Socci
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: ipod shuffle not charging, blinking orange light

My 1 G ipod shuffle's been acting up lately. It's not charging. When I hook it up, itunes doesn't open. I have to manually open it. Then the orange light on the shuffle is blinking the whole time. Before it used to a solid orange light until it turned to a solid green. The solid green meant it was charged. But now it never stops flashing and never turns green. Nevertheless, I keep it hooked up like that hoping it's getting charged. Then I unplug it and try to listen to music and it doesn't play. Clearly it's not charging when it the orange light is flashing.

 

What can I do? I've already restored the shuffle to factory settings. That didn't help. I formatted it too. Nothing. Please help, thanks!

iPod shuffle, Windows Vista

Posted on Mar 28, 2013 8:22 AM

Close
Socci

Q: ipod shuffle not charging, blinking orange light

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Mar 28, 2013 12:24 PM in response to Socci
    Level 8 (40,415 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 28, 2013 12:24 PM in response to Socci

    If the battery is dead after disconnecting, it is probably worn out and no longer holding a charge.  However...

     

    The "blinking" means DO NOT DISCONNECT.  While the light is blinking, the light will never turn green, even if the battery is charged.

     

    The reason it may be blinking all the time...  Select the shuffle in iTunes, and go to its Settings tab.  If Enable disk use is checked there, iTunes keeps the shuffle's "disk" mounted continously, while the shuffle is connected.  Therefore, you need to eject the shuffle (unmount the disk), before physically disconnecting it. After you click the eject button in iTunes, but before you disconnect it, the lights should stop blinking; it's now OK TO DISCONNECT, and if the battery is charged, it should be green.

     

    If Enable disk use is NOT checked, iTunes only mounts the disk when syncing.  The rest of the time, the shuffle's disk is not mounted, so you can disconnect it without first ejecting it.  Therefore, the light should not be blinking, and it will go from orange to green when the battery is charged.

     

    For iTunes not opening automatically when the shuffle is connected, check the setting on the Settings tab that says Open iTunes when this iPod is attached.  Make sure it is checked.

     

    For the battery not holding a charge, if it persists, you can try doing a Restore on the shuffle (from the shuffle's Settings tab in iTunes).  This will erase the shuffle, re-install its software, and set it to default settings.  If a software glitch is causing the problem, a Restore should fix it.  But in this case, especially with a 1st gen shuffle, the problem may be the battery itself.

  • by Liebies,

    Liebies Liebies Mar 30, 2016 8:01 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 30, 2016 8:01 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    Perfect, Thanks.... the orange blinking and no charging was due to "Enable disk use" being ticked on my shuffle :-)

    Charging now, solid orange light...

    Thanks

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Mar 30, 2016 5:39 PM in response to Liebies
    Level 8 (40,415 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 30, 2016 5:39 PM in response to Liebies

    NOTE:  Enable disks use does not prevent the battery from charging.  It just makes the light blink (as a warning DO NOT DISCONNECT).  The battery still charges when the light is blinking.  But it's better to not have disk use enabled, unless you need that feature.