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Level 1

0 points

Exclamation point and folder and nothing else

Hi... I have an older 20 g iPod. I dropped it (only 3 feet but hard surface) last week and after that it malfunctioned and then stopped functioning. I have tried the reset several times without success. My Mac does not recognize it either in the information about this Mac or the disk utility or the iPod updater. I would love to be able to revive it but had assuimed it dead. I can get an apple on the screen when I do a reset and the battery icon shows that it is charging ... and then the exclamation point with the folder comes up.

Any thoughts would be more than appreciated. Kay

iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.6), also use with Harmon Kardon drive and play

Posted on May 14, 2006 2:54 PM

Best reply

annieb22

Level 1

10 points

Posted on May 20, 2006 9:42 AM

I am having the same problem with my daughter's ipod but don't think it was dropped. Cannot get itunes to recognize it. It showed up as a unrecognized disk once and showed up in disk repair as ipod media. When I found out how to use the disk utility before updating it would no longer show up on my ibook at all. The screen goes back and forth between charging, the apple and the folder with the exclamation point. There is a constant whirring and clicking and I cannot shut it down. I have also restarted my computer. Any suggestions?

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61 replies

Nov 23, 2006 2:26 AM in response to Wazman21

I read what you said, laughed, thought that sounds crazy, did it, and hay it worked for me to. Thanks you just saved me the cost of a repair or worse a new ipod and the loss of all my music

Nov 25, 2006 7:28 AM in response to Kay Browne

Brilliant! I had tried so many things, nothing worked. Bang bang bang anb boom! It's working! Thanks a lot 😀

Vodkaice

Level 1

0 points

Nov 25, 2006 10:15 PM in response to Kay Browne

omigod, i just gave it a couple of thump thumps on the leg of the couch and BOOM my IPOD sprang to life. God I could kiss the person who thought of this. May good things come to you!

Dec 7, 2006 9:58 AM in response to Wazman21

Works like a charm 😉

Dec 7, 2006 5:19 PM in response to Kay Browne

That is the craziest thing ever...my friend gave me her ipod after the sad icon had shown up on it...asked me to fix it...couldn't do anything about it...for about 6 months now...stumbled across this thread just now...MAGIC!!!...bangin the ipod on a hard surface...reset...the ipod is ready to roll again...hope she doesn't want it back now that she bought a new one...grin I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE GENIUS WHO CAME UP WITH THIS FIX. THANK YOU!!!

Dec 12, 2006 9:10 AM in response to Wazman21

Hohoho.

It worked. :o

(And to think I was almost ready to rip my hair off just a while ago.)

Dec 12, 2006 12:03 PM in response to Wazman21

my little sis has had a dead ipod since may. just read this and gave it one gentle tap on the desk and it's worked. amazing! thank you.

Dec 12, 2006 2:39 PM in response to europotterz

my ipod mini shows a folder and exclamation point when hooked into the wall jack. i did reset and got it to the ok to disconnect point. but when i hook it up to my computer, it shows a battery with an exclamation point over it. any advice for this? or should i bang the right corner till it break it? it will probablly make me feel better.

Mitch 751

Level 6

11,624 points

Dec 12, 2006 5:50 PM in response to spanks069

or should i bang the right corner till it break it?

Don't do it now !!!!!

The porblem is your iPod mini carrying a very low battery, it stops it to function normally, even it can't get charge at all.

Try to find a Mac computer and put you iPod into disk mode, and connect it with a Mac computer, hope you can see it there, then do a Restore. If it does not appear there, hit your iPod mini on a sofa for few times and reconnect it again.

clim91

Level 1

5 points

Dec 26, 2006 7:49 AM in response to Kay Browne

hey!!!thx a lot!!!i banged the IPOD on the mattress at top right corner and it worked!!!!COOL!!

vicki84

Level 1

0 points

Jan 7, 2007 3:26 PM in response to clim91

haha! you my friend are a stone cold genius! thank god for this thread cos I was not happy at the thought of having to service it and shell out £166!

Thank you!

Jan 26, 2007 1:22 PM in response to Kay Browne

This is such a shocking fix that I just had to go through all the hastle of getting a login to add myself to the list.

After almost a year of giving up on the ipod, I thought I'd see if I could get the thing to start up again. As before I got the sad ipod and the hdd made the same old whirring and clicking sounds.

The crack on the top right corner did the trick! I can't believe this thing is working again! So folks, this is NOT just a bunch of people trying to get you to break your ipod by smacking it on a desk. IT REALLY WORKS!

Jan 28, 2007 9:49 AM in response to Kay Browne

Ya.

I tried that "hit the ipod on the desk" trick, but it didn't really help. Now my Ipod Nano's in disk Mode(whatever that is...any ideas?) and I can't get it off. I plugged it into my computer and its said DO NOT DISCONNECT for the past 30 mins. What should I do? Please help.

~Bre~

Feb 6, 2007 8:29 PM in response to heyitsbre15

***!? i was reading all these rave reviews about banging this equipment around and was skeptical as all get out...

after 2 taps (not even really hard) my g3 is again recognizing my 'pod. i don't believe it. i wish i'd've done it sooner because i might not have to try to re-(down)load all the music that i transferred over to my ipod from my archos and from my desktop and laptop.

crazy advice for a crazy device = crazy SOLUTION!

thanks.

Feb 22, 2007 5:16 AM in response to expostdelirium

Well I'll add my name to the list for a 6Gb mini which was showing apple logo followed by sad face followed by brief flash of batter icon with exclamation mark and then back to apple logo etc.

Several hard bangs on the desk and it flashed into life.

As per a previous post this would seem most likely due to part of the hard drive having gotten "stuck". This may have happened when the iPod was previously hit rather hard by accident (eg. dropped) or it may be environmental (eg. heat).

So this fix is unlikely to be relevant to a nano!

Graham

Exclamation point and folder and nothing else