If you've got a fourth-gen iPod that's been laid low by the dreaded hard-disk click of death, you might end up wanting to say a thank-you to JC over at mac geekery. He's come up with a possible free cure, though only after lobbing his iPod from a third-floor window! Fortunately multi-storey drop-tests aren't part of his recommended fix.
JC says,
I disassembled my iPod and
re-seated both ends of the hard drive cable. After doing so, my iPod no
longer exhibits click-of-death or Sad iPod anymore.
The connector is pretty solid on the hard drive side of the cable, but the iPod side is a ZIF-style [Zero Insertion Force] connector. It's taped down fairly well, and sandwiched between the main board and hard drive such that I can't see it loosening easily. Re-seating it, though, did the trick.
The connector is pretty solid on the hard drive side of the cable, but the iPod side is a ZIF-style [Zero Insertion Force] connector. It's taped down fairly well, and sandwiched between the main board and hard drive such that I can't see it loosening easily. Re-seating it, though, did the trick.
He doesn't include any info on how to take apart an iPod but does reminder readers that, "Google is your friend". And, proving him right, we were very quickly able to come up with the iPod 4th Generation Take Apart Repair Manual (8.02MB PDF - right-click to download under Windows; ctrl-click under Mac OS). This is located over on Power Book Medic - a site that all owners of iPods and Mac portables ought to bookmark because of the many take-apart manuals it offers for download in PDF format.
Oh, and even if you've not got a dicky iPod, you still might want to check out JC's amusing and illuminating little story of serendipity. His discovery only arose AFTER he'd dropped his already-cream-crackered iPod from a third floor window!
No, he'd not done that out of sheer frustration but, instead, while testing an iFrogz case - to see how well that protected the player from damage. Well, would you use your own working iPod? Thing is, when he went to see what had happened, he found out that the iPod had survived intact and had only started working again! That roused his curiousity and set him searching for a permanent cure.
Feel like commenting? How about telling us your best fix-it stories or favourite take-apart manual sites? The place for it is over in the HEXUS.community.
HEXUS.links
mac geekery - Fix Your Dead iPod For Free
Power Book Medic - iPod 4th Generation Take Apart Repair Manual (8.02MB PDF - right-click to download under Windows; ctrl-click under Mac OS)
Power Book Medic - Home page
Wikipedia - ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) socket
