Ipod video 5.5 doesn't boot anymore

[Cyan]

Hi,

I think I have a battery problem but I would like  confirmation before buying a new one.

Two months ago, it started shutting down by itself while playing music (mainly at the start, when caching songs, So I thought it might be the HDD or the RAM. The battery were fully charged). Once, I couldn't even reboot it, but after few hours it worked again.


Two days ago, I think it suffered from excessive heat, as it stayed in direct sunlight for few hours, while charging.
I left it unplugged for two days to test discharging it a little, but it's still broken.

I can't boot it anymore. There's no Apple logo, it acts as if the battery wasn't connected.
I can't boot it by plugging it in USB either, but it works when I connect it to external power supply with FireWire cable.
Though, as soon as I unplug it, it shuts down so I can't access my data stored on the hdd. (Firewire doesn't allow data transfer on 5.5)

When connected to FireWire, I can access both rockbox and official firmware, all rockbox menus and all buttons are working fine. The rescue menu passed all tests (except USB as I can't disconnect it from FireWire without a full shutdown).
The battery is detected correctly in both Rockbox debug menu, and in the rescue menu and is charged 100%.

- Do you think it's the battery? (it's correctly detected by both Rockbox and rescue)
- Why it doesn't boot when connected to USB? Firewire doesn't powered it the same way?
- There's no way to connect to USB and power it through firewire at the same time?

I can post debug logs if requested.


I started looking for another Ipod 5.5, but I thought I'll ask here first if it could be the battery, even if it's detected fine.
I hope I can rescue it

Thanks in advance for any reply.

Cyan

edit:
Oh, it's a 80GB, if it's important for the battery model.

[gevaerts]

- Do you think it's the battery? (it's correctly detected by both Rockbox and rescue)

That would be my bet, yes.

- Why it doesn't boot when connected to USB? Firewire doesn't powered it the same way?

No. Firewire power and USB power are rather different. Apart from firewire being 12V and USB being 5V, firewire is guaranteed to provide enough power for the ipod to work, while USB requires negotiation (for more than 100mA anyway, but you need more than that on an ipod video if you want both the disk and the backlight...), which means you have to boot (at least partly) before you know you're allowed to use the power. This means that on ipods (at least the ones that can use firewire power, I believe the more recent ones can't), firewire power *always* works while USB power needs the battery to be at least slightly charged.

- There's no way to connect to USB and power it through firewire at the same time?

You could make a custom cable. Pinouts for the ipod cable aren't too hard to find (but making a cable might be tricky). I'd just buy a new battery though.

[Cyan]

I first thought the battery was fine as it was detected correctly in the debug and rescue menu.
It was still charging pretty well (more than 10 hours of autonomy).

I didn't know the difference of voltage between USB and Firewire. thanks.


I will buy a new battery and test it then.

Thank you for the answer.

Cyan

[Cyan]

Sorry for the double posts.

I just want to inform you that I bought a new battery (850mA) from Ebay and it's now working again
In case other users have the same problem, you know changing the battery will fix it.


The ribbon from the new battery is very short, and the battery is slightly smaller than the official one.
I hope it it will stay in place correctly and won't create any problem.


Thank you for your support.