The iPod is a little more than a year old, just out of warranty. After using it extensively on the Bose SoundDock, the click wheel stopped responding.
This is a reported iPod bug and the common fix is to reset it. With this 40Gb, 4th generation model you flip the hold button to on and back to off. Following that you push and hold the select and menu buttons simultaneously… and pray.
The problem was that the iPod did not want to reset it self, no matter how hard and for how long I pushed. Next step was to flash it with updated software. This did not help. Following step was to restore it from the computer and deleting all music on it. That did not help either.
I was desperate so I bowed my head and entered the Apple church shop on Regent’s street, London. It was full of prospective Appleheads (or is the expression Macheads?) fingering G5’s with monstrous flat screen displays.
#PAGEBREAK#
There was a presentation of iMovie HD going on. The presentation was watched by 50 or so people, all crouched over their Appletops and clicking away.
The so called Genius Bar was all booked up. Almost. I could get an appointment 5 hours later but I had evening plans by then. Subsequently I tried booking a slot online but 3 days in a row all day was booked out just 5 minutes after opening time. Do people camp outside the store to get support?
A trendy assistant was passing by me so I caught his attention and explained the problem. He put on a fantastic smile and informed me that “iPods are so cheap nowadays that it’s better just buying a new one instead of trying to repair a faulty one”. I asked whether this was the official Apple company policy and was told nervously that “no, just his personal opinion”.
#PAGEBREAK#
Five days later during which time the iPod had been turned off and unused I turned it on by performing the above mentioned resetting ritual. To my amazement the click wheel was back and working.
If you need to copy any music back to your PC you may have noticed that iTunes does not allow that. You can browse for the music directly but it’s all in hidden folders, highly unorganised.
The best way to copy music back to your computer in my opinion is to use WinAmp media player with the ml_iPod plug-in. Once you have tried it out, you may even prefer it’s media library to iTunes and just get rid of iTunes!.
Update
Here is a great advice from the reader Tim:
#PAGEBREAK#
“I had the problem with the click wheel not working . Sure enough after switching it on hold andwaiting a few minutes then turning it back on the click wheel would work but only for a few minutes. The answer is to get something very thin but quite tough (I used the corner edge of a blister foil pack of pills I had) and very carefully go around the outer and inner edges of the click wheel. You will notice that small debris gunk will come out. After having done that switch to hold and wait for a couple of minutes and then switch the hold off and away you go. Completely fixed. I’m over the moon”
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Online journal and ponderings about the Internet, gadgets and photography.
Apple is the worst scum of the Earth…. If you think Microsoft is evil, wait until I need Apple’s tech-support. I know about the horror stories attributed to the for so long that they became some kind of folk lore.
I just paid for a nano, to be delivered in a few days. Don’t make me feel bad. I had to phone them because the online store kept crashing with the typically helpful Apple error message of “Oops!”.
“iPod Agent” will do all the things you want to do. I recently used it to snarf a load of music off a friend’s ipod, but it does a lot of other things besides. Check it out.
Oh, and if your comment system is going to fail due to me not entering an email address, perhaps it should state that it’s a required field 😛
thanks for this infomation, it helped me fix my Ipod 🙂
FYI, and maybe you already knew this, to reset the 4G ipod hold down the Menu and the Select buttons. Trust me, I’ve been goofing around with Ipod Linux, and reset about every 5 minutes.
Cheers!
had a couple buttons stop working on my click wheel recently. about as old as the one discussed here. turns out, some lint and stuff had worked its way inside the case and was blocking the contacts. carefully taking it apart and cleaning might be a fix for one or two inoperative buttons–careful though, there’s delicate stuff in there and I nearly botched it once or twice. the battery connection is now rigged since I broke it. cheers
i bought an ipod video n i cant put videos on it… u have to pay for a certain program …WELL DATS NOT WUT I GOT IT FOR…!!!
my ipod is slightly less than a year old. I kinda left my ipod unused for about, maybe the most a month or so. And to my horror, seriously, i freaked, the click wheel wont work at all!! I tried resetting it but it but my iPod wont reset no matter how long i hold the buttons.. jz like what happened to you. Is there anything else i can do to try to fix it on my own instead of going to an Apple store for help. Coz, im kinda dreading the possibility that those Apple ppl are gonna give me bad news bout my iPod.
Have a 4th gen 20G ipod, exactly one day after the 12 month warranty expired my clicker wheel stopped working, when i played about with the hold on/off button it came back temp. then it stopped again and after approx 1 week and resetting it numerous times half the clicker wheel came back (right hand side)… joke… Dixon’s said to “live with it” that apple repairs took some time and it’s service is expensive!!! Any ideas to repair it myself!!
I have an iPod Mini and have had no problems with the click wheel or anything but I am thinking about selling it for a new iPod Video. I’m not sure if this is a good choice or not. I have recently been attracted to it from its LCD display and storage space yet it is only $300 for the 30GB it holds. I payed $250 for my Mini and it holds a little less than 1,000 songs compared to the Video’s 7,000. Is this a good idea or not?
when i reset mine after connecting it to the mains, my wheel still didnt work, but i left it and tried again and now it works fine ( i hope it stays like this)
Ipod 4G 20Gb, age 18 months. Symptoms: spontaneous malfunction of click wheel, scrolling is away, resetting not possible, via Ipod updater tried to go older version and back to newest, no success.
Any more ideas someone how to fix this
aye my ipod mini click wheel isnt working and i restarted it but it still wont work what should i do?
The reset did not fixed the click wheel bug yesterday. but it did the trick today (24 hours later) for my Ipod photo. It had stopped working after spilling some water on it. Good luck to you.
My 20gig iPod click wheel has ceased to function. The buttons all work. For a while, if I moved my finger round and round on it, it would advance one line for every 6 times around the wheel. Getting dizzy? Now that doesn’t work. I’ve updated, restored, restarted….no help. The article above says he had a similar problem and it came back to life after not using it for 5 days. Maybe that’ll do the trick.
My click wheel works fine, but the touch wheel only the top left hand quarter (think 9-12 on a clock) works, so I can still scroll but it is a very very long process as I can’t move the whole wheel around so it speeds up, I think I did get it wet and I did try resetting it but to no avail. Any ideas? I think its just dusty or maybe it was from me spilling water on it, I wanna take it in to Apple to have a look but I don’t know if its worth it.
UPDATE: I just tried resetting it again after about a week, and now I get the whole left hand working
Hi guys, I live in Italy but my 4th gen 40GB iPod came from Chicago AS in DEC 2004 .
After a few months I decided to format it using WIN to be able to use it as a “shuttle” ( u know, it’s white, high tech, wide loadable…)
to connect these different worlds.
Two weeks ago I was going to skip forward but I had no control on the little “HAL” ( ^_^ ), after some furious clicking and wheeling it started working perfectly well again, as if nothing happened.
Yesterday it all happened again, I was heading to the Olympic Village R.E.M. in my ears when my nokia rang…needless to say I had to pull earphones away because the click-wheel was not responding.
Same “cure” as above,”all systems go” now,but….for how long ?
thanks, just woke up turned on my ipod to listen to some music on my stereo and i couldn’t change the volume, just held the middle button for 10sec and all sorted.
you say to use a plug in with win amp….
good idea but i know a better
use podutil 2.71 (google for it)
is a wonder tool for recovering you entire music catalog should you pc bite it (as mine did)
it can recover all tracks, name, playlists and all other song info and then re import them into itunes
and yes the suggest hold and pray method works for me…
on mine the click wheel would stop responding except for the top left hand quadrant and only then it would flip between the top two options on the list ( and personally i don not want to be stuck listening to ‘Nsync for the rest of this ipods life)
omg. help.
my nano is going crazy. whenever i press play, the songs keep jumping to the next one and they don’t stop. i can’t even listen to my nano anymore! it’s driving me nuts. please help!! i think something is wrong with the click wheel…
should i take it to Apple people??
I have a 2G black nano warranty is valid thru oct. 12 2006 i have all receipts boxes bag ect. juss like when I bought it. I had fucked around with the firmware and just recently all my songs were deleted nand my ipod was renamed as the same as my sisters. Virus? I don’t know. i accepted the loss and re put all my own songs back on and changed my firmware back to original. after playing two songs I wet roof hoping with some friends (good pastime in the commercial part of our town) it dropped and took quite a spill. I usually take shit loads care of it but it had flown off the POS lanyard. Well to come to an end the CLICK WHEEL doesn’t work. It reboots with select and menu but does not scroll nor select. there is no visible damage ( like I said I take strong care. I even have Ice Cream from RadTech)
Will iPod fix it for free or give me a new one if they cant. My warranty is still active and firmware is original.
thanks for reading all that
LOL. Well I took it to them and they gave me a brand new one with out a fight. I just had to sign some papers and I was good i was done in less than 30 min.
i opened my ipod mini because the clicker was broken, but with my like the connector to the mother board snapped off from the little paper thing wires to the clicker!! what should i do?? and by the way its not even mine!
Hey all….don’t try to use the click wheel with gloves on. That was the cause of my problem with it. Seems to be fine again. It needs real, human hands to work correctly.
I just had the same problem with mine this last week and I believe high humidity could also be a factor.
I keep my iPod in a rubberized protection sleeve that I purchased.
Last week I was relaxing in a jacuzzi with a brew and listening to my iPod (no, I didn’t put it in the jacuzzi with me!). It was very humid however.
About four or five days later I attempted the same thing and that’s when I discovered the click wheel wasn’t working. I went online to find troubleshooting solutions and came across this website as well as Apple’s.
I attempted all the troubleshooting advice with no luck. By the way I noticed David’s advice: “Following that you push and hold play and menu buttons simultaneously… and pray”, may be slightly incorrect, you’re actually suppose to push and hold the setting and menu buttons simultaneously according to Apple’s troubleshooting guide.
Anyway thinking that moisture in the iPod may be the problem I pulled it out of the rubberized sleeve and used a hair dryer on low heat on the iPod for a few minutes.
It still didn’t work at the time, but I figured that may simply be that the moisture just couldn’t dry out in iPod’s enclosed case.
About 8 hours later I tried it again and this time the click wheel worked sporadically, so that’s when I reset the iPod by the above troubleshooting advice and it worked like a charm.
I have a 30 GB movie ipod. After I charged it on my istation. The wheel stop moving. I held on the center button to reset it, but it did not work. Do you know what to do?
hey i had my ipod mini for a while now and i replace my battery by myself. I put everthing back together properly but now the click wheel does not work.
I have a 40gb 4th generation ipod whose click wheel has stopped scrolling. It used to work to toggle the hold button, but now that does not work. Reset does not have any effect. I even restored, but all that happened was that I lost the high volume it was set at and now can hardly hear anything and of course, can’t adjust the volume with the scroll problem. Called Apple-they were 0 help.
Ok, first of all i now officially hate ipods, they can all go to hell. I bought this 40gb off of my friend for 200 at the time it seemed like it was a good deal. Then it was left in the rain. Not to good. The click wheel wheel stopped working. Then to some miracle of god i played with it and by dumb luck it started to work for a few days. Then it was dropped in the parking lot and then it skipped every song and now it wont even turn on at all. It just tries to start up and then a stupid little folder popes up and then when it is plugged into the computer it just says for like hours do not disconnect. I have no idea what is wrong. I need help before i start my complaining to the good people of apple.
Same problem as the original post – the click wheel stopped work after within a month of getting the Bose Sound System. Suspect a link…
I’ve had 2 ipods in the month and a half. My first ipod kept freezing and when it started doing it, i’ve only had it for ONE WEEK. So I returned it and got a new different one. Well after a month later, my new ipod wont start. Last night it was working just fine, all I did was add some new songs to it. mY ipod is charged and everything. F@#&in’ pissed off!!!!
~Rockstar
hi, my ipod has run out of warranty and has stopped working. i was on the running machine when it paused and froze, it eventually turned off and now it will not turn back on. it shows the apple logo then cuts off. who can i send it to or where can i take it to get it fixed??
to clear up a common misconception about video ipods there is no extra software that you have to buy to convert videos. simply find videos in mp4 format and they don’t need to be converted at all you can use a program like limewire or napster to get them or you can find almost any video by buying it. 😉
I got my nano a month ago and yesterday i tried to use it and when i put on a song it changed to another until it was at the end of the list, when it reached the end of the list it went automatically to the main menu. i tried renaming it, resetting it hell, i tried almost everything i NEED help plz
THe ipod has a diagnostics mode.
1. Restart it
2. Now quickly press back( <<) and the menu buttons together and do the check ups.
My 4th Gen iPod is 16 months old, out of warranty and now the click wheel won’t work. I’ve tried all the fixes stated above. Does anyone know if it’s hardware or software which is causing this?? Has anyone done a class-action lawsuit on this. This is ridiculous.
i have a ipod nano and i just got it like a month ago not even and this screen came up and it says wheel test and it wont turn off at all and it wont do anything. it also say spin wheel currentval=1 t hen it has numbers two lines witch is the first one has *12**5** second line is 89**cdef then it says Fail again! what do i do pleas help me..
I’ll never buy an iPod again – absolute pieces of sh it. I mean, they’re quality units in terms of features and I had no problems with them whatsoever. But it’s a coincidence that they fu ck up right after the warranty expires.
Luckily under my Settings, before the iPod fu cked up, I chucked the Playlist settings to Shuffle, which means I can go into iTunes and name the playlist I want to listen to “1” so it stays at the top of the list and at least listen to those songs in different order.
But I advise everyone to buy a better quality mp3 player in the future – not an iPod.
There is a way to do it, but you must pay attention on what you will do next.
Open the ipod & disconnect the click wheel front pannel from the board. Keep it disconnected 2-3 hours till the microvoltage will disappear from the electrostatic panel & connect it back… should work. In this way i fix all of the 4G iPod. The ipod store will not help you if you past the warranty. Good luck!
Hi i have an ipod nano 4gig in black tried reseting it every thing i still can’t get the wheel to work can do any thing with it it is a strange problem could you please tell me if there is a way to fix this. I bought the ipod on the 16 of December 2005
There’s definitely something to the problem of using the iPod in a player like the Bose, or in my case, the iHome. After charging my 4G 20gb iPod (but not playing it) in my iHome speaker/alarm clock, the iPod click wheel is not responding. I suspect the issue is related to speaker systems that can remotely control the iPod.
Weird thing is, it plays fine in the iHome (but of course, you need the clickwheel to navigate to a particular song, unless you care to fast-forward through a few thousand songs using the remote).
Trying to do a soft reset doesn’t seem to do anything, no matter how often I tried. So I opened the case, and disconnected the battery for a minute. That forced a hard reset, but didn’t seem to help. Still no click wheel.
Of course, the stupid thing is one month out of warranty. Apple won’t talk to me about it, because it has “HP” on the case. It’s got Apple printed all over the inside, though.
People spend a lot of time complaining about Microsoft, but when you call their support, they fix the problem, no matter what it takes.
If anyone has any ideas, or can find any hard written evidence of the link between iHome or Bose and the iPod clickwheel problem, I’d love to hear about it.
rdcpro at hotmail.
Here’s a cool one : My kid and I were out kayaking this weekend, and he went sideways into a rock and fell into the water. It wasn’t rapids or anything but over he went along with his iPod shuffle. He came up out of the water but the iPod didn’t. The water was about 5′ deep and pretty chilly. Even though we looked for about 30 minutes, we just couldn’t find the darned thing.
The next day we got some goggles and went back to the spot where he fell in and a little downstream found the ipod and headphones tangled in some rocks at the bottom.
We let it dry out in the sun all day but when we tried it, it was completely dead. (the unit was on all night under water and I figured it was a lost cause anyway).
When we got home later we were pleasantly surprised that it started recharging when plugged in to USB. After charging it, it still plays and all the buttons still work. I still can’t believe it.
hello, I’ve got a 40GB 3rd-generation ipod & its stopped working (its bout 1 and 1/2 years old). when i attach it to the computer it says don’t disconnect but the computer doesn’t recognise it anymore. when its not attached it just makes a funny whirring noise & a picture of a file comes up. does anyone know what to do? cheers.
Re click wheel and bose speaker system: I just finished filling out online form for what wil be the fifth replacement ipod for my daughter in a year. i found this discussion while looking for any evidence of a connection between the darned things crapping out and high humidity or bose speakers. She listens to hers alot in the bose dock while in the shower, getting dressed, etc. Could be the humidity, but I suspect it’s the bose system……
Click wheel is being a bugger after 2 years of use. The good ol’ off and on hold button is not working anymore then the only way for the clicker to work is to for some reason, warm it up. For example, if I charge it, it does not work, nor does clicking it or anything. If I go biking and it gets real hot, the wheel starts working, until it cools off then it stops. If I leave it out in the sun in my car, it workds perfectly…Anyone know how to maintain it’s consistency? I was thinking, maybe buying the wireless remote to shuffle through the Ipod.
I have a 4G 20GB iPod 18 months old (out of warranty). Just recently I went to use it and the click wheel was non-functional. After coming here I tried to reset it with Select/Menu but that didn’t work. Either did toggling the Hold button on and off. I tried restoring it via the updater and flashing new firmware, but the wheel still didn’t work.
Giving up, I just plugged it back into the charger and left it alone for a couple days. I tried it again today and miraculously the wheel worked again. I tried the Menu/Select restart, and it also worked.
I went ahead and copied all my songs back onto it that had been erased from the restore, picked it up, and the wheel did no longer work! The iPod was really warm from uploading all the songs, so I really wonder if temperature/humidity has something do with it, especially since the weather has been warmer than usual.
I’m getting really pissed off, and going to try to run the battery all the way down and recharge to see if it makes a difference.
ugh, my iPod was doing the same thing… and I just found this on the google website… well the link to your site.
Anyway, I did the first thing and it worked. Thanks!
My wife was able to fix it (kind of). She said with the iPod off, she set the Hold button On and held the middle button (select button). Then while still holding the middle button switched the Hold off and turn the iPod on, then released the middle select button. Now it works well on the right side, and doesn’t work at all on the left. It’s like the iPod had a stroke. Oh well, at least it is partially working now. Maybe this tip will help someone else.
i have an ipod mini, and it was working fine, so i decided to take it apart to see whats inside the small case. i downloaded a video and i didn’t, making sure not to break any cords or anything, i took apart the touch wheel and put it together again. i put everything back where its supposed to be and then restarted it. then the ipod wouldn’t connect to my computer!! so i couldn’t restore it! and the click wheel wouldn’t work, but i could restart the ipod with the menu and select button. i opened it up again and fiddled around with the hard drive. finally i got it to mount but the touch wheel still doesn’t work! what do i do! help me please
i deleted my playlist settings eg recently played, recently added etc on my nano thinking it would make more space now my pod is completely songless but the itunes page still has all the songs on it. iv tried deleted itunes off my computer and reload it but it just comes back with the stuff i just deleted. when i try to update it says pod can’t update because all playlist needed to do so no longer exist, PLEASE help me
O my god it worked! Tears of joy raining from my fat face. Thank you little baby Jesus.
I had the problem with the click wheel not working . Sure enough after switching it on hold andwaiting a few minutes then turning it back on the click wheel would work but only for a few minutes. The answer is to get something very thin but quite tough (I used the corner edge of a blister foil pack of pills I had) and very carefully go around the outer and inner edges of the click wheel. You will notice that small debris gunk will come out. After having done that switch to hold and wait for a couple of minutes and then switch the hold off and away you go. Completely fixed. I’m over the moon
I have had my IPOD approx. 2 years and now the wheel does not work and of course Apple support is of no help….unless you want to pay them a large amount of money. I am unable to reset it. I have tried all of the above suggestions except taking it apart. It is a crime that they sell a product for a lot of money and after 2 years of use it is no longer any good.
Hi all,
I have a new iPod Nano (4Gb) and I noticed that when it is raining and very humid the click wheel starts to act crazy. It doesn’t react or over reacts to touch and it changes the volume randomly when moving towards or away from the click wheel (up to 1cm distance to the click wheel -no gloves, just bare hands). I tried resetting and stuff like that. Firmware version is 1.1.1.
I’ve searched for the phenomenon but haven’t been able to find any mention of problems like these.
Anybody with ideas? If this is a “feature” and not a bug I’ll return the thing.
Oliver
hi. from Zimbabwe. my mini got stolen and i recovered it. problem is click wheel doesn’t work anymore. how do i open it myself and fix it. if not, where can i sell it?
I have a 4G, 20GB that has spent the majority of its two year life connected to the integration cable of my wife’s X5. Occasional use as a normal Ipod, some dock service (DLO Home Dock). Recently bought the DLO Iboom – good sound, great for the beach, a little weak in top-end vol.. Seemed there were no problems with the Ipod adjusting to various player roles until a recent trip to a river for a tube float with the Iboom. Ipod click wheel failed to respond except for the play and select buttons. Resetting not an option (Menu button not working). Software had previously been updated – did it again to no avail. Tried hold on/off (suppose to recalibrate click wheel), no help. Unable to reset with Men/sel method – left alone for 2 days, rebooted – no help. Restored, no help. Did not have debris in the click wheel because it still had the protective cover from the factory on it. Thought the heat may have caused it to affect the click wheel – removed it and have been through all the above at least twice except restoring. Works fine with remotes in docks or the BMW. Since reading about the coincidence with the Bose, I wonder about any device that uses the dock connector and clickwheel for control. Any suggestions of other things to try? I have never opened the case.
my one started to crap out on me once i started using it with itrip , it was still within warranty , but i was to lazy to post it for 50 plus 6 for postage or what it is they want , now its outside its warranty, and useless after only a year of usage
I purchased an IPOD 30 Photo and after one year and one day the click wheel stopped working. I took it to the local Mac Store in Panama where I live, and after 7 days of diagnose they told me that the click wheel needed replacement. The worst part is that they do not have the part here. They told me that they have placed me in a waiting list in case somebody brings a broken one or someone abandons one in the store, then they can replace the click wheel. Reading all the stories of damaged click wheels, leaves me to believe that I was ripped off by Ipod. I regret spending all this money in this thing. I hope they go under someday. I hate IPOD now.
I have had no problems at all with Apple support, I find their service terrific. Even the resellers have great product knowledge and help out where they can.
Keep on podding!
this is sooooo stupid like that one girl said my ipod is going crazy its wont play any songs at all! it messes up the cd pictures i restored it like 2 times and nothing……i dont know where to call this or send in or what but i am getting super frustrated with this piece of shit
help me plllleeeaaaasssseeee
Tim you rock my world. Followed your advice fixed my iPod, totally amazed thanks so much!
I HAVE A FIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS IT!!!
(this is sorta tricky, but does NOT require you to open your ipod and void your warranty)
Explanation:
I have read and tried EVERYTHING about this problem and this is what I have found. The problem begins when the click wheel’s finish starts to wear off (the finish isolates the sensors from the air), therefore the fix would be to re-finish it. I realized how impractical it would be to do this so I found an alternative:
Step 1: Find some scotch tape and cut a piece that would completely cover the click wheel
Step 2: Slightly wet the sticky side of the tape in order to insure that air pockets are eliminated (the goal is to isolate the click-wheel from the air)
Step 3: Check to see if it works, and if not don’t panic. It took me 3 times to eliminate the air pockets.
Step 4: Once you get it to work you are going to want to reinforce your tape with one more layer because when you wet the 1st layer you consequently weakened it’s hold. And once that is done your good to go!!!!!
I have been using it for about a half hour now with no problems.
I have a 1 GB Nano and the wheel has stopped working. It seems to have gotten a little wet in my gym bag. The screen works when I toggle the hold button and when I attach it to the computer the screen lights up, but I’ve tried all the other suggestions–holding down the two buttons, restoring and resetting and nothing works. Beyond waiting and praying any more suggestions? It’s still under warranty but if they find out that I might be at fault I’m afraid they won’t fix it. Also, I live abroad and bought it in the States so sending it back is risky and will take a long time.
The damn thing is so addictive that I’m in a constant state of angst without it.
40 Gb Click wheel now working. I tried every recommendation on this site and other sites. I took the 40Gb iPod apart three times, to no avail. But, I placed the iPod into the firewire dock without it being plugged into a computer, placed it on hold and turned off the hold and it now the click wheel works.
My ipod is finally playing up after 16 months. The software, battery and click wheel sensitivity are all ok. The click wheel is falling out. When opened up I noticed that the wheel is literally held on with sticky tape. I’m not sure what to use to stick it back on again.. Anybody had this problem??
wow…this actually works i used the edge of a quarter to trace the edges of my touch wheel (4th gen) 1-2 months off warranty …..damn that sucks but hey got it fixed….thanks!
-Neptune
I have the bose docking system too and my click wheel doesn’t work either!!!! Of course, I am out of warranty- what is the solution for this??? Does anyone know how much the Apple store charges to fix something like this(not that i want to do that!!!)
The click wheel on my sisters’ nano is just a screwed up as the rest. I have tried the 5R’s and sliding the firm edge of a blister foil pack around the click wheel, none of which worked indefinitely. Thankfully, the nano IS still within warranty. She and I are going back to the store today. Wish us luck!
Isnt it just amazing how much clickwheels cost? Its like gold dust trying to find a new one! Still I got 4 working ones at home but the connector is broken on them… Apple realy didnt want people to take it apart did they? I contacted Molex and they said without a part number they couldnt replace it and anyway, if they did they could be braking the law as apple may have it patented (the conector and cable not the wheel)
phew!
i have an ipod mini and it’s more than a year old my click wheel is fine but the menu button doesn’t work and i’m really pissed off! resetting the #$@!#% ipod didn’t do any help. can someone help me…
I cleaned out my ipod the same way with a piece of tin foil. And it worked! Thanks.
Hi!! Thanks for all the useful info on the ipod click wheel!!!! Mine stopped working today and I’m running a marathon in 2 weeks and had a freak out over it….but now everything’s OK due to the good info on this site!
Thanks!!!
I bought an iPod 2 years ago and about half a year ago its stopped working…just stopped working when i called the support line (of which i cannot find anymore) the guy told me that i needed a USB 2 for my computer (PC btw) instead of a USB 1 and that is y it crashed all i get now when i start the thing up after getting some sort of Charge (not much any more) i get this symbol that is a folder with an exclamation point next to it. called the support line again and they said its becaus the software is done for try reloading it with the iPod update i tried it did nothing….so now i iPod is by all means dead and unable to be brought back….its a Click-wheel 20gig. Question is can i fix it or should i buy a new one?
OMG it worked! i was freakin b/c my ipod did the same thing after i cleaned the gunk off it, but after i used a lister pack of benedryl, the click wheel worked….brilliant!
I did what Bogdan suggested and was not really careful, now I ripped the foil from the connector so all the electrical tracks are gone. All i can do now is control it with an iDJ.
Has anyone got an idea where to order the connector with foil?
to fix water damage, put it in a small plastic bag with a packet of silica gel (that stuff that comes in shoe boxes) and seal the bag. Silica is only dangerous because it sucks the moisture out of everything it can. So don’t eat it. Also, monitor how long you keep it in, check every 15 minutes.
Thanks for the advice on cleaning the click wheel – I was scared I was going to have to shell out for a new Pod!!!
I have 40 gig IPOD click-wheel circa 2004. I’m suddenly having similar problems. The Menu,forward/back/play buttons work fine, but I can’t scroll through my songs etc. A few days ago it grew hesitant and jumpy when I scrolled, then I went to scroll yesterday, and it wouldn’t work at all. I really have pampered this IPOD, I haven’t dropped it,subjected it to water. The only thing i can think of is a little sweat and even there no obsessive amounts. I have reset it,updated it,restored it. NO go. I have tried cleaning around the click wheel, to get out any gunk that might be there, but nothing of much came out. I’m very disappointed, that 2-yrs is the life of this IPOD. Maybe I can covert it as a external hard-drive or something. Any suggestions, maybe I’m over looking something. I think next time around I’m going to go with a other brand. Between the IPOD freezing up occasionally and now this I’m not too impressed with Apple. Otherwise though, I did like the OS.
I hav a 20GB iPod. I take really good care of it. The click wheel’z messd up. I don’t know whatz wrong with it. My next button is like extra sensitive. When I’m pressing the menu or select or play button the songs will skip. I’ve gotten used to it. N now there are more problems. I bought a new computer recently. Installd all the itunes stuff properly. But the iPod doesnt wanna connect to the computer but it’s charging. The computer does not detect any portable device. And because of the stupid clickwheel problem I can’t reset my ipod. I’m sooooooooooooo frustrated!!!!!!!!! I can’t even restore it which i don’t want to do cuz I’ll lose all my songs. I can try to open the ipod n see what crap hav gotten inside my ipod. Just don’t know how to open it.
My brother also has an ipod n itz messd up too. Even if it’z fully charged it only lasts for 1 hour. So many problems wit ipod. I think the insides are made of all kinds of shite
I feel like throwing my ipod at those ppl who made the ipods. They’r cheating us n they can get away with it. Someone… Please help me. Before I turn into a serial killer….
My problem with my iPod (20 gig fourth gen) is that the clickwheel doesn’t work… at all… It doesn’t scroll, the buttons don’t respond, it does nothing. And it really pisses me off. I’m on the verge of buying a new faceplate off of eBay or something. But before I do that (which might actually be a good thing to do considering it would also fix the scratches) I’d like to try cleaning it. The first time I took it apart, it was just… nasty. There was dirt all over the inside of it. So, I cleaned out as much of it as possible, and yeah… my iPod (not the clickwheel) worked after that (because it wasn’t working before then). But, I’ve taken the clickwheel out a few times, and tried to clean it… but it doesn’t work. I’ve been tempted to try cleaning it with alcohol, or something that’ll help to get the dirt out… but, I want to know before I try that, if it’ll even work. So… can anyone tell me any means of cleaning it (aside from what was stated in this article) that I may try as to avoid buying an entirely “new” faceplate? I’d greatly appreciate it.
GR
THE WHEEL ON MY IPOD NANO DOESN’T WORK!
I have an ipod nano. I got it almost a year ago for my birthday and I have the same problem as Gene. My ipod wont turn on unless I switch the hold button on and off because the wheel doesn’t work!! And once it’s on it doesn’t matter because I can’t turn to the songs!! And then after that i can’t turn it off unless I switch it to hold and let it fall asleep on its own!!! I’m getting really mad because the ipod site isn’t helping at all, we called the help line and they don’t know whats wrong, and i went to different sites all over the Internet and people say to manually shut it down by switching the hold button on and off then holding down the menu and select button, I was desperate so i took it in to the Sorce and they said they where having so many complaints about busted ipods they aren’t sending them to get fixed anymore! 🙁 Can someone please help me??
ok so when i try to play ,y ipod this foler pops up and then shuts off whats going on wjht do i do
My ipod stopped working a couple of days ago. I keep praying and messing with it to see if it will work, but doesn’t. And I have no money to spend on a new one or parts. What should I do?
My wife has a 1st gen mini and I just replaced the battery for her. I broke one of the connections at the click wheel connector, but soldered it and got all the buttons working again, except for the menu button, which does not work at all. I thought I still had a broken connection, but I don’t see anything and then I tried the reset idea (menu and select) and the ipod does reset. If the menu button wasn’t communicating, it shouldn’t respond to the reset, right? Knowing this, how can I get the menu button to work again?
MY CLICK WHEEL FIX:
A friend of mine bought a new Ipod and gave the old one to me because he could no longer use it due to the click wheel that stopped working. It’s a 20 gig, fourth gen Ipod that is maybe 15 months old.
The first thing I did to revive it was try the cleaning method mentioned above. This worked at first and I was able to actually use the thing. But, the click wheel randomly stops working or only a few buttons work.
For some odd reason, I decided to rub across the click wheel, back and forth, very quickly with 3 fingers. After that it worked normally!!! Now, whenever the click wheel acts up, I simply do “the ipod rub” and it becomes normal again. I’m curious if this works for other people…
if your ipod nano is stuck on the wheel test, then you just put the ipod on a flat surface and press down on the menu and select button for 6-7 seconds and then the apple sign appears!!
I have 5th gen. 30GB video Ipod. That I bought a little more than a year ago.
I was trying to play a podcast with video on it this morning and at first it wouldnt even play it. I have already played videos on it before. Then it finally plays but no video. it kind of froze for a second then starts playing it with the video. Only now when I wanted to turn the volume up. I got nothing. I can’t scroll down to other playlists at all. IT plays fine and I can get to play music just by clicking the wheel alone and skipping to a song one by one.
I’m about to try the cleaning method, but otherwise I havent dropped it, its in a leather cover.. I’ve looked through here and only find the 4th gen Ipod with click wheel problems.
i bought an ipod nano and my clicking wheel is going all wrong. When i move the clicking wheel, it just moves back and it sometimes moves options on the screen by itself.
My 30GB ipod I bought a little over a half a year ago will not turn on despite any attempts at holding any buttons down and switching the hold button on and off. It won’t respond on my computer when I try to charge it either, and I’m afraid it was affected by water or humidity (I was caught in a slightly heavy rain the day it started not turning on, and it was only in the black-sleeve that came with it when I bought it, and in an open tote bag). I want to get it serviced without somehow getting screwed by paying diagnostic fees and then not getting a functioning ipod back. What do I do??
I recently recieved a 4th generation ipod photo(or 5th, I dont remember) and i accidently dropped it and the only problem that occured after was the click wheel. On one side when I press it it goes all the way down where you can see inside the cover and the other side is just fine. It really worries me, even though it still works fine…..I was wodnering if you thought there was any way for me to fix this without having to replace the click wheel.????
David. If you think of anything feel free to e-mail me. thankz.
I just did your cleaning method on my dead click wheel and went one step farther. I also cleaned it with rubbing alchohol. Voila! Works like new.
Cheers!
so if i buy a new click wheel will it fix my problem? its doing the spuratic thing. sometimes it works perfect and sometimes it goes crazy and sometimes it doesn’t work at all. i can replace it myself, i just want to get some advice on weather its gonna fix it. thanks in advance.
Thank u good that someone could help me with this prob, now i know what to do next time! i’ve searched the whole fuckin internet for answers to what to do when Ipod freezez, but noo.. Not one simple answer! APPLE SUCKS IN SUPPORT!
Hey – That guy Tim with the idea about scraping the side of the ipod wheel with the blister pack is a genius, nothing else worked so ‘hats off to Timmy’ – Cheers, Dan
Hi i have a 5th gen. 30gig ipod video this morning i went to play some music (using headphones) and when i turned it on the click wheel wasn’t working. then after a few seconds of waiting the blue selection bar went sporadicly up and down the menu then stopped. wtf? i tried reseting it by holding down the menu and center buttons nothing happened so i waited about 10mins tried again and it reset… to my dismay when it rebooted it was still screwed so after a few more minutes of fiddling with it i decided to restore it using Itunes once again after the restoration i was very unhappy to find that the click wheel STILL doesn’t work wtf do i help me please!!!
ps feel free to send me email if u have any bright ideas thanks alot
My 1st gen iPod mini clickwheel stopped working completely (resetting, etc, didn’t work and the guy in the Apple store couldn’t fix it either) so I swapped it for a 8g Nano (the Apple store gave me a 10% discount for turning in my old iPod!). Problem is, when I tried to restore the songs I had copied to my computer using the instructions above [The best way to copy music back to your computer in my opinion is to use WinAmp media player with the ml_iPod plug-in. Once you have tried it out, you may even prefer it’s media library to iTunes and just get rid of iTunes!] it only copied the songs that had originally been loaded from that computer. That’s about 20% of my music. The rest had been loaded from our old computer, and I no longer have access to these files. Short of re-installing these 700 songs, do you have any recommendations? I’m reluctant to download software not knowing if it will work for this. Most say they will copy songs from iPod to pc, but not vice-versa. Hope you can help!
No, WinAmp worked like a charm! I have since talked with Apple and I think the problem is that I (STUPID me!!) deleted the files from their folders as I copied them into iTunes, not realizing that iTunes is — I assume based on what I now know — only showing the song titles as a ‘link’ to the original file. Kinda like a ‘shortcut’ in Windows, I guess. The songs that didn’t copy to my iPod have a ! to the left of the song in the iTunes library list. These are the ones that no longer have a file on the computer. So my only recourse is to reload all my cds. Lesson learned the hard way!!! 🙁
Problem solved!! I was discussing this with my husband and he reminded me that I could retrieve the files from the recycle bin. I’m adding the files back to iTunes now!! What a relief — and big time savings. Don’t know why that didn’t occur to me. But in case anyone else does this, there is hope!!! 😀
Wanted to tip my e-hat to Roberto above: My click wheel refused to scroll after taking the 4th gen. ipod out of its rubber case (in which it’s been protected very well for the 2+ years I’ve had it) to clean it–using some kitchen cleaner on a paper towel. I tried the blister pack thing–which wouldn’t fit, actually–I had to use the corner of a post-it. All the “buttons” worked fine, but no scroll. So I turned the hold on, and moved two fingers from side-to-side rapidly across the clickwheel. Turned hold off (which I had already tried, btw) and Viola!-works perfectly. Maybe a static/charge thing in the scrolling mechanism? Thanks, Roberto:)
Please you have to help me, I opened my brothers iPod mini to play a small prank for april fools day. I took out the 4 gb hard drive and then put it back in to make sure It didn’t break his iPod. I had my laugh, and I put the hard drive back in today. Now the click wheel does not work, does anyone know how I can fix this problem thanks.
I’ve the older generation of the ipod nano for 16 months now. One day I turned on my ipod to find that the click wheel would not let me scroll and the buttons did not function. I turned the hold button on and then off and after doing so the screen would freeze with half of the pixels missing. The screen then slowly goes blank. After pressing the menu button the nano would turn on, but I was then back to square one.
I believed this problem was due to the humidity, so I placed the nano flat under a light for awhile. Then, after picking it up again it worked.
This has happened before, and the best thing to do, if this is a problem for you, is to wait it out.
I have the new version of the ipod nano. Spilt a drink on it, although it had a plastic cover on it so it didn’t get too wet. When I discovered it the click wheel was a bit sporadic then finally stopped working. Turns on and off, hold button works, and charges and is recognized by my computer. However the click wheel still doesn’t work. Been letting it dry out for about a day, but still no luck. Any suggestions?
Thank goodness for google and finding you! I took Tim’s tip and switched the hold button back and forth and now my clicker works again, a little sketchy. but better still–after many hours of frustration!
*bookmarked* I, too, like your same ponderings.
my ipod nano 1st gen had no problems up untill now, when i tried to turn it on it came on but the click wheel wasn’t working and also when i put the hold button on and off it turned on and started to fade the screen plese help
Dear person who is reading this ,
plz help , i bought my first ipod 2 days ago , and well … today i wanted to put songs i downloaded some songs put them in the ipod , then i deleted the song on the desktop and my ipod didnt work , it set still and what ever i wnna do i cant i, when i plug my ipod on the laptop i click itunes it never works i tried and tried bit it would never write.
found this link…hope it helps someone. they have a lot of good info about different ipod problems. what fixed mine was putting it in diagnostic mode>IO>wheel
http://www.methodshop.com/gadgets/ipodsupport/
Hi there. I found this page while searching for a fix for my ipod; the wheel was stuck on the “forward” button. I tried Tim’s suggestion with the pill pack corner and it totally worked! Hooray! Thanks for the great tip!
thanks…this worked although i had to miss my run and do pilates
I have an ipod video and it drop it some water when i was mopping the floor it worked for couple of hours after it had dropped now the clicker wont work anymore, i have read the other articles on how to reset and whats not but heres the problem, the hold button works and to the buttons to reset the ipod works but i cant scroll to anything it just stays on music, is there anyway i can work on that, any help would be greatly appreciated!
This may sound stupid, but I tried it and it worked. I changed the battery on my ipod mini and the click wheel stopped working. so someone suggested to put scotch tape over the wheel, because it actually blocks any air getting to the inside. other people have tried putting clear fingernail polish over the click wheel. No joke, I tried it and it worked immediately after it dried. crazy! lol
hi i am using 30gb i pod i always charged from usb but 1 night i changed it from converter in electric line fr 10 sec than it became so hot after that i put the usb line than it says “please wait very low battery”. After that it doesn’t work i cant on my i pod some times it’s just flashing white screen sometimes no response plzzzz mail me as soon as possible .. i was worried about that
Same problem with Nano and Bose speakers. Now click wheel wont work. Has anyone spoken to Bose about this?
i tried to do this but my ipod has not been charging for 3 months
YAY! it fixed my 2GB black ipod nano. thank you!
yey! got my 4th gen ipod to work well again! whew!
tried all these methods none worked – my scroll didn’t work after i cleaned the front of it with a damp cloth – this is kinda similar to the scotch tape thing – there’s this adhesive on the back these bling stickers i got – put it on hold rub the sticky side on the wheel – it looks dirty but take hold off and it works – its like some sort of sticky glue.. weird but it worked for me …super stoked now 😀
My ipod wont turn on unless I switch the hold button on . and when i switch hold button off, it is automatically off , whole screen gone to dark.please help me what should i do please help me please please
Never again am I buy from apple. This is BS. you imagine buying a PS2 and it not working in a year? wtf!
My sister nano only 3 weeks old, the click wheel has all of a sudden stopped working (the sensors for volume and scrolling). I’ve tried your suggestion above but the ipod refuses to restart. I’m waiting for it to go flat, recharge and cross my fingers it works again. Any further suggestions? Cheers
Ok, everyone, I did something bad. I used a screen cleaner on the the front of my Ipod. I got all the dirt and grime off, of course I rubbed it all around the click wheel and got it all clean. Then the click wheel quite working. I did restore, and still no luck. The top part would work and also the right button. But no scrolling down the menu list. I let it restore and for about an hour, then uplugged it. Still nothing I then was so frustrated that I took it and hit it a few times on the desk and it worked. Of course I also did what the above said and “Prayed”. It’s now fine.
I have a first gen ipod nano that has worked perfect. That is until the other day i took it out of the rubber case and the buttons stopped working. It turned on but then the buttons didn’t respond. i switched the hold on then off but after doing so the screen back light turned of and the pixels kinda faded out. i turned it back on and the buttons and scroll worked for a bit with the hold working normal. as soon as the buttons start to act up, i tried switching the hold on and off to get the same effect, screen fading out. Any suggestions?
It appears that the ipod spends a period of time “learning” after you switch the hold button on and then off again. Scrolling continuously for about 30 seconds after switching off the hold function worked for me.
my ipod says do not disconnect when i connect it but that never changes and when not connected it says restore ipod
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just stumbled across this site and i am so glad I did! my click wheel just stopped working overnight on my 60G 4th Gen ipod – I just skimmed this page and first tried restoring to factory settings, but after plugging into external power source … still nothing – I couldn’t select ‘english’ as my language on the ipod. So I tried the menu & select buttons together about 20 times but that still did nothing … then I did menu, select & play as someone else suggest and voila’ it’s now working again – my conclusion? Ipods are very fickle.
I have the 4GB iPod mini 2nd gen and it seemed to be completely dead. The symptom started with the play-button, which did not work. Days later the batteries-symbol was shown a moment and then darkness. No button worked any more and no startup possible. I read your first tip and switched the hold-button several times (really fast…) – and now it works like new!
my ipod nano was connected when i was uploading a video that i bought from i tunes and as normal it was working well, until the computer frozen. and now my ipod is stuck on the screen (eject before disconnecting) and wont go off, obviously i had to disconnect with out doing it the right way, but surely should have not broken because of that !!!
I have tried flicking the hold button on and off and messing the the wheel but nothing, even the back ground lighting hasn’t gone off what shall i do anyone !!!!
I have an iPod nano black 2gig and it just turned a year old and the clicker stopped working too..i use it in my car so i haven’t done anything with it until today, so im not sure if after a long time of no usage it just stops working, but i called apple and they of course didn’t help, so all i have to say is f*ck ipod and f*ck apple. there are obvious problems happening and if they wont take the time to help and fix tons of customers they don’t deserve any money.
Ok this might be a new one…. My ipod will not turn on unless i turn hold button ON. Put then scroll wheel is inactive…so click hold button off and ipod shuts down. ANY ideas? [email protected]
hi. my click wheel isn’t working. i recently fix my headphone jack ribbon and replaced it…now the click wheel isn’t working. it looks like the ground is damaged. should it still work with it a little bent?
thanks so much for the post, I thought it was broke for sure! Yeah
Hey.. thanks for the final hint… (even, if this entry is very old) I just was about to get angry. I worked trough the last night and today I want to rest and fell asleep listening to some audio book, but then the wheel was stuck.. thanks to you my hard earned time of relaxation is saved. P.S. I used a needle (very careful)
Has anybody come up with a solution for the “Stuck on hold” problem? Please e-mail me or send me a link. I’ve tried everything that I found regarding it. Reset, diagnostic mode, restore, update, take it apart and short out the switch contacts, smack it on a table… The screen comes on, the “Lock” icon is always on the screen disallowing use of the buttons with the hold switch in either position also with the switch/earphone board detached from the main board. Please help. [email protected]
Thanks for the post! I realize this is an old entry but I just had a 4th gen iPod wheel go out on me, read your comment about cleaning around the wheel (I used a small brush commonly used for scrubbing under finger nails) and it must have had something under there because it works now. Thanks again.
hi ipod nano not working do i do the same???? thanx
Yup – worked for me. Thanks for the tip.
Thank you so much, I was freaking out, because I practically live off of my ipod, and it was frozen halfway between the play mode and the album reel, and it wasn’t responding to anything I pressed, it didn’t respond to a charger, it didn’t respond to the lock, and I was about to give up hope, but I decided to google it in case anyone knew what to do, and thank goodness you did. My ipod now works again, and I’m so thankful 🙂
Blowing forced air around your wheel is another way to clean it. That worked for my ipod, which had the same problem of the pause/play button not working.
I have a 2nd gen ipod nano and everything was working fine except the screen was broke. So I replace the screen and now the screen works and my laptop reconizes it but I can’t get it past the language part and it wont scroll at all so I can’t get it to reset. I tried restoring it and that didn’t help either.
Al final arregle mi ipod nano 4g soplándolo! (por la parte donde esta el conector de datos). gracias por la inspiracion!
I have only one thing to say about Windows and Macintosh. “Wind-blows and Crapp-en-tosh.” They are both professional con artists. Highway robbery is illegal but they do it every day. Just look at the iPhone for example. It cost $5 bucks to make and most are manufactured in CHINA! But sure, 600 bucks is reasonable; right?
Six years later, and your post helped me fix my off button problem. The sharp piece of plastic to clean around the edges of the wheel did it 🙂
this just happened to me this morning. I bought my ipod classic 4th gen (40 gb) from a pawn shop and it was in great condition. recently, it started messing up and randomly skipping songs while i was listening to it.
I’m just gonna leave my “brick” alone for a few days and see what happens.
for anyone who has a classic ipod, i think mine is 5th generation, and it seems to be always stuck on lock – hold, though you have it off of lock – hold.
for a few weeks i tried everything to get it to work but the lock would stay on or flash on and off but never go away no matter what. also locking up your ipod so it’s nonfunctional, yet the battery is charged and full.
my ipod was completely inoperable, nothing worked but it would come on from time to time but nothing worked, not the wheel, not the buttons. i always saw the lock icon up and on, or flashing erratically and nothing i did, resetting it, restoring it via itunes, nothing came close to working.
the odd thing was i could plug it into itunes and it would play every or any song once connected, but the screen is always locked when in itunes, even if you do not see the lock icon.
i was able to restore and lose all my music, and i could even add it all back, but once i disconnected it from itunes, again, nothing, the wheel and buttons functions would not work. battery showed fully charged and it was.
my last resort and i mean my very last, as i looked up all the info you could on this problem, was to let the battery drain completely. there were suggestions that this would work.
so i let it discharge all the way. when that was done it was still non functioning but the white screen and the clock appeared, which it would not before. first thing to do was push the lock – hold to lock and then to unlock then do the reset, as one suggestion said after you drained the battery and recharged it.
press menu and the center button simultaneously and with that it reset.
i waited for it to completely reset and finally!!!!! the problem was solved! it is fully functional, all my settings and songs remained and no lock icon stuck on – on nor flashing erratically. it works! it’s fixed!
seems i let it discharge fully once too often, so try not let the battery run out completely at all except for this fix. i firmly believe because it ran out on me about 3 times in the course of about 4 months that this was the problem and also what changed it around. so when all the other fixes did not work, this one did! i did not have to open up the ipod or do anything inside of it, fully functional 24 hours later and playing on my stereo as i type this.
i spent so much time and research on this i tried very hard not to give up and it paid off and i saved my ipod from death, or repairs that i did not want to deal with. i barely used this ipod – 160 gbs. had it for about 3 years and it was brand new, but right now about 17 years old. when i got it it was 14 yrs old, i didn’t know it then, but the unit was pristine and i assumed the insides were too.
so there you have it. if all else fails and you have the problem where the lock just will not unlock – unhold, do what i did above. finally!!!!!! it worked, it works! 🙂