Hello pipworms,
I would be concerned too if my iPod nano's was just showing a white screen. I recommend following the steps below:
Display shows a white screen
- Try putting the iPod into disk mode:
- Reset the device (Reset the device by pressing the Sleep and Home buttons simultaneously until the display shows the Apple logo. This should take about eight seconds).
- When the Apple logo appears, press and hold the Volume Down and Volume Up buttons simultaneously until the device enters Disk Mode.
- While the device is in disk mode, sync it to iTunes and try to restore.
I got this information from the following article for the 6th generation iPod nano. The steps are the same, except I updated the reset steps with the reset for the 7th generation iPod nano:
iPod nano (6th generation): Hardware troubleshooting
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3474
How to reset iPod
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1320
Putting iPod into Disk Mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1363
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.