iPod Classic skipping songs!

See Corrupt iPod Classic for the latest version of my advice. Your stats look generally OK. A DFU restore or reformat should get rid of that pending sector, which ought to resolve the freezing issue.

tt2

I have a solve for this issue. I had the same problem, ipod completely failed to read a number of tracks and skipped over them when on a playlist.

I did a number of different things which took about a week in total! But at least it cleaned up my collection in the process (My collection is 16,000+ songs). All looking very sexy, retagged, all album artworked and squeaky clean playback.

I first went through and followed the advice on the internet on the issue - checked tracks for errors with special software, played through the first few seconds of all the tracks on the ipod in itunes using a macro program to quicken the process, reset the ipod, restored the ipod, redownloaded itunes, reimported all the music into itunes nothing seemed to work!

So what I did that worked. I downloaded a program called DPPoweramp (its free). I imported all my MP3's (mostly youtube rips) and converted and re-encoded them into the .m4a apple lossless version. This takes half a day to convert and the lossless file quality is much higher but so is the file size. I also used DPPoweramp to cut out silence from the tracks and to 'normalize' the sound - although I don't think this would have had an affect on the ability to play on the ipod, just creates a nicer finish while doing the same process.

Once I had all the .m4a files, I reimported into itunes (I had to do this piecemeal because itunes kept crashing!). Although better quality my library was now too big for my 160gb ipod. So when syncronizing I have to reconvert the songs to an ACC (256k) quality so they fit. On hindsight this could have been done while importing these tracks into itunes through 'itunes import settings' and selecting in what format I wanted tracks imported as this would have significantly reduced synchronisation time (which also kept crashing!), however now I have extremely high quality tracks in my itunes.

Waallah, all tracks play perfectly on the ipod and the problem is solved! Best of luck with yours 😀

Now I have a question, why is itunes/ipod so sluggish, frustrating and unituitive to function - and why is there no real competition to the ipod on the market, which is a relatively simple technological product?

You cannot restore information that was discarded making the lossy mp3 version of a track. Switching from one lossless format to another likely introduced more losses. The iTunes import settings affect tracks ripped from CD or converted from another format, not media added to the library from other sources.

tt2

You cannot restore information that was discarded making the lossy mp3 version of a track - I don't know what you mean by this, although all information and tags in my files reencoded was kept and transferred.

Switching from one lossless format to another likely introduced more losses. I can't answer this, potentially, although the sound quality is still pretty good on the ipod. There was no obvious alternative to this though - maybe would you suggest reformating mp3s into ACC before importing into itunes? I didn't try this, could work, although higher quality files are more likely to reduce errors I would presume.

The iTunes import settings affect tracks ripped from CD or converted from another format, not media added to the library from other sources. As I say I didn't try this. Although most other internet sources I have read disagree with you on this.

It's nice enough to get your feedback, although none of your comments really effect the outcome..

Hey, i have same problems.(sorry about my english)

i have ipod classic 80 gb, its freezing while play songs. Skipping songs.

and everytime i reset language screen shows up. i press menu+center button . After apple logo all of my settings are lost. İ dont know what to do, can you help?

this is my hard drive test,

Retracts : 106

Reallocs : 0

Pending Sectors : 1

PowerOn Hour : 311

Start/stops . 1220

Temp : Current 29c

Temp : min 14

Temp : max 48

And i just did restore after i upload a few songs. when i listening freezing all the time.

Hi PeterNieuwe,

Welcome to the Support Communities!

Initially, I would recommend deleting and redownloading the music that is skipping.

iPod Classic User Guide:

manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA282/en_US/iPod_classic_Features_Guide.pdf

To remove a song, video, or other item from iPod classic:

1 In iTunes, select iPod classic in the source list.

2 Select a song or other item on iPod classic and press the Delete or Backspace key on

your keyboard.

If you manually remove a song or other item from iPod classic, it isn’t deleted from your

iTunes library.

Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519.

The link below provides additional troubleshooting steps for this issue:

Troubleshooting songs that skip

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3217?viewlocale=en_US

You mentioned this issue is only with a few albums. If it was happening with the majority of the songs in your library, then I would recommend this as a last resort:

iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451

Cheers,

- Judy

Hi, I am having a similar problem. Random songs on my iPod are skipping too. The only difference is that the ones that are skipping on mine are not new music. They played just fine until a couple days ago. I had some new music in my library and hadn't snyced my iPod in a while. When I did, the new music got put on and plays fine but some songs that were already on there quit playing. As of right now, the ones that are skipping are all from the same album but as I have thousands of songs I haven't been able to check them all. The album is compiled of songs from different albums and I don't have a copy to delete and redownload with. Also, when I tried to snyc this last time, my iTunes wouldn't recognize the iPod and the screen on the iPod said eject before disconnecting. Since the computer recognized that there was an external device plugged in I tried ejecting it that way but it said it couldn't safely remove the device because it was still in use. After hours of waiting, I eventually just unplugged it anyway. Then nothing on the iPod would work. It was frozen. So, I pushed the center button and the menu button to reboot it and it went back to normal. I then plugged it in again and it synced and later that day is when I realized some songs weren't playing. Everything shows up on the screen like art, playing time, etc, but it immediately goes to the next song. Also, the skipping songs still play on my iTunes. Can you give me some advice? I should also mention that my iPod is an 80gb Classic that is nearing at least its 6th birthday. Maybe it's just on it's last leg?

Like you, I have had this problem with my 160 classic. I'm no tech wiz, but managed to figure out the problem for myself by doing a pretty common sense-based troubleshoot. (I know this post is old, but I figured I would at least post this to help out the next poor b@stard who comes looking for a solution to this problem).

If you're iPod is more than a few years old, it could just be a bad battery. Try plugging your iPod into a wall outlet and listen to some of the songs that have been skipping. If they don't skip, then you know there is a problem with the battery, because it cannot run correctly without the 110 volts coming from the wall. Should this be the case, you can order a new battery for around $8.00 - $15.00 and replace it yourself with a kit (probably another $10.00). There are tons of tutorials online to help you through replacing the battery yourself; it's not that hard. If the songs do skip while plugged in, then it is most likely another problem like a corrupted hard disk or power supply issue, which can be fixed the same way. If your iPod is additionally having trouble with its command's like my iPod was (i.e. - Pause/Play, Menu, etc.) then it is most likely a power supply issue, because the power supply is having trouble delivering the correct voltage to the corresponding circuits which allow the iPod to follow those commands.

If none of those troubleshoots/fixes resolve the problem, then it is probably a software issue, which i'm not too savvy with.

- Hope this helped.

My iPod Classic has been doing this for a while now. Maybe its the conspiracy theorist in me...but without exception EVERY song that has the skipping issue has been a song that I downloaded from CD's that I owned. None of the songs that I KNOW I purchased from the iTunes Store skip. I delete the skipping songs from iPod and ITunes, purchase the song from ITunes store and...voila...the song doesn't skip anymore!! Hmmmm......we all know Apple doesn't want us putting songs we already own on our iPods. They want us to buy music from them. Paranoid? Maybe. But, instead of buying another $300 iPod classic, I will replace skipping songs once in a while.

lori_1,

I know you posted this a year ago and I hope you have found a solution. You have basically described what I am going through right now on both my 160gb and 120gb Classic Ipods. I do NOT believe it's the Ipod but I have not found the solution yet.

The 9 albums of mine that skip were purchased from an online service but not Apple. I had these albums for several years but the kicker is recently, I have been cleaning up my albums and sorting everything. I took these 9 albums and changed up some of the properties and that's when my troubles began. They play fine, without skipping on my Itunes but on my Ipod, they randomly skip. The reason I know it's not the Ipods is because I tested another album where I changed titles from the Itunes level (Get Info) but not at the properties level and that album plays just fine with no skips on both Ipods.

My problem now, though, is I've gone back and fixed most of the items I changed at the properties level but they're still skipping (FYI, my goal was to take an album that they said had 100 tracks on one complete album and chop it down to a 4-cd set of 25 songs each cd, IE: change 01-Dreams to 1-01-Dreams and change disc count at the Get Info level). I removed all changes that created the faux 4-cd set and changed it all back to their original numbers but still no change. I deleted the songs from Itunes (did not completely delete the songs) and moved the songs into a newly made folder and re-uploaded. That did not work. I'm now going to repurchase 1 of the albums to see if that changes anything and if so, that may be my easiest route because unless I've found anyone with a solution to this problem, my tech savvy is very limited and I've troubleshot everything I can think of.

If anyone knows of a solution to this issue, help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

See Corrupt iPod classic.

tt2

Thanks turingtest2.

Your information actually came up on an earlier Google search I did and I went through the process and nothing is wrong with my hard drive. Mine came up clean. After much troubleshooting, I have made the conclusion that it is not either of my Ipod classics but the songs themselves. When I changed some of the information via the properties, something happened that I have not yet been able to correct, but I'm very close. When I figure it out, I'll post it in case anyone else experiences my issue.

I appreciate the help. 🙂

You're welcome. Hope you can put your finger on it. 🙂

tt2

Sorry to revive an old thread but this is exactly the problem I'm having. I have a 2012 iPod Classic 7th gen 160GB which has worked absolutely fine* until recently when it started skipping songs. *(it was an Apple replacement for my 120GB 6th gen which had battery issues but otherwise worked perfectly)

The first thing I did was to do the Apple low-level HDD diagnostic which passed fine (no disc errors, nothing), reformatted and restored the iPod in iTunes but same problem. I then restored and reduced high-bitrate songs to 128kbps - same problem. I then deleted a couple of albums which I knew definitely skipped then re-synced so they were gone from my iPod. I then re-uploaded them to iTunes at a lower bitrate then re-synced. Unfortunately the same tracks in the same places still skipped (yet some played practically to the end).

In the interests of Science I bought a good iPod Classic 30GB 5.5 gen (it wasn't very expensive) and did the same tests as above with the same result.

I listened to the same songs on my iPhone 6 (also from my iTunes library) and they played fine - as did the songs in iTunes.

So what's going on here? Identical problem with skipping songs on two different iPods - one of which I've had for may years with no issues at all. It could be a complete coincidence that two different iPod Classics of different generations could exhibit the same fault but I doubt it. Could it be something to do with the latest version of iTunes (I'm up to 12.0.71 64 bit) not being compatible with obsolescent iPods? I love the simplicity, battery life and capacity of the iPod Classic, the fact I can put my whole collection on there (and even vinyl rips) and that I can keep my music separate from my iPhone to avoid draining its battery (who wants to be stranded without a battery unable to book a taxi or look up train times? OK first world problems but you know what I mean.).

Any help I'd much appreciate it!

Well that is certainly odd. 😕

I cannot think of a good reason why it should happen, but I suggest you experiment with the break up large transfers method in my Corrupt iPod classic post. You could start with a playlist of the songs that you know have been a problem so far and only add those after a restore. Will they play properly now? If not there may be some common codec issue.

tt2