Repair guide · iPod Video 5th Gen
iPod Video 5th Gen logic board replacement
The logic board is the main circuit board of the iPod Video 5th Gen. The charging port (dock connector) and the battery connector are soldered to it, so our fix for a damaged port or a torn-off battery connector is a replacement board. This is the deepest repair on this iPod: the drive, the front panel, the screen and the click wheel all come off first, and the board is lightly glued to the metal frame. The four iPod Video boards, 2005 and Late 2006 (5.5 Gen), each with 32MB or 64MB of memory, fit across the range, with one exception: only the 80GB Late 2006 board runs the stock 80GB drive. Match the memory your iPod had. Expect to restore afterwards, and a restore erases everything, songs included, so copy your music off first.
Which board do I need?
The A1136 on the back is the same on every iPod Video, so it won't tell you which board you have. Look for the board number printed on the old board itself, and pick the memory size your iPod was built with (its order number tells you). The four boards fit and work across the range, thin or thick, 2005 or Late 2006, with one exception: only the 80GB Late 2006 board runs the stock 80GB drive. More memory helps the iPod handle a big library; it doesn't change sound or video. We double-check the board family and memory option for every order. Not sure which you have? Identify your iPod
Before you start
- Check for a swollen batteryDark marks on the screen, a screen that lifts or bows, or a bulging case usually mean the battery is swelling (a seam that opens on its own is more often bent clips). If so, unplug it, stop charging it, and replace the battery as well (our battery guide shows how, and how to recycle the old one). Never press, bend or pierce it. If the iPod is very hot or smells, don't open it: unplug it, put it on a non-flammable surface away from anything that can burn, keep dry sand close, let it cool and contact us.
- Make sure it's the boardRule out the easy parts first. Slide Hold off and reset it: press Menu and the center button together for about 8 seconds, until the Apple logo shows. Then try a known-good cable and charger, check the battery, and look at the dock connector's pins for lint, bent pins or corrosion. Signs that point to the board: dead even on a good charger, something rattling inside (on this iPod, often a small coil knocked off near the charging port), or no sound from the headphones and none from a speaker dock either, which is the audio IC chip. If the iPod is hot or smells, unplug it and don't open it: see the battery check above. Not sure? Our free diagnostic tells you.
- Copy your music offA board change means a restore, and a restore erases everything on the iPod, songs included. If there's no sign of swelling and it still shows up on a computer, copy everything you want to keep off it first.
- Run the battery low, but not flatIf there's no sign of swelling and the iPod still runs, play it until the battery icon is low, but not empty. A cell with little charge is less dangerous if a tool slips, while the iPod still needs enough to start for the restore at the end (the computer tops it up as it goes).
- Bench and staticA hard, non-flammable surface with the anti-static mat, dry sand within reach, and the wrist strap on. Keep the replacement board in its bag until step 13. If the battery smokes, sparks, hisses, pops or suddenly puffs up, cover it with all the sand at once, then get out of the room and air it out; stay away for 30 minutes. If it's still burning or you can't smother it, call the fire service.
Tools
- Plastic opening tools (two or three)One comes with the board. A second keeps the seam open as you work.
- Thin plastic picksFor the clips along the seam.
- Angled tweezers or a small plastic toolFor the ribbon latches and the tape. With metal tips, keep clear of the battery ribbon's contacts.
- Phillips #00 screwdriverFor the six frame screws.
- Small dish for screwsSo none of the six goes missing.
- Anti-static wrist strap and matBoth, for this one: static or a slipped tool can kill a board outright.
- Soft, lint-free clothFor the case halves and the screen, which picks up dust easily.
- Computer and USB cableFor the restore afterwards: the Finder (macOS Catalina or later) or iTunes.
Step by step
New to opening this iPod? How to open an iPod Video 5th Gen (12 steps)
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Step 1: Open the case
Unplug any cable, then switch the iPod off and slide Hold to locked. Free the clips with plastic tools: both long sides, then the top (shallow beside the Hold switch, where the screen sits close), then the bottom. Raise the back only about an inch, since two ribbons still join the halves. Our guide to opening the iPod Video covers this in detail.
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Step 2: Unplug the battery
Find the battery's orange ribbon where it plugs into the logic board toward the bottom end. Raise its small brown latch straight up by 1 to 2 mm, evenly at both ends, and slide the ribbon out.
Never push that latch sideways or pull it off, on the old board or the replacement: the connector can come off the board, and our fix for that is a replacement logic board.
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Step 3: Separate the back
Lift the hard drive by its edges and tip it back toward the bottom end, supporting it so it never hangs by its ribbon. Under it is the headphone jack ribbon's connector: flip its brown tab up (it swings about 90 degrees) and slide the ribbon out. Set the back aside, polished side down.
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Step 4: Take the drive off
Flip up the black hinge on the connector at the end of the drive, keep a fingertip on the ribbon and slide the drive away from it. Leave the ribbon on the board for now. Note which way up the drive sat and set it aside.
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Step 5: Remove the six frame screws
Three small black Phillips screws run along each long side of the metal frame, holding it to the front panel. Take out all six and put them in the dish.
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Step 6: Lift the frame out of the front
Ease the frame free around the edge, since a mild adhesive near the middle also holds it, and lift it, with the board, screen and click wheel, out of the front panel. Keep it level: with the front off, the screen comes out of the frame easily. The center button is loose in the front now: pick it out and keep it safe.
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Step 7: Take the screen out
Flip up the black tab on the screen's connector on the board (it swings about 90 degrees, toward the screen), keeping a fingertip on the ribbon. Ease the screen loose from the frame, lift its ribbon off the two small white pegs near the frame's edge, peel any tape rather than pulling, and lay the screen on a clean, lint-free cloth, out of the dust.
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Step 8: Free the ground strap
On the side you took the screen from, a thin silver ground strap is held to the metal frame by black tape. Peel the tape up slowly: the strap is very fragile and must not break.
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Step 9: Peel the click wheel's ground tab
Turn the frame over. The click wheel has a thin orange ground tab stuck to the frame, separate from its wide ribbon. Peel up only that tab and leave the ribbon alone.
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Step 10: Push the board off the frame
The board is held to the frame by a mild adhesive. Keep the click wheel side facing up and press the board away from the frame, a little at a time at several points around it, so it comes free evenly. The drive ribbon is still plugged into the board: keep it slack and never let it fold sharply.
Never push hard in one spot: that bends the board. If it won't move, check for tape or a ground tab still stuck down.
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Step 11: Unplug the click wheel
Flip up the black tab on the click wheel ribbon's connector (it swings up about 90 degrees) and ease the ribbon out without folding it sharply: there are electronics on that cable. Lift the click wheel away from the board.
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Step 12: Unplug the drive ribbon
Flip up the brown clamp where the drive ribbon plugs into the board (it swings about 90 degrees) and slide the ribbon straight out. It may be lightly glued to the board: ease it up gently rather than pulling. The old board is now free.
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Step 13: Ready the replacement board
Check the number printed on the replacement board (820-1763-A or 820-1975-A) matches the family you ordered, and that its listing's memory matches what your iPod had. Slide the drive ribbon fully into its connector and press the brown clamp down. Set the click wheel back in its place, slide its ribbon fully in and press the black tab down, keeping both ribbons routed as before.
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Step 14: Set the board on the frame
Lay the board on the frame where the old one sat and press it gently into place around its edges. Stick the click wheel's ground tab back where it was: a missing or misaligned ground tab makes a good wheel seem dead. Lay the ground strap back flat and press its tape down without kinking it.
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Step 15: Refit the screen
Set the screen back into the frame, its ribbon pointing the same way, and leave the ribbon unplugged for now.
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Step 16: Put the frame back into the front
Lay the front face down on the cloth and set the center button into its place, lined up with its grooves. Check the screen is seated, then tilt the frame in so the click wheel's four tabs and the button drop into their grooves, and lay it flat. Refit the six screws, snug but not tight.
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Step 17: Connect the screen
Lay the screen's ribbon over the two white pegs, slide it fully into its connector and press the black tab down. Then turn the front half over and look through the window: the screen should sit straight, with no edge raised.
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Step 18: Refit the drive and both ribbons
Slide the drive back onto its ribbon the same way up as before and press its hinge down; support it, never letting it hang by its ribbon. Bring the back alongside the front, the way it lay beside the front after you separated them, so the headphone jack ribbon reaches its connector. Tip the drive back, slide that ribbon in and press its brown tab down, then lay the drive flat, bumpers on. Last, push the battery ribbon fully in with its latch raised (only a thin line of contacts showing) and press the latch down.
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Step 19: Test it before you close it
Rest the back loosely on the front, hold the two together and turn it face up. Slide Hold off and connect it to the charger or computer. Check the screen, the scroll ring and each of the five buttons, the Hold switch as you slide it on and off, and sound from the headphones and a speaker dock. Then unplug it: it should keep running on its battery. If it doesn't reach the menu, restore it first (step 20), then test again.
If anything is wrong, switch it off, unplug it from power and release the battery ribbon before you reseat a ribbon; the battery ribbon goes back in last.
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Step 20: Restore it
Restore it now, with the back still resting loosely in place, so a ribbon can still be reached if something is off. Connect it to your computer with a USB cable. If the old board was dead, your songs may still be on the drive: if the iPod now shows up on the computer, copy off what you want first.
Then choose Restore iPod in the Finder (macOS Catalina or later) or in iTunes. A restore erases everything on the iPod, songs included. If the restore fails, plug straight into a USB port on the computer itself (no hub or keyboard port), try another cable and restore again. A nearly empty battery can need up to 30 minutes of charging before the screen comes on. When it's done, sync your music back and check that it plays.
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Step 21: Close it up
Check the drive lies flat and no ribbon is trapped over a screw post or at the seam, then press the back on until every clip clicks in.
If it only closes when you squeeze hard, stop: a pinched ribbon can short and heat the replacement board.
Close it up and test
- It restores and syncsThe iPod shows its full capacity and your music syncs back.
- Everything worksScreen, scroll ring and buttons, Hold switch, sound from the headphones and the dock, and charging.
- It runs unpluggedIt keeps running with the charger out, and stays cool.
- The seam is evenNo gap along the sides and no front lifting at a corner.
If it doesn't work afterwards
- It won't turn on
- Check Hold is off and give it time on a charger. Then unplug it from power, open it and check the battery ribbon: fully in, latch down. A board can also be killed by static or a slipped tool during the repair, which is why the strap and mat matter. Not working after a repair
- The screen is dark or white
- Most likely the screen's ribbon isn't fully in or its black tab is up. Switch it off, unplug it from power, open it and release the battery ribbon, then reseat the screen's ribbon; battery ribbon back in last. If the tab has broken off, the ribbon can't make reliable contact. iPod black screen
- The wheel or buttons don't respond
- Switch it off, unplug it from power, open it and release the battery ribbon. Check the wheel's ground tab is stuck back in its place; the wheel ribbon itself sits under the board, and steps 7 to 11 reach it. Battery ribbon back in last. Click wheel not working
- The computer doesn't see it, or a sad face
- Switch it off, unplug it from power, open it and release the battery ribbon, then check the drive ribbon at both ends (clamp and hinge down) and that the drive sits the right way up; battery ribbon back in last. Diagnostic Mode's HDSpecs screen should name the drive: see our hard drive guide. iPod not showing up in iTunes
- No sound, or it stays on Hold
- The headphone jack ribbon, which carries the Hold switch too, isn't fully in or its tab is up. Switch it off, unplug it from power, open it, release the battery ribbon and reseat the headphone jack ribbon; battery ribbon back in last. iPod no sound
- It gets very hot or smells
- Unplug it and don't open it again. Leave it shut on a non-flammable surface away from anything that can burn, and contact us. If it starts to smoke, spark, hiss or puff up, use the sand as in the bench setup above. After a repair, a pinched ribbon or a part pressing on the board can cause it.
Questions
Which board does my iPod need?
The number printed on your old board tells you the family (820-1763-A for 2005, 820-1975-A for Late 2006), and your order number tells you the memory: 32MB in the 30GB models, 64MB in the 60GB and 80GB. Match the memory you had.
Will a different capacity's board work?
Yes, the four boards fit and work across the iPod Video range. The difference is memory, which affects how big a library the iPod handles well. The one exception: only the 80GB Late 2006 board runs the stock 80GB drive.
Can the charging port be fixed without a replacement board?
Not by us. The charging port is soldered in place on the logic board. Instead of soldering a lesser aftermarket port onto it, we fit an original Apple board, so for us a damaged port means a replacement board.
Do I have to restore it?
Expect to. A restore erases everything on the iPod, songs included, so copy your music off before the old board comes out.
Can you do it for me?
Yes. Choose We Fix It on the board's page and mail your iPod in. We fit the board and restore it, which erases everything on it, songs included, so copy your music off first if you can. We send it back typically within 3 to 5 business days on our bench, with a 1-year limited warranty.