I'm a huge fan of iPods, and in fact I'm listening to my iPod mini while I'm writing this post. Apple did a great job making it easy to use, apart from one feature which drives me nuts! The feature I'm talking about is the way that you turn the device off. Apparently you're meant to hold down the play/pause button for a few seconds in order to turn it off. Not only is this not intuitive at all, but it doesn't seem to work a great deal of the time. I typically have to hold down the button 4-5 times in order to hit the magic timing sequence and turn the iPod off. If I'm off base here, please let me know. It just seems very odd that such an obvious design flaw still remains.
Funny! Mason and I were just talking about that last Friday.
Posted by: Mitch | Aug 01, 2004 at 08:59 PM
I just pause my current selection and let it poweroff auto-magically when the idle time limit is reached. I thought that was the only way.
Posted by: Mark | Aug 02, 2004 at 03:57 PM
This has been a complaint of mine, too. However,
1. It's not an essential feature, as the iPod turns off automatically.
2. What the hell are you doing trying to turn off your iPod anyways? That's the sort of reckless behavior that could lead to the thing freezing. Then what would do you do?
Posted by: Mason | Aug 02, 2004 at 04:44 PM
Seriously, Apple does not intend for you to power-down the iPod manually. Just leave it paused and it will sleep when it gets bored of waiting for you.
My iPod, bike computer, PowerBook, Treo, microwave and toaster never get "turned off"... they just sleep when I'm not using them. I think the television is the only device I actually use an "off" button for. You've inspired me to investigate automatically turning off the TV when the TiVo sits at menu for a while.
Posted by: hans | Aug 03, 2004 at 07:32 AM
My IPod Mini has been freezing (not turning on, charging or responding in anyway) for 6-24hrs after I manually turn it off because that’s what the manual says to do.
Is the manual shut-down causing the problem?
If so, have I done permanent damage and exchange it while I can?
Posted by: Crystal | Nov 11, 2004 at 09:17 PM
yeah i got a new I-Pod Mini for christmas (i opened it early) and the thing is like 3 days old and has just frozen, will not respond to anything, so wat do i do now?
Posted by: Ben | Dec 24, 2004 at 05:13 AM
you need to reboot your ipod how to do this is to push menu and play/pause at the same time until it restarts
good luck
Posted by: peter | Dec 26, 2004 at 10:56 AM
heya ive got this propblem too! i need my ipod to turn off not go to sleep but it only goes to sleep and not off!!!! its annoying though because the battery runs down when its sleeping because its not properly off. how do you turn it off, even for those people who dont want to but how actually do you do it?
Posted by: jode | Dec 29, 2004 at 11:21 AM
mine won't even go to sleep! HELP!
Posted by: chelsea | Mar 17, 2005 at 09:09 AM
my 20gig ipod will not turn off it shows the last song playing on the screen but it will not turn off...it won't reset! do u have any suggestions.thanks
Posted by: persio | Mar 17, 2005 at 08:01 PM
My ipod wont turn on but thanks 2 Ben its workin all i needed 2 do was reboot the ipod by pushin menu and play/pause at the same time until it restarts
THANK U BEN
Posted by: james | Mar 21, 2005 at 02:01 PM
My ipod wont turn on but thanks 2 Ben its workin all i needed 2 do was reboot the ipod by pushin menu and play/pause at the same time until it restarts
THANK U BEN
Posted by: james | Mar 21, 2005 at 02:10 PM
Apple have got this dead wrong!
I had a creative zen 30 gig for 6 months it froze I stuck a pin in the restart and voila...off it went again. Only thing was it was a bit bigger and not as pretty.
So... I got an IPOD ... liked the style and controls initially. Now it has started to freeze with the backlight on and not respond to minutes of menu play holding.
The only way is to let it discharge and hope it doesn't freeze again.
So Apple if you listen ...you need to give us a better restart feature because what you've got ain't working.
Would I recommend an IPOD ....hnnn at this point as I look at it with its light on and frozen screen ...A BIG NO! Apple sort this out its a design fault.
Posted by: Colin | Apr 12, 2005 at 02:11 AM
OMG!! I thought I was the only one incapable of turning the device off!! This drives me crazy!!! I hold down the button ~10 times before it shuts off.. When I first got it, I thought I had a defective product, so I tried returning it to Apple, but the polite sales guy explained that there was nothing wrong with my ipod! Otherwise, I love the iPod!! I wasn't even aware of the pause option until I found this blog....thanks!
Posted by: Norma | Apr 20, 2005 at 12:32 PM
Hi,
i was just surfing around and noticed my iPod (Photo 40gb, few weeks old) was unable to go to sleep so i press and hold the pauze/unpauze button for like 20 seconds and the strange thing is it just doesnt go to sleep, maybe it has had to much coffee? no serious the thing just isnt working, i have updated it to 1.1 since then i got the problem, i guess, also if i put it in the docking station for a while i can turn it off again, but then if i play a song, and try to turn it off it wont turn off! anybody, please, help me!
Posted by: Rutger | Apr 21, 2005 at 02:40 AM
I had the same problem. The screen froze at the end of a song. I tried everything. Eventually, I sorted it out.
You have to hold down the select and menu buttons simultaneously but the problem is you have to do this very precisely and I mean VERY precisely. Lay your iPod completely flat and hold one finger directly down on the select button (button in the middle) and one directly down on the menu button on the top of the clickwheel. Even the slightest deviation will prevent your Ipod from responding.
It seems simple but it can be tricky even for those that have become accustomed to operating an Ipod. I tried this step several times and it only worked when I acted like a surgeon and was really meticulous about holding my fingers at a 90 degree angle when pushing on the buttons. Remember to lay your iPod down FLAT.
Posted by: Keith | Apr 29, 2005 at 11:49 PM
I'm so happy I'm not the only one with this freezing problem. I got my ipod mini two months ago and now it won't turn off. It's just frozen in the middle of a song. Hope it works after the battery discharges sometime tomorrow. I won't tell anyone to get one of these things until they get this design problem fixed.
Posted by: Linda | May 01, 2005 at 12:23 PM
30GB Ipod Photo: My observations on these problems
Won't turn on: Reset by hold then unhold then center+menu at the same time (4g and mini) if you have timing probs on that, it's ok to hit the center a bit before the menu button, but they both have to be down after that for about 5 seconds. This has worked for me even when it appears totally dead and won't wake up
Won't sleep: If I have it on the charge/sync cable (I guess this would apply to the cradle too if I had one) I normally do not have headphones plugged in. I think it's designed to stay awake (never sleep) when attached to a cable. When I take it off the cable (cradle) without headphones plugged in, it will not sleep. If I plug in the headphones, it suddenly realizes that i'ts not in the cradle anymore and lets me put it to sleep. I know the headphone jack is sensitive to being plugged in because when you plug in headphones while it is asleep, it wakes up and if you pull the phones while it is playing, it automatically pauses.
Please let me know if this works for y'all (I'm in TX lol).
Posted by: Daniel | May 09, 2005 at 10:20 AM
Thank you Rutgar! Pressing the select and the menu at the same time for about 30 seconds worked. Thank you I was about to return it to the store. It was frozen on! I could not turn it off.
You would think for the price they are charging for these things it would work better than this. I have only owned it for 4 days.
Posted by: milljp | May 10, 2005 at 04:47 AM
Sorry! Keith was the person who wrote the correct advise. Thank you Keith!
Posted by: milljp | May 10, 2005 at 04:51 AM
Sorry! Keith was the person who wrote the correct advise. Thank you Keith!
Posted by: milljp | May 10, 2005 at 04:52 AM
Hi
I bought my ipod a few days ago it worked fine then i went to sleep that night and woke up the next day and all im getting is a apple symbol then it goes to a picture of an ipod with a smiley like x x
___
I cant find anywhere what it is i dont no what to do anyone else had this problem?
Posted by: Tommy | May 10, 2005 at 11:25 PM
I've only had my 30GB photo for a week. Last night, it wouldn't turn off. This morning, it wouldn't turn on. Thanks for the suggestion to hold the center button and the menu. The instructions say the play button and the menu.
It's back on and I'm happy again. Hope this isn't a frequent problem!!
Posted by: One Happy Lady | May 12, 2005 at 05:30 PM
got an ipod mini had it since christmas the stupid menu button wont respond so i can cycle back thru the menus
Posted by: nathan | May 30, 2005 at 03:59 AM
Ipods never turn off, they only sleep. Even if you manually put them into sleep mode. The battery is thus, always draining. Only it drains slower if it is in sleep mode.
If your ipod "is frozen" after being turned off for a day or two, it is probably just out of power. Recharge it.
If your ipod keeps freezing, then make sure you have the latest version of itunes on your computer. Then use the ipod updater to make sure you have the latest version of software on your ipod.
Posted by: jordanbello | May 30, 2005 at 01:19 PM
ok, i know this sounds like all the rest of the q's but MY IPOD MINI WONT TURN OFF! i got it yesterday, set it up and charged it and put on songs etc etc. then disconnected it, saw a folder with the exclamation mark, put the ipod in again, and now it permanently says 'OK to disconnect' with a giant tick on the screen. meanwhile its been on 10 hrs and the batt's dying. HELP ME!
Posted by: Amy | Jun 03, 2005 at 06:52 PM
Im sitting here reading all these "frozen screen" dilemas and amazed that this problem has not been addressed yet by Apple. My screen is frozen also and im pixxed at the incomveinece. This problem needs to be talked about more in the media because I never heard of the problem until now and surprised at the frequent occurance. Why couldn't there just be an on/off switch like the Hold button?
Reboot thing didn't work either.
Posted by: Erica | Jun 14, 2005 at 10:30 PM
OK, thanks to Keith!
Great job at sharing your Reboot knowledge!
Much appreciated
Posted by: Erica | Jun 14, 2005 at 10:38 PM
hi, i have a new ipod. it worked for its charge and now will not turn on at all. i know it is the ipod cause the charger still charges other ipods. HELP PLEASE!!! i dont know what to do.
Posted by: kelly | Jun 18, 2005 at 02:44 PM
i also tried holding centre and play/pause button and nothing and there is definately no reset button for me to put a pin into. PLEASE HELP ME! some-one anyone!!!
Posted by: kelly | Jun 18, 2005 at 02:49 PM
oh i am such a geek. it is working now i went back and red that the timing has to be exact and just tried it like 20 times! THANK YOU!!!!! everyones in put helped me and i have never been so happy to have my ipod going (its so new!) THANK YOU again to everyones input in this site you are all so wonderful!
Posted by: kelly | Jun 18, 2005 at 02:54 PM
My Ipod's menu button won't work so i can't go back to the menus to choose different songs or anything. This is the second time it happened except last time it fixed itself but this time it didn't. All of the other buttons work and i can even turn the backlight on and off by holding the menu button but it just wont take me back to the menus
if you have any suggstions please let me know
thank you
Posted by: jaxie | Jun 19, 2005 at 07:17 PM
I got my IPOD photo 2 months ago. At first it was wonderful, worked with just a touch. I liked it so much I spent weeks loading every cd I own into it. Then it started getting hard to turn off. Each time it seemed to take longer. Finally I turned it on one day and the screen had shifted so far to one side it looked like the right side was on the left and vice versa.
I thought oh oh and tried to turn it off hoping it would straighten itself when I turned it on again. NOPE! it wouldn't turn off! I tried everything. It got so hot, I could hardly hold it. I thought ok this thing is going to BLOW UP!
Upset I took it back to BEST BUY. After all it was only two months old. I wanted a new one. Well they said they had to send it out to be fixed first and that would take 2 weeks! Then two weeks later they called me and said when they turned it on they didn't see any problems with it, so I would be getting it back, untouched!
Of course it has been 3 weeks now and it still hasn't materialized at my local store. I feel like I have been ripped off. This thing costs a heck of lot not to work perfectly out of the box. But what can I do?
Oh yeah my sister bought one just before I had my problems with it and it just died and refused to turn on after 1 week. The store she bought it from just exchanged it right away. I don't think I will be buying from Best Buy again unless I have no other choice!
Posted by: D. Miller | Jun 23, 2005 at 08:33 PM
hey i got an Ipod Mini at first it was the bomb now it just wont turn on and it just wont work i plug it in to my pc i got to ipod updater and doesnt say its unplug cna yu please help
Posted by: mitchell | Jun 27, 2005 at 11:35 PM
soo this mini iPod is a few months old... it got frozen while playing and wouldn't turn off until i read keith's advice.. *thanks keith!* so i got it to restart...and now the screen is SOOO dim that it is barely even readable. is this something that should go away if i let it sit for a little while or is there any way to fix this??? what a rip off!
Posted by: mo | Jul 24, 2005 at 06:25 PM
I have a 30 gB ipod photo. It was working fine yesterday, but now will not turn on. I have tried to reset the thing because that has worked in the past, but nothing happens. Is there anything else I can do before I throw this thing through the wall?
Posted by: Matthew Taylor | Jul 26, 2005 at 01:43 PM
Hi, my IPOD sleeps ok, but when I get back to it after a day and power it up I keep having to select the language again and re-enter all my settings. Whats wrong - its not even a year old.
Posted by: Jason B | Jul 30, 2005 at 07:01 PM
i tried to reboot my ipod mini, but it still won't turn on, am i doing something wrong? If anyone has any suggestions plese tell me!
Posted by: olivia | Jul 30, 2005 at 09:25 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong. . . but I believe that EVERYONE in the above posts has mentioned the WRONG way to reset your iPod - which is probably why it didn't work for them.
The CORRECT way to reset your iPod is by holding the "Select" button (the button in the middle) and the "Menu" button at the same time until the Apple logo appears.
That's what it says in the iPod Mini's User's Guide. . . you really should RTFM if you have problems like this.
Posted by: NetRAVEN5000 | Sep 10, 2005 at 11:21 PM
I've had my 20 GB for 3 months and today the Menu button stopped working. I thought i had forgotten how to use it or somethign.
I tried the Menu + center button, and that finally reset it. Thanks!
Posted by: Adam | Sep 15, 2005 at 10:10 AM
hi
something is wrong with my ipod 20gb and i dont know what is.whenever i turn it on or put on the charger it shows the apple but then right after it shows a folder.and when i press the center button and the menu button at the same time it shows the apple and right after it shows a battery.so if anyone can help me please help thanxxxxxxxx
Posted by: fervigo ventura | Oct 16, 2005 at 06:03 AM
Hi there, like everyone else in this forum, ive come to realize the design flaws in the I-pod reset... well... just plain suck. Ive had about 7 different MP3 players in the last 5 years, most of which were creative lyra varients. Whenever they screwed up jabbing a pin into the hard reset hole always worked :),
Ive had this i-pod photo 20gig for about 6 months now... yeah its screwd up from time to time, usually when the battery power gets to the 1/4 mark. The soft reset ( select + play ) used to work like a charm, but now, the I-pod is giving me a new challenge.
CAN ANY ONE HELP ME??
I was listening to my I-pod while working in the yard, when i went inside, i turned it off. NOW it will not turn on, the soft reset doesnt work (as i patiently tried it maybe 20 times)and when i plug it to the charger cable it doesnt even flinch, ( as even when its frozen it wakes up to say its charging).
Yeah, so, in short, my shiney expensive I-pod wont turn on, wont charge. I'm not worried about bringing it back to futureshop, but ive about 15 gigs of unbacked songs that i really would like back.
Anyone? ANYONE? please, help.
Posted by: Sir Davious the Great | Nov 16, 2005 at 01:36 PM
thank u so much yes!!!!!! jus hold down the centre button and menu if its froze
Posted by: jay jay | Nov 17, 2005 at 09:58 AM
my ipod mini won't turn off and it is driving me nuts, what should i do?
Posted by: chandler | Nov 21, 2005 at 05:45 PM
Have they stopped selling the mini ipod? If so, do you know why? and what are your thoughts on the nano,
Thanks
Posted by: Lisa | Nov 22, 2005 at 07:49 AM
Hey,
ive got a 6GB ipod mini and ive had for about 8months and i no they freeze but it freezes at leats once a day!! also ive put it in to charge and the charging icon was displayed but it hasnt charged up one bit!!!!
Alos if ipod minis are no longer available if i need to exchange it what do i exchange it with!!
HELP
xxx
Posted by: sefton | Dec 05, 2005 at 11:18 AM
RUTGER SOLVED MY PROBLEM!!! NICE JOB
Posted by: pete | Dec 15, 2005 at 07:45 PM
iPod Nano does not turn back on.
After turning our Nano off by holding the play/pause button, we could not get it turned back on.
Finally held the Menu and Center button together and the Nano sprang to life within a couple seconds.
A little annoying, but glad it came back.
Big ups to all the other posters here.
Hope this helps.
Posted by: Nikki | Dec 17, 2005 at 09:09 PM
thank you sooooo much. i thought xmas was ruined when my ipod was frozen and not turn off but you had the answer. cheers :-)
Posted by: james leeson | Dec 25, 2005 at 10:02 AM
My ipod nano won't turn off.Its like it is frozen.This is not the first time its froze either.I just don't know what to do.I wish that apple.com had the anser to unfreeze ipods when they get frozen.Thanx
THANX BEN 4 ur help
Posted by: Marcy | Dec 26, 2005 at 05:59 PM
My ipod nano is also frozen, I just bought it yesterday and yesterday it got frozen i really do not know what yo do. I wish like Nikki in ipod.com they had answer to unfreeze the ipods.
Thanks
Posted by: Begum | Dec 28, 2005 at 11:22 PM
My Nano would not turn off unless I turned it off in the Bose Speaker. I reset the nano per the instruction manual:
Toggle the Hold switch (set it to Hold, and then turn it off again).
Press the Menu and Center buttons at the same time for about 6
seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
I turned it back on and now the off feature works again.
Posted by: Meg | Jan 06, 2006 at 04:40 PM
Hey i need some help.. my ipods been layin here on the desk for quite awhile and im gettinf ffed up wit it i cant get it to fix.. whe i turn it on the apple comes on as usual but then a sad ipod image with an ! and under that it tells me to go to the site so i did and it didnt help me.. it basically tells me jsut to do the 5 R's. I wish it was that simple.. If i reset it it jsut does the same thing. I have th latest updates but even if i didnt it wouldnt help me since my comp doesnt even recognoze my ipod anymore.. if i plug it into the comp cord then a battery comes up with a lightning bolt across it(i guess it needs to charge) but it wont charge..it just sits there even if i leave it for like a full day...If i plug it into the outlet the apple appears then goes to the sadp ipod image again.. So to sum it up it wont reset, cant restore, umm wont charge and my comp wont regognize it What can i do?.. o yeah i took it back to the store to see if they could help me all they said was go to the website (which i told them i did already.. and they jsut kept sayin to go there anyways so i got mad and left).. if i cant get any help then i think im gonna return it and see if i can get a new one since its not even 1year old yet. ~Ash~
Posted by: Ashley | Jan 07, 2006 at 07:16 PM
Hi all: thanks for the help within all your posts, I too thought I was the only one with ipod navigation/freezing & turn-off problems :D
there is a post by Kelly that was never addressed - she (and I) can't navigate back to the root menu - I was able to and then it just stopped doing it :(
the symptoms are that I press 'menu' I get nada, zip, nought - no effect at all.
is ther ea know fix/ workaround for this?
[boring bit... I have read the manual & reset to factory settigns & updated my firm ware]
thanks in advance, pSouper
Posted by: pSouper | Jan 31, 2006 at 03:04 AM
I recently got an iPod mini and am experiencing the famous menu button not working problem. I've tried everything, but no luck. Has anyone figured this problem out?
Posted by: Dan | Feb 03, 2006 at 06:14 PM
Thanks for letting us all vent about the Nano! I have been having issues with this thing since not long after I bought it in October. The thing would just shut off on its own, even with HOLD on. Then, the display would come on, but no sound. Now, the display is frozen on (with no light) with the last song I was listening to on the display. If I fool with it, it will still play songs, but no display...I am on my way tomorrow to return it. I bought the extended warranty and hope that they won't give me trouble!
Stay tuned!
Tammy
Posted by: Tammy | Feb 03, 2006 at 07:59 PM
Hi, I stand with the ipod mini about to be thrown out the window. First of all like so many of you it froze while I was trying to turn it off. Yes I then left it overnight and it completely discharged. Now the screen is blank and my mac doesn't recognise it. I have been on apple.com and that is next to useless as I need to know how to recharde a dead ipod mini. (Have tried several variations of holding down menu and select etc.)It's been sat there for two hours and nothing. I would bring it back to the shop but no-longer have the receipt, moved house. What's worse is that it's not even mine but my husbands and he's away. How do I tell him? You see my marriage and my mental stability is at stake. Please can someone help me?
Posted by: Anne | Feb 06, 2006 at 11:36 AM
I have reset my ipod a dozen times. I have seen the apple, etc. BUT I still can't use the menu function, the backlight only turns on at random times, etc. I have updated the ipod. I can't seem to make it work. Is there an uber fix that I am missing. If anyone has a brilliant idea I would sure appreciate it.
Posted by: chandler | Feb 08, 2006 at 10:17 PM
I was putting pictures on my 20GB Ipod photo and it froze while updating with the "do not diconnect" sign on.
Like a dope i thought i better diconnect because it was frozen. Now its stuck on "do not diconnect" its been like it for an hour.
I have tried the advise from all you guys and many more, but its not helping. if you could help you would rock sooooo much.
Thank you,
R.Wiggins, England
Posted by: Richard Wiggins | Feb 17, 2006 at 06:37 AM
i have the same problem with anne...i have an ipod nano 2gb
it just froze one day and i did a reset and all seemed ok
then the next day none of the buttons were responding
i did a firmware update to the latest ......still ddnt solve anything
i reinstalled the fromer firmware .....and stl ddnt fix it
the only thing that works is the reset....i toggle hold and once i press the center button it shows the apple logo and resets.after the reset it displays language select but the scroll and all the other buttons arent responding..
any one got any other ideas???
Posted by: otoide | Feb 17, 2006 at 12:55 PM
Thank you all, your informations is very helpful.
Posted by: Lana | Feb 20, 2006 at 06:50 PM
I HAVE JUST SPENT THE LAST COUPLE OF HOURS TRYING TO UN-FREEZE MY IPOD MINI'S SCREEN. I ACCIDENTLY DISCONNECTED USB WHILE CHARGING AND WAS LEFT WITH A "do not disconnect" SCREEN. I FOLLOWED APPLE ADVICE AND SWITCHED HOLD ON THEN OFF, THEN HOLDING DOWN THE MENU AND CENTRE BUTTON, THIS DIDNT WORK. JUST LOOKED ON THIS MESSAGE BOARD AND SOMEONE ADVISED JUST HOLDING DOWN THE MENU AND CENRE BUTTON AND THIS WORKED! THIS SHOWS THAT IPOD HELP AND ADVICE DOESNT APPLY TO ALL MINIS. AND PLEASE APPLE, ON YOUR NEXT IPOD MAKE A ON/OFF SWITCH. GOOD LUCK UNFREEZING!!!
Posted by: stephANIE B | Feb 22, 2006 at 08:21 PM
Problem: 30gb video would not shut off or sleep...screen was always on, even if not illuminated. Battery would drain even if music was not being played, unless being charged.
Solution: simultaneously press menu AND center select buttons until it seems to reboot(you will see the Apple logo.) Thanks Rutger for the tip.
Posted by: Adam | Feb 28, 2006 at 08:34 AM
I just got a 30gb ipod.
You can put video,music and photos. Well i wanted to download some music so i plug it in and then on my ipod it said do not disconnect.
I thought my computer was frozen so i unplug it. SO now my ipod is frozen.
Is it broken?
DO i have to get another ipod? And how long do i have to wait for it to work?
Cause i tried to reset my ipod it doesn't work.
Posted by: abagail | Apr 02, 2006 at 04:26 PM
Hey i just won a ipod nano at my prom and it has been stuck on the "ok to disconnect" screen for quite some time i have tried all the stuff with toggeling the hold switch and pressing and holding the menu and play/pause buttons at the same time for 6 seconds or whatever and it still wont come unfrozen please help me asap because it is driving me insane!!! thanks
Posted by: Mj | Apr 11, 2006 at 05:36 PM
Thank God for all you people. I thought I was the only one with an Ipod that refused to shut off...I'm thinking is this like one of the first stages of a "Matrix" or "IRobot" type scenario? lol But yeah that holding down the menu and select buttons at the same time thing really works thankfully. :)
Posted by: Kitrina | Apr 28, 2006 at 10:45 AM
HELPPPPP!!!!! i got my ipod for christmas in 2005, and i was just listening to it, and it totally stopped playing. i tried everything i know to fix the problem, like turning it off, which i never do, resetting it, unfreezing it, but nothing works. i can turn it off, but then it comes right back on and i cant use the click wheel or the buttons or anything!!! i cant listen to my music, either.it will shut off by itself, but then when i waited overnight, while it was off, i woke up this morning, turned it on, and i still can't do anything. what do i do!?! please someone help me!!!
Posted by: kaitlyn | Apr 29, 2006 at 07:44 AM
omg my ipod wont turn off at all not matter what I do !!!
Posted by: Johanna Siletzky | May 09, 2006 at 08:44 AM
Ok...I've had my ipod mini for about a year now. The other day my iPod totally discharged. I couldn't plug it in because my computer was unplugged (we had to paint our walls) and this morning i finally plugged it in and it showed a lightning bolt that wasn't animated and not full, and i know what that means NOW, but then i didn't and i unplugged it and then plugged it in again. Now it is totally blank and it won't turn on or show any icons or ANYTHING! At first i thought it was my computer, but everything is plugged in and in place. What's wrong? Will my iPod be okay or do i need to pay a fortune for it to be better again?!?! PRAY TELL!!
Posted by: Beez | May 13, 2006 at 08:10 PM
my ipod photo keeps playing it's songs and runs fine but it wont turn off,i can reset it but it wont turn off, what do i do?
Posted by: max | May 25, 2006 at 05:15 PM
OMG! THX soooo much Rutger! U saved my iPod! (It's only a day old!) Nothing else worked but your suggestion!! THX, THX, THX, THX!!!!!!!
Posted by: Maria The Ska Freak Ferret | May 26, 2006 at 04:31 PM
THX SOOOOOO MUCH, Rutger!!! You saved my day old nano!!!
Posted by: Maria The Ska Freak Ferret | May 26, 2006 at 04:33 PM
What i did was plugged my ipod into a usb port. Put it on hold..the back off hold. Then Press Menu and the centre button. This will unfreeze your ipod.
Then if it says 'o not diconect' go into my comp.. click on the usb port your ipod is in and right click on the symbol. Select 'eject' That is all!
Posted by: -tregz- | May 27, 2006 at 10:24 AM
My fairly new Ipod Nano WILL NOT TURN OFF! all the buttons and functions work regularly but when i go to the main menu to press SLEEP it does not do anything and when i hold pause it dosent turn off either, Please help me!-thanks
Posted by: Patrick | Jun 11, 2006 at 11:27 AM
you have to make sure that hold is off when you turn off your ipod because then it wont turn off. sometimes u have to hold it down and count to 5 steamboats in your head.
i am 12 and i figured this out.
telling you something???
Posted by: Nikki | Jun 13, 2006 at 07:18 PM
all i have to say is thank you linda.> thank u i borrowed my friends ipod cuz shes outa town n it froze adn without linda i would so be screwed right now....thank u
Posted by: katie | Jun 18, 2006 at 12:38 PM
My 20Gb iPod just had a few days of refusing to turn off. This refusal to turn off seemed to coincide with an update I did on the only Mac I have ever used with this iPod, so there should theoretically be no problem with the update.
I found this website, and using a combination of the methods described, found that toggling the hold switch and then pressing play/pause & menu at the same time seems to have resolved the problem.......for now. I am surprised to see this problem has been ongoing for such a long time.
Posted by: Rachel | Jun 18, 2006 at 03:02 PM
The menu and select button works very good. It will make an apple emblem and then will take you back to the screen. Then you will be able to turn it off. Simple really. Other then the no turn off flaw the ipod nano kicks butt.
Posted by: Anthony | Jun 19, 2006 at 05:17 PM
I just read this helpful hint on how to turnoff my 4GB ipod nono and it turned off now!!
Strange that the flaw has not been fixed. I spent 10 minutes trying to turn the darn thing off!!
It is off now.
Posted by: Flavia | Jun 20, 2006 at 09:39 AM
When your ipod is stuck on the apple logo, press the center button and the menu button, to restart it, do not let go of the buttons, then let it restart a second time, then while the screen is dark, keep the center button down and press the pause and play button, this should bring it to disk mode, when in this mode the computer and itunes will recognize the ipod, then just use your ipod updater software, and restore, will delete everything on the ipod and restore the original settings, bring your ipod to the way it was when you bought it.
Posted by: Daniel | Jun 23, 2006 at 07:33 PM
You guys run a great site.I have a 30 gb and my ipod froze and now thx to yalls tips.My ipod is working fine now.thx bunches
Posted by: corey | Jun 26, 2006 at 12:02 AM
i have a black ipod nano 2gb and i put it on hold for a week because i forgot about it at vacation i did the reset thing countless times but when it takes me to the screen it still doesnt do anything i tried all the controls they dont have any affect it just shows the menu and when you press menu or play or select or any buttons it just stays at the menu its frozen PLZ HELP IM IN A BIG PICKLE!!!!!
Posted by: jack | Jun 26, 2006 at 02:39 PM
I have a black ipod video 30gb it was running fine until a few days ago. basicaly what happends is that the apple screen goes on and on and on it wont go away and it wont turn off unless i put it on hold and when i plug it in to my pc it doesnt recongnize it and i have tried everything and i dont know what else to do so i come seeking help plz help me
Posted by: Nick | Jun 26, 2006 at 04:07 PM
umm my ipod is a video black ipod 30gb how do i like make it unfrozen it gets stuck when the apple sign comes up
Posted by: joe | Jul 01, 2006 at 12:08 PM
My solution came via rutger but was pretty mundane. Just wanted to pass along my scenario because frankly I thought my 30 GB clickwheel was totally messed up. It would not only not shut off even if you held the play/pause button down, it would keep playing no matter what was on the screen. Menus, settings playlists, the only way you could stop the music was to pause and it would not shut off, obviously a problem. I kept charging it in the exterior speaker player accessory I've been using which charges it while it'a playing but that didn't addres the problem, it just let me keep using something incorrectly. I tried Rutger's solution and presto the Apple logo came on, then the initial menu came on. I plugged it back into my PC and thirty seconds later the lightning bolt charge symbol came on which had also disappeared by the way. I couldn't get that symbol when I tried to recharge thru the PC before I reset. Now I do. I also lost that tone that you get when you connect the ipod while itunes ison your screen. After reset, it also returned. Ipod is recharging now and things seem cool. I will report back after it is fully recharged. Thanks, Rutger, another happy customer and as far as reading the manual, I may have missed it but I didn't see this reset feature anywhere in Apple's stuff.Again for reset, place Ipod on flat surface and simultaneously pushed down center select button and Menu button. My reset took about five seconds,
Posted by: Phil | Jul 09, 2006 at 03:13 PM
My IPod Froze and it's pissing me off. how do you tell apple about this problem if everyone is having it? if anyone knows let me know so i can complain!!! thanks.
Posted by: Sarah | Jul 21, 2006 at 05:52 PM
Hi, U can give feedback on:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipod.html
I couldn't turn my ipod off after charging it for the first time yesterday. I am glad that I know now that I am not the only one.
Couldn't we get Apple in the courtrooms? This would be far more effeciënt I'd think...
Posted by: Nick | Jul 26, 2006 at 05:56 AM
Hey!
I have a problem. No matter what I do my backlight will not work! I have tried to restart it and everything. Do you think its a battery problem or what?
Posted by: Kristine | Jul 27, 2006 at 12:36 PM
I have the same proble that seems to be shared by many. My mini ipod wont shut down properly EVER! It only pauses so I have to press the hold key over to stop it from continually playing music. Thus it only ever sleeps so is draining battery and ruining my LIFE!!!! My ipod is getting all the sleep and Im up every night worrying if it ll work the next day. Whenever I need it to work at the gym it tells me theres no bloodly battery which is no wonder considering the stupid thing is un switch-off-able. Please Help anybody! How do I switch it off completely so the battery is not being used?
Posted by: Hannah Sanders | Jul 28, 2006 at 01:53 AM
I got an ipod nano for my birthday. i was chargin it up and i pulled it out wen it still sed DO NOT DISCONNECT and now i can not switch it off. i stuck it back in 2 da computer but now it is chargin again and says da same message??!!
Posted by: Anna | Jul 28, 2006 at 07:20 AM
I have a problem with my ipod mini. It froze up and so my friends reset it for me. now my menu button doesnt work, but for some strange reason, when i toggle the hold button it serves as the menu button and it goes up a menu. i tried resetting it but no luck. HELP!
Posted by: Kristen | Jul 29, 2006 at 06:04 PM
I just got a new 60 GB ipod and when i put music on it, even music i had just purchased from the music store, it wouldn't work on the ipod. it siad that it loaded but when you try to play music, every 20th song plays all the way with some lasting as little as 2 to 12 seconds an the ones that do play have scratchy sounds and such in the background. anyone who has any thing that could help it would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by: Andrew | Aug 08, 2006 at 09:16 AM
I just got a new 60 GB ipod and when i put music on it, even music i had just purchased from the music store, it wouldn't work on the ipod. it siad that it loaded but when you try to play music, every 20th song plays all the way with some lasting as little as 2 to 12 seconds an the ones that do play have scratchy sounds and such in the background. anyone who has any thing that could help it would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by: Andrew | Aug 08, 2006 at 09:17 AM
you just have to slap the damn thing around on the buttons for a sec til it realigns its sensors, the input channells get screwed between the touch sensor and the puch buttons.
Posted by: yo | Aug 09, 2006 at 06:05 AM
i have an ipod nano, not even 7 months old, i dont know what had happend, but i left it in my room for a long time, never turned it on, never listened to it, never charged it in awhile, could this haved caused a problem with my battery, cause i tried to charge it on my computer just yesterday and it will not come on, and it will not charge, if anyone has had this problem, id like some help or info.
Posted by: rae-rae | Aug 15, 2006 at 01:05 PM
I have a blue ipod mini and basicaly what happends is that the apple screen goes on and on and on it wont go away and it wont turn off unless i put it on hold and when i plug it in to my pc it doesnt recongnize it and i have tried everything and i dont know what else to do so i come seeking help plz help me
Posted by: Jasmine | Aug 25, 2006 at 10:03 AM
My ipod mini will not turn on. I have tried to reset it by holding the center and menu down about 50 times. I did this carefully on a flat surface and toggled the hold button also. It will not work at all. Can anyone help me.
Posted by: sherri | Aug 27, 2006 at 01:58 PM
lyke ckan anyone help meeh dude lyke i have a ipod mini and for some reason wen i turn it on it goes straight to an icon with a plug and an outlet ckan sumone tell wat to do plz?????
Posted by: manny | Sep 08, 2006 at 02:50 PM
My ipod will not even turn on at all nothing happens to it when i try to re boot i tried charging it many time the hold button is off and i've tried toggling the hold button i've tried everything...i really wish someone would help me.
Posted by: Aaron | Sep 15, 2006 at 02:55 PM
my ipod will not work at all it doesnt turned on ive tried everything including toggling hold ive tried all the stuff the apple site says...please help me.
Posted by: aaron | Sep 15, 2006 at 02:59 PM