IPOD Red X fix

[Don Whitman]

My daughter's 80GB IPOD Video came up with the Red X and wasn't responding to anything. Apple said it was dropped (which it was) and wouldn't fix it in-warranty. After reading many bloggers recommending that I drop it or slam it on the table, I tried that - to no avail.

I came across the following on the Apple Blog and it worked! I had to try it a few times, but it came back to life. Give it a try:

Some times when you drop your ipod the lens inside skips(kinda like a record player). Reset your ipod by holding the middle and menu button until you hear clicking. then with one hand hold the ipod firmly and hit the side of it onto the PALM of your other hand. Sometimes this jumps the needle back into place but not all the time.

[thankful]

OH MY GOD!

This actually worked for me on the first try.

I went to the apple store today and they told me it was a lost cause and my warranty was out and there was nothing i could do excpet trade it in for a 10% discount on a new one or pay to replace it for a cost which was about the same as the purchase price. It has been just over a year and the warranty just expired and I was fuming with anger because I spent a good deal of money on this ipod. Thank you so much for posting this. I tried so many other tests and diagnostics and nothing beat the red x except this. I am ever grateful to you, especially because this was somebody else's ipod i dropped. Not only that, but it didn't even erase my memory, everything was restored intact. Words can't express my appreciation. Thank you thank you thank you!

[Fievel]

It worked for me too, though it took a few tries. Thanks a ton

[rrrray]

my god this works. thank you. that was driving me absolutely insane. it took a couple tries, but then it made a horrible noise (i thought i made it worse), and i reset it again. all better!!

[JOsh]

WoW if your doing this fix right now and its not working for you keep doing it. honestly it works it took me a great while. my hand got soar so i used the floor a=wich aloud me to hit harder but anyway great job this truly does work after you fix it format and restore because the hard drive may have been corrupted and need to be re installed

[alanna]

thank you sooooo much! i cant beleive this worked, but i'm so grateful. you just saved me probably about 200 dollars and all my much loved music!

[bryce]

im just trying to fix my friends ipod so i can have it since mine was stolen but i got this thing and it clicks and all i hit the side but nothing happens it just does the same thing. am i not hitting it hard enough?like after a while it really hurts and i just need it to work i dont want to have to pay to repair or pay to get a new one.pleas help.

[Walt]

Well thank you very much for that tip. I bought my Ipod while in Kuwait. And like everyone else I started getting the red X I had tried everything but could not get it to reset. I actually ended up buying a 160 gb Ipod. I came across this article and done it. and now listening to my 80 gb classic. There were over 3000 songs on there and they are all still there.

Again thank you very very much

[David]

This tip is AWESOME! I actually found an 80gb classic sitting atop a pile of garbage in a park dumpster, and I'm assuming the reason they threw it out was because of the infamous RED X. I brought it home, tried a few things, and ended up finding you guys, and it worked. THANKS from California.

[Squidelephant dot com]

Hey, this worked for me too. THANK YOU. So stoked!!! Can't wait to try this on all the other broken ipods in the world... people will think I'm a sorcerer.

[Mike]

Holy smokes. I thought this was BS when first reading it, then i saw that it worked for sooooo many people. Go figure, i tried it, and it works!!!! thanks!!!

[anon]

its not working for me:[
ive tried it at least ten times

[Bala]

Doesn't seem to work on nano??

as it has a flash !! has anyone tried and if it worked let me know !!

[REBECCA]

THIS WORKS! HOLY BALLS! IT WORKS. You have to kind of smack it and try it a few times, it works!!!!

[yoon]

:/ i think i hit it too much and hard and now it just resets on the apple screen every 7 seconds and keeps on doing a never ending cycle.

[bigboss_tx]

thank u so much it has been over a month WOOOOOOOOOOOO

[PrasSoFly]

Hahaha... my ipod had this problem last week.... first read the tip on youtube and go a more in depth tip on this forums.... sounds legit since everyone else's works.... tried it twice so far... and my hand hurts like nothing!!!! Lol... i will try to do it a couple of more times... on average should it take like 3 trys?

[Don Whitman]

All I can say is it worked after a few tries for me. I don't remember it taking more than two or three whacks, but it's been awhile. Make sure you hear that ticking first. This was my one and only experience and thankfully it worked.

PrasSoFly wrote:

Hahaha... my ipod had this problem last week.... first read the tip on youtube and go a more in depth tip on this forums.... sounds legit since everyone else's works.... tried it twice so far... and my hand hurts like nothing!!!! Lol... i will try to do it a couple of more times... on average should it take like 3 trys?

[Hawx]

Wow, I can't believe it actually worked! my ipod classic had gone into x mode for almost 2 weeks, and everything else said that you had to put it into disc mode, but it never worked! thank you, merci, xie xie, gracias, arigato!!!

(even though the palm of my hand hurts like cheeseballs...) instead of using the palm of my hand, after a while, i used my thigh instead.:)

[Burn]

This actually works! Thank you so much!