4th Gen iPod: rockbox doesn't boot

[shmish]

I suspect this is a hardware problem (failed HD), but wondering if there are some troubleshooting steps.

When I try to power on my iPod, the apple logo pops up while the drive chugs away.  Eventually the iPod says "www.apple.com/support/ipod" and shuts down.

Is there anyway to get into the iPod?  I read about an Emergency boot (hold play + select at the same time) but that didn't seem to do anything different for me.

thanks

[bluebrother]

I read about an Emergency boot (hold play + select at the same time) but that didn't seem to do anything different for me.

You need to reset the player before you can enter emergency disk mode. I.e. hold Menu + Select until the player reboots, then Play + Select. If you can't access the disk in emergency disk mode the disk is definitely broken -- unless you have a different issue, but if it does make strange noises I assume it safe to blame the disk.