problem with iPod Classic 160gb

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,567
836
126
Wasn't playing certain songs while I was listening to music in my car so I took a look at it. I can hear the HD spinning up and down, no click of death though. I tried resetting it, no dice. In HD mode I'm getting a unknown 1493 error in iTunes. Same when I boot it regular and let iTunes attempt to restore it. Tried on another PC and it hangs up the system until I unplug the 30 pin cable. Googling this it sounds like it could be the logic board, but I'm not 100% sure. It's no longer under waranty so taking it to the Apple store to get it fixed probably won't be worth it. I only have 1 cable, but I've tried the different USB ports thing. Also on the one where it freezes up the system till I unplug it's running Windows 8.

I Youtubed videos on how to take it apart and it looks difficult to say the least. If anyone here has some experience here I'm all ears.
 
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QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,567
836
126
Ok, I'm racking my brain here, I had it sent to Apple and I got a new replacement. I hook it to my PC, sync my entire library. When I try using it, it's doing the exact same thing. Either I'm the most unlucky person around, or something else is going on here. I have no ideas where to start though.
 

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
79
86
Do all the songs play on your PC? It could be corrupted data causing some interference. Also, it could be iTunes itself. Just yesterday, I had to force close iTunes four times because when I plugged my iPhone in, it froze it altogether.

Also, is everything up to date?

EDIT: are you converting the songs using iTunes (possibly to a low bit rate for space concerns for any reason)? I had a problem with iTunes syncing songs and they would skip on my previous iPhone. I was baffled when I first heard it and ended up having to get new versions of the songs because they had corrupted somehow.
 
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QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,567
836
126
Do all the songs play on your PC? It could be corrupted data causing some interference. Also, it could be iTunes itself. Just yesterday, I had to force close iTunes four times because when I plugged my iPhone in, it froze it altogether.

Also, is everything up to date?

EDIT: are you converting the songs using iTunes (possibly to a low bit rate for space concerns for any reason)? I had a problem with iTunes syncing songs and they would skip on my previous iPhone. I was baffled when I first heard it and ended up having to get new versions of the songs because they had corrupted somehow.

Songs play in iTunes fine, iTunes itself isn't giving me any problems, not at least ones I can detect. I just went and picked up a new iPod cable and tried a different port. The songs aren't being converted, they're regular mp3's. I haven't verified every song plays in iTunes, but I tried 2 entire albums that the iPod skips and every song played fine. The Apple guy I bought the iPod from seems to think it has to be something with my PC. He doesn't work for Apple, just runs an Apple repair shop.

I tend to understand him thinking 2 bad iPod's with the same issue in a row is highly unlikely. But at this point I can't figure out what is it. I put my music on an External drive and will wipe my iPod and sync from a totally different computer to eliminate my computer as the cause here.
 

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
12
0
Try some of the stuff suggested in this thread before you go ripping it apart.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1630117?start=45&tstart=0

It does sound like a bad HDD to me. A second hand iPod 5G was having the same issue. Needed a new drive and battery. If it's old or heavily used, it makes sense to just replace both while you're fiddling around inside. Taking it apart is a pretty straight forward job. You just need a spudger to open it up, since the back case is held on by tabs. The 160GB drives in that size are quite expensive though. If you don't need the space, you can get a compact flash adapter kit for the iPod, SD to CF adapter and SD card.
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,567
836
126
Thanks I haven't seen some of the stuff in that link, appreiciate it! On an odd note, I installed Rockbox and the songs that wouldn't play before play fine. So confusing
 

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,567
836
126
Well I figured out what the problem was - I think. I found a program called id3 validator and it said there were errors in the tag. I had it correct them, but still nothing. On a long shot I selected the "convert id3 tag" option in iTunes for one of the albums that wouldn't play, and low and behold it did.
 
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