Repair guide · iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen
iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen front panel and metal frame replacement
All about this iPod: The iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen guide
This guide covers the aluminum front panel (faceplate) of the iPod Classic 6th and 7th Gen, the 2007 to 2009 models (80GB, 120GB and 160GB), and the metal frame inside it. The clear window over the screen is built into the faceplate. The screen, the logic board and the click wheel all sit on the metal frame, which is screwed into the front, so they move to a new faceplate in one piece; only the loose center button cap moves on its own. Every faceplate fits every 6th and 7th Gen, thin or thick, so you just choose the color. No soldering. Opening the case is the hardest part: allow 20 to 30 minutes for that alone the first time. Have an iPod Video 5th Gen? It has its own guide.
Which faceplate and frame fit?
Any of these faceplates fits any 6th or 7th Gen, thin or thick; the color is only looks. The dark 2007 models have a black front, while the dark 2008 and 2009 models have a gray one, often called space gray, with a black wheel. For the factory look, pair a silver front with a white wheel and a silver center cap, and a dark front with a black wheel and a dark cap. The iPod Video 5th Gen uses its own faceplate. The metal frame is a passive part. Not sure which you have? Identify your iPod
Before you start
- Look for a swollen battery firstThe battery sits right behind the screen. Dark blotches near the top of the display, a screen that bows or lifts, or a back that bulges mean it is probably swelling. If you see that, unplug the iPod and stop charging it; it needs a new battery before any other repair (see our battery guide), and a swollen cell must never be pressed, bent or pierced. If the iPod is very hot or gives off a smell, don't open it at all: unplug it, set it on something that can't burn, away from anything that can, with a container of dry sand close by; let it cool, and contact us.
- Make sure it's the faceplateA front that lifts away at the seam is usually not the faceplate: on this iPod it is mostly bent clips inside the back, or a swollen battery, and a new front won't cure either. Light scuffs on the window can often be polished out. A cracked or deeply scratched window over a good picture is the reason to fit a new faceplate.
- Run the battery downIf there's no sign of swelling, play the iPod until the battery icon is nearly empty before you start. A cell with little charge left is less likely to flare up if a tool slips into it.
- Ground yourselfA static spark can kill the logic board. Wear an anti-static wrist strap or work on an anti-static mat; at the very least, touch bare metal before you begin. Keep any replacement part in its bag until you fit it.
- Keep dust outOnce the frame is out, dust settles on the inside of the window quickly. Work in a clean, still room and keep the new faceplate in its bag until you need it.
Tools
- Plastic opening picks (two or three)To hold the seam open; spares help, since the metal wears them down.
- Thin metal opening toolFrees the case clips.
- Phillips #00 screwdriverFor the six screws along the front's long sides, and the board screws if the frame is changed.
- Plastic spudger and tweezersFor the connector tabs and latches.
- Air blowerClears dust from inside the new window.
- Anti-static wrist strap or matThe logic board is exposed throughout.
- Soft, clean clothKeeps the new faceplate and the back free of scratches.
- Charger and headphones you know workFor the test before you close the case.
Step by step
New to opening this iPod? How to open an iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen (12 steps)
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Step 1: Open the case
Unplug any cable. Switch the iPod off (hold Play/Pause until the screen goes dark) and slide Hold to locked. Open it as our opening guide shows: plastic picks keep the seam open along one long side while the tip of a thin metal tool pushes each clip in toward the front panel, rocking on the steel back's rim. Free both long sides, then the one clip in the middle of the top edge, between the Hold switch and the headphone jack. Leave the bottom edge clipped: it is the hinge.
Don't pry the steel back outward: it dents, and a bent clip keeps the case from closing flat.
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Step 2: Unplug the battery first
Part the top ends a little, no further: the battery ribbon and the headphone ribbon still join the two halves. Now and then the drive comes away stuck to the back half, or the battery plug pops out as the case opens, so check for both, and ease a stuck drive back down into the front half.
Follow the battery's ribbon to its connector on the logic board. Raise the connector's small latch about 1 mm, straight up and level, then slide the ribbon straight out. Note which way up it was. If you use metal tweezers, grip the ribbon by its edges, well back from its contacts.
Never push that latch sideways or pry on the connector. If the connector comes off the board, our fix for that is a replacement logic board.
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Step 3: Free the back half
Lift the back half off the bottom edge and lay it next to the front half, on the side its headphone ribbon runs, tops level, so the ribbon stays slack. Lift the hard drive by the edge away from its ribbon and turn it over like a page, its ribbon end staying put, until it rests beside the front half with its connector facing up. Don't let it hang on its ribbon.
Under where the drive sat, the headphone ribbon plugs into the logic board. Flip that connector's small black tab up (it turns about 90 degrees), note which way up the ribbon sits, and slide it out. The back half is now free. While the back half is on its own, press any bent clip or bowed lip back into line with a fingertip or the flat of a plastic tool; you'll check them again before closing.
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Step 4: Unplug the hard drive
At the drive, flip up the thin black bar on its connector (it also turns about 90 degrees) and slide the ribbon straight out of the connector, parallel to the drive's face, not upward. Leave the bar up. Put the drive down somewhere soft. Its ribbon stays on the logic board.
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Step 5: Take out the front panel screws
The metal frame is screwed into the aluminum front with six tiny Phillips screws, three down each long side. Remove them with the #00 driver and keep them in order: screw lengths can differ from one spot to the next.
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Step 6: Lift the frame out of the front
Lift the metal frame up out of the front panel. The screen, the logic board and the click wheel all come with it, and so does the drive's ribbon, still plugged into the board: keep it clear of the edges. If the frame feels held, a little adhesive may be gripping it: work it free evenly rather than levering one corner.
The center button cap is now loose in the front panel. Leave it there for now, or put it somewhere safe; it is easy to lose.
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Step 7: Changing the frame too? Strip the old one
Only changing the faceplate? Go to step 9. Changing only the frame? Do steps 7 and 8, then fit it back into your old faceplate in steps 9 and 10.
A replacement frame comes bare, so everything on the old one moves across. Flip up the tab on the screen's connector at the top center of the logic board (it swings toward the screen), slide the screen ribbon out, then slide the screen and its metal shield out. Then take out the screws that hold the board to the frame, keeping them apart from the front-panel screws, and ease the board off with slow, firm, even pressure: it is lightly stuck down and must not bend. If it still won't lift with slow, firm, even pressure, stop and look again for a screw you missed; never lever it off. The click wheel comes away with it, still on its ribbon, and the drive's ribbon stays plugged into the board.
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Step 8: Build up the replacement frame
Set the click wheel in its place on the replacement frame and lay the logic board over it, every ribbon lying as before and none trapped underneath. Refit the board screws snugly; the frame's posts are soft. Move across any rubber drive bumpers that were on the old frame.
Slide the screen and shield into the frame. With the screen connector's tab still up, push the ribbon fully in and press the tab down.
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Step 9: Prepare the faceplate
Blow any dust out of the inside of the faceplate's window. Then drop the center button cap into its opening, the right way up. It has to be in place before the frame goes in.
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Step 10: Fit the frame into the faceplate
Lower the frame into the front. Hold the frame in place and turn the front over to check that the click wheel and the cap sit evenly in their openings; if the wheel feels spongy or the cap sits crooked, lift the frame and seat them again.
Look along the edges for any ribbon trapped under the frame, then refit the six screws snugly without forcing them.
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Step 11: Connect it all back up
Lay the back half beside the front half again, tops level, as in step 3. With the drive's connector bar still up, slide its ribbon fully back in, the same way round as before, and press the bar down; lift the drive slightly to check the ribbon stays in. Then slide the headphone ribbon fully into its connector on the board, close its tab, and lay the drive back in its place.
The battery ribbon goes in last: with the latch still raised, slide the ribbon fully in, the same way up, then press the latch down. It should close with almost no pressure; if it resists, the ribbon isn't straight.
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Step 12: Test before you close
Slide Hold to unlocked and plug in a charger, halves still apart. Keep a finger on the drive and turn the front half over slowly, so neither ribbon pulls. Check that the screen is clear, the click wheel and all its buttons respond, the center button clicks, music plays in both ears through headphones you know work, Hold locks and unlocks, and it charges. Look for dust caught under the window too. Then unplug the charger: it must keep running on its battery. If it shuts off, the battery ribbon is most likely not fully in or its latch is open; if it already did this before you opened it, the battery itself is worn.
Before you reseat anything, unplug the charger and release the battery ribbon (latch up, ribbon out). Reseat the ribbon involved, plug the battery ribbon back in last, then test again.
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Step 13: Straighten the clips and close
Check the inside edges of the steel back once more and press any bent clip or bowed lip back into line with a fingertip or the flat of a plastic tool. Make sure the drive lies flat and no ribbon crosses the seam. Hook the bottom edge in first, swing the top shut, and press around the edge until every clip clicks in.
If it closes only when you squeeze, stop: something is pinched or out of place, and a pinched ribbon can make a working iPod fail once it is shut.
Close it up and test
- The window is cleanNo dust under it; look at an angle in good light.
- Wheel and cap sit evenlyThe center button clicks crisply and the wheel doesn't wobble.
- The seam is even all roundNo gap at the corners and no bulge in the back.
- Everything worksPicture, click wheel, center button, Hold switch, headphone sound and charging, and it stays on when unplugged.
If it doesn't work afterwards
- The center button feels stiff, loose or off-center
- The cap is probably not seated, or it has slipped out of line. Open it again, release the battery ribbon first, lift the frame, set the cap squarely in its opening, refit the frame, and plug the battery ribbon back in last. If it clicks but the press doesn't register, see Center button not working. Center button not working
- The wheel doesn't respond after a frame swap
- The click wheel ribbon has most likely come half out of its connector. Open it again, release the battery ribbon first, open the wheel connector's tab fully, push the ribbon all the way in and close the tab, and plug the battery ribbon back in last. Click wheel not working
- White, dark or flickering screen, or lines, after a frame swap
- The screen ribbon is most likely not fully in or its tab is open. Open it again, release the battery ribbon first, reseat it with the tab open, close the tab, and plug the battery ribbon back in last. iPod white screen
- Dust under the window
- Open it again, release the battery ribbon first, lift the frame out and blow the window clean, then refit everything and plug the battery ribbon back in last.
- The front lifts at the seam
- Check the steel back for bent clips or bowed lips, and the battery for swelling. A new faceplate doesn't fix either.
- It won't turn on
- Check that Hold is unlocked and that the battery ribbon is fully in with its latch closed. If that's fine, open it again, release the battery ribbon first, reseat every ribbon you touched, and plug the battery ribbon back in last. Not working after a repair
- It gets very hot or smells after the repair
- Leave it shut. Unplug it, put it on something that can't burn, away from anything that can, and contact us before you do anything else.
Questions
Is the window part of the faceplate?
Yes. The clear window over the screen is built into the faceplate. The LCD screen underneath is sold on its own.
Does a new faceplate come with a click wheel?
No. The click wheel and the center button cap move over from your old front, or you can order replacements in a matching color.
Will a new faceplate close a gap at the seam?
Usually not. On this iPod an open seam usually comes from bent clips in the back or from a swollen battery, not from the front.
Is the faceplate metal or plastic?
The original front is anodized aluminum, and so are our black and silver faceplates.
Can I swap my iPod's color?
Yes. Every faceplate fits every 6th and 7th Gen. For a matching look, change the click wheel and the center cap as well.
Can you do it for me?
Yes. Choose We Fix It on the faceplate page and mail your iPod in; we fit it and send it back. Turnaround is typically 3 to 5 business days.