Repair guide · iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen
iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen hard drive replacement
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All about this iPod: The iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen guide
This guide covers the hard drive of the iPod Classic 6th and 7th Gen, the 2007 to 2009 models (80GB, 120GB and 160GB), plus the ribbon that connects it and the rubber bumpers around it. The drive lies in the front half on top of the logic board and plugs into a ribbon, so the job needs no screws and no soldering: open the case, unplug the battery and the headphone ribbon, and swing the drive out. Your music is stored on the drive, so the replacement drive doesn't have it, and it must be restored in iTunes or the Finder before you can sync again. If the old drive still shows up on a computer, copy your music off it first. Opening the case is the slow part: allow 20 to 30 minutes for that the first time, then the swap and the restore. We also fit flash storage as a service. Have an iPod Video 5th Gen? It has its own guide.
Which hard drive, cable and bumpers fit?
Every one of these iPods says A1238, so go by the capacity, how deep the case is and the order number instead. Thin cases are 10.5 mm deep: the 2007 80GB, the 2008 120GB and the 2009 160GB. The 2007 160GB is the thick one, 13.5 mm, with a taller drive that uses a different connection, its own cable and its own bumpers, so thick and thin parts never swap. An 80GB or 120GB drive fits any thin model and shows its own capacity once restored. The 2009 160GB drive runs only on the 2009 logic board. Before you order a cable, read the number printed on yours. Our thin cable carries 632-0337, 821-0386-03 or 821-0728-01; the thick one is 821-0546. If yours is marked 821-0387-03 or 632-0340, ask us first. 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.
- Copy your music off firstYour songs stay on the old drive, and the replacement starts without them. If the iPod still shows up on a computer, copy off anything that isn't saved somewhere else before you start. The replacement drive then has to be restored, which erases everything, songs included.
- Make sure it's the driveA folder icon the moment the Apple logo shows points to the cable first; clicking or grinding before the folder points to the drive. On these models the drive is the usual culprit and the cable rarely is, unless the trouble began after a repair. A worn battery can also be too weak to spin the drive up, so it clicks and retries: try it on a charger before you buy a drive. If it was opened before, push the cable back in first.
- 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.
- Charge it before you start, if it isn't swellingIf there's no sign of swelling, charge it before you start: unlike most repairs, this one ends with a restore, and a weak battery can make the drive click and retry. If the battery is swelling, don't charge it: replace the battery first.
- Keep dry sand within reachBecause the battery stays charged for this job, work on a surface that can't burn with a container of dry sand within reach. If the battery smokes, sparks, hisses, pops or suddenly puffs up, tip all the sand over it in one go, then get out of the room for half an hour and air it out. If it's still burning or you can't smother it, call the fire service. Don't touch the iPod until the half hour is up.
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. Keep it shallow.
- Plastic spudger or tweezersFor the connector bars and latches; a fingernail works on the drive's bar.
- Phone cameraPhotograph the bumpers and pads before they come off the old drive.
- Anti-static wrist strap or matThe logic board is exposed while the drive is out.
- Soft clothProtects the polished back and gives the drive a padded spot.
- Computer with iTunes or the Finder, and a USB cableThe replacement drive has to be restored before the iPod can play anything.
- Headphones you know workFor the sound test before you close it.
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 and lift the drive
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. Set it aside. 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 drive
On the drive's connector, flip the thin black bar up, about 90 degrees. Slide the ribbon straight out of the connector, parallel to the drive's face; don't pull it upward. Lift the drive away. If you're keeping the old cable, it stays where it is on the logic board.
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Step 5: Changing the cable too? Do it now
With the drive out of the way, look for the other end of the ribbon where it plugs into the logic board. If you can see that connector, flip up the small tab right beside the ribbon, not the black body of the connector, and slide the ribbon out. It can be lightly stuck to the board, so ease it up slowly instead of pulling. If the connector is hidden under the frame, stop: reaching it means taking the board out (see our logic board guide).
Fit the replacement cable the same way round, contacts facing the same way as the old one. With the board connector's tab still up, push it fully in and press the tab down.
Changing only the cable? Skip step 6, reconnect your own drive in step 7, and don't restore it in step 10 if your music shows up: a restore erases everything, songs included.
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Step 6: Move the bumpers and foam
Replacement drives don't come with them. Photograph the old drive from both faces and every edge first: each rubber bumper and foam pad goes back in the same place and the same way round. Then take them off slowly; if a pad is stuck down, peel it gently so it doesn't tear.
Fit them to the replacement drive exactly as they were on the old one. If any are torn, hardened or missing, use a replacement bumper set for your case depth.
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Step 7: Connect the drive
Hold the replacement drive (or your own, if you changed only the cable) the same way up as the old one came out. With its connector bar up, slide the ribbon fully in, contacts facing the way they did before, and press the bar down. Lift the drive slightly: a ribbon that is properly in stays put. A drive fitted the wrong way round won't be recognized.
An open bar or a half-inserted ribbon commonly causes a red X after a drive swap.
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Step 8: Reconnect the back half
Lay the back half beside the front half again, tops level, as in step 3. Slide the headphone ribbon fully into its connector on the board and press the tab down. Then turn the drive back over into its place in the front half, letting its ribbon fold the way it did before.
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 9: Test it before you close
Slide Hold to unlocked and connect the iPod to your computer, halves still apart. Keep a finger on the drive and turn the front half over slowly, so neither ribbon pulls. It should start up. A replacement drive has no software on it yet, so a folder icon or a request to restore is exactly what you expect to see; your own drive, after a cable swap, should start as normal.
A red X, or no sign of the drive at all, usually means a ribbon isn't fully in or a bar is open. Disconnect the iPod and release the battery ribbon first, reseat the drive ribbon and close every latch, plug the battery ribbon back in last, then try again.
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Step 10: Restore it and check everything
Kept your own drive and changed only the cable? If your music shows up, don't restore: a restore erases everything, songs included. Go straight to the checks below.
Fitted a replacement drive? Still with the case open, restore the iPod in iTunes, or in the Finder on a Mac with macOS Catalina or later. A restore erases everything, songs included: on a replacement drive there is nothing of yours to lose. If the computer doesn't see the iPod, put it in Disk Mode: reset it (Menu and the center button until the Apple logo), then hold the center button and Play/Pause.
When the restore finishes, check that it starts to its menus, play a song through headphones you know work, switch Hold on and off, then try the click wheel and center button. Then unplug the USB cable: 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, make sure the USB cable is out 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 11: 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
- It shows the right capacitySettings > About shows the size of the drive you fitted.
- Your music is backSync it and play a few songs all the way through.
- The seam is even all roundNo gap at the corners and no bulge in the back.
- Everything else worksClick wheel, center button, Hold switch, headphone sound and charging, and it stays on when unplugged.
If it doesn't work afterwards
- A red X after the swap
- Right after a drive swap, a red X commonly means a drive-ribbon bar left open or a ribbon not pushed fully in. Open it again, release the battery ribbon first, check the drive sits the right way round, reseat the ribbon at the drive, check the board end too, close every latch, and plug the battery ribbon back in last. iPod red X
- A folder icon, or it asks to be restored
- Normal for a replacement drive: restore it. Until then it can also sit in Disk Mode or say there is no music. Kept your own drive? Then a folder icon means the drive isn't being read: reseat both ends of the drive ribbon first (battery ribbon out first, back in last). Restore only as a last resort; it erases your songs. iPod folder icon
- The restore fails
- Connect straight to a USB port on the computer (not a hub or a keyboard port), try another cable, and restore again. If it still fails, open it again, release the battery ribbon first, reseat both ends of the drive ribbon, and plug the battery ribbon back in last. iPod won't restore
- It clicks or shuts off as the drive spins up
- A worn battery can be too weak to run the drive. Charge it fully and try again; if it carries on, the battery may need replacing. iPod clicking noise
- The computer doesn't see it
- Try Disk Mode, another cable and another USB port. Make sure it has enough charge to turn on. Not showing up in iTunes
- No sound, or the Hold switch does nothing
- The headphone ribbon carries both and is most likely not fully in its connector, or its tab is open: open it again, release the battery ribbon first, reseat it, and plug the battery ribbon back in last. Headphone jack not working
Questions
Can I replace an iPod Classic's hard drive myself?
Yes. The drive simply plugs into its ribbon: no screws, no soldering. Opening the metal case without damage is the hard part, and afterwards you restore the iPod in iTunes or the Finder.
Will I lose my music?
Yes, from the iPod: the music is on the old drive, and the replacement doesn't have it. Copy it off first if the iPod still shows up on a computer, then sync it back after the restore. Any restore erases everything, songs included.
Can I upgrade to a bigger hard drive?
A little. A thin 80GB takes our 120GB drive and shows 120GB once restored. There is no bigger drive to fit after that: the 2009 160GB drive runs only on the 2009 logic board, and thick and thin drives don't swap. For more space, we fit flash storage as a service: up to 128GB on the 6th Gen, the limit of Apple's software there, and much more on the 7th Gen.
Is it the drive or the cable?
Usually the drive. A folder that appears straight after the Apple logo points to the cable; clicking or grinding first points to the drive. Missing or garbled characters in the drive details of the built-in diagnostics also point to the cable. To open the diagnostics, reset the iPod, then hold Previous and the center button as the Apple logo appears; Menu and the center button take you back out.
Do I need new bumpers?
Only if yours are torn, hardened or missing. Otherwise move them from the old drive. Thin and thick drives use different sets.
Can you do it for me?
Yes. Choose We Fix It on the hard drive page and mail your iPod in; we fit the drive, restore it and send it back. Turnaround is typically 3 to 5 business days. We also fit flash storage as a service.