Fixing the iPod Nano Crash

Posted by AtariBoy | Filed under Geeky

If you own an iPod nano you’ll know this crash well, if you plug it into a windows PC while it’s in sleep-mode it doesn’t wake up properly and crashes. None of the buttons work and it seems like it’s completely broken, but there is a away to do a hard reset on your ipod, in fact this should work for any newish ipod if it crashes:

  1. Check that hold switch is in the off position,
  2. Hold down both the menu and then the middle button (in that order), for about 10 secs, this should reboot the ipod.
  3. Once it starts up again its works like normal.

This doesn’t delete any of your music or settings either, its a completely safe way of resetting your ipod.

I believe that the newest firmware update (1.1.1) has fixed this bug as well, but its still very useful to know.

Comments (145) | April 21st, 2006

145 Responses to “Fixing the iPod Nano Crash”

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  1. Sygoomei Says:
    July 19, 2007 at 4:52 pm

    I too would like to thank the proprietors of the site, as my nano froze as it was loading a song.

  2. Kayle(pronounced ka-el) Says:
    July 19, 2007 at 11:49 pm

    my ipod wont download songs at all its a old nano HELP

  3. Quinton Says:
    July 22, 2007 at 4:37 am

    Thank you so much for this! it worked a treat, read the instructions and then when I did what you mentioned and re-boot the I-pod, the thought of “has it deleted all my songs?!!!” then I read on to the end of the post….. Thank you, very much appreciated.

    Quinton.

  4. Chris Says:
    August 3, 2007 at 5:24 am

    Thanks for posting this!

  5. Elliott Says:
    August 4, 2007 at 10:04 pm

    THANKYOU SO MUCH! :D
    I was listening to mine and flicking through songs and it crashed. I’m just glad it works again now!

  6. LB Says:
    October 5, 2007 at 5:44 am

    Great tip. My ipod nano (4GB)crashed while browsing the songs,the trick made it in sleep mode (afterwards the reboot button worked)

  7. Tetting Says:
    October 8, 2007 at 2:54 am

    Great tip,
    saved my video’s I was watching

  8. SacrificialS Says:
    October 10, 2007 at 6:54 pm

    Thanks so much. works like a charm!

  9. Kyle Says:
    October 20, 2007 at 9:50 pm

    Thanks a lot!
    I was about to stress out so bad until I found this!
    May all your future iPods never crash again =)

    Cheers

  10. Free Software Downloads Says:
    October 31, 2007 at 8:40 pm

    Free Software Downloads…

    I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

  11. Jay Says:
    November 11, 2007 at 10:09 pm

    My iPod nano 2 GB constantly crashes when I try to put my songlist on it. I’ve gone to the Apple store and exchanged it three times now and the problem is the same on EVERY iPod they give me. I also do the disk mode/reset thing and that doesn’t prevent the same problem from happening again.
    It’s not a virus condition on my computer or anything since I run a security suite and recently completely reformatted my hard drive.
    Any advice on a solution?

  12. Taoski Says:
    November 12, 2007 at 11:25 am

    Well, the IT support person within me says that if the fault has occurred on 3 different iPods and even after you have reformatted your PC – then it either has to be a corrupt MP3 file or a dodgy playlist.

    Add one track at a time and see which one breaks it!

  13. lynda Says:
    November 20, 2007 at 9:08 am

    thank you so much this saved me from charging up to curry’s!

  14. Joep Says:
    December 21, 2007 at 1:53 pm

    Excellent, you made my day :D

  15. Victoria Says:
    December 26, 2007 at 10:24 am

    You are THE best!!! I love you!! Everything is still there!! Thx!

  16. Kekzor Says:
    January 16, 2008 at 4:49 am

    Fanx!

  17. wilma Says:
    July 13, 2008 at 8:06 am

    yes this works, brilliant, thank you so much!

  18. Ryan Says:
    July 14, 2008 at 6:49 am

    Thanks TONS for the post! Didn’t have a clue how I was going to remove the battery so you just saved my iPod :-) !

  19. Greg Says:
    July 27, 2008 at 6:05 am

    Thank You VERY much. I ‘liberated’ my nano from work for the weekend and now i can replace it without anyone knowing.

  20. Sadie Says:
    July 30, 2008 at 7:29 pm

    Thanks It Works Naw Woop :P

  21. Grateful! Says:
    August 2, 2008 at 3:41 am

    Thanks so much…what a great tip! Thank you for sharing your knowledge, it’s common problem with the nano.

  22. pete Says:
    August 15, 2008 at 1:16 pm

    TOP TIP! thanx

  23. todd Says:
    August 22, 2008 at 1:05 am

    oh thanks so much i was about go on a trip with no music
    5*

  24. Amber Says:
    August 28, 2008 at 11:19 am

    omg i was panicking!!!
    thanks so much!

  25. suzie Says:
    September 7, 2008 at 2:05 pm

    thank you – i looove the internet!!!

  26. Chris Says:
    September 8, 2008 at 8:13 pm

    Wow, I never knew it had a reboot option…thank you so much. Cheers.

  27. kieran g Says:
    September 22, 2008 at 2:07 pm

    ur a genius it saved me from an ass kickin from my dad

  28. Alex Says:
    October 2, 2008 at 11:13 am

    my ipod has crashed and says that its on hold when it isnt what should i do

  29. Yasar Says:
    October 6, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    Nice one mate i panicked for a bit i thort even this might not work but when it rebooted put a smile on my face

  30. ipod Says:
    October 9, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    cheers mate. it does work

  31. Royale Says:
    October 27, 2008 at 2:43 pm

    Thanks, it also works on the new Nano Chromatic :)

  32. Suzie Says:
    November 3, 2008 at 7:46 pm

    OMG I did it just now and it works perfectly now. I’m such a happy camper now. I didn’t do the menu and the middle button seperately though, I did it at the same time. But hey, what works, works :) GOD BLESS THE PERSON WHO GOT THE IDEA!!! <3

  33. Sammi :) Says:
    November 5, 2008 at 11:07 am

    Thanks :) :)

    Was gonna cry till i found this :) :)

  34. Fred Says:
    November 13, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    This bugish behaviour is also found i version 1.1.3 (nano 3rd gen). The fix works like a charm. Thx.

  35. dalos Says:
    November 17, 2008 at 1:06 am

    thankyou thankyou thankyou what a great trick , bless u

  36. Joat JOAT Says:
    November 17, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    Lovely…. you guys are the best

  37. long time listener 1st time crasher Says:
    November 18, 2008 at 3:00 am

    thankyou for the tip. i was on a 6hr drive and my ipod 08 edition totally crashed for last 2hrs of drive. i was really freaking out. i followed your instructions and it worked like a charm.

  38. Ricardo Silva Says:
    November 20, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    Brilliant! Thank you…My I pod Nana was gone completky but thanks to your advice it is sorted!

  39. Lee Says:
    November 22, 2008 at 3:45 pm

    Had this problem today using a windows pc. The fix worked :]
    Think it just shows Apple are no better than Windows, they wouldnt make it act wierd with windows because a large amount of people use windows and wouldnt buy ipods other wise. Dont believe the apple lies people! Linux is the only way forwards!

  40. briana Says:
    December 2, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    i cant believe that actually worked! thats so great :D i never knew what to do when mine crashed, so i’d just leave it until the battery wore down and i had to recharge it again. thanks so much :]

  41. Jennie Says:
    December 16, 2008 at 6:20 pm

    my ipod crashed or whatever, and it didn’t turn on. then i plugged it into the computer so it could charge, then like two days later after charging, it turned on. thennn i listened to it till it was out of battery so i decied to plug it back in to charge and i charged it for like a week, and now it wont turn on. i tried resetting it by holding down the menu and select button, but it still wont turn on. anyhelp ?

  42. Hawk Says:
    December 26, 2008 at 7:11 pm

    Jennie – having the same problem. Received it for Christmas last year. First problem I really had with it was today. While playing a game, the screen went blank. Won’t restart. The screen is dead. It is out of warranty (checked Apples website) but Apple will fix it for $144.40.

  43. Dave Says:
    January 11, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    Very nice! Thanks!

  44. Throwsnano Says:
    February 2, 2009 at 1:27 pm

    Thanks for that!

  45. Brandon Says:
    February 5, 2009 at 11:57 am

    Wow thanks alot you dont know how much this helped :D

  46. Fiona Says:
    February 11, 2009 at 12:32 pm

    Thanks so much. My dd’s 2-week-old Nano 4g crashed when I plugged into the Mac (OSX), and I couldn’t figure out how to reset it. All fixed now – and I know what to do for next time!

  47. Ian Stagg Says:
    February 15, 2009 at 2:30 pm

    Had my 8gb on pause while cabled to pc. Went back to play…nothing! Panic. Used the menu and centre button method. Worked a treat. Many thanks to the brains behind this solution!

  48. Dan Says:
    March 22, 2009 at 7:32 am

    Nice one, thanks alot. Works great.

  49. Richard Says:
    March 25, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    Worked and resolved the issue, many thanks my ipod lives !, and I was going to spend a whole lot of money on getting it repaired.

  50. niamhydee Says:
    April 8, 2009 at 5:54 pm

    dude u r a ledgepants!!! i was about 2cry!!!! whoop whoop!

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