iPod Video 5th and 5.5 Generation guide

What goes wrong, and the sign that gives it away

• The battery runs down fast, or it only works on the charger

  The sign: Not opened lately, yet it dies soon after you unplug it, runs only while plugged in, or a full charge falls far short of Apple's 14 hours of music (30GB) or 20 hours (60GB and 80GB).

  There's no health reading on these iPods, only a battery icon, so how long it plays is your test. A worn cell can also leave the drive clicking and retrying while it struggles to spin up; if that settles down while it sits on a charger, the battery is the likely cause. If a new battery still runs only on the charger, suspect the logic board next (see below). Fit a new one sized to your case: thin for every 30GB, thick for a 60GB or 80GB, judged by depth, since every back reads A1136.

  Won't hold a chargeKeeps turning offWon't turn on"Please wait, very low battery"Clicking noiseHow to test the batteryiPod Video 5th Gen battery replacement guide

• Swollen battery, or it gets hot

  The sign: Here the cell lies behind the display, so swelling pushes toward the front: dark pressure blotches on the picture, a screen that lifts, bows or cracks, a case bulging around the top, or the seam opening between front and back, at times with backlight glowing through. Heat: if it gets hot while charging or playing and again after it has cooled, a failing battery can be the cause, but heat most often comes from the logic board, above all with a rattle inside; our free diagnostic tells which.Unplug it and stop charging; never press, bend or puncture the battery, and if the iPod feels very hot or there's a smell, leave the cell where it is instead of prying it out.

  Replacing the battery is the fix, and a screen the swelling has cracked needs replacing as well, while one left with dark marks may need it too. For the old cell, cover its terminals with tape or bag it up, then hand it in at a battery drop-off point, never with your household trash or the recycling. A gaping seam with nothing else wrong often comes from bent metal tabs or rails in the inner back, not a swollen cell. An iPod coming back after long storage is best charged the first time where you can watch it, on an ordinary USB port.

  OverheatingWon't hold a chargeBroken or cracked screeniPod Video 5th Gen battery replacement guide

• Won't charge, or the computer can't see it

  The sign: A different cable and charger change nothing, and a look into the charging port at the bottom shows corrosion, dirt, or bent or broken pins.

  On this iPod the logic board carries the charging port, soldered on and never sold alone, so instead of soldering in an aftermarket port, we replace the board with an original one made by Apple. Pins that look clean, plus a new battery and a charger you trust that still don't charge it, point to the charging circuit on the board, with the same fix. Charges, but no computer sees it? Connect it directly, with no hub, through a different USB cable (FireWire only charges this iPod, it never syncs); if the drive, the drive cable and every latch check out, the board comes next.

  Won't charge"Please wait, very low battery"Not showing up in iTunesWon't synciPod Video 5th Gen logic board replacement guide

• Clicking, the sad face, or a folder icon

  The sign: Top up the battery first, since a weak one can click and bring up the sad face as well; then put the iPod to your ear: click-click-whir or grinding strongly suggests the hard drive is failing. On a charged iPod the sad iPod face almost always means the drive or its cable, and a folder icon that keeps returning most likely means the drive.

  For a firmer answer, use Diagnostic Mode (reset, then hold Center and Previous the moment the Apple logo appears): a high count of pending or reallocated sectors, or a count that grows every time you check, means the drive is going. If it was opened just before the trouble, reseat the drive ribbon and shut each latch first; otherwise that ribbon is seldom at fault on this model, and with a healthy drive the board is an equal suspect. A replacement hard drive arrives blank and must be restored before it plays; until then it can stay in Disk Mode or report "No music". Restoring wipes everything, songs included, so save your music while a computer can still read the iPod. Our flash mod, which ends drive failures for good, comes back fitted, restored and tested, but holds no music unless you add our music transfer.

  Clicking noiseSad iPod faceFolder iconStuck in Disk ModeSays "No music"Not showing up in iTunesStuck on the Apple logoiPod Video 5th Gen hard drive replacement guide

• Frozen or stuck at the Apple logo

  The sign: With the Hold switch off and the battery charged, no clicking and no sad face, a reset sorts it out: press Menu and Center at once and keep holding; after roughly 6 to 8 seconds the Apple logo appears.

  If the freezes come back, a restore is the next step, and it wipes everything, songs included, so first save your music if a computer still lists the iPod. Some restore errors are the connection's fault, not the iPod's: use a port built into the computer rather than a hub or keyboard, swap the cable, and look at any security software on the machine. A failed restore, or a fault that returns afterwards, points to the hard drive.

  FrozenStuck on the Apple logoWon't restore

• Skips or restarts on a flash-modded iPod, or a few songs won't play

  The sign: On a flash-modded iPod holding a huge library, it restarts without warning, crashes on long playlists, crawls through menus or keeps the Apple logo lit. When just a handful of songs, always the same ones, skip or won't play, suspect those files.

  On a flash-modded iPod Video, how many songs it can manage depends on its built-in memory, 32MB on a 30GB and 64MB on a 60GB or 80GB, not on the size of the card. To trim the library, start Disk Mode (reset, then keep Center and Play/Pause held while it restarts), plug it into the computer and delete some songs. Songs that always fail on their own are damaged: remove them from the iPod, then sync fresh copies. WMA files never play on these iPods at all. If nothing plays at all and each song stays at 0:00, suspect the logic board (see the logic board fault below).

  Skipping songsWon't play musicStatic or cracklingFlash mod problems

• The screen is dark, but the iPod still plays

  The sign: Music plays or a computer sees it, but nothing lights up. Hold a flashlight close: if the menu shows faintly, the backlight is gone; if there's nothing at all, it's the screen or its cable.

  Light and panel come as one part here, so a dead backlight and a dead screen both mean a new screen, and a damaged screen cable often explains a failed light. After a drop or a repair, a screen cable that's partly out of its socket, or held by an open latch, gives the same dark screen; reseating it costs no part, though the iPod must be opened. If a second screen known to work stays dark too, look at the logic board.

  Black screenBacklight not workingiPod Video 5th Gen screen replacement guide

• Lines, spots or a white screen

  The sign: Dead pixels, black lines or inky spots that never move, on a screen sitting flat in a case with no bulge, point to the LCD itself. If the lines shift or change when you squeeze the case, a loose or faulty screen cable is the more likely cause. A white picture with the backlight on and no visible damage can be that cable as well.

  A damaged LCD needs a new screen, and an inky spot can grow over time. After a drop or a repair, make sure that cable is pushed home and latched. Should a replacement screen give the same lines or white picture, look at the logic board. A screen from an iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen looks the same and plugs in but won't work in this iPod; the 2005 and Late 2006 iPod Video screens fit each other both ways.

  Lines on the screenWhite screenBroken or cracked screenDroppediPod Video 5th Gen screen replacement guide

• Cracked or scratched window

  The sign: The picture beneath the crack or scratch looks normal: the clear window belongs to the faceplate, not the screen.

  Swap in a new faceplate for a window that is cracked or badly scratched; light scuffs in the plastic often polish out. Any iPod Video faceplate suits any iPod Video, from either year and in either depth, and only the color changes. Fronts made for an iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen don't fit.

  Broken or cracked screenScratchesiPod Video 5th Gen front panel replacement guide

• Scratched or dented back

  The sign: The marks are on the polished steel back only; the front and the picture are fine.

  Mirror-polished steel marks and dents easily, and heavy wear is normal on a used iPod Video. A replacement back has to be your case's depth, thin on a 30GB, thick on a 60GB or 80GB (those two differ only in engraving). It arrives as an empty shell, so the battery, headphone jack assembly and dock bezel move over from the old one; on the standard engraved backs you can add the option that arrives with jack and battery in place. A U2 edition can take a standard thin back, but the band signatures are lost.

  ScratchesiPod Video 5th Gen back panel replacement guide

• The click wheel or buttons don't respond

  The sign: Wheel, center and all four buttons quit together, or come and go, while the Hold switch is off.

  Usually a new click wheel cures that. If just one of Menu, Previous, Next or Play/Pause has died, remember those buttons are logic board switches that the wheel only presses, so let our free diagnostic tell whether the wheel or the board is to blame. Every wheel suits every 5th and 5.5 Gen, whatever the color, while a 6th/7th Gen wheel looks alike and even plugs in but won't work here. If someone opened the iPod lately, push the wheel ribbon right in and shut its latch. A new wheel that makes no difference means looking at the logic board next.

  Click wheel not workingButtons not workingiPod Video 5th Gen click wheel and center button replacement guide

• The center button sinks, sticks or won't click

  The sign: Only the center button feels wrong: it sinks, sticks or has lost its click, while the wheel and the other buttons still work.

  Beneath the cap is a little rubber dome that hardly ever tears; it just slips out of place. Opening the iPod and settling the dome back where it belongs fixes it with no new part, and a new center cap won't.

  Center button not workingiPod Video 5th Gen click wheel and center button replacement guide

• The center button clicks, yet does nothing

  The sign: The button clicks as it should, but the press has no effect, even after a restart (keep Center and Menu down a few seconds).

  There are no electronics in the cap, so replacing it can't help, and a fresh wheel or wheel cable seldom does either. If it started just after the iPod was opened, reseat the wheel ribbon and shut its latch; otherwise expect to need a logic board.

  Center button not workingiPod Video 5th Gen logic board replacement guide

• Sound cuts out, plays in one ear, or it's stuck on Hold

  The sign: Wiggle the plug gently mid-song: crackling, dropouts, one-ear sound or songs pausing on their own, with any headphones, while a dock or speaker on the bottom connector plays normally, mean the jack is worn. Stuck on Hold with the switch set to off means the Hold switch.

  Jack and Hold switch are a single flex part, so one replacement covers both; buy the depth that matches your case (thin for the 30GB, thick for a 60GB or 80GB), as the two don't swap. Fitted to this iPod, a 6th/7th Gen jack passes sound and Hold but drops TV out through the headphone socket. After the case has been open, check the jack's cable is pushed in and latched. Sound in one ear only right after a new jack usually means that jack is faulty; still on Hold when the switch and its cable are fine suggests damage on the board where the jack cable connects. If headphones work but one car kit or dock doesn't, check that the accessory lists your iPod model.

  Headphone jack not workingOnly plays in one earStatic or cracklingHold switch not workingiPod Video jack and Hold problemsSkipping songsCar or dock troubleiPod Video 5th Gen headphone jack and Hold switch replacement guide

• No sound at all, even from a dock

  The sign: Silence in headphones and silence from a dock or speaker on the bottom connector as well. In some cases, pressing the case at its bottom-right corner (under and right of the wheel) brings sound back briefly.

  Both outputs silent at once most likely means the board's audio IC chip has failed, not the jack: the solder joints under that chip crack, so we swap the logic board for a replacement. A new jack that changes nothing says the same. The ticking you hear from the click wheel proves nothing here, since a small beeper on the board makes it, apart from the music circuit. If the sound is only quiet and a lock shows beside the volume bar, the volume is capped by a limit you can lift under Settings > Volume Limit.

  No soundHeadphone jack not workingVolume too lowStatic or cracklingiPod Video 5th Gen logic board replacement guide

• Dead even on the charger, or other logic board signs

  The sign: No sign of life after half an hour on a charger (a deeply drained battery may take that long to wake), with the Hold switch off, clean pins in the charging port and a reset (Menu and Center) that brings nothing. A rattle when you tilt it, heat or a strange smell point the same way.If it feels hot or smells odd, unplug it, then keep it unplugged.

  In rare cases, Apple says, a day with no power at all, then reconnecting and a reset, brings it back. On this iPod the rattle can be a tiny coil, an inductor beside the charging port, that a drop or a clumsy repair broke loose; it belongs to the power circuit on the board, and without it the iPod may neither start nor charge. A beep during startup (when Diagnostic Mode or an alarm isn't the reason), shutting down with a sound battery and drive, or a new battery that empties while the iPod sits idle, once that battery is ruled out, also point to the board, and so does an iPod where nothing plays and every song sits at 0:00. The replacement we fit is an original Apple board: any of the four boards suits any iPod Video if its memory matches yours, though the stock 80GB drive works only with the 80GB Late 2006 board.

  Won't turn onOverheatingDroppedKeeps turning offClicking noiseWon't hold a chargeiPod Video 5th Gen logic board replacement guide

• It got wet

  The sign: Since it got wet, it refuses to start, to charge or to hold a charge, or it behaves oddly. Peer into the charging port: you can spot corroded pins there without opening anything.

  Water can ruin the battery, and it eats at the logic board, often at the sockets where the ribbons plug in. With the battery disconnected from the board, the board and its connectors can be cleaned using isopropyl alcohol of 90% or more, then left until fully dry; a board too corroded to clean needs replacing. The fix is usually a new battery, a logic board or both (a screen left dark while it still plays needs its own replacement), and our free diagnostic tells which.

  Got wetiPod Video 5th Gen logic board replacement guide

• It stopped working after a repair or a knock

  The sign: It went wrong straight after the case was opened, or after a hard knock, whatever the symptom.Should it run hot once repaired, unplug it and wait for it to cool, then reopen it and look for a squashed cable or a part pushing against the board.

  After a repair, check the connectors first: one not pressed fully home, or a latch left up, can leave it dead or half-working, so open it again and seat each one. A knock can loosen the battery or drive cable too, but an iPod that is dead after a drop, above all with a rattle or heat, most likely needs a new logic board (see above). If it dies the instant it comes off the charger, the battery cable may just be disconnected. A battery connector torn from the board, or a board damaged by static or a tool that slipped, needs a new logic board, and a brand-new part, battery included, can itself be faulty.

  Not working after a repairDroppedKeeps turning offOverheatingHow to open an iPod Video 5th Gen guide