Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - How to run a Disk Scan/chkdsk/fsck and Troubleshoot your iPod

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How to run a Disk Scan/chkdsk/fsck and Troubleshoot your iPod

Posted in Musings.

My 3rd generation iPod is on the way out. I've already replaced the battery and we all know the batteries suck. However, I'm getting weird behavior like skipping over songs, locking up in the middle of songs and the like.

If you want to run the internal full disk scan on your iPod:

Hold down Menu and Play until it reboots and you see the Apple logo
As soon as your see the Apple logo, press Rew/Fw/Menu and the center menu "Select" button all at the same time. That will start the full scan.

It's a good idea to have your iPod plugged into power (I used my car adapter) when you do this scan. It takes about 5 minutes but it's kept me up and running through at least three rough patches.

Posted at 2005-06-21 12:54 PM by Scott
Comments [8]
Permalink

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 4:36:52 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

I've had my iPod for 3-4 months and I have the same deal where it skips over songs. Have you found any info on this? Called Apple, they didn't have any suggestions so they told me to send it in. I did, and all I got was my iPod back with no explanation. I called again and they said, "it worked while it was here." I will try your suggestion and see what's what.

Todd

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 6:50:53 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

You did apply for the iPod settlement, right?

http://www.appleipodsettlement.com/

My 3g iPod is having some issues as well, but I won't be bothering with replacing the battery. As soon as the next gen comes out (which hopefully won't be too much longer), I plan to pick up a new one instead. (hopefully using the $50 settlement check, if I can find my original iPod receipt that is)

In the mean time, I'll try your suggestion to see if that does anything for my non-battery related issues... thanks!

PS: are you planning to fix your weblog-code any time soon so people can leave comments from firefox as well? only works from IE for me...

Luke Hutteman

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 8:04:01 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Luke...I'm leaving this comment from FireFox, and lots of other folks are also...you're the first to say anything. What symptom are you seeing?

If you're hitting Save and getting the same page again with a different captcha you're likely rejecting my session cookie. Check and see if you've blacklisted my domain or something or if you're running AdBlock or some FireFox add-in that is messing with it.

Scott Hanselman

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 9:26:34 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

The only extensions I have installed on this box are NukeAnything and ieView. What happens when I press Save Comment is...

Luke Hutteman

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 9:28:52 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

WTF? it worked this time!

I swear this failed this morning and also a week ago or so when I tried to comment on some other post of yours...

weird...

Luke Hutteman

Sunday, September 04, 2005 10:02:37 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

How do you know when the scan starts? Does it say on the screen?

Ratzi'sGirl

Monday, October 24, 2005 10:17:44 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

To enter diagnostic on the Ipod mini; after performing a reset (hold select and menu until the rotten apple appears), hold the select and left arrow to enter diagnostics.

B-diddy

Wednesday, November 09, 2005 4:25:17 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

I have the same problem but i can start the scan, I've checked and checked again i'm holding down the right keys at the right time... can anyone suggest anything?