iPod 5G not working properly - battery, hard drive or worse?

[TCK]

Hey there!  Been a happy user of Rockbox for almost five years now (three on this current iPod) but I'm starting to feel as though my time is at an end.  Problem is, I can't exactly work out why.  Problem started when after about a week of non-use I tried turning it on to no luck, so I tried charging it.  However, the unit doesn't appear to be charging (through USB connection to computer or mains).  After disconnecting the battery from the circuitboard and plugging in Rockbox boots but any attempt to load music/plugins from the hard drive fails. 

Isn't the Rockbox firmware stored on the hard drive (if so surely that means the hard drive is okay)?  On the other hand if it were just the battery why would there be issues when not relying on the battery (perhaps mains power isn't enough)?

What would be your first guesses as to the malfunctioning part?

 

[Chronon]

You haven't mentioned whether or not you completely charged the battery after what sounds like a deep discharge.  Make sure you completely charge it, using the OF if necessary.

[TCK]

You haven't mentioned whether or not you completely charged the battery after what sounds like a deep discharge.  Make sure you completely charge it, using the OF if necessary.

Problem is it refuses to charge.  I've tried giving it multiple deep charges, both from USB and mains, to no avail.  I've even tried booting up the OF (only possible with the battery not connected), then connecting the battery while still on for an overnight charge.  I'm guessing the battery is dead to a degree, but I can't figure out whether the hard drive is also part of the problem seeing as music wouldn't play.  And I can't use the OF to test the hard drive as I can't connect to USB in a way that means my computer can see it.

[Chronon]

If you boot into Disk Mode it won't mount?  You could try booting Apple's diagnostic mode to run various hardware tests.

[soap]

Problem is it refuses to charge. 

Rockbox is not charging iPod Videos well (if at all) currently (over USB).  Either try a firewire charger or boot the original firmware.

I've even tried booting up the OF (only possible with the battery not connected), then connecting the battery while still on for an overnight charge. 

I am not sure if you are aware that you can boot the original firmware by engaging the hold switch to the on (red / towards the headphone jack) position upon power up?  Or are you describing a more general hardware problem?

I'm guessing the battery is dead to a degree, but I can't figure out whether the hard drive is also part of the problem seeing as music wouldn't play.  And I can't use the OF to test the hard drive as I can't connect to USB in a way that means my computer can see it.

iPods have a diagnostic mode built in, IF you can get enough charge to boot into it.
I don't understand why you can't connect via USB from the original firmware, though.

[TexasRockbox]

With the latest build it does charge via USB but it seems "finicky".  What I do is make sure the iPod is off.  Plug in the USB cable into the iPod, plug the USB end into the charger then plug it directly into wall outlet and leave it alone.  It charges to 100%.

I have found that if I do something with the iPod while it is plugged in it might not charge.

[torne]

The latest builds behave no differently with respect to charging over USB than older builds. Whatever you plug it into, it will only draw 100mA from the source, and even sitting there doing nothing uses >40mA (depending on settings), so charging will be very very slow at best. If you boot the OF it will charge nearly ten times faster.

[gomem]

Hey there!  Been a happy user of Rockbox for almost five years now (three on this current iPod) but I'm starting to feel as though my time is at an end.  Problem is, I can't exactly work out why.  Problem started when after about a week of non-use I tried turning it on to no luck, so I tried charging it.  However, the unit doesn't appear to be charging (through USB connection to computer or mains).  After disconnecting the battery from the circuitboard and plugging in Rockbox boots but any attempt to load music/plugins from the hard drive fails. 

Isn't the Rockbox firmware stored on the hard drive (if so surely that means the hard drive is okay)?  On the other hand if it were just the battery why would there be issues when not relying on the battery (perhaps mains power isn't enough)?

What would be your first guesses as to the malfunctioning part?  

I would say the battery is finished, and is no longer holding a charge. The Ipod is 3 years old. It's LiPo battery is rated to something like 500 charge/discharge cycles.

If the hard drive was knackered, Rockbox or the Apple firmware would not even attempt to boot. The Ipod would just show a folder icon with a question mark on it.

[LambdaCalculus]

I would say the battery is finished, and is no longer holding a charge. The Ipod is 3 years old. It's LiPo battery is rated to something like 500 charge/discharge cycles.

I guess I should shamelessly plug that you can easily replace the battery in your iPod.

[TCK]

I figure an update is owed.

After a lot of deliberation I decided to get a new battery to see whether that helped things.  Said battery came today and although the battery now allows me to mount it as a hard drive (meaning a backup if nothing else) it is still not in working order.  I can now access both Rockbox and the OF (including diagnostics) attempts to play music in both firmwares results in the file being read (id3 tags, timings, next track etc.) but the music doesn't start playing from 0:00.

Could the RAM therefore be the issue?  And if so I'm pretty sure that's not a simple thing to replace?

[dreamlayers]

The simplest answer is:  I think you probably need a new motherboard.

If music loads but fails to play, I suspect the WM8758 CODEC or connections to the it.  For example, in one iPod some liquid leaked around the clickwheel and corroded one of the connections to the CODEC.  Look at the light green above the next track button in this picture.  If you find something like that, you can maybe repair it.

[TCK]

I may have a look into that later.  However, another new development, and it appears that the new battery hasn't been charging either, so I'm back to square one.  This is starting to sound a lot more serious than I anticipated

[dreamlayers]

Have you tried to charge via FireWire?  If USB charging doesn't work due to hardware problem(s) it may still be possible to charge via FireWire.

[TCK]

Unfortunately I don't have access to a firewire cable, so that route is more or less out.

How much are new motherboards, or are they more hassle than they're worth?

[soap]

$70 for a logic board here. - at that price Craigslist becomes a serious alternative.