My iPod screen went black, and it won't turn on. HELP! What do I do to get my iPod working again? Relax, I have a few suggestions that should get your iPod up and running in no time.
These questions are good ones, and sometimes can easily be solved, to get your iPod to behave. If this happened to you, don't hit the panic button just yet, I've put together some solutions that have proven to work, in getting to know and use your iPod.
Ohh the iPod can be a tricky thing to care for, especially when it doesn't work like the simple cell phone. Your cell, you can plug it into a power outlet, let it charge and it has an off and off button, easy enough.. but ‘Not the iPod'. They are tricky little buggers, and frustrate their owners more often than not. SO many of them are returned to the store, placed in the hands of a techy guy, who looks at it, takes a quick minute and bam, your iPod is behaving.
Does that mean iPod's are only on their best behaviour for geeks?
Nah, that's a ‘New Wives Tale'.
You just gotta learn the new way of handling things, and unlearn all that you know about gadgets with On/Off buttons.
If your iPod froze, or doesn't want to behave, as in it went into the black screen of death-- it could be as simple as 123, to fix. So before you go beating up any store clerks, let's try a few neat tricks to get it working. You'll be sure to impress your kids, if you're the parent. And if you're the kid, you'll quickly be the guy everyone comes to, when their iPod refuses to behave.
There are a few ways you can fix your iPod when it's being naughty.
This article is intended for the following.
* Now, if you aren't sure what generation your iPod is, in laymen's terms, this article is for the iPod's with the big click wheel on the front, if yours isn't the click wheel, you may want to check my links below and see if anything there helps. This little trick is known to work on iPod click wheel, iPod touch wheel and even the iPod dock connector.
Before we do anything, let's be sure that you have the right iPod, and if you know the name of yours, here's a Checklist for you.
iPod Type List
iPod (5th generation)
iPod (Touch Wheel)
iPod classic
iPod mini
iPod mini (2nd generation)
iPod nano
iPod nano (2nd generation)
iPod nano (3rd generation)
iPod with color display (iPod photo)
We'll start with a few situations to see if that's what happened to you
Situation:
You were happily using your iPod, and it was connected to the computer, via USB, and the apple software crashed, or your computer locked up/rebooted, or your iPod miraculously was unplugged from your computer, before you disconnected it on the computer end.
Result:
iPod went black, and now it won't turn on.
iPod is stuck with the logo hung.
iPod is stuck on a white screen.
Does that mean you just hit the ‘Black Screen of Death'? or the ‘White Screen of Death'?
The ans: No.
Not necessarily. It can mean that your battery croaked, or that the hd in there croaked, but if your iPod froze or went black, right at the exact moment that your computer crashed, or iPod was unplugged, or the Apple software hung up or crashed.. It's likely that you need to reboot your iPod.
Here comes the panic hit button exclaims.. Yeah, we all know that iPod's don't have a reboot button, like our handy dandy cell phones, pocket pc's, and other fun gadgets, and it makes you ask-
"Yikes, how can I reboot when my iPod when there's no reboot button?"
True, true. The iPod's don't come with a reboot button. That's ok, it's not hard, there's a simple trick to it..
First you gotta check out a few things on your connections, iPod and stuff.
Potential Problem Checklist.
Charge your iPod- If your iPod ran out of battery power at the same, you will need to leave your iPod plugged in and let it charge.
Checklist for Charging
Check the Hold Button- If you think it's not charging, make sure you didn't forget to turn the lock button off. It may be because the iPod is paused or the Hold switch is in the locked position. If so, a lock symbol appears on the screen. If your screen is black, that would be a silly thing to consider.
Rule of thumb-for most iPod's there is an orange spot that you will see, if you see the orange your iPod is on HOLD, (which is locked).
Most iPods you can flip it upside down and look to see if it's locked.
iPod Nano-for example, there is a little button that can slide side to side.
The iPod shuffle has an orange light that will flash, and you can tell that way, if you see orange on the front, your iPod is on hold, to disable it push on the Play/Pause button and count to 3, that will turn off the hold, when the green light starts blinking, the hold is turned off.
* If you don't see the orange, your iPod is not on Hold. Slide the Hold switch to the unlocked position, and you won't see orange.
Solution to Charging.
Flick the hold button on and off-Sometimes the hold button sticks, and sliding it on and off a few times, might solve the problem.
* If you did that, and it's still black there is an easy way to get back on track.
You could reboot your iPod.
Now it's not as scary as it sounds. Rebooting isn't known to delete your saved files, or music, and it should go back to the saved settings that were there the last time you used it. The bookmarks, playlists, shuffle, Backlight timer and brightness should stay intact since the last time it was on.
Checklist to see if your iPod needs a reboot:
1. Your iPod is charged.
*If not, you might have to plug in your iPod, and make sure the computer can't go to sleep while it's charging. The iPod won't charge if the iPod is locked, so no orange.
Charging your iPod problem solution, that also works.
* Your iPod might need to completely drain in battery source before you can charge it. If that's the case, leave the iPod unplugged for 24 hours before trying to charge it. That will make sure the power is drained and your iPod is ready to be charged.
2. Your iPod is unlocked. Slide the button back and fourth a couple of times, just to make sure it's working.
3. And your iPod still has a black screen, frozen logo, or white screen.
Rebooting your iPod.
1. Run a cold boot (shut your computer down, then turn it back on) on your computer. * If your iPod crashed because of the software freezing, or the computer crashed.
2. Open your Apple Software.
3. Plug in your iPod. Make sure that you plug in your iPod into your computer, and that the plugs are secure. Your computer should detect your iPod, black screen or not.
4. Set down the iPod. Take your iPod and put it on a flat surface.
5. Press firmly. Take your fingers, and firmly press the middle button, and the menu button. It will read menu on the top button of the click wheel, and the center circle of your click wheel is what your looking for.
* Make sure your fingers are planted on the top of the center button, close to the menu button, and you are pressing it together.
6. Count to 8.
Now you should see an Apple logo pop up on your iPod screen.
Sometimes you need to try it a few times, to get it to work.
It should be synchronizing and happily you should be on your way.
*You also can reboot your iPod without it being plugged into the computer, I always do mine while it's plugged in.
If that doesn't work, and you are sure that the battery has been charged properly, then you can feel happy going back to the store and asking the techy guy his thoughts.
Good luck.
Written by: Sacreeta
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