My iPod Shuffle has died! (I think)
My dilemma: Okay, so it is 3am and I should be sleeping, but my iPod Shuffle (1st gen) decided to crash while I was at work today. I have just wasted about three hours searching Apple’s forums and troubleshooting pages, along with several other online forums. All I get is other people with the same problem and no real answers.
What crazy things is it doing? (Here are just some of the symptoms of my non-working iPod Shuffle)
- Neither my computer nor my iTunes recognizes my iPod when it is plugged into any USB port.
- When I turn it on all I get is a solid green light and nothing happens (won’t play, won’t skip forward/backward & won’t even let me check the battery life as long as it is on.
- When I plug it back into the USB port it still charges perfectly fine.
So, what have I tried so far? Well, I tried installing a little tool called the HP Drive Key Boot Utility, but it doesn’t recognize my iPod, so this does me no good. Then I tried the iPod Reset Utility, but had the same problem of it not being able to recognize the iPod, so this does me no good. And then, even though I knew it wouldn’t work, I tried Apple’s Fabulous Five Rs advice (Reset, Retry, Restart, Reinstall & Restore).
And, where does this leave me? I could pay to have it serviced as Apple suggests on their website, however this would probably cost more than if I were to buy a brand new 2nd gen. I may just have to suffer not listening to my favorite Podcasts until I can afford a new listening device ― or until I can somehow fix this one.
If you happen to come across something that might fix this, I would greatly appreciate comments. But, if you are having the same problem don’t waste your time posting a comment to say that you are having the same problem.
Good Night : )
20 Aug 2008 Catholic Tech Tips
I think the solution is that Apple created the Shuffle with old style “Designed Obsolence” in mind. They felt they had enough good will banked with their products, that they could could take a stab at a “volume” priced product (iPod Shuffle), and if it did not work out they would have the upgraded 8 Gig product to market (with superior per unit profit margin) that most of the people buying the $75 Shuffle would come to the same conclusion that you almost have (and out family eventually did); there is no cost effective means to repair the USB port not recognized/frozen playlist/but device will recharge problem. Our family and four other friends had the same problem with their kid’s Shuffle, and ended up buying the upgrade product and giving the Shuffle to Dad for workouts at the gym.
That may not be what you wanted to read, but it seems to be Apple’s designed plan for the iPod Shuffle. Steve Jobs does not, never has and never will, do volume pricing for Apple’s products.
I got a new iPod Shuffle for Christmas : )