iPod 4th Gen iPod...Please help me! :(

[stupertaco]

Ok so I bought an iPod 4th Gen from eBay a week ago and have been having some problems since...

I have found the major problem, it seems I have some bad sectors on the pod (I used TechTools 4 to scan it). So, I went ahead and tried to zero out the data using Disc Utility. It managed to get to the end of the process and gives me the error: Erase Failed: Read/Write Error...

I have been looking on Google and the only solution I could find was that the Leopard version of Utility was faulty. So, I went ahead and got a Tiger install Disk and ran it's disc utility with the same error at the end. At this point I do not know what to do. I just want to be able to use my iPod without songs skipping....I have tried it both on firewire and usb, and I own both a Mac and a PC.

Any and all help is really appreciated....Please help me fix my pod

 

[Insulin Junkie]

At the risk of sounding cruel in case you've gotten attached to that particular one, but wouldn't it be easier to get another cheap older model iPod off e-bay instead of going through a lot of trouble to try and fix something that's most probably served well for years now and is approaching the end of its life?

As for the fix, the scanning thing is the only thing that comes to mind.
Somehow I doubt that Utility is faulty both times... the iPod may really simply be beyond repair.

 

[stupertaco]

It's not that I am particularly attached to this one....I just don't want to go out and buy another ipod. I mean I got this one for 30$, and if I have to I think it would still be cheaper to get a new drive over another pod altogether. I'm just wondering if this has happened to anyone or if anyone has a fix. I've dug through Google and have found no solutions

 

[alphaod]

Well is the HDD spinning? And I was selling mine for $50--okay I'm not promoting sales. LOL

 

[MonksMac]

The 4th Gen iPod's are noted for their common HDD failure.
However does it still work as an iPod or does it not boot up at all, before you try to repair it?

 

[phairphan]

I'd restore the iPod, load your music on, and see what happens. If it doesn't work, it's not like you're out anything except the time it takes to sync your music. If the scan worked right until the end, it's quite possible that if there is a/are bad sector/s, they may be very limited in amount and location. You may not notice them on a day-to-day basis. As for replacement, aside from the surgery involved, you may find replacing the drive to be a more expensive proposition than you realize.

 

[stupertaco]

What does that error even mean? Ok strange...it completes if I format it as Mac OS Extended, but TechTools still find the bad sectors....Is that still supposed to happen? If I format it back to MS-DOS format will it undo the work?

 

[MonksMac]

If it works then just leave it alone. It could be nothing. If it has worked so far then it probably is fine.

 

[stupertaco]

Well I haven't tested it since I formatted it into the Mac format. Problem is all my music is on my PC.... So, I wanted to format it back into MS-DOS, but it fails to zero out the dos format. So if I convert it back will it have undone the zero-ing out?

 

[koreanboy]

i have the same problem with my 20gig ipod mini 2 weeks ago. whenever i restore i get message cant restore 1418 error, and i can hear some strange ticking sounds from its micro hard drive.

since its already not working, like a surgeon i operated it, and tried to use 256mb flash card. after few hours of soldering, try to restore and kaboom it worked.

im now planning to replace that flash card to 4gig or 8gig model.

론

 

[MacBass]

I have a 4G 20GB iPod, I had thought the HDD had died, and after installing a new one, I found out that it was the logic board that had died.