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Q: 7th gen. Nano screen constantly flashes between on and off

The screen on my 7th gen. iPod Nano constantly flicks between total blackness, which I assume is "off," and the apple logo screen that you see when you turn your iPod on. It's like it can neither completely turn on or off. By pushing a few button combinations as recommended in other threads and connecting it to my computer, I was able to restore the factory settings...twice. It doesn't seem to have made any difference. After a reset, though, I get a message saying it's going to restart my iPod, but all that happens is that the flashing starts up again and the the device disappears from my iTunes page, as if it's lost contact with the computer, and we're back to square one. However, during one of the periods when a reset was going on and the iPod registered with iTunes, I was able to find out the version of iTunes it has (or had, before resets) is up to date and the battery seems to be fully charged.

 

Any ideas? I can handle losing data as it's all duplicates of what's on my iMac, anyway, but I would like to play some music!

iPod nano, 7th generation

Posted on Mar 17, 2016 9:04 PM

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Q: 7th gen. Nano screen constantly flashes between on and off

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  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Mar 18, 2016 4:36 AM in response to MSM
    Level 8 (38,788 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 18, 2016 4:36 AM in response to MSM

    If the iPod does not function properly after doing a Restore, it probably has a hardware problem.  It sounds like you got it into Disk Mode, which allowed a "recovery mode" Restore using iTunes.  However, it does not start up normally.

     

    When you put it into Disk Mode and connect it without iTunes running, does the iPod's "disk" appear in Disk Utility?

     

    Putting iPod into Disk Mode - Apple Support

  • by MSM,

    MSM MSM Mar 18, 2016 6:44 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 18, 2016 6:44 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

    I just turned on Disk Mode (I think), turned off iTunes, and turned on Disk Utility. The iPod shows up in the Disk Utility sidebar as an external device.

     

    Doing this reminded me of First Aid in disk utility, so I ran it for the iPod. It went quickly and smoothly and didn't indicate any problems.

  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Mar 18, 2016 7:00 AM in response to MSM
    Level 8 (38,788 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 18, 2016 7:00 AM in response to MSM

    It seems like your iPod's storage is fine (I thought that might be the problem).  Now that it is in Disk Mode, and you have confirmed that the iPod's "disk" mounts properly (and you even did the First Aid test on it), quit Disk Utility and run iTunes.  iTunes should prompt you to do a Restore with a message about "recovery."  Try doing a Restore one more time.  After the Restore, if their is no hardware problem, the iPod should (hopefully) start up normally.