My 4G iPod will not start — fix

Posted on December 21, 2005
Filed Under Apple |

The iPod is about 1.5 years old, a 20 GB fourth generation of Apple’s digital audio device. I was listening to the Ricky Gervais podcast yesterday on my way to school. When I got there I pressed pause and turned of the iPod.

Today I try to continue listening, but nothing. The iPod is dead. I plug it in to the Fireware and USB port to charge, nothing. I try the reset sequence, hold Menu and Play for 10 seconds. Nope. Googleing the problem it looks like it is a paperweight since I’m out of warranty. Some suggest openning in up to see of the battery connection has come loose. I don’t have a proper sized screwdriver to do this. WTF do I do?

Then I come across a website that details putting the iPod in diagnostic mode, Method Shop >> iPod Diagnostic Mode. Press Menu and Select to reboot and to put it into diagnostic mode and wait for the Apple symbol to appear. Nope. I leave it plugged into the Firewire port for 30 minutes. Unplug it, hold Menu and Select for 10 seconds…. ITS ALIVE.

A little more searching turns up this is an infrequent problem when you pause the iPod in the middle of an enhanced audio file, then leave it in sleep mode for an extened period of time. Being in cold temperature likely reduced the battery charge, that may have help contribute to put the device into an incorrect operational state so that it would not start. If you have a similar problem, hope this helps.

Comments

21 Responses to “My 4G iPod will not start — fix”

  1. David on December 29th, 2005 16:33

    The same happened to me on my 30gb ipod +hp photo. I was also listening to Ricky Gervais’s podcast as well. ???

  2. Matt on December 30th, 2005 15:01

    This is so strange. I downloaded the Ricky Gervais podcast, listened to it for 15 minutes yesterday, stopped it halfway through. Now today i go to turn on the ipod and it’s dead! Maybe it’s something about that podcast??? Anyway, going to see if i can reset the thing now…

  3. Matt on December 30th, 2005 15:04

    The ipod is alive. Above fix worked perfectly…thanks

  4. mhp on December 30th, 2005 15:15

    The problem is stopping your iPod during an Enhanced Podcast (aka AAC or .m4a), and is not specific to the Ricky Gervais podcast. So if you are going to turn off your iPod while listening to an enhanced podcast, change to another track first. Hope Apple gets an iPod firmware fix for this out soon.

  5. Glyn Hughes on January 5th, 2006 13:58

    Thanks for alerting us about this issue. We’ve mentioned the problem in episode 6 of the podcast so hopefully it’ll forewarn some people. I’ve been in touch with iTunes to make sure they’re aware of the issue too and have heard from them to say they’re looking into it.

  6. kathy on January 9th, 2006 13:15

    my 20gb photo ipod freezes aswell!!

  7. mhp on January 10th, 2006 0:11

    Glyn: Thanks for the mention at the start of the show and the link in the image of the enhanced podcast. Good to know the issue is being addressed.

    Kathy: Did the fix described work for you?

  8. mhp’s musings » Creds from the #1 podcast on January 10th, 2006 3:15

    […] mhp’s musings » My 4G iPod will not start — fix […]

  9. Steven on January 11th, 2006 15:31

    How very very very cool of Steve to mention this problem in the show!

  10. cat on January 12th, 2006 16:29

    meow

  11. mhp on January 13th, 2006 0:57

    Steven: very cool, i was driving at the time and almost hit the guy next to me (sorry dude, whoever your are) when I pressed Back to confirm what I thought (and did) heard.

    cat: can you translate that to english (or french), i don’t speak cat

  12. steve on January 13th, 2006 3:18

    I’ve had the same problem with my iPod Mini, usually after pausing while in the Ricky Gervais show. I’ve narrowed the problem down… and it only seems to happen when I pause it while Carl Pilkington is speaking.
    Odd.

  13. mhp on January 13th, 2006 3:38

    Note to Apple: cause of the bug found. Karl’s nonsense theories not only makes my head spin when i try to figure out what he is saying, it does the same to the iPod.

  14. Jason on January 13th, 2006 19:54

    Same Happened to me on my 1.5 year old 20 gig, thanks for posting the solution…

  15. Sam on January 14th, 2006 11:10

    Hey, I was also listening to the Ricky Gervais podcast when mine stopped, I sent it back to apple, havn’t had it back yet, but mine had already broken in about 4 different ways already so nothings lost. God these ipods suck

  16. sharmon on January 23rd, 2006 23:33

    thanks dude this worked perfectly. I think I love you. But not really

  17. Trevor Johnston on February 7th, 2006 11:55

    I’m not so sure that the Ricky Gervais podcast connection is entirely coincidental. I too had the exact thing happen to me yesterday. I tried everything to revive my 4G 20GB iPod and had no luck until coming across your suggestion above. It started back up within seconds. As Karl Pilkington might say, I’m just saying it seems a little dodgy. Chimpanzee that!

  18. mhp on February 9th, 2006 15:43

    Trevor, that is a new twist to the story… Apple’s covertly gets back at Karl et.al. for his criticism of iPods by breaking their playback and iPods. Forcing some people to go buy new ones and stopping them from listening to Karl’s drivel.

  19. Rich on March 1st, 2006 14:45

    Thank you so much for this info. I only last night downloaded Ricky Gervais and Best of Moyles from Itunes and played it in the car this morning, on my way back to the office later. Nothing. I thought it was fried. Seems really spooky. Going to update my ipod software.

  20. stuboy on June 4th, 2006 14:55

    This problem has been driving me mad for weeks; the wife said that it happened because Ricky Gervais is so offensive. Thanks for this fix.

  21. Senor Frog on January 23rd, 2007 14:24

    Help! My 2gb Nano simply would not turn on. Tried everything but no joy!
    It’s been sent off for a warranty replacement. I’m told it could take up to 3 months to be replaced as that is a discontinued model. It’s only 6 months old!

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