My 4g iPod shows the sad icon -- was: "Bricked iPod?"

[marco.b]

Hi to everyone, this is my first post (sorry for my English)...

I have searched the forum and I know that Rockbox does not brick iPods, so I hope somebody can help me...

My iPod is a 4-th gen with color screen and Rockbox 3.0 installed. Here is the full story:

I was scrolling down a folder on my iPod when it suddenly froze. I tried the usual reboot procedure (Menu + Select) and nothing but a sad iPod icon appeared. I can enter into disk mode (Menu + Select and before anythiong appers Menu + Play), but if a connect it to my Mac it is not recognized and after some seconds (say 15s) it reboots automatically and again the sad iPod icon appears.

When the iPod is into disk mode I see the battery icon with a thunder at the upper right corner of the screen.

Sometimes, when I try the reboot procedure I get just a big battery icon with a thunder.

I re-charged the iPod for a couple of hours and repeated the whole procedure, but nothing changed.

[LambdaCalculus]

Never say "bricked". It's impossible to brick an iPod, short of smashing it with a hammer, boiling it in a stew, or feeding it to the dog. (Mmmm, stewed iPod. Sounds yummy. )

Anyway, you can do two things here:

1) To fix the sad iPod, you could open your iPod (or have a friend do it if you're not up for it), and disconnect and reconnect the hard drive. This seems to fix a little "gremlin" problem with 4th gen color iPods that people seem to be experiencing; you can search the forums to see more about this.

2) Charge your iPod for a *good* long time... at least 24 hours. Some iPods have a bug in their OF where the iPod will think it has a flat battery when it doesn't.

[marco.b]

Please forgive me for using the word "bricked"…

I will go with the second option and I will post the effect of a long charge (more than 24 hour) in a day…

I think that to try the first option I need the proper tools, I mean the ones you find with the battery replacement kits, or am I wrong?

EDIT:
If I try to charge using the wall adapter the screen is blank, so I am not sure it is really charging… Should I charge it while in disk mode? In disk mode I can see the battery icon with a thunder flashing… Is there any difference between charging in disk mode using the Mac usb port or using the wall adapter?

[LambdaCalculus]

I think that to try the first option I need the proper tools, I mean the ones you find with the battery replacement kits, or am I wrong?

To open your iPod, you need a set of iPod opening tools, like these:
http://www.ifixit.com/Apple-Parts/iPod-Opening-Tools/IF145-000

[marco.b]

I have tried charging the iPod for more than 24 hours, but it did not solve anything…

I am not sure it was charging because the screen was blank, so now I an trying another long charge, but in disk mode; in disk mode I see the battery icon with a thunder showing that the charging is in progress…

[marco.b]

During the long charge in disk mode and after approx 30 hours had passed the iPod disk started to spin in a strange way… Rebooting helped to stop the strange disk spinning… However nothing changed and the sad iPod icon still appears on the screen after the reboot…

I think that the only remaining option is to open the case and detach and reattach the disk connector…

[Chronon]

Hopefully, the "strange spinning" does not signal a dying HD.

[LambdaCalculus]

And if that's the case, then the hard drive will have to be replaced. iFixit has replacement drives in stock, or he can also go for the CompactFlash mod route.