Gust

I came across a neat trick the other day. If any of yall have an iPod more then likely you know about the dreaded "sad face" icon. Well, instead of paying apple $80 something bucks to get it fixed try this out first. This works with the folder icon error as well.

1) Press the center button + menu button and hold for ~10 sec until the ipod resets, you will know this because the screen with the apple will appear.

2) I'm serious as a heart attack here: when you do the reset and BEFORE the back light turns on turn the iPod on it's side and quickly tap it on a hard surface 5-6 times, don't get He-Man on it just light taps.

3) If this worked you will see the back light come on, if it didn't the sad face icon will re-appear, just repeat if that happens.

Why this works:

The iPod had a mini hard drive in it. The sad face and folder errors typically mean the iPod is not recognizing the hard drive. Nine times out of ten it is because the hard drive, being a movable object, has become stuck in some way or another. When you constantly get the sad face error you can hold the iPod up to your ear and literally hear the hard drive make a constant clicking noise, that lets you know that it is stuck. So the taps kinda free the hard drive to allow the iPod to recognize it.

One last thing, very RARELY when you get your iPod to re-boot with this method you will see that it appears all your songs are erased. This is not the case, just do the reset and repeat the process and your songs will be back.

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