iPod nano Lockup Reset When Frozen

Nick Momrik765 Comments

My iPod nano locked up and I had no idea what to do. Holding down buttons wouldn’t turn it off. Toggling the hold switch didn’t do anything either. It was in a stuck state where hold was turned on and none of the buttons would respond.

If you own an iPod with the Click Wheel (iPod with video, nano, iPod photo, iPod, or mini) follow these steps to reset the iPod:

  1. Toggle hold switch on.
  2. Toggle hold switch off.
  3. Hold down the menu and middle button for a few seconds.
  4. You might need to repeat.

Both times my iPod nano has frozen up I was plugging the ipod into the USB cable while the the hold switch was toggled on. Make sure to hold switch is togged off when connecting your iPod with the USB cable.

To reset some of the earlier iPods including like the iPod, iPod (scroll wheel), iPod (touch wheel), and iPod (dock connector), follow these steps:

  1. Toggle hold on.
  2. Toggle hold off.
  3. Press and hold the Play/Pause and Menu buttons until the Apple/iPod logo appears, about 6 to 10 seconds.
  4. You might need to repeat.

To reset an iPod shuffle:

  1. Move the switch on the back of iPod shuffle to the off position (green stripe not visible).
  2. Wait 5 seconds.
  3. Move the switch on the back to the play in order or the shuffle position (green stripe visible).

Still having problems?

  1. Connect to a different USB or FireWire port on the computer.
  2. Install the latest Operating System upgrades.
  3. Restart the computer.
  4. Reinstall the iPod with iPod Updater
  5. Reinstall iTunes
  6. Restore your iPod using the latest iPod Updater.

    *Restoring an iPod will erase all songs and files from the iPod, restoring it to the original state. Backup all files from the iPod before restoring it. Once restoration is complete, you can transfer your music and files from the computer back to your iPod again.

iPod displays sad iPod icon

In most cases, the sad iPod icon indicates a hardware issue. If you are able to force iPod into Disk Mode, then it may not be a hardware issue, and you should try to restore your iPod with the latest software.

765 thoughts on “iPod nano Lockup Reset When Frozen”

  2. so i was on a flight to phoenix from portland and i wanted to listen to my nano but then it went into “disk mode” and i couldnt do anything about it!!!!

    i was so bummed!!! i almost thought i had to buy a new one!

    so then i went to google and typed in “ipod nano disk mode” and this website was listed and the steps really helped!!!

    i can now listen to my ipod!!

    xoxoxox

    kinsey

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  4. thanks a million! my gf almost threw hers in the garbage when it would not shut off. thanks to you I’m the hero 🙂

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  6. Great tip, even worked with my 60gb iPod video after it locked up while accessing a stored clip. Thanks a ton.

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  10. Apple should give you a brand new G5 Quad, just because.

    Why are they too stupid to put this on their site? Or better yet the instructions that came with the iPod?!!??!

    Great Job 🙂

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  11. Thanks–worked perfectly. Freeze also occurred with the ipod turned on and connected to computer via USB cable.

    –David

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  14. My nano display locked up, all the buttons still worked, but I could not tell what screen it was on. This fixed the problem, thank you!!!

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  15. my ipod also froze, so i have pressed both menu n middle button, it has switched of but what do i do now? where do i go from here?

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  20. Thank you!!

    I tried EVERYTHING that was listed on the apple website and nothing worked.

    Again Thank you!!

    Like

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