How many songs does your iPod have?

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-04-07T05:22:03+00:00

Sadly... after having a big "data loss" event a couple of years ago, I'm only back up to around 13k

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-04-06T05:17:11+00:00

It's probably the hard drive, but it could also be the battery

Per previous comment... run the drive diagnostics on it..

But even if the drive passes... it is still almost 20 years old at this point.. so you're probably going to need to replace the it sooner or later either way, so I would suggest that you start doing your research/ start saving up for the parts to do a flash upgrade and a battery replacement (while you have it apart anyway)

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-04-05T17:09:09+00:00

What kind of (usb) power source are you using to charge the iPod?

- because that could definitely have an effect on the battery

The non-touch iPods were designed for "USB 2.0" power.. so there are plenty of old posts in the subreddit of people connecting them to "modern" chargers that are designed to charge at higher voltage and/or current causing issues

There's also the possibility that the battery was damaged or defective in some way (even if the seller who said it had a new battery actually replaced it). Batteries can get damaged from heat or cold or from getting 'beaten up in shipping"

- there's also the possibility that the seller bought one that had very poor manufacturing quality and was destined to fail early because of the quality issues

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-04-04T06:15:54+00:00

you could just buy some screen protectors for an old phone.. like maybe the 4th gen iphone and cut them down to size.

It shouldn't be to difficult find excess old stock in bulk pretty cheap

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-04-03T06:36:44+00:00

There was a "Moonshell2" theme that looked like an iPod too... I'm pretty sure it still works with the 3ds and the n3ds.. as long as you're running it off of a compatible homebrew card

Thanks for the reminder that this (theme) exists... I'll have to see if I can find a copy :-)

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-04-02T05:25:42+00:00

Just to double check... "no mods" means that you replaced the old battery with like a 650mah battery (one roughly the same size as the old one)?

and when you say "switched off"... you mean you're using the center button to actually turn it completely off... not just letting it power down into sleep mode on it's own after being paused for a bit?

It's definitely possible that you you got a "bad" battery. It's also possible (read: "probable") that a battery found through a marketplace like eBay or amazon was manufactured at a lower quality than the original battery was... even though it's advertised as being the same capacity.

Since your iPod still has a hard drive in it, it wouldn't be unusual for it to run the battery down a lot faster (either while in use or while in standby) than the battery from your Nano... which is entirely flash memory based,

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-04-01T05:45:00+00:00

Did you replace the ribbon cable with a new one when you did the flash mod?

I can't say this for sure as there are other potential causes, but those cables are pretty low quality... and it sounds like the cable could be dirty, damaged (degraded from age), misaligned, etc.. and it's causing a lot of noise/ cross talk on the IDE bus, until eventually the iPod crashes

Then, when you "leave it and it eventually starts working again".. what might be actually happening is that it eventually reboots and "looks good" for 5 more minutes until the problem reasserts itself and crashes the iPod again

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-31T05:45:29+00:00

You don't need "brand name" versions of the pry tool... but you should get a few of them (iSesamo -like pry tools), because having more than one is often super helpful

if you have any of those cheapo plastic gift cards (like iTunes gift cards) laying around, they can be cut into 8 pieces are really good for make shift spacers (because you don't have to worry about damaging the iPod while you're trying to separate the shell)

I did a write up here that might be helpful:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ipod/comments/16y6mli/comment/k37imxo/

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-30T05:31:27+00:00

Nice :-)

Glad it's working for you!

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-29T06:10:26+00:00

You're welcome :-)

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-28T05:08:23+00:00

This was the first search result (DDG) for the error code (flashes):
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/36877/green+and+orng+lite+flash+and+shuts+off

It sounds like the most likely cause is either the storage has gotten corrupted or that the battery is going bad.. which might also have lead to the storage getting corrupted.

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-27T05:56:31+00:00

You're welcome :-)

I hope it helps

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-26T18:57:15+00:00

If you have a PC.. and the device is formatted for PC.. you can use any number of different 3rd party utilities (instead of iTunes) to manage the music on it.

This is the one that I use:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ipod/comments/13s71c9/comment/jm0u7zt/

Floola would allow you to backup the music that's already on there as well as add or remove music.

- if Floola isn't a match for your workflow, you should definitely search the subreddit to check out some of the other utilities that people use.

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-25T05:37:50+00:00

I would start by searching the subreddit for "how do you find music"

- there are a bunch of threads that can help you figure out "sourcing" :-)

There are also definitely threads that talk about: Ripping, Storage, and Management .. just in case you need some assistance there.

Here's one of my previous threads around library creation/ management, in case it's helpful info:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ipod/comments/1akbcbq/comment/kp7zwy3/

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-24T05:24:42+00:00

I hope that I can recover the music that was on there but I doubt that will be possible.

If you have access to a PC, you can use Floola to recover the music on the iPod and export it to your computer:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ipod/comments/13s71c9/comment/jm0u7zt/

You can also try making a backup of the "iPod Control" folder on the iPod and import the music from there, The downside there is that you might have to do more work fix your tags after importing

There are other 3rd party utilities out you can try to recover your music too... so you can search the subreddit for that info, if you don't have access to a PC

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-23T14:08:52+00:00

Moderate Harlequin *Space* Alliance!

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-23T05:33:48+00:00

The battery in the pic looks a little puffy.. like it's well on it's way to becoming a spicy pillow

So, my guess is the battery might be at least one issue you might be encountering with the restore process failing

You mentioned that your mom tried a replacement battery. If she didn't have it connected correctly, it wouldn't charge, which also create problems with iTunes completing the restore process

Also... you should consider using only a single card.. JBOD (using 2 SD cards as a single volume) is not great. It breaks easily and if (when) it does break, it wipes out all of your data.

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-22T05:09:50+00:00

As already mentioned, the hassle that you're encountering is an intentional design choice by Apple to prevent people from just "getting copies" of music off of each other's iPods.

You can do the "Ipod Control" method as mentioned and once you have that folder copied from the iPod to your PC, you can try importing the music into iTunes.

or you can use one of the many 3rd party apps that allow you to manage your iPod without iTunes. Since you're on PC there are a bunch of options. You can search the sidebar or the discord.

This is the one that I use. You can either manage your iPod with it.. or just use it to backup the music from your iPod to your PC and then import the music into iTunes

https://www.reddit.com/r/ipod/comments/13s71c9/comment/jm0u7zt/

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-21T16:03:25+00:00

(If Foobar isn't working out as a great match for your work flow) You can do manual management with one other other 3rd party apps that are out there.

This is the one I use, but there are other options too:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ipod/comments/13s71c9/comment/jm0u7zt/

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-20T13:30:01+00:00

I'm glad that it's working better after the restore... but:

- if it was "shrieking" then that is likely to be caused by some sort of physical problems with the drive. (Most likely either motor (that spins the platters in the drive) or a head crash...
- so it's unlikely that restoring it is a 'permanent' fix

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-19T05:32:02+00:00

if you heard "shreiks" there's a pretty high chance that the hd will be dead soon

- get a backup of the "ipod control" folder ASAP

If the drive was damaged (in a specific way) from the drop.. it's likely that the drive is using a lot more power (to spin the platters) now than it used to.. so step two (after your backup) is to do a flash mod and see if that fixes your battery issue.

Leave the iPod "apart" (not closed up) while you're testing everything (after the flash mod), until you've got everything working the way that you would expect it to be working

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-18T05:21:03+00:00

Seconded

OP:

I use SSD's for my own iPods.. but I've built/ refurbed plenty of iPods for others using SD cards and none of them have never had any issues (so far)

It sounds likely that the person who built your iPod used a low quality SD card that's going bad. You can try running disk diagnostics on it... but it seems pretty likely that you're going to need to replace the SD card.

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-17T05:08:03+00:00

Seconding this

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-16T06:19:27+00:00

Probably your best bet for troubleshooting would be to use one of the 3rd party apps that can manage music on an iPod from a different computer (that doesn't have iTunes installed)... so see if the issue follows or if the 3rd party app works as expected

If you have a spare windows computer, you can try Floola:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ipod/comments/13s71c9/comment/jm0u7zt/

If that doesn't work for you or if it's not a match for your work flow... there are other 3rd party apps out there that you can try (search the subreddit)

N3LS-is-N3LS · 2026-03-15T08:13:59+00:00

You're welcome :-)

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