Ipod freezes

[SHROOM10]

My iPod keeps freezing for hours on end and displaying a spinnig disc with a magnafying glass.
Very annoying.

Any suggestions as to what is wrong and anyway to fix?

G

Admin Note - The Quick Answer:
If your iPod froze, you probably want to reset it. The reset procedure varies from model to model. As of Dec. 2007, this is how you reset all iPod models.

All iPods with click wheels - iPod nano, iPod (4th gen and later), iPod mini:
Toggle hold switch (on, then off). Hold both the Menu and Select (center) buttons until the Apple logo appears. This takes 5-10 seconds.

iPod (1st - 3rd gen):
Toggle hold switch (on, then off). Hold both the Play/Pause and Menu buttons until the Apple logo appears. This takes 5-10 seconds.

iPod touch/iPhone:
Hold both the home and sleep/wake (thin button on the top) buttons until the Apple logo appears. This takes 10-15 seconds.

iPod Shuffle:
Move the switch on the back (1st gen) or bottom (2nd gen) to the 'off' position (no green stripe visible). Wait 5 seconds, then turn it back on.

If you're having other problems with your iPod, feel free to post them here.

- Alex

[Kiwi]

I've also had continuing problems with iPod freezes. I bought the iPod for use while running and bought an arm band carrier to reduce bouncing. But they freeze after about 20 minutes of running. It seems to be an inherent problem for the device.

Does anyone use an iPod while running? Have this problem?

kiwi

[_col_]

I purchased my first iPod about 6 weeks ago.

Within a week of purchasing the first one it froze mid song. Nothing changed on the screen it looked like it was playing the song but it wasn't moving and the song had stopped playing. So I took it back to the store and they replaced it immediatly.

Within another week the same thing happened TWICE.. I first time I didn't have time take it back to the store and by the next day it had run out of batteries and had begun to work again. However a day later it froze again so I took it back and got another replacement.

Soo now I'm on my third ipod in three weeks. This one lasted a little longer.. 6 days before this one froze. I took it back and got yet another.. It was becoming a real joke at this stage. $700 for a iPod and I can't get one that works for longer the a week!!!!!!

I've had thist 4th iPod for about 3-4 weeks now and it too has frozedn about three times. Unfortunatly if I take it back now rather than replace it they will send it off to apple and wait to either get it fixed for for apple to replace it. However I know that even though it continues to freeze after about 12-24 hours it'll run out of battery power and begin to work again. In which case the apple technitians will look at a working iPod and send it straight back to me. :-(

I really enjoy the ipod and think it is well worth the money IF IT WOULD STOP FREEZING. It is extremely frustrating when your iPod freezes and is then basically out of action for the next 12 hours.

What I find even stranger is that I have had this experiance time and time again but have not heard of many others having the same problem.

If anyone else has experience this type of problem with any iPod particually the 4th Gen 40Gig iPod I'd love to hear about it.

col.

[Golden21]

yes, i have owned two ipods, a 2nd gen i believe 10gb, and a "new" 15gb. i have had the problem of the spinning disk and magnifying glass also. mine would do this sometimes when i plug it into my computer. ipod has a "reset" feature that simply resets the ipod's operating system. it does the exact same thing that running your battery down does. all your songs and hard disc data is still there, because it is a hard drive. yes, you do have to go back and put your backlight and contrast settings back to your personal preferences, but i dont find that too much hassle.

i am quite sure the reset feature also works when you plug your ipod into your computer and get the spinning disc icon. it sort-of "unglitches" the ipod which allows it to communicate with the comp. i have experienced a few other "freezes" too. in all cases, a simple reset fixes the problem.

IMPORTANT: to perform an ipod reset, push and hold both the "play" and "menu" at the same time. hold for about ten seconds, or until the apple logo appears. it does the same thing as wearing down the batteries, in a fraction of the time, and you dont have to go through all the time waiting for it to play "sherlock holmes," searching the disk with the magnifying glass! hope that clarified and helped with your problems! email me w/ any questions, beaubulldog@aol.com. bye!

[Editor's Note: The key sequence for 4th-gen iPods and iPod minis is Menu-Select.]

[tww]

I have a new 20gb iPod and have run with it everyday for several weeks with no problems. I have never had it freeze.

My HD is about half full. I don't know if that makes a difference.

I am using a dual 1ghz G4 as its home base. Maybe there is a problem with older or newer macs or PCs. What are you all using?

It would be interesting to see what characteristics you all might have in common.

[mac_man_luke]

Not good to hear reports like this about a great product...apple...

[_col_]

I am aware of the reset feature of the iPod but it doesn't help with the freezes I have been experiencing. Also the magnifying glass does not appear when my ipod(s) have frozen. They just freeze as they are.. mid song.. all the song details are still displayed on screen but do not move and the reset does nothing. The best I can hope for is that the backlight is on when it freezes so that the battery runs down quicker. In fact one of the times they froze the iPod was accessing something from the hard drive and continued to while it was frozen. This was great because it ran the battery down even faster.

Anyway its been 5 days since it last froze so lets hope it keeps itself together from now on.


P.S I have been using my G4 powerbook to upload all my music.

[tww]

Just guessing here but does it stop on the same songs? Or songs downloaded from P2P networks? I wonder if the song files b/c of a corruption or deliberate act could cause the hd to freeze?

[_col_]

yeah good point, that would explain it but no. Each time its been on a different song and I have played the song it has frozen on many times all the way through. weird isn't it.

[cameronreilly]

First time this has happened. As someone else reported, my iPod has frozen in between songs. The track details are showing, no backlight, and I can't reset it using the PLAY-MENU system. Bizarre. My iPod is about 95% full and four months old. Any new ideas welcome.

[chipz]

I have a 2G 20 GB iPod and I have not experienced any problems with it, although I have never used it while running. I walk a lot and ride my exercycle a lot as well, and have experienced no problem. My drive is about 80% full.

[_col_]

Originally Posted by cameronreilly

First time this has happened. As someone else reported, my iPod has frozen in between songs. The track details are showing, no backlight, and I can't reset it using the PLAY-MENU system. Bizarre. My iPod is about 95% full and four months old. Any new ideas welcome.

I finally solved my freeze problem ... well kinda. If you haven't figured it out yourself by now the reset on the G4 iPods is NOT play+menu its menu+select(the middle button). It took me awhile to figure this out, even the saff at my local apple center kept trying play+menu to reset it and replaced it 3 times when that didn't work (idiots!) .

So if it freezes again try holding the menu + the SELECT button for a few seconds and it should reset.

cheers

col.

[Peasty]

Originally Posted by _col_

I finally solved my freeze problem ... well kinda. If you haven't figured it out yourself by now the reset on the G4 iPods is NOT play+menu its menu+select(the middle button). It took me awhile to figure this out, even the saff at my local apple center kept trying play+menu to reset it and replaced it 3 times when that didn't work (idiots!) .

So if it freezes again try holding the menu + the SELECT button for a few seconds and it should reset.

cheers

col.

Give that man a beer I was contemplating sending mine back (bought direct for free engraving) as it frequently freezes. I have had my 4th gen 40gb about a month and this has happened when it has been in my pocket whilst walking.

Is this freezing a fault (get replacement) or just an inconvenience (just unfreeze it)? and does anyone actually get 12 hours battery life from their new ipod? Mine lasts about 12 hours from charge to dead regardless of using it ?

any comments appreciated, thanks in advance.

[mac_man_luke]

I think the ipod even uses power when off

[frozensolidak]

HELP!
i have a 4gen 20 gb ipod, and lately, it has been screwing up. it started out my itunes(mac) wasn't responding to my ipod at all. so i couldn't import any new songs onto my ipod. i restored the software, thus dumping the existing songs. now, my itunes responds to my ipod, and it starts importing songs, but always freezes in the middle. so i unplug my ipod and the apple icon signifying rebooting comes up, followed by a folder icon with an exclamation mark on it. then i have start the whole process again of restoring the software. i'm probly going to send it in, but i wanted to have any input on it first. thanks
-g