I have a 4G hp ipod that’s almost two years old. The other day the screen showed the icon that is a caution sign, with a battery, then it went dead. I plugged it into the wall, and nothing happened, so I reset it with the menu and play button. At first, the apple logo popped up, but then it was replaced by a straight line in the center of the screen, then the ipod switched off again. It did this a couple of times, so I tried connecting it to the computer. The do not disconnect screen popped up, and it started to charge for a second, then switched back off. It did this a few times, then the battery finally charged from the usb cord. Now, the only way to turn it on is to reset it.
So, anyone know what’s going on? Should I go ahead and get another battery now?
Try a hard reset/restore to factory settings first. It’s entirely possible that the firmware’s gotten confused and the battery’s OK. There’s also been a firmware patch or two along the way, and more than a few “dead” iPods have been brought back to life after doing the restore.
Please note that the restore will wipe everything off, so be sure you’ve got all your music in iTunes on the PC first.
If the battery does need replacing, it’s kinda-sorta possible to do it yourself. The kinda-sorta is because iPods aren’t meant to be user-serviceable, so it’s challenging to open them without damage. Some more info is here.
