⟐ Commented August 15, 2022 at 23:21 MST

My very original 5GB first generation iPod is finally giving out. My wife worked for an Apple company years ago when these came out and she got it as a perk for working for Apple. Well, it has been a helluva great toy, but the hard drive is wearing out (bearing I would assume) and the battery isn't quite what it used to be. So, I want to fix it. I saw this video online and thought that might work, but not sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43ziWVWS4...

Can you advise? If the compact flash card isn't compatible, can I get a new drive? Preferably larger than 5GB I hope..

Many thanks..

Randall

⟐ Commented February 24, 2016 at 21:26 MST

⟐ Answered August 12, 2025 at 10:07 MST

⟐ Commented May 19, 2022 at 21:00 MST

⟐ Commented March 12, 2021 at 19:49 MST

Can someone help me?....PLEASE! Looked into this a dozen times over the past 5-6 years at various times, then give up. Found this site tonight and have hope.

THANK YOU & appreciate any insights you can offer.

⟐ Answered January 18, 2011 at 21:53 MST

Any ideas? Could the "new" battery be old and unable to charge?

Thanks for your help!

⟐ Commented January 09, 2020 at 9:54 MST

Anyways, the iPod has been in a box somewhere , for more than 5 years now. Bought it used and besides replacing the battery once or twice, had no problems with it.

Then I started to notice, that I had to hold the firewire cable at a certain angle to the iPod to charge it up. At first it was no big deal. Just plug it in and gently push the cable in one direction or another. Like it was lining up one or more pins between the cable and plug.

It just seemed like the port was showing its age, and not as tight as when new.

Eventually it got to where it would take too long to find the 'hot spot' so it would charge. Had to hold it 'just' right and hope it would stay in that position after you walked away. Too much of a hassle so I stopped using it.

I've never seen iPod firewire components for sale anywhere, but haven't really looked either. I haven't looked at the innards as of yet, but I'm hoping it's no big deal to replace the component, or the board it's on. Or solder a new female firewire plug into the old brick.

Whatever works and is cheap.

Anyone have a similar experience with a 1st release iPod? Any advise?

Thanks!

⟐ Commented August 15, 2022 at 23:44 MST

The last thing of note would be the noise that the hard drives are making. When the iPod is plugged in but not being accessed by the computer, I hear normal whirring as a hard drive should. But if I attempt to restore the iPod or format the drive, consistent clicking sound can be heard. This was the case for the 3 different drives I tried to use for this iPod. Maybe I am unlucky and got 3 dead drives, but I certainly doubt so.

Hope I could find a solution here, really want to get this treasure up and running again. I will provide any screenshots or descriptions if I had missed something out. And thanks for anyone who bothered to read and help out here. I love iFixit and the community.

⟐ Answered January 14, 2022 at 3:25 MST

⟐ Commented June 25, 2025 at 16:26 MST

⟐ Commented April 24, 2016 at 15:13 MST

Has anyone ever done that or have any tips regarding FW to USB connector?

All,

thanks for your replies, much appreciated.

At the moment I have a Sosche usb-to-firewire adapter on the iPod HiFi, and on top of that I have the Auris skye wifi adapter, making it possible to stream AirPlay music straight to the iPod HiFi. The solution is very elegant, the looks not so much...

I am pondering buying a second set of the Sosche and Auris skye, strip them of plastic and combine them into a smaller package (3D printed new housing perhaps) but that project is for a really rainy day, though

⟐ Commented November 23, 2022 at 21:03 MST

Windows 10 Pro

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590 CPU @ 3.30GHz

16GB Ram

64-bit OS

⟐ Answered July 16, 2021 at 11:56 MST

⟐ Commented April 29, 2021 at 12:42 MST

⟐ Answered April 03, 2026 at 22:18 MST

⟐ Commented October 26, 2025 at 9:43 MST

⟐ Answered January 03, 2024 at 10:18 MST

⟐ Answered July 30, 2022 at 0:29 MST

I desolder scroll wheel completely in order to replace central button.

I've got capacitors in the mail today. Here is couple of pictures after disassembly of scroll wheel with heat gun. I replaced central button already, but having issue to put it in disk mode or reset.

In order to reset you have to push PLAY and MENU at the same time and after logo appears let it go and press REW,FF and CENTRAL button, but the thing is when I pushed PLAY and MENU it's start up's and I hear HDD spins, but right after I letting it go off buttons in order to proceed with next sequence of REV,FF,Central button it's shuts off with vertical stripe on display.

If I keep holding my fingers on the PLAY and MENU for extended time it's keeps loading to the point of folder icon, but as soon as I let go it's shut off.

Is anyone knows or could point me to right direction with this issue? It's seems iPod loosing contacts when I let go of this buttons and just shuts off.

I've got capacitors in the mail today. Here is couple of pictures after disassembly of scroll wheel with heat gun. I replaced central button already, but having issue to put it in disk mode or reset.

In order to reset you have to push PLAY and MENU at the same time and after logo appears press REW,FF and CENTRAL button, but The thing is when I pushed PLAY and MENU it's start up's and I hear HDD spins, but right after I letting it go off buttons in order to proceed with next sequence of REV,FF,Central button it's shuts off with vertical stripe on display.

If I keep holding my fingers on the PLAY and MENU for extended time it's keeps loading to the point of folder icon, but as soon as I let go it's shut off.

Is anyone knows or could point me to right direction with this issue? It's seems iPod loosing contacts when I let go of this buttons and just shuts off.

⟐ Answer unaccepted March 17, 2022 at 11:10 MST

⟐ Commented September 06, 2021 at 9:03 MST