'Please Wait. Very Low Battery.'

I have this exact same problem. A little help?

So, Apple, any idea how we can fix this problem?

I ended up with this kind of problem this week. My 60G videopod was so drained (funny, I hadn't used it for a week, but it had had a full charge ... that's pathetic to me) that it wouldn't charge off USB. Neither from my PC (which is USB2) nor from my car charger. Powered on, gave the "very low battery, please wait" message, started to boot up, hard drive clicked, and then it would shut down and go through the boot/click/boot/click.

I finally ended up shelling out more money for an AC adaptor. I think I had one when I bought it 8 months ago, but I never used it and I couldn't find it.

This is really bad. There needs to be a mode you can enter that says "never try to boot, just charge, until I say so".

Anyway ... if you're having this problem and have read one of the threads here or elsewhere that says you need to SHAKE the ipod, or OPEN the ipod, or have it REPLACED ... for goodness sake ... go down to your nearest CompUSA/BestBuy/Circuit City/etc and stick it on one of their display docks. See if it will start charging.

I had found -4- other sites that recommended one of the above methods of fixing it. I think it ***** that the ipod is too stupid to charge properly on USB when fully drained, but its WORSE that there is so much totally bad information about the problem.

I have had a somewhat similar problem--my ipod will not charge on my computer or using a wall adapter. If i plug it into my computer, it shows a blinking battery/exclamation point icon, but doesn't appear to be charging. It doesn't show anything on the screen when I plug it into the wall. Anyone know how to fix this? The ipod will not reset or do anything else.

Thanks for your help!

Pretty disappointed with the lack of an official response here.

Yes, this is very disappointing. I took my ipod to the "genius bar" three times (one of the times they wanted me to wait three hours after my appointment time because they were running late! ridiculous!), and finally when I spoke with somebody he just said that my ipod was dead and so i have to buy a new one. If it is dead, why is it flashing that icon when i plug it in? Surely something is working. I got my ipod last year, I shouldn't have to be replacing it already! It is just disappointing to kind of feel hoodwinked here--like the whole time they don't really care and just want you to buy a new 300 dollar ipod.

Saul's post above is getting close to the mark. If the 5th generation Ipod runs the battery down very low, the resistance of the battery is too high for the current coming from the USB port to initiate the boot sequence. Hence it get stuck in the "very low battery" / glowing silver apple on black screen sequence, does lots of whirring and clicking, and can't get enough charge to boot.

I had this problem with my 80GB ipod this week. The local shop explained the problem, and offered to "reset" my battery for $35 thanks very much!

I don't have an AC charger. If you have one, then that would be my first choice to get it charged up enough to talk to the computer.

Here is what got mine going again off the USB port:

1)plug it in to the USB port and hit menu + select until you get the glowing silver apple on the black screen.
2) keep holding the menu+select buttons down until the ipod resets, and the screen goes dark
3) when the silver apple comes back, repeat step 2 above. You might have to do this 5-10 times.
4) eventually, the "very low battery " message comes back. Repeat steps 1-3 above.
5) go through this sequence five times at least. This is building charge in the battery bit by bit.
6) next time it is on the "very low battery" screen, press play+select instead of menu+select. At this point my ipod entered disk mode, and started charging off the usb port.
7) leave it to charge fully for 4 hours at least
8) at this point my ipod was still stuck in disk mode and I was still getting the silver apple and a failed boot sequence.
9) connect to the computer, itunes should detect it. go into itunes and restore factory settings - it will wipe the whole ipod hard drive, boot it up and then sync all your songs back on.

Mine seems back to normal now.

I hope this helps someone. Have to admit it is a bit of an oversight on apples part to let a product out there with this sort of problem, especially as it doesn't come with an ac charger. Hopefully they can produce a fix in software that will shut the ipod down before the battery level gets critical.

Who wants to be listening to their music with a constant eye on the battery level??

Andy

I phoned Apple about this today and was told that I would need to send it in for service.
I have 22 days remaining in warranty but am past the free shipping period. They tried to push Applecare for the ipod on me stating it would pay for the shipping and add extra warranty.

Not once did the guy there suggest any of the steps seen here.

I'm going to try and borrow an AC charger and see if I can solve it on my own.

Ok, well in the ongoing dispute with the many iPods I've encountered and fixed, the method with mine was simple. An assosciate at work used my ipod and dropped the battery down to the minimum, I figured no big deal brought it home to charge and avast I was given the error "Battery very low" "Please Wait"

If your brave, and experienced enough not to damage the internals, use your fingernails to pull the face plate from the backing plate and simply go to the ribbon at the very bottom of the ipod and unplug it carefully as not to damage the ribbon. Leave it to sit idle for about five minutes to give the memory, cache, and processor to loose all power and reset themselves. After five minutes plug the ribbon back in carefully and snap up the shell, once done plug in the iPod to the usb port you usually do and it should boot no problems. If not do a few resets and that seems to correct it as well. Plugging the iPod in to the last working port avoids wasting the iPod from not being able to charge because usb doesn't generally give off power until the bios knows to send power to it.

Of course if theres a warranty, use it...if not then do remember taking it apart is your risk and voids your warranty thats probably already up anyways. Keep in mind when apple says they need to "service" it they usually do the same thing unless the battery really does need replacement.

Mr. Orange,

Thanks!! This worked perfectly on my 4GB 1st gen iPod nano. I had to use a Griffin A/C adapter - plugging the ipod into my computer didn't work. Once it stayed in disk mode it charged properly.

These directions worked without a problem for me...with a slightly different step in there. Instead of constantly holding down the buttons (maybe it's just the wording you used, and I'm still doing the same as you suggested), but when the screen is on the "battery very low"/spinny circle screen, I'd hold Menu+Select until the apple icon showed up (not lit, just displaying), and immediately let go. A few second later, when the screen would backlight, that's when I would press and hold until the iPod shut off again. Rinse, repeat. I noticed that the more I did, the more frequently the "battery very low" screen would come up.

Once it started coming up after every cycle, I unplugged the iPod and did a Play+Select reboot, and it booted up to my main iPod menu. I immediately plugged it in tot he USB, and is charging peacefully as I type this. I hope this helps someone else, cuz a wave of relief just washed over me.

I am getting this exact same problem except that the ipod is fully charged and i can listen to it until my hearts content. When I try to connect it to my computer it will go the "Please wait. Very Low Battery" screen, but when I disconnect it from the computer it operates normally.

mine said so just a few munites ago- i think it isnt a fault, try to wait 20 min
if your ipod is seriously discharged it may take a whle....

I have left the ipod charging overnight and it is now fully charged, but it still shows the "Please Wait. Very Low Battery" as soon as I connect it to the computer. Since this just began after I installed the new iTunes (7.4.3.1), i wonder if it is a fault in the program?

Hi,
My wifes 30GB 5th Gen. Has the Apple logo stuck on the screen as well. She was away for 2 weeks and the ipod drained after the first week. I have tried several hundred resets and I can't get iTunes to recognise it. The battery has lost so much charge that it doesn't have enough juice to boot up.
I put it into disc mode by carrying out a reset (Menu and Select), then immediately put it into disc mode (Select and Play). It has come up with a balck and white screen and is now "flashing do not disconnect" plus it shows the battery charging symbol. Gonna leave it overnight and try to fugure out how to get it out of disc mode. Can anyone let me know?