can't you just run the ipod update to wipe it? install update 1.3, then let it upgrade to 2.0

Something you also may want to try is surfing the battery replacement sites (the do-it-yourself pages) and figuring out how to open the damn iPod up (without destroying it). Then you should be able to remove the battery manually and let it sit for a few minutes (so any capacitors can discharge), re-hook-up the battery and you might be good to go...

Have you tried holding the top and bottom button (of the four which surround the wheel) down at the same time for a few seconds? I think that restarts the ipod and has saved mine a few times when it acts funny. Good luck

Jeremy - tried, but to no avail. Even with the restore to default, it comes back with that dumb lock on.

kmlawson - you can't push any of the buttons when it thinks its on hold so there's no way to restart it through those buttons. :(

Joe - c'mon darling... you know me... i'm a master at BREAKING things, not putting them back together. I'd be *terrified* of even trying.

::sigh::

How long have you had your iPod? What are the consumer laws like in the States? Take it back to your supplier/shop using an equivilent of lack of merchantable quality, and ask for a replacement. Otherwise try breach of contract (with where you brought you iPod). Did your iPod also come with some kind of guarantee? (which should not affect your statutory rights).

Did you pay for your iPod by credit card? If so, you *may* have redress against the credit card company, but I don't know how the law operates that side of the pond.

If it was the UK, then I would suggest you use the Sale of Goods Act / Consumer Credit Act to get a replacement.

btw - an Aussie article, in case you've missed it:
http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/02/1086058887898.html

Plug the iPod into the Mac. Then, open the iPod software update application -- there's a "Reset" button there.

it's noted here: kbase document 60958.

Alison - 90 days is the cut-off.

Paul - the reset button requires the ability for the hardware to respond to things... it doesn't. And when i run the Restore function in the updater, it erases everything, but it doesn't get rid of the lock symbol. :(

and of course you tried the flick the switch really fast until it goes away trick? why do i say that? because it sounds less like software, than hardware right now. it shoulds to me like the switch is borked, out of slot or just plan broke. if it is out of slot, fast movement might put it back in, but no probmises cause you could also have a bad circuit board or connection somewhere.

danah, since you're being lessig-like in your email <g>, i'll try commenting: i can try and have someone look at it, if you can get it here.

Try this, it worked for me and I had the same symptoms...I was going to let the battery cycle die and wait for a hardware reset but why waist the charge cycle

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61705

hope it helps

Hi - I like your blog. I found it because you seem to be the only other person that Google can find with the same ipod problem (the thing won't unlock no matter what I try). I followed a link where you had asked for help, but all the solutions that people suggested didn't seem to work (for me or you). Did you ever find a solution to your problem, or did you just send it back to get fixed?

Sorry to be so random - Peter

Actually, it's a funny story. I tried everything listed here and a lot more and nothing worked. I walked into the Apple Store and rattled off every single thing that i tried, referencing who had advised it, what website suggested it, etc. I went on for about 5 minutes explaining which each action did and did not do. The guy at the Apple Store looked at me with wide eyes, making it clear that i had tried everything he had thought of. He reached down and handed me a refurbished iPod in exchange for mine.

This sounds like a great solution. Will try this week and will let you know the outcome. I am hoping they are still as friendly.

Just today- 12/27/2004- my ipod got rid of all of the music on the pods drive But all of the music was still in the library. I called the hotline - 1-800-275-2273 - the rep told me to use updater to wipe the drive. It worked i tried sinking for the 25th time and the music is back on my drive again! Try this it might work.

Had this very same issue. The fast switch movement did it for mine... tho I suspect this is a temporary fix as the fast movement on the switch is gonna greatly decrease the mttf, methinks. First time I've gotten upset about the iPod, but this'll prolly keep me from buying another... For $400, I expect it to work flawlessly for more than 1.75 years.

Thanks for the blog. You saved my pod.

ditto - only had mine for 4 months and this happened and I just spent the last two weeks telling eveyone how much I love my Ipod :-(

I rang some fellow pod people but they had never heard of this problem...
luckily pressing the select and menu buttons (with the hold switch off) together reset my pod and it was dully unlocked.

Thanks for your support

Hey same lock thing happened on my ipod. I unlocked it by duh duh duh....There is a hold switch on top of the ipod and some how I switched it to the direction away the headsphone outlet that's how it locks. When I switched it the other way it unlocked. Try it. hope this is helpful. Have a nice day!

Turn the ipod on its side and push on the silver side hard until you hear a click. That should unlock it...I know that sounds weird but it worked for me.

Hey, I hope I can help... I'm assuming you haven't fixed it yet? This happened to me a while back and I fixed it the old fashioned way - I tapped the corner of the ipod on my desk gently but firmly in every different angle possible, trying the hold switch after every attempt. Eventually, I tried it and it unlocked. Don't do it to hard, I don't want you to break it any more than it is now. Good luck!

I was fillping through my songs really fast and my ipod just froze on a single song and it wont let me do ANYTHING!!! I am soooo frusterated please someone help me unfreeze it!!

ok, i have the frozen IPOD problem, too, But my hold button no longer has a "green" light (only the orange one. Anyone else have that happen? I can't get any of my computers to see the Ipod either and none of the reset suggestions will work.

Is it time to call in that Apple care repair warranty?

great job heather, never saw the hold switch, works great now!!! thanks so much

::SIGH:: Okay, I've got the SAME problem... I tried everything, everyone I know tried everything... It's been getting stuck for the past month or so and just playing with the lock button tended to fix it, but this time it's stuck for good. I've had it for 1 year and 3 months and I really hope it can be fixed, I've already lost all my cds since I got it (didn't know I'd need them!). I tried everything that's been posted, so I think I'm going to try the Mac Store next. If that doesn't work, well, g'bye iPod... With so many people having this problem, I doubt it's worth the cash to get another. =(

I had the same problem with the hold switch. There wasn't much help on the 'net. Most of what google turned up was related to software issues requiring a reset and this was a physical problem with the switch. I had decided not to send it to Apple, they would have charged at least $100 and it will need a new battery (again apple would charge $100). Will little to lose I decided to open the thing up and see if I could permanently switch hoold off. I checked out some of the instructions on the web for opening the iPod to switch batteries and started to follow them. At this point I noticed the iPod was already a little loose. So I squeezed it back together and lo and behold the switch began to work. Within the first hour I had to do it again (I just squeezed it while moving the cover and back in opposite directions), but I'll try living with it for now. I will think twice before buying another iPod. It is bad enough that the battery replacement is so expensive, but the only accessible moving part on it broke and rendered the unit useless. Very dissapointing.

I took Heather advice--set the ipod on its side and push on the silver side right around where the hold button is, until you hear a click...sure enough it WORKED!! My hold button is no longer stuck.

Thanks Heather!

You're a lifesaver :)

I too took Heather's advice - I didn't hear the 'click', but pushing the silver slider hard to the right fixed it. Thanks.

Here is the solution I used. First get yourself a set of precision screwdrivers at WalMart for $1 or so. Then when you have them ready look at your iPod from the front. You should notice that the silver bottom overlaps the white top on the left side. What you need to do is take the smallest precision flathead screwdriver and wedge it in the area where the silver bottom overlaps the white top and pry gently. You should definitely hear a click then. After that you can remove the screwdriver. If you look at the top of your iPod, you will see that the hold switch has a little more to go before being off hold. Move it over and you're ready to go!

Hope this helps! I looked all over before finding a solution close to this. I'm thinking of setting up a page specifically for this solution!

Just hold the "Hold" button down and switch it at the same time, my old 3rd gen got squished and that fixed the problem.

I hope that helps,

David

I can't believe it. The Heather advice, noted by many others worked for me! Had the same physical Hold slider problem. Felt carefully around the silver back where it joins the white plastic front and realized there was a miniscule shift in the position from one side to the other. Barely noticeable. Pushed hard on the silver back to put it back in position and with a loud click, the hold button moved a fraction of a millimeter and unlocked. Thank you! Problem must have been caused by banging the ipod accidently and displacing the back from the front. Saved me lots of $$. It's really a piece of junk.

HOLD SWITCH WAS STUCK IN LOCKED POSITION EVEN AFTER SOFTWARE UPDATE

THANK YOU!!!

I was considering sending it in to Apple. Been stuck in HOLD for weeks after a small drop on desk.
I set the ipod on its side and pushed hard on the silver side right around where the hold button is, until I heard a click...sure enough it WORKED!! My hold button is no longer stuck.

Thanks Heather!!!

I've been sitting for the last hour listening to my office mate complain about her stuck Ipod. I finally got on the case and found this site. Heather, I don't know if you're still reading this, but you are a genious! She did that put on side and push thing, and it worked!

i dont believe it, i thought my ipod was dead, could not fix it after the lock button broke... then i read the post by laura about just banging it against the desk... and it worked! thank god, thank you laura, if yours doesn't work try it, kinda of weird but it does the trick.

Locking has happened a number of times. Here's what I did to fix.
Plug in remote control
Pause/stop play
Hold menu and select buttons for 5 seconds
then Hold menu and play buttons for 5 seconds.

Result, logo appeared and all was good...for now

The page Kent posted worked for me.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61705

The page Kent posted worked for me.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61705

Had locked hold switch, put Ipod on its right side and pressed with a little force and "click". Everything is fine now! Amazing! thanks for the advice Heather

This was great--I had the same problem. Basically, it was a physical issue--you had to push on the side where the lock button is. I never heard a snap, but it eventually worked.

Problem was is that it busted just as I got on a six out plane ride.

Is there anyway I can manage my ipod on a different computer? Because I have a new PC.

Thanks for the tip. The "pressing-menu-and-select-at the-same-time-for-several-seconds" method worked.

We had the same problem with the hold button. Called Apple and they sent a box to send it in for repair under the extended warranty. Once they got it, they said that they wouldn't fix it because the unit had been abused. The back is quite scratched, but that's all the damege i see. They wanted $255 for a reconditioned one. I told them to send it back unfixed.

So, it shows up yesterday - working perfectly. Live and learn.

Have this same problem, the hold switch is just not responding. I did notice that the silver piece is a little shifted from the white... when I get home I'll try to push it back into place like suggested and see if it works... will let ya know!

GREAT info everyone!! :)

Tried heather's fix last night and the hold button works again! I'm so happy I no longer have a $400 paper weight :)

Hey -- had the same problem and did what Frank Z suggested -- pushed down on the hold button hard and then moved it. It worked! I have since named my dog, "Frank Z," which confuses the hell out of him because he's 12.

The Heather advice worked for me, too. Thanks so much. iPod's like an old volkswagen- fun when it's working, awful when it breaks, and it breaks a lot.

Heather -

Again, bravo and kudos to you and your genius! My ipod had been stuck for about a week, and I found this page about an hour before I had to get on a plane.

Your gentle pushing trick made my ipod work and probably saved my sanity for my next plane ride.

My 3g ipod is about 1 1/2 yrs old. It's quite scratched up and the screen is kinda busted but it still worked fine. I have had to restart it once before. Now, all of a sudden, it won't turn on (and it's fully charged) unless I plug it into my computer and the hold button icon is on the screen and wont go away, and it seems to be frozen. I have tried a lot of these very helpful ideas because I don't want to get another one, but does anyone have any other suggestions of what I could do??

my ipod photo hold button is playing up

i cant understand if it is physically stuck or something with the software.

all i know is that i can move the button, but it locks even when its on unlock. however if i push down on the button when it is in unlock position i can use the ipod.

help would be appreciated.

I also had the same problem and pushing on the silver part worked when nothing else did.

Whoever suggested that is my hero!

hi ive only just had my mini ipod since the last x-mas gone now on the 26 june the menubutton wont woek :'( my ipod iz my only plesure in life and i cant afoord 2 send it back or buy a new one please any sugesstions would be very helpfull ps plz e-mail me ur answers

The "pressing-menu-and-select-at the-same-time-for-several-seconds" method worked for me.

Many thanx

I've had the same problem with the hold-button stuck, after dropping the iPod on the floor (oops) from about a foot.

Grant' suggestion above worked for me! I wedged a small screwdriver between the silver and white pastic cover, just above the display, when the iPod was lying normally on the table. I heard a loud click and now the hold-button works just as before!

Grant suggestion was to wedge on the left hand side, I did it in the center. I guess it depends a bit on how the hold button got stuck.

OK, I'm having a similar problem, but my ipod actually became stuck on "do not disconnect" after the hold button got stuck and I plugged into my computer. I've tried all these suggestions, but maybe it's different if it's stuck on that. Any other ideas?

My Ipod (40 gig click wheel 7 months old) Just stopped. I was in the car, turned it off, came upstairs and went to turn it back on and nothing happenned. When I put it on the dock it doesn't turn on and my desktop doesn't shpw any signs indicating that it's even there. I tried all of the various thing posted here and nothing's worked. Anyone have any ideas? I mean, it was fine 15 minutes before I tried t turn it on!

Heathers Trick worked. Heard the loud click and presto.. fixed IPOD very pumped. Now I can go about my day dammit!

Turn the ipod on its side and push on the silver side hard until you hear a click. That should unlock it...I know that sounds weird but it worked for me. posted by nicky works if u have tried everything i was so happy ipods are good but they a down side to them

I just fixed mine, which had the same hold switch problem. I pushed on the back very hard, then tapped it repeatedly. Thanks everyone for all of your help.

okay so i was just sitting here trying all this, what i did was grab the top right corner of my ipod color inbetween my thumb and index finger and squeeze it. the lock turned off! fricken cool

heather, you dog
i owe you my life
myPod was stuck in hold land and so i read your post and low and behold it worked
once again, thanks

Thanks for the information about the hold button on the top---that worked! You really are a lifesaver!

Diana

I'd like to say thanks to HEATHER as well... after getting all frantic about my locked iPod, and reading the horrible experiences with warranties and MAC, the simple holding the iPod on the side and pushing the button 'til it clicks, works... at least for me it did.

Heather for President!!! The solution worked for me, and this is my replacement IPOD as had the problem with my first one within the warranty and had it replaced. Apple sucks.

This happened to my wife's iPod 60Gb. Tried everything on here (and the guy at the Genius bar tried tapping on the table). Nothing worked. Thankfully as the unit was only three months old, they replaced it with a new one :)

Heather, You ARE a genius! Mine was stuck in hold / lock after a small glancing fall frm my briefcase. After reading above I noted a miniscule offset of the white half from the silver. I ended up wedging something to put more pressure on the white part -- there was no click, but the lock is off!

heather is god, i love you heather

I thought you guys with the "lay it on the side and push the white...blah, blah, blah" were full of crap. Then, much to my amazement, "click"! Lock symbol gone!

I shall worship Heather all the remaining days of my life...

alright people i am having the same damn prob with my ipod the i just bought like 3 days ago. i also bought an itrip and started having this prob right after so maybe its linked to that. also, isnt there a one year warrenty? how can they charge 60 bucks to fix that shit?

my ipod had the same problem...i was so upset since i cant lve without my music... the solution posted by nicky on january 10th worked for me... THANK U NICKY! you just lay the ipod on its side and press the hold switch on the silver side really hard to unlock it.. i just it just needed to pushed really really hard... dont worry ..you wont break it.. thanks nicky..
ali

holy crap! thank you heather! my 3G hasn't been working all summer and i thought the battery was dead, but the hold switch was stuck. you are a goddess

none of your comments work, tried the pushing the silver thing but alas it did not work

my ipod mini wont work, today i was playing that music trivia game and i got a question correct and it jusst froze! any ideas?

I was running with my ipod yesterday and a torrential downpour ensued. Needless to say, no matter what i tried, the ipod got wet. Now it works perfectly, but the scrolling wheel does not react at all. Does anyone have any suggestions how I could fix this without paying tons of money in repairs?

J - let the battery die. This happened when I was on my way to school once... a 5 hour drive that had to end musicless mind you, but once the battery completely died, i recharged it and it worked fine.

THANK YOU HEATHER!! my ipod got stuck on hold even though i switched the button off and i was upset bc it didnt work and i love my ipod .. when i used ur trick it actually undid the hold button .. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! you dunno how much it means to me that its fixed .. thank u thank u thank u

Someone please help me! I have an iPod mini 4GB. I have had it for less than 3 months and I don't have any idea what happend to it. My friend just told me yesterday that people's iPod's were freezing and breaking and they had to send them back. I thought that would never happen to mine and it did. I have tried almost evreything.It just won't turn on. I am sooo mad! Nothing happens when I try to charge it. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH HEATHEr. Your trick completely worked--you just have to get the white part of the ipod to line up with the silver part. I am SOOO happy. I thought I'd have to buy a new one

can someone please explain to me in detail hot to do heathers ipod trick plz plz plz

can someone please explain how to do heathers trick plz plz plz

This is crazy, i tried the using force trick on my locked Ipod and it freaking worked! you guys rule thanks for all the suggestions!!!

I've been having this problem for a day- locked up hold button... I let the battery die, then recharged it to full health... the ipod still is on "hold" mode regardless of the hold button position. I have tried everything on this forum, and still, my ipod is on lock. None of my ipod buttons respond because it is stuck on hold mode, so telling me to hold certain buttons to restart it won't help ;). Also, my ipod has worked fine for almosta year.. I got it last december, it is a 40g and has worked perfectly fine... however, two months I dropped it about 3 feet on black-top... it still worked perfectly fine until now. The frame of the ipod doesn't seem to be out of place in any area more so than the others, I have tried banging against the desk... squeezing it, "putting on its side", all kinds of things. I'm not sure what the problem is exactly, but I want to fix it! Can someone please give me as detailed explanation as possible because the other ones on here seem too vague, although I seem to be the only one with a broken ipod still.. Instant message me at SevenKButtons if you have AIM, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

I've been having this problem for a day- locked up hold button... I let the battery die, then recharged it to full health... the ipod still is on "hold" mode regardless of the hold button position. I have tried everything on this forum, and still, my ipod is on lock. None of my ipod buttons respond because it is stuck on hold mode, so telling me to hold certain buttons to restart it won't help ;). Also, my ipod has worked fine for almosta year.. I got it last december, it is a 40g and has worked perfectly fine... however, two months I dropped it about 3 feet on black-top... it still worked perfectly fine until now. The frame of the ipod doesn't seem to be out of place in any area more so than the others, I have tried banging against the desk... squeezing it, "putting on its side", all kinds of things. I'm not sure what the problem is exactly, but I want to fix it! Can someone please give me as detailed explanation as possible because the other ones on here seem too vague, although I seem to be the only one with a broken ipod still.. Instant message me at SevenKButtons if you have AIM, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

I've been having this problem for a day- locked up hold button... I let the battery die, then recharged it to full health... the ipod still is on "hold" mode regardless of the hold button position. I have tried everything on this forum, and still, my ipod is on lock. None of my ipod buttons respond because it is stuck on hold mode, so telling me to hold certain buttons to restart it won't help ;). Also, my ipod has worked fine for almosta year.. I got it last december, it is a 40g and has worked perfectly fine... however, two months I dropped it about 3 feet on black-top... it still worked perfectly fine until now. The frame of the ipod doesn't seem to be out of place in any area more so than the others, I have tried banging against the desk... squeezing it, "putting on its side", all kinds of things. I'm not sure what the problem is exactly, but I want to fix it! Can someone please give me as detailed explanation as possible because the other ones on here seem too vague, although I seem to be the only one with a broken ipod still.. Instant message me at SevenKButtons if you have AIM, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Mine's still stuck too.

When your ipods were stuck in the locked position, did the battery meter still function as normal or was it stuck too? The battery on mine doesn't seem to be depleting.

Mine's still stuck too.

When your ipods were stuck in the locked position, did the battery meter still function as normal or was it stuck too? The battery on mine doesn't seem to be depleting.

well... if I push on the bottom of the white face (below the scroll-wheel) with my hand really hard it makes a clicking noise as if it is going back into place... I don't know though. This is really starting to annoy me =/

My iPOD was stuck with the "hold" icon even when the bar was set to off. Tried all the "pressing the select and menu buttons". Did not work.
-The following worked for me. Thanks Nicky!!

Posted by: Nicky at January 10, 2005 05:47 PM

"Turn the ipod on its side and push on the silver side hard until you hear a click. That should unlock it...I know that sounds weird but it worked for me."

To unfreeze your iPod, try holding down the menu button simultaneously with the play/pause button for about 10 seconds (or a little longer). If that doesn't work, try holding down the middle button simultaneously with the menu button for 10+ seconds. One of these methods should reset your iPod. The latter method did the trick for me! (BTW, I have a 20G iPod.) Good luck!!

My iPod is on hold mode, so it does not respond to button pressing.... meaning holding menu and play/pause or middle button + menu doesn't work...

hopefully someone can help me this isnt't about the hold switch but when i plug my ipod into my computer it just sits on charging i pluged it into 4 diffrent firewire outlits on 2 diffrent computers and i ve tried restarting my computer restarting my ipod Disk mode and just about everthing i have seen on the internet please help

Ok I think I dropped my pod one to many times and the Hold button was stuck...I have the headphone remote so I was using that to listen to music but I could no longer scroll to pick specific songs. Anyway I had been reading these forums and the soloution that worked best for me was to slide the hold button to the 'Off' side really really hard. It's unlocked now...sigh good 'ol Poddy. But now when ever it gets locked I have to do the same thing. I'm leaving it off hold permenately just to be safe. The hold button is the only piece of solid state technology on the ipod so it stands the Highest chance of Breaking.

my hold button is stuck (the hold button just shows orange), and i can't get the button unstuck. can u please help me anyone. I'm not sure about how to do Heather's trick and i'm not sure if it will even help. I have tried forcing the hold button back with my finger nails, but they broke. Someone please helP!!!

Hey,

I'm soo happy, I just bought an iPod from eBay with the hold problem, I was 90% sure I could fix it after reading this site. And All it needed was a sharp whack on my leg and everything is great. And the good thing is that I got it for less than half the price of a new iPod.:)

You guys rock

Hey,

I'm soo happy, I just bought an iPod from eBay with the hold problem, I was 90% sure I could fix it after reading this site. And All it needed was a sharp whack on my leg and everything is great. And the good thing is that I got it for less than half the price of a new iPod.:)

You guys rock

Awesome....just like everyone else I had the same problem...problem now fixed. hard to believe that this is the only site on the net discussion this issue...this tiny issue is driving a ton of people NUTS. Thanks for the solution.

never mind. i just put my ipod in the freezer for about 4 minutes, then forced the darn hold button over. Thanks anyway

Had the same prob after an ipod fall
Found this site and tried all the suggestions - no joy. Eventually opened the iPod up and noted that the connector cable from the top (hold switch and headphones) was slightly loose. Fiddled with it for a while and go it back in properly - all better now.
I would reckon that the "whack it off something" approach is achieving the same thing in a hit and miss manner. Try this way and you'll solve it no prob

My ipod has the whole stuck hold button problem, and hitting it around hasn't helped at all. I've had this problem for a month now and I haven't gotten it fixed!

I have a 4th-gen click wheel ipod... and I haven't been able to open it. I've used screwdrivers, guitar picks, my fingernails, etc... thin plastics and metals, and I can't get the darn thing open!

Help would be greatly appreciated....

my ipod nano got stuck only 3 weeks after i've bought it...but now FIXED!!!

thanks to whoever suggested the method of "pressing the menu and the center play button simultaneously for 5 seconds"!!!!!

So, I was hopeful after reading the "stuck in hold" mode fix...but mine doesn't display the lock icon, there is no "give" in the silver part (tried all versions of gentle trauma)...I really think my click wheel is just broken. It acts JUST like it is stuck on hold, but no lock icon. Have done full restore- no help. It has also been acting funny for months, but has previously responded to messing with the lock (sliding) button. HELP. PLEASE.

My Ipod is acting very strangely. Whenever I go to play a song, the songs just skip over one another and go to the next song. It does this continuously throughout the entire playlist or list of songs in my Ipod. it will just go from song 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5, etc and wont even stop to play the songs!! please help me!!!

I'VE FIXED IT!
After trying the press 'the side till it clicks' tricki, (didn't work... no click) I kept experimenting with various firm but gentle presses... on side, back, etc etc... In the end this is what I did to unlock it...
* Place "Locked in Hold" iPod on it's edge.
* Glently but firmly press the side with the palm of my hand, squeezing the unit against a desk...
* and at the same time, stroke the touch wheel...
* When the backlight comes on the iPod starts to respond... and while still pressing, move the hold switch from On to off!

I recommend you avoid anything to do with screwdrivers

WOW...The Heather fix wasn't working for me, and I was getting frustrated as hell. i was about to give up. It had been more than an hour. Then, as a last ditch effort, I started whacking the shit out of my iPod on my desk.

When I say whacking the shit out of it, I mean just by rotating my wrist. Kind of like playing rock, paper, scissors, but with your iPod in your one hand and the desk acting as the other hand. Exactly that same amount of force, I would say. Not too much arm, more wrist.

But really, when I was doing this, I was at the point where I didn't care what happened to the iPod. I figured it was already busted, so I had nothing to lose by smacking it on the table. I whack it a couple of times, AND I HEAR THE CLICK. AHHHHHHH!

Oh shit! I almost screwed myself over. I put the iPod back on hold, just to see if it still worked...and the FRICKIN THING DID IT AGAIN. But this time all I had to do was slide the hold button REALLY hard toward the un-locked position.

Wow...never putting this on hold again. Well, just one more time...

someone tell me how to do heather's thing i can't get this shit unstuck

well. this isnt working. i almost ruined the switch by peeling the shit off. rawr.

yeah. im getting it replaced tomorrow cuz my ipod was messed up to begin with so whatever.

you guys are a bunch of losers. if your too poor to buy the extended warranty in case your ipod breaks then maybe you shouldn't own one .stop being such losers on the internet talking to eachother and get a life

hey you know what michael. I like the fact that i don't have a life. I am pretty sure that so does everybody else that is on this website. right guys. Hey maybe we should all meet up somewhere and play some mario brothers and have a jerk fest

^pwnage. =]

Hard to believe, the following worked for me, thanks so much! Apple will never get another dime out of me, this hw/mechanical bug could have totally been prevented.

Posted by: Nicky at January 10, 2005 05:47 PM

"Turn the ipod on its side and push on the silver side hard until you hear a click. That should unlock it...I know that sounds weird but it worked for me."

I got a stunner; moving the �hold� switch from lock to unlock cause the Ipod to lose all power. When I press on the �select� button to start again, it starts without a problem, but in �lock� mode. I currently have the Ipod case open and sitting on my desk.
It started acting this way after it got wet. Water bottle, 7 hour flight, me sleeping, you get the picture. Anyway, I need help, I really do, please help. Thanks-