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”

  4. THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!

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  6. my screen has frozen but with the message disk mode on top and ok to disconnect in the middle of the screen. and its just frozen like that, i tried your suggestion as above but that doesnt work. any suggestions?

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  7. I had the same problem as Tammi’s, but ur suggestion actually worked..thank u so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Tammi was ur battery charged?)

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  8. […] 不过也发现一个小问题, iPod nano 没有 Reset é”®?! 要是万一如果(算我乌鸦嘴)死机了该怎么办呀? 看到一些朋友在 iPod nano 讨论区里说在首次联机时发生了这样的情况(我的 nano 一切正常 o<sup>_________</sup>o ), 于是我赶紧 Google 了一下, 还真让我找到了[解决的办法], 先收着它万一死机了把我急出毛病来, 阿弥陀佛永远用不到. ________||________ 1. Toggle hold on. / 打开按键锁. 2. Toggle hold off. / 关闭按键锁. 3. Hold down the menu and middle button for a few seconds. / 同时按住中键和 menu 数秒. 4. The iPod nano should then “reboot” and voila! / iPod nano 会自动重启, 很棒吧! […]

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  10. I use a Monster FM Wireless adapter to play my nano in the car…In the process of unhooking it and hooking it back up the nano appears to be locked up. It will not power up, unless I plug in the Monster adapter—When I powered it up, I tried the reset Fix as explained above but could not get it to work. When it powers up, there is a Pad Lock next to the pause sign. Any ideas would be appreciated.

    Thanks

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  11. Had the same problem, thanks for the solution!

    This iPod nano sucks! I’ve got mine just 2 months ago and it already looks like 2 years old, so scratched it is. The black ones show the scratches a lot more than the white ones. I can’t believe Apple released a product that would scratch so much.

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  13. Thanks for the info, I was pissed but using your technique, I got it to fire up again. I have a pioneer Ip-ib100 pioneer’s car audio adapter to connect it to my stereo and I connected it to the stereo without realizing that I had the hold button on when I did so. So when I went to disconnect the ipod, the pioneer logo would not leave the screen and the radio would not respond. Maybe this info will help someone who is in the same boat as I was. DO NOT CONNECT THE IPOD TO YOUR CAR STEREO ADAPTER WITH THE HOLD BUTTON ON, IF YOU DO IT WILL PORBABLY FREEZE UP.

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  14. If only I new this trick in the first place I would have not returned my first and second one Im on my 3rd! The Apple store does not even know how to reboot it every time I returned it! So man ,Thanks you saved me from going to anger managment!!lol

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  15. OH MY friend you have saved me mental fustration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    My nano did the samething tonight I freaked out was pissed yelled and none of that helped me. But you have saved the day.

    Thanks and may the technology gods smile upon u.

    DA RUDE1…..

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