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About Me, you may as well know about me... the perfectionist mad scientist
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or you can Call toll free!!      1-877-iPod-Pro
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About My Work
›iPad Repairs:
›iPhone Repairs:

›iPod Touch Repairs:
›iPod Nano Repairs:
›iPod "Classic" (hard drive model) Repairs:
›My Digital Camera Repairs
›My Cell Phone Repairs
› 1000's of Stories on Repairs I've done from all over the world. Pages -> 550|500|400|300|200|100|50
Customer Comments on my work
My Most Complex Patient Cases
›Ads I run on Craigslist
Other Services & Info
New Announcements & News
Opinions on some iPod models
How to Select a Used iPod
Where to Buy a NEW iPod CHEAPLY
Which Docking Station to buy???
What car adapter should I get???
Opinions on the Microsoft Zune
How To's and Tips
How to Reset Your iPod
Choosing an iPod Format
Format Mac iPod for PC
Copy iTunes Libraries
Add a folder to iTunes Library - Macintosh User
Add a folder to iTunes Library - PC User
How to Rip iPod Movies
These are a few my recent iPod repair experiences.

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Melanie Applebaum called me from St Louis, Missouri
about her daughter Hannah's 120GB 6th generation video iPod. Hannah had dropped it the bath tub the night before and it wouldn't work.

I sent her instructions to send it in and it arrived a few days later. After going through I was able to get everything to work except her hard drive... a major component. I sent Melanie this message about alternatives in the repair.

"Okaaayyyy, I worked on it over the weekend

This is hard....

I've been able to get it all to work except one part, the hard drive.

There are four options at this point.

1) replace the original 120 GB hard drive with a 30GB drive (more than enough space really). The drive is $60 and the labor $40

2) replace the original 120 GB hard drive with a 80GB drive . The drive is $100 and the labor $40

3) replace the original 120 GB hard drive with a 120GB drive. The drive is $120 and the labor $40

4) not repairing it is a possibility, I can close it up after checking it out and refund $20 of the $40 you sent. You can trade it in at an Apple store for 10% off of a new one ($25)

If this were my decision to make, I would go with the 30GB. The larger sizes are rarely needed since the battery fully charged in this iPod will be able to play just 1/25 of the songs if it were fully filled... that's on a 30GB drive and it would only be able to play 1/15 if the 30GB drive were filled with videos. Since it will be cabled to your computer to charge between 15 and 25 times before playing it all once, there is more than enough opportunity to change out the songs on the iPod while it connected to your iTunes Library. Remember the Library is the repository and the iPod player is merely a chalk board that can be changed continually.

Give me an idea of how you want to go.

Frank"

She came back with this,

"Okay, thanks. I know it makes sense to go with the 30 gig and I appreciate your advice but we're going to go with the 120gb. She's going to Israel this summer for a month and wants to have all her "stuff" with her. I have a paypal account so how do I go about paying you through that? Oh, and how long will it take to get it back?"

It was sent back later that day and she got in St Louis at the end of that week. This was a bit more expensive than usual because it was a BRAND NEW product and they wanted it back to factory original.

Fixed - Total cost $75.



Lauren Baker lives in Westminster, Maryland
and emailed me on December 16th 2008 with this message,

"Hi Frank, I am hoping you can help fix my son's I-pod. It fell into the toilet (it was clean) at home and retrieved immediately. We let it dry out for a day or two and it didn't work. I am putting the Ipod in the mail to you today along with a check for $40. My 14 year old spent his own money on this just 6 months ago and he is heart broken.

Thank you for taking a look at it!"

Her son Ryan's iPod was 8GB Touch 1st Generation and it arrived a few days later from the other side of the continent. I was able to get it all working but the device was behaving oddly with circumstances I hadn't seen before.

I got the device cleaned up and it seemed to work, but when it was plugged into a USB wall adapter it would not go through the entire boot up. It would get part way there and quit. Since it's a solid state device, it shouldn't be a question of current. It should work through the USB connection plugged into the Apple wall adapter alone.

When I plugged the iPod into a firewire power wall adapter to use the firewire connection, it would go through the boot up and allow me to use the screen and see and play the Katy Perry album on it. When I un-plugged it, the device would shut down as though it had a dead battery, though it showed 1/3 charged when it was plugged into the firewire connection.

So there are two potential issues, is the battery re-charge circuit on the logic board working? and then is the battery holding a charge?

I was been convinced the only way I would know is to de-solder the battery in it and solder in a new one. I do this kind of work only if... well it's the last thing I try.

I soldered in a new battery and it went through the complete boot up and was working on a firewire power connection. I un-plugged it and tried a USB wall adapter but needed over night to see what would happen since a USB connection has less current and takes longer to charge.

By the next morning I could tell the USB power connection was working and the USB data connection was also working

The battery is $19 and the iPod Touch labor rate is a bit because they always take more time at $60, but it works perfectly again now.



Fixed - Total cost $79.



Rich Reinholtz lives in Pocatello, Idaho
and emailed me on January 9th 2009. The message read in part,

"I just saw your site, and I had a question regarding possible repair of my ipod. I had been doing some research that suggested that if an ipod isn't recognized by your computer and itunes (I know it isn't my computer because it happens on multiple computers, and it isn't the cable because I ordered a new one and it's still doing it), that it may be a logic board issue. I had also read that logic boards can't be replaced without losing data.

The information on your site was encouraging in two regards. First, your site stated you had not seen an ipod with a logic board issue that didn't display the starry eyed face. Mine doesn't have that. It works perfectly for playing music. It just won't communicate with my computers (meaning I can't add or remove songs or playlists). This information gives me hope that it might not be a logic board issue after all.

Secondly, your information suggests that even if the LB is the issue, the data can be saved. One of my concerns with repair is losing my data (I have about 52 gb on a 60 gb ipod!!!!).

Can you provide any insight as to what may be causing this issue. I would be happy to have you take a look, but I would also be willing to throw some cash your way if you would be willing to help me troubleshoot, to see if the fix can be done on this end. I really don't want to shell out $130 bucks if I can help it (that's what I paid for it to begin with!).

Thanks in advance for any guidance you might be able to offer."

That was message one and let him know that his USB port was damaged, (probably form a car adapter or docking station) which is why he had no data connectivity. The logic board would have to be replaced.

He came back with,

"my connector plug into the ipod may have gotten wet. Could this have caused a short which fried the LB? Or possibly a connector with a pin that was damaged or bent?

Both of my cables are apple genuine, and I have only plugged the ipod into the wall adapter (also apple) and my usb port of the computer.

Question: can I bring my own part? I have a logic board I had bought and was going to install, but I got cold feet when I saw how elaborate the process. I would hate to have to buy another, but the $40 for labor is reasonable."

I called him to discuss the project, what I could do, and had him send things in. They arrived a few days later. Since there is only a one in three chance that the new logic board would read the drive without having the drive to be re-formatted, I ran a data extraction to pull all the songs off. Then I replaced the logic board, then reformatted the drive and moved the songs over to a directory I created called "add_to_library".



In looking at the photo of the "About" menu you can see there is zero songs but just 14GB of the original 55GB (60GB drive) left. The difference is the 40GB of songs in that "add_to_library" directory. I sent the repaired iPod back with directions on how to add the music back to his iTunes Library again permanently.

The total cost for Rich was $40 including return shipping back and the phone call to outline the project.

Fixed - Total cost $40.





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I'm in Sonoma County... Northern California wine country.

If you live nearby, are traveling through or live in the San Francisco Bay Area bring your iPod to me and I can do the work while you wait or go wine tasting for a while. Send me an email just to make sure I have on hand whatever parts your repair will require.

Call or email me with questions or to set up a repair. You can also call, I am here most days from 8am to 8pm
Toll Free 1-877-IPOD-PRO (1 - 877 - 476-3776)

Send the device to:
    Frank Walburg
    2145 Service Court
    Santa Rosa, Ca 95403-3139
Methods of payment




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