Monday, May 09, 2005
iPod Surgery
So, my iPod is toast.
Toast
I think its hard drive went on the fritz a few days after I dropped it getting out of the car with my arms full. At first it started to skip while playing songs, then its screen would freeze sometimes and finally it refused to turn on properly. Rather than the usual menu coming on-screen, the Apple symbol would be replaced with a flashing folder, or else an unhappy face (the sad iPod icon). I've tried to reset it, reformat the drive and go back to 'factory settings' but all to no avail. I've enquired on the 'Net about getting it fixed, but I would have to pay to ship it to the States, pay for the diagnostic tests and then pay for the repairs and the cost of a new drive, and finally pay to have it shipped back to me in Canada. All of this would cost over 250 US dollars and would leave me with a repaired, scratched, slightly elderly (three-year-old) iPod, while a brand new, next generation iPod with a colour screen and a hard drive twice the size would rush me about 400 dolleros, so I decided to bite the bullet and buy a new one, which will be arriving later this week.
So it's all good then, as the Canadians say here. Except for one thing - what do you do with a broken iPod? Wear it as a fashion statement? Hang it on the wall? Use it as a paper weight? I enquired about selling it for parts, but was informed I would get only 30 dollars for it. After a few days indecision, and in the knowledge that a new one is coming anyway (so I've got nothing to lose), I decided to put my training to good use and carry out some Big Surgery on the 'Pod to see if I could save the say against the odds. Of course, Apple says 'there are no user-serviceable parts in the iPod', so opening it up isn't supposed to be possible for the average user, and opening it invalidates any warranty left on it (none in this case).
So here's what happened:
First problem is getting into the thing. As you can see, the pearly white front and the shiny silver back are snapped as tightly together as you can imagine.
Tight
So I took a little Stanley jeweller's screwdriver with a 2 mm blade and started to see if I could pry the two apart.
This is going to hurt a bit...
It took a while and there were a few tiny scratches on the white side, but I eventually got the blade wedged into the space:
Got it!
It was a bit tense for a minute (didn't want to crack the screen, or plunge the blade into my hand), but with a little bit of wiggling, I managed to free one side of the casing and then the rest came away.
Making progress now
The whole back came free and the iPod opened up like a book:
Open Sesame!
I was now able to get a look at the hard drive, just inside the back cover, sitting in its little blue shock-absorber:
Hard Drive
and a bit closer:
Shock absorber off
and closer still:
The offending article
The hard drive is attached by a little connector which allows it to lever up and out of the iPod, and it slides out of this to let a new drive be put in. At this stage, not having a new drive to install, I put it all loosely back together and set it aside:
Done for Now
So that's where we are for now - the iPod _can_ be opened up without destroying it and the drive can be replaced. Now all I have to do is find a cheapo drive on ebay for 50 dollars or so and fit it to the iPod and my old iPod will be resurrected! And then I'll have a nice new one and an old one I can bring to work and use in the OR! So the iPod is now sitting waiting patiently in a quiet corner for its new drive:
Waiting patiently
iPod Surgery for Beginners - isn't it great?
J
Toast
I think its hard drive went on the fritz a few days after I dropped it getting out of the car with my arms full. At first it started to skip while playing songs, then its screen would freeze sometimes and finally it refused to turn on properly. Rather than the usual menu coming on-screen, the Apple symbol would be replaced with a flashing folder, or else an unhappy face (the sad iPod icon). I've tried to reset it, reformat the drive and go back to 'factory settings' but all to no avail. I've enquired on the 'Net about getting it fixed, but I would have to pay to ship it to the States, pay for the diagnostic tests and then pay for the repairs and the cost of a new drive, and finally pay to have it shipped back to me in Canada. All of this would cost over 250 US dollars and would leave me with a repaired, scratched, slightly elderly (three-year-old) iPod, while a brand new, next generation iPod with a colour screen and a hard drive twice the size would rush me about 400 dolleros, so I decided to bite the bullet and buy a new one, which will be arriving later this week.
So it's all good then, as the Canadians say here. Except for one thing - what do you do with a broken iPod? Wear it as a fashion statement? Hang it on the wall? Use it as a paper weight? I enquired about selling it for parts, but was informed I would get only 30 dollars for it. After a few days indecision, and in the knowledge that a new one is coming anyway (so I've got nothing to lose), I decided to put my training to good use and carry out some Big Surgery on the 'Pod to see if I could save the say against the odds. Of course, Apple says 'there are no user-serviceable parts in the iPod', so opening it up isn't supposed to be possible for the average user, and opening it invalidates any warranty left on it (none in this case).
So here's what happened:
First problem is getting into the thing. As you can see, the pearly white front and the shiny silver back are snapped as tightly together as you can imagine.
Tight
So I took a little Stanley jeweller's screwdriver with a 2 mm blade and started to see if I could pry the two apart.
This is going to hurt a bit...
It took a while and there were a few tiny scratches on the white side, but I eventually got the blade wedged into the space:
Got it!
It was a bit tense for a minute (didn't want to crack the screen, or plunge the blade into my hand), but with a little bit of wiggling, I managed to free one side of the casing and then the rest came away.
Making progress now
The whole back came free and the iPod opened up like a book:
Open Sesame!
I was now able to get a look at the hard drive, just inside the back cover, sitting in its little blue shock-absorber:
Hard Drive
and a bit closer:
Shock absorber off
and closer still:
The offending article
The hard drive is attached by a little connector which allows it to lever up and out of the iPod, and it slides out of this to let a new drive be put in. At this stage, not having a new drive to install, I put it all loosely back together and set it aside:
Done for Now
So that's where we are for now - the iPod _can_ be opened up without destroying it and the drive can be replaced. Now all I have to do is find a cheapo drive on ebay for 50 dollars or so and fit it to the iPod and my old iPod will be resurrected! And then I'll have a nice new one and an old one I can bring to work and use in the OR! So the iPod is now sitting waiting patiently in a quiet corner for its new drive:
Waiting patiently
iPod Surgery for Beginners - isn't it great?
J
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