iPod Photo Malfunctions?
I recently got the new 60-gig iPod Photo, and ran into the following malfunctions:
1) the clickwheel often refuses to allow me to shut the unit off. When I hold down the bottom "Play/Pause" button, instead of going into power-off mode, it either tries to advance to the next menu or it just sits there. I figured out a workaround by using the external wired remote control; when you hold the play/pause button on the remote, the unit turns off every time. Still a pain in the ###.
2) I've encountered occasionally crashes and freezes, particularly when playing back Apple Lossless-encoded audio files. I've had the unit just freeze right in the middle of a song and refuse to do anything. Resets don't work; nothing helps except waiting for the battery to die, then I've been able to revive the unit through the dock. Interestingly, most of these crashes have disappeared once I started using AAC-encoded files instead.
If anybody has any tips or further workarounds, I'd like to hear them.
--Marc W.
[1062 byte] By [
MusicTrax] at [2007-11-10 4:40:08]
# 1 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
I've had the problem with the unit not wanting to turn off a couple of times on my 40Gb. Not sure what caused it, but in my case a reset of the device (ie, Hold Select and Menu) seemed to fix the problem both times.
Unfortunately, I only play AAC and MP3 files, so I can't really comment on the issues of the device freezing up (mine has never frozen up). Obviously, with Apple Lossless encoded files (or, for that matter, any higher bit-rate file), there is going to be more hard drive activity, which would put more stress on the device.
Hopefully somebody in here who uses their iPod photo for Apple Lossless can confirm that it works for them, as I wouldn't think this is normal behaviour, so it's possible you've got a bad unit.
# 2 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
Originally posted by jhollington
I've had the problem with the unit not wanting to turn off a couple of times on my 40Gb. Not sure what caused it, but in my case a reset of the device (ie, Hold Select and Menu) seemed to fix the problem both times.
No, I'm very much aware of how to reset an iPod. But what do you do when the unit ignores the reset command? It's at times like this that I desperately wanted a mechanical reset switch, like the little pinhole in which you'd have to shove a paperclip to eject a jammed floppy on the old Macs. Hell, if they had just spent another two cents and given us a hardware "on/off" switch, that would've been fine by me; somethings work better in hardware, not software.
I suspect what's happened is that a bunch of bad click-wheels came out of the factory, and they intermittantly fail. The fact that the external remote works fine tells me the clickwheel is at fault here.
--Marc W.
# 3 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
Originally posted by MusicTrax
But what do you do when the unit ignores the reset command?
Well, that would be another story. You had only mentioned that the device wouldn't power off. In my particular case, I found that hold down Play/Pause actually did very briefly power the device off, but it would immediately come back on, so this was obviously a different problem.
I tend to agree with your assessment that it's probably the click wheel in this case. That coupled with your lockups when playing audio files should probably be enough to justify returning it for a replacement unit.
# 4 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
Originally posted by jhollington
In my particular case, I found that hold down Play/Pause actually did very briefly power the device off, but it would immediately come back on, so this was obviously a different problem.
Ah, I've seen that one as well -- the unit powers off for a second, then immediately comes back up. I think it's an intermittant connection in the play/pause (bottom) part of the clickwheel. Usually if I try it a second time, I can get the iPod Photo to turn off and stay off.
Again, if I use the wired remote control, it works perfectly every time. Have you tried using the remote yet? Of all the accessories I've gotten for the iPod so far, this is by far the most indispensible. Hell, for $600, they should throw it in for free with the 60-gig iPod Photo.
--Marc W.
# 5 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
Originally posted by MusicTrax
Ah, I've seen that one as well -- the unit powers off for a second, then immediately comes back up. I think it's an intermittant connection in the play/pause (bottom) part of the clickwheel. Usually if I try it a second time, I can get the iPod Photo to turn off and stay off.
In my case, I had to reset the device before I could get it to stop doing that, which led me to believe that it was a firmware issue. However, it's happened so infrequently (only twice) that I can't really say for certain.
Have you tried using the remote yet? Of all the accessories I've gotten for the iPod so far, this is by far the most indispensible. Hell, for $600, they should throw it in for free with the 60-gig iPod Photo.
Yes, I have the wired remote, and the Navipod. With the wired remote, I of course leave my iPod well protected within my jacket, and use the remote to control my music volume and play/pause. In fact, I have an eVest, and since all the pockets are connected, the way that I have it wired up right now is that the iPod sits in my breast pocket, and I then run the remote control down to my left-hand pocket, and then run the earphones back up to my collar -- all inside the eVest. This way, I can control playback from the remote simply by placing my hand in my pocket (where it usually resides anyway... :) ).
The only thing I'm a bit disappointed with is that the remote control can't be used to control slideshows at this point. That would be a very useful feature for giving slideshow presentations.
Hopefully they can address that with a firmware update.
# 6 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
Originally posted by MusicTrax
1) the clickwheel often refuses to allow me to shut the unit off. When I hold down the bottom "Play/Pause" button, instead of going into power-off mode, it either tries to advance to the next menu or it just sits there.
I had exactly the same problem on my 60 gb photo. I would try and turn the thing off and it would flicker back to life as soon as I released the pause/play button!
And do you know what -- the solution was very simple. The backlight timer appeared to have been set to 'Always On'. Changing this setting to a fixed time (i.e. 5 secs or whatever) completely eliminated the 'problem'!
It may not be the solution in your case but it might well be worth a check ...
womble at 2007-11-15 13:17:57 >
# 7 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
Originally posted by womble
The backlight timer appeared to have been set to 'Always On'. Changing this setting to a fixed time (i.e. 5 secs or whatever) completely eliminated the 'problem'! It may not be the solution in your case but it might well be worth a check ...
Nope, both the 40-gig and my own 60-gig iPod Photo units were (and are) set to 10-seconds for Backlight. So that ain't it.
I think we're just a victim of bad software here. The machines are a little flakey, though in general, I'm pretty happy with them.
--Marc W.
# 8 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
I have the exact same problem.. At first I thought it was just me... But then, I figured out what was happening:
If the backlight was off, and I help the button, nothing would happen... when I released, the backlight came on, and it did whatever the play button did at that time... Then, i'd press puase, and then, with the backlight ON, i could hold it and it would turn off.. Very strange...
# 9 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
Only problem I have had so far is when I scroll back from ...say..a song I am playing to the main menu, and I hold pause to shut it down, it doesnt shut down ! only when I release it and try again, it shuts down.
I dont think I forgot something ?
So far no freezes for my pod.
60Gig photo ipod
# 10 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
Originally posted by shiddle
Only problem I have had so far is when I scroll back from ...say..a song I am playing to the main menu, and I hold pause to shut it down, it doesnt shut down ! only when I release it and try again, it shuts down.
The workaround I've tried for this problem is as follows:
1) pause the song
2) unplug the headset
3) then push down the play/pause button ont he clickwheel and hold it down for five seconds.
Generally, that seems to shut it down about 70% of the time.
But as I said above, if you get the wired remote for the iPod, the REMOTE can turn the unit off every time. So I'm 100% convinced this is a clickwheel/software bug.
--Marc W.
# 11 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
thanx for sharing your method of shutting the ipod photo down ..I hope a software update will be released soon, cause this looks idd like a common bug..too bad :<
another way of shutting it down is throwing it off a 10 storie building, only problem is u cant use it afterwards...
# 12 Re: iPod Photo Malfunctions?
Originally posted by shiddle
another way of shutting it down is throwing it off a 10 storie building, only problem is u cant use it afterwards...
Oh, I considered tossing it off a building, too. What kills me is that Apple didn't even put a simple mechanical reset button on the thing, even one accessible with a paperclip or something. That, plus the lack of a battery slot, is a real irksome design flaw. To me, if the entire cellphone industry has figured out how to make user-replaceable batteries, Apple could do it, too, in the iPod.
--Marc W.
