Repair guide · iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen
iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen logic board replacement
Also searched as: ipod classic motherboard replacement
All about this iPod: The iPod Classic 6th/7th Gen guide
This guide covers the logic board (motherboard) of the iPod Classic 6th and 7th Gen, the 2007 to 2009 models (80GB, 120GB and 160GB). The board carries the dock (charging) connector and the switches under the click wheel and center button, so it is the fix for a damaged charging port or a center press that no longer registers, as well as for a dead board. It is the deepest repair on this iPod: all five ribbons come off, and the board is the last part out of the metal frame. Nothing is soldered. Rule out the easier parts first, order the board for your model, and set aside 1 to 2 hours. Have an iPod Video 5th Gen? It has its own guide.
Which logic board fits?
The 2007 and 2008 boards swap with each other across the 80GB, the 120GB and the thick 160GB. The 2009 160GB needs the 2009 board: its drive runs on no other. Both the 2008 120GB board and the 2009 board carry 820-2437-A, so that print can't tell them apart: your iPod's capacity and order number can. If it won't start and you can't read either, contact us. Every one of these says A1238 on the back, so that number won't help. 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 boardA replacement board is the last step, after the battery, charger, cable, drive, screen, headphone jack and click wheel are ruled out. Signs that point to the board: dead even on a charger and cable you know work; a replacement screen, jack or wheel that shows the same fault; a center press that doesn't register while the other buttons do; a damaged charging port; or a beep as it boots to the main menu that isn't an alarm or Diagnostic Mode starting up.
- 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.
- Copy your music off firstIf the iPod still shows up on a computer, copy your music off before you start. If it asks for a restore afterwards, a restore erases everything, songs included.
- Ground yourself and keep the board baggedA static spark or a slipping tool can kill a logic board. Wear an anti-static wrist strap, work on an anti-static mat, and leave the replacement board in its bag until the moment you fit 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 front panel screws and the board screws. Not Torx.
- Plastic spudger and tweezersFor the connector tabs, the battery latch and easing the board off the frame.
- Anti-static wrist strap and matEssential here: static can kill the replacement board before it ever starts.
- Small dish or marked paperTwo sets of screws come out; keep them apart.
- Soft, clean cloth and an air blowerTo lay the screen and the frame on, and to clear dust off the window.
- Charger, headphones you know work and a computerFor the full 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
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: Take the screen off the frame
Flip up the tab on the screen's connector at the top center of the logic board; it swings about 90 degrees toward the screen. Slide the ribbon out, then slide the screen and its metal shield out of the frame and lay them face up on the clean cloth.
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Step 8: Unscrew the board
Take out the small screws that hold the logic board to the frame. Keep them apart from the six front-panel screws: lengths can differ.
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Step 9: Ease the board off the frame
The board is lightly glued or taped to the frame. Work it free with slow, firm, even pressure from a plastic spudger, without bending the board. 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 lies underneath and comes with it on its ribbon, and the drive's ribbon is still plugged in too.
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Step 10: Unplug the click wheel and the drive ribbon
Flip up the tab on the click wheel's connector and slide the wheel's ribbon out. Don't fold that ribbon sharply: it has electronics on it.
Last, the drive ribbon: flip up the small tab right beside it (not the black body of the connector) and slide it out. It can be stuck lightly to the board, so ease it up rather than pulling. The old board is now free.
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Step 11: Connect the replacement board
Take the replacement board out of its bag, and keep the old board until the replacement has passed every test. Its connectors may arrive closed, so open each one before its ribbon goes in. Flip up the drive connector's tab, push the drive ribbon fully in, the same way round as it came out, and press the tab down. Then open the click wheel connector's tab all the way, push the wheel's ribbon fully in, and close the tab all the way. A half-seated wheel ribbon is the number one cause of a wheel that fails after a repair.
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Step 12: Fit the board to the frame
Set the click wheel in its place on the frame and lay the replacement board over it, every ribbon lying as before. Check that none is trapped under the board, then refit the board screws snugly; the posts are soft and strip if forced.
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Step 13: Refit the screen
Slide the screen and its shield back into the frame. Flip up the screen connector's tab on the replacement board, push the screen ribbon fully in and press the tab down.
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Step 14: Put the frame back in the front
Set the center button cap in its opening in the front panel, the right way up. Blow any dust off the inside of the window and off the screen. Lower the frame in, check along every edge that no ribbon is pinched under it, and refit the six front-panel screws snugly.
A ribbon pinched under the frame can short and make the iPod hot. Check before the screws go in.
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Step 15: Connect it all back up
Lay the back half beside the front half again, tops level, as in step 3. On the replacement board, flip up the headphone connector's tab and raise the battery connector's latch about 1 mm, straight up and level, never sideways, before either ribbon goes in.
With the drive's connector bar still up, slide its ribbon fully back into the drive, the same way round, and press the bar down. Slide the headphone ribbon fully into its connector, close the tab, and lay the drive back in its place. The battery ribbon goes in last: slide it 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 16: Test everything 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. Connect it to a computer too: the computer should see it. 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.
If it seems dead at first, leave it on a wall charger you know works for a while before you suspect the board. 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 17: 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
- Everything worksScreen, click wheel and its buttons, center button, headphone sound, Hold switch.
- It charges and syncsIt charges from the wall and from a computer, and your computer sees it.
- It runs on its batteryNo shutting off when unplugged.
- The seam is even all roundNo gap at the corners and no bulge in the back.
If it doesn't work afterwards
- Dead, even on the charger
- Check the battery ribbon is fully in with its latch closed. Then open it again, release the battery ribbon first, reseat every ribbon you touched, and plug the battery ribbon back in last. A spark of static during the repair can also kill a board. Not working after a repair
- It gets very hot or smells
- 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. A ribbon pinched under the frame, or a part pressing on the board, can short and cause this.
- A red X or a folder icon
- On a 2009 160GB, check you fitted the 2009 board: its drive runs on no other. Then check the drive ribbon at both ends: open it again, release the battery ribbon first, reseat it with the tabs open, close them, and plug the battery ribbon back in last. If it still asks for a restore, copy off your music first if the iPod shows up on a computer; a restore erases everything, songs included. iPod red X
- White, dark or flickering screen, or lines
- 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
- The wheel or buttons don't respond
- The click wheel ribbon is most likely half in. Open it again, release the battery ribbon first, open the tab fully, push the ribbon all the way in and close it, and plug the battery ribbon back in last. Click wheel not working
- No sound, or stuck on Hold
- The headphone ribbon isn't fully in 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
Do I need to solder anything?
No. Every ribbon plugs in. Soldering only comes into it when a connector has torn off a board, and then we fit a replacement board instead.
Can you fix my charging port without replacing the board?
The dock connector is part of the logic board. Rather than solder an aftermarket port onto the old board, we fit an original Apple logic board, so a damaged charging port is a board replacement.
Will I lose my music?
Your songs are on the hard drive, and the drive stays with your iPod. If it asks to be restored afterwards, copy your music off first if it shows up on a computer: a restore erases everything, songs included.
Which board does the 120GB take?
The Late 2008 120GB board is its original, and the 2007 board fits it too. The 2009 board also runs it.
Can you do it for me?
Yes. Choose We Fix It on the logic board page and mail your iPod in; we fit an original board and send it back. Turnaround is typically 3 to 5 business days. Not sure it's the board? Start with a free repair quote.