[joneeboi]

My iPod 4G hard drive just started acting up. I managed to salvage it from a friend's garbage can, and all it needed was a folded up piece of paper to add some pressure onto the hard drive. Recently I opened it up and it seems everything got wiped by some strange miracle, and now iTunes can't restore it, disk mode does nothing, manual formatting through Windows doesn't work, diagnostic mode does nothing. It connects fine to the computer and iTunes recognizes an iPod, but it says it can't reload the firmware. I tried reloading firmware through iPod Wizard but nothing seems to stick. I'm tempted to toss a couple magnets onto the hard drive and see if I can reload the data. Anyone have any ideas so I don't have to waste a hard drive (and free iPod)?

 

[Arainach]

Sometimes Hard Drives just die. Particularly iPod 4G Hard Drives. I'd give it up.

 

[OptionTrader]

Euthanize it.

 

[Bizzel]

It's dead, Jim.

 

[mrdeadfolx]

You have a free paperweight, at least.

 

[joneeboi]

I was afraid this would happen. Now I have to actually spend money to get a player? Sheesh. But how does the iPod still connect to my computer? It can go through resets, be put into disk mode, and it says "Do not disconnect" when I plug it in. Is that all running off of flash memory or something?

 

[dcc84]

Hey. After seeing your posts in diymod thread, I wouldn't give it up quite yet. I don't think its running of flash mode. Obviously, a lot of parts work on the hd, or you wouldn't be able to reset, put in disk mode. Just for curiosity, was this after trying the diymod? If able to do all this other stuff, have you checked to see if everything is grounded, esp stuff you soldered (if any). I had an effects pedal that worked for a year, and apparently I had a cold solder joint that somehow didn't become "cold" until a year later. Or, worse, I guess a trace could be scratched, but it just sounds more like a ground problem with what you've said above. But never give up! Also, could it be a connector cable?

 

[Bizzel]

The firmware is stored separately from the data I think. I've formatted my iPod's drive before and the firmware recreates the folder structure.