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”

  1. nawwwwww thanks so much!

    i only just got my ipod nano a couple of days ago and i thought i wouldn’t be able to fix it!

    but you helped so much!

    YOU ROCK!

    =]

    ❤

    Like

  2. ps: does anyone else think that it’s f***ed up that a father bought his 10 year old daughter an ipod nano?

    i sure do.

    I didn’t have an ipod nano when i was 10.

    & if i did i wouldn’t have had 1000 songs to put on it.

    Like

  3. hey thanks pal i thot that it was done and i began to lose hope then i saw this site and i danced across the room. i was in so much joy that i broke my leg and arm. just jokes. thanks again pal

    Like

  4. Oh my god! I’m so scared!

    Okay. So my three brother gave me and Ipod nano 3rd generation as a Christmas present to me. So i accidentally was still playing a song.. and plug the end to the USB cord and the other end into a computer.. now its still on the song..but it won’t play! and holding down the play button didnt work.. and the solution to toggle the hold switch on and off didnt work..

    Please help me.

    Like

  6. Thank you so much! I’m leaving for a trip tomorrow and i was freaking out because i thought my iPod had broken! thanks again! 🙂

    Like

  8. Thank you for this site..I really thought I broke (2)nanos..

    both my son and husband will be shocked that with your help it’s all fixed!!!woohoo!! you do rock!!!

    Like

  9. ucking hell fank you so much i was just about to take it back because it froze coz i left hold on wen i pluged it in and it froze on that an i followed the instructions an now it workz tarrrr larrr

    Like

  11. Help my son washed his nano. Well he dropped it in the machine and pulled it right back out. Is there any way to fix it?

    Like

  13. ummm i tried ur trouble shooting method but my ipod nano is still frozen. Except this time its only showing the aple logo with a grey background. Pleaze help!!!

    Like

  14. omg thank you so muc you really helped me

    i have looked all over google for a website to help me with my ipod and i fixed it thank you so mush

    Like

  15. OMG HELP ME

    MY IPOD NANO WAS OFF

    AND WHEN I WENT TO TURN IT OFF

    IT WOULDNT TURN BACK ON

    THE BATTERY IS FULLY CHARGED

    THE SCREEN IS JUST BLACK

    I CONNECTED IT TO THE USB ND IT WONT TURN ON AND NOTHING POPS UP ABOUT THE IPOD

    I JUST GOT THIS 2 WEEKS AGO

    PLEASE HELP!

    Like

  16. check out this website I found…

    http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2006/06/certain_audio_files_cause_ipod.html

    “Certain audio files cause iPod nano reset

    listen Thursday June 15, 2006 12:12AM

    by Todd Ogasawara in Technical

    About a month ago I asked for opinions for a Cause for iPod nano spontaneous reset?. I seemed to run into this problem every couple of months on my iPod nano. I didn’t have any good theories, but fortunately, other people did. And, even more fortunately, Billy Oregon performed some detective work and found two MP3 files that can consistently cause a soft reset after selecting the Menu item. You can find his blog and sample video below. Anyone at Apple reading this? Fix it please!”

    Like

  17. Dude your luike actually the best! the songs on my ipod weren’t playing and i did what you told my and now my video nano is all good again. God bless you dude!!!!!

    Like

  19. Hello, any solution for a nano-pod that won’t turn off? I can’t even reset it or restore it. It just keeps running! :o)

    Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

    PJ

    Like

  20. Thank you man.. you gave me the tips to get this little device back on track. I almost send it back to apple…..

    God bless

    GV

    Like

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