Langdon

Q: Frist Gen Shuffle no longer recognized.

I had a original iPod shuffle that i used for years. I misplaced it and recently found it again.

It worked fine when I last used it. iTunes does not see the shuffle. It does not show up in the system profiler under any OS and I've tried 4 different Macs. And it also does not show up as a flash drive.  I thought that at the very least it should show up as a USB flash drive with a dead battery

 

So my question is: when the battery dies does this iPod shuffle cease working altogether?

I have no way to trouble shoot it if I can't get any computer to recofgnize it.  If what I am experiencing is a known issue because of a bad battery then I would be fine replacing it with a new battery HOWEVER if it has a dead logic board (which would be weird since it worked when I misplaced it and it hadn't been distiurbed until I found it again) then i don't want to waste the money and time trying to repair it.

Posted on Nov 14, 2013 9:30 PM

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Q: Frist Gen Shuffle no longer recognized.

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  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Nov 14, 2013 10:13 PM in response to Langdon
    Level 8 (38,924 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 14, 2013 10:13 PM in response to Langdon

    A few years ago, I bought some broken 1st gen shuffles on eBay, because I wanted to see if I could swap parts and get a few working shuffles.  It worked, but I found that most of those broken 1st gen shuffles were broken because the built-in USB plug was faulty.  So that is the most common failure, and the symptom is exactly what you describe.  No connection.  No light on shuffle.  Not recognized by computer in any way.  That may be why Apple changed the design for the 2nd gen shuffle.

     

    If you have tried four Macs, I think you have ruled out a problem with the USB port.  On one of the Macs, try disconnecting all USB devices (except standard keyboard/mouse if normally used).  Do this to reset the shuffle

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1655

     

    and connect the shuffle to a direct USB port.  If the Mac is a MacBook, connect the power adapter (so that it's not running on battery power).

     

    There is a special "reset utility" for the 1st and 2nd gen shuffle

     

    http://support.apple.com/downloads/iPod_Reset_Utility_1_0_3_for_Mac

     

    but it's useless if the shuffle is not at least recognized by the Mac when connected.

  • by Langdon,

    Langdon Langdon Nov 15, 2013 1:37 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 4 (1,195 points)
    Nov 15, 2013 1:37 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    All the computer ports I plugged the Shuffle into were powered USB ports. And only two were desktops so there were no peripherals plugged into the MBP and PB to interfere. I even left the shuffle plugged in overnight twice on different computers to see if it would take a trickle charge. 

     

    Where along the USB ports on your shuffles was the connection damaged?

     

    I'd still be curious to know if a dead battery 1G Shuffle would be mounted as a USB thumb drive if was not working otherwise... no iTunes or indicator lights.

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Nov 15, 2013 3:18 AM in response to Langdon
    Level 8 (38,924 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 15, 2013 3:18 AM in response to Langdon

    It's the USB plug itself.  There is a long thin delicate ribbon cable that connects the plug to the logic board, but that's inside the plastic case, so it would not get easily damaged if the case is not opened.

     

    There is usually no visually obvious "damage" to the plug.  It's probably the same reason why USB cables go bad. The connection "pins" no longer make good contact.  The cause is probably wear and tear, from constantly plugging and unplugging the iPod.  Or it may be corrosion at the contact points. 

     

    Out of ten broken 1st gen shuffles, I'd say six or seven had a bad USB connection.  The rest were broken for something else, such as worn out battery, broken button pad, or bad logic board. 

     

    I recall that if it had a worn out battery (did not hold a charge), it did get recognized when connected.  On older "big" iPods that I worked on, they would get recognized by the computer and iTunes even if there was no battery connected.  On a 1st gen shuffle, the battery leads are soldered to the logic board, so I never tried connecting one with no battery.

     

    If the shuffle is completely dead (no lights) when connected, the most likely cause is a faulty USB plug.