the new battery ran continuously for about 8 hours before it's almost drained. Hope this time I find the cure.

I had the same problem:

I reset, I get the Apple logo and then the sad face.
I couldn't get into disk mode and no computer was recognizing it. I get this weird spinning sound.




I kept reading and found out that people have tried giving it a nice wham on their palm. So I tried. And it's back and working. Since my iPod is a few months out of warranty... I'm happy with this fix for now. If it keeps dying... I guess it's time for a new iPod! But I'm planning to reformat it using disk utility now... just to be safe!

I had the problem with the sad faced ipod and my ipod would make this crazy *** hardrive noise but i tried what u said in ur post. I opened up my ipod disconnected the hardrive and battery and let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then IT started working. Surprisingly all the songs were still on their (it was not working for 4 months) thanks a bunch man.

UGH my ipod is doing this same thing (did I mention this is MY 3RD IPOD WITH THIS PROBLEM?) I have a 3g 40gb. Now, of course, it is out of warranty (only 90 days on replacements!!!). I tried everything, and now my ipod won't even turn on. (got sad face, apple logo, clicking, then sad face, apple logo, clicking, etc. it would not go into disk mode. battery shouldn't be dead.) Is there anything I can do, or is it just finally dead?