puzzled about the sad face icon

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It is usually a sign of a harddrive problem. That could be hardware-related or software-related.

See this...
iPod displays a sad iPod icon

Get your iPod into Disk Mode...
Putting iPod into Disk Mode

And then restore it...
Restore iPod

btabz

well sad face issue occurs because of ejecting the ipod directly without giving a command to eject from itunes
the traditional way to eject the ipod is

iTunes
source list>>ipod(right click)select eject and then eject the ipod.

hp5500 Windows XP laptop

hey i hava question.. My cousins ipod keeps showing the sad icon. I went to the support page on the apple website, and i followed the instructions on the page... but it didn't help. The ipod updater won't let me click the restore button

The Sad face on a mac or iPod is like the blue screen of death on a PC. it's a general 'oops, i'm broke, fix me' icon.

It can be caused by any number of things either hardware or software. There is no one single way to remedy it. For some a restore might do it, others it might need to be replaced. But the reason for an ambiguous icon verus text that reads "restore me" or "replace me" is that it could be anything. If nothing works, then bring it in for service.
Don't ship it, that takes too long and they generally don't examen them much at the store before they replace it, so even if it was your fault, there's a good chance they'll give you a new one anyway.

you may wanna try this to fix it: (this was written by me for a similar problem.)







this might sound kind of far fetched but ive heard that if you tap the ipod on all its sides with your palm or on like a note pad that it will stop clicking and flash back to like and then you can restore it from there.


hope this helps.


post back and let us know your progress


-brandon-

whoa! ummm big N and big O

Tap the iPod?! It's a harddrive with sensitive parts! If you need to jostle it to get it to work correctly, it is damaged and should be replaced. Seriously, DO NOT tap, hit, slam, bang, jostle, or otherwise molest the iPod 5G, that could lead to complete hard drive failure and Apple might not fix it due to abuse. Far fetched? No Stupid? uh..yeah.

ok first off im not a idiot!!! i know if you were smack the ipod too hard it may cause fatal harddrive error. i originally used for a similar problem. and i also researched this method before posting it. there have been case where the connection to the hard drive was to weak to actually boot up and and has caused "the sad ipod icon" to show up.in many of those cases this had solved the problem. another possibility of what might be wrong with "mel" ipod is the hard drives arm is stuck on a certain sector of the spinning disks and may also cause the appearence of "the sad ipod icon". another possibility of "mel"'s "harddrive error" may be that the arm of the harddrive could be pushed to close to the casing around the hard drive and its not able to make contact with the spinning disks and may also be causing the ipod to display "the sad ipod icon". so dont judge my post wanting to destroy an iPod. im just trying to feed information i know to shed light on the situation. maybe just maybe my post will help "mel"'s iPod back to working condition.

-brandon-

ps. i didnt mean smack the ipod really hard on you floor.im saying firmly tap the ipod on all sides of the metal backing.


again ps. dont tap the front part of the casing. (the side with the screen cause if you do it may very well crack the lcd.)


emachines desktop and mac mini w/ intel Windows XP white ipod video 30gb

emachines desktop and mac mini w/ intel Windows XP white ipod video 30gb

How to fix an iPod with "Sad Face Icon" Showing - September 3, 2006

Folks...if you are an iPod user listen up: Recently my iPod 20G Photo model suddenly stopped working and even after trying all reset procedures it would only show the dreaded "Sad Face Icon". I went in to 2 different Apple Stores and they both told me the same thing, that my precious iPod now had a dead Hard Drive and the only option was to "recycle" it and buy a new one. That didn't sound right to me as I had never dropped it and it was only a little over a year old..had my name engraved on the back and all my tunes and pictures inside. So let me tell you the "Jon Hammond Fix Your Dead iPod Hard Drive Method": Give the iPod a good vigorous shake until you can feel something moving around in there, and then...voila! My iPod works better than ever again!!
Saved 300 bucks!
I hope that will work for you if your iPod shows a Sad Face.
Pass this around to all your iPod Friends out there.

that is not a fix. your ipod is not fixed. it may work for awhile but i guarantee you it will happen again. if your warranty is up, be my guest and shake your delicate ipod, but if you are still under warranty, under no circumstances should you shake your ipod. in the long run you are causing more harm than good.