You’ll never hear me saying things like “I love my Nano”. Unlike most Apple fanboys, I don’t follow the brand like a cult. If they make a product I don’t like – like overpriced laptops with one mouse button – then I’ll avoid it. But if they make one that looks great, I’ll pick it up. That’s why I ordered an iPod Nano the day it was first announced. I ignored all iPods (and most other brands of MP3 players) before it, because the big ones were too big, the “Minis” were poorly designed (and hardly mini) and the Shuffles were just retarded. But the Nano perfectly blends a super slim form factor with a good interface and reasonable storage space.
However, my Nano is starting to let me down. Just now, it locked up for the second time this month. It seems to happen when I try to switch a song – it will just freeze, and the backlight will stay on.
This blog post is mostly for myself, so I don’t have to search for a solution every time. If your Nano freezes on you, do the following:
- Set the “Hold” switch to On
- Set it back to Off
- Press and hold the “Menu” and Center buttons for a few seconds
After that, your Nano should reset, and hopefully your music will still be there. So far I have done this twice, and the drive did not get wiped.
So yeah, I don’t love my Nano, and never did. I used to like it, but not so much anymore.
If anyone knows what causes this freezing problem, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!
Thank you! :)
Hi, mine has locked up today for first time in a year and the reset above is not working – any other suggestions?
update 2…ignore above…it did work! I was just being an idiot and had hold on when doing reset :-(
my ipod lock button is on lock and when i push it to unlock, the ipod doesnt unlock. my computor recognizes it, it just doesn’t unlock. any suggestions?
Did you find a fix for your locked ipod mine did the same thing and i can’t get it to work even had the hold switch relpaced.
Eric
thanks man. Mine just locked up for the first time and that did the trick!
thanks so much! mine just froze for the first time & this trick saved it. yay!
Omfg dude i almost wanna marry you thank you so much !!!! hold menu and the middle button people it works! Thank you again
I want to marry you too! Mine just froze up today for the first time (got it for xmas)….googled for help, found your posting! IT WORKED!!! Thanks for your help!
Man, thanks, hooked it up to my ps3 and it froze, thanks to this i can listen to my nano again…thanks. Lol.
Dude you rock
Thanks so much. Mine locked up today for the first time and I had no idea what to do. You saved me a trip to the Apple store :)
hey well it worked for u guys bu it didnt to me and i cant get it to work..any other suggestion that mught help me???
Thank you very much!
It totally worked well, thank you so much
worked. ty
worked thanks a bunch lots of love sara
Froze for the first time. This worked perfect. Thanks.
My ipod isn’t frozen it just thinks it’s on hold when its not – so no button pushing works because it’s locked! Help! This isn’t a case where menu and select will work.
I thought I was going to have to buy a new one. Thanks for you help.
Thanks man, that did the trick!!
I’ve had my nano for almost a year and it locked up on me today and the reset WORKED!! Thanks carl you the man!
Thanks :-)
THANK YOU!!! ONLY BAD THING WAS WHEN I LOST SOME OF THE MOVIES THAT WERE ON THERE. I THINK MY SON WILL LIVE!! THE REASON OURS FROZE WAS DUE TO EARLY EJECTING OF THE USB PORT. MAYBE LEAVING IT FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME ON CHARGE COULD BE CAUSING THIS ISSUE THANKS AGAIN…FIRST TIME NANO OWNER! *****
Thanks so much Carl…awesome tip. It worked on mine first try!
thanks dude, idk wat to do so i just opened and read and it worked like new
thaT SHIT WORKED RITE ON DUDE!!!!!
Thanks for posting this….it worked to reset mine. Too bad I had to run 5 miles with no music this morning when it locked up. Next time I’ll know how to fix.
Wicked moves Carl, Brought this nano as a present for my little girl for X-mas & locked up two weeks later. Worked first time. Cheers…
Thank you sir!! I just bought mine and it locked up 1 minute and 12 seconds into the first song I played, lol. You saved me a trip back to Best Buy.
For those that care, it locked up when I pluged it into the computer WHILE the song was playing. I guess I won’t do THAT again. =P
My son pushed the buttons too hard then it locked up. Thanks for the information. your solution worked.
Fabulous! My niece told me this a year ago but I forgot how to do it. Thanks a bunch!
Add my name to the list of people you’ve saved! If only it had locked up at home instead of at the gym! Many thanks.
worked perfectly. Mine just locked up for the first time. I was using my nike+ (fun little gadget for getting a new runner motivated!) and it locked up when I was ending the workout. Luckily my info for the run was still there as was my music. Thanks!
:( scratch that…it looks like the run was lost after all.
thanks alot……….mine froze after plugging in to usb port while on too….wont do that again either…..thanks its workin fine
Thanks so much!
Biggest pile of crap ever. The only mp3 player I’ve had that locks up on a regular basis. I thought apple stuff was supposed to be bulletproof.
My IPOD Nano is on LOCK mode (LOCK icon is always on) cannot do the reset and hold thing…. can anyone help…..
LOCK BUTTON- is seams like those of us with the lock button problem dont have an answer here– has anyone found the solution to those of us who cant get the lock logo off and thus can not get the Nanoto function— i have wiped the clean and reset all factory functions (through the laptop)- the unit is still locked.
my son was messing with my Ipod and he put a combination lock on it and I dont know what the combination is how can I reset it?
hi mellissa to reser you ipod slide the hold swtch to hold and back again. Then press both the menu and the midle button for about 6 seconds until the apple logo apears
Guys, when your Nano was locked up and done the 2 thinsgs mentioned below (reset & MIDDLE BUTTON+MENU), your nano needs to be opened and checked on the hold switch. Mine needs pad inside the nano to make contact to the board.
as with others, my wife’s Nano locked up for the first time after a year of being OK. The reset worked – THANKS SO MUCH.
thank u so much
WOW … second time mine locked up. Last time I had to just leave it on until it ran down and then it went off and I was able to recharge it and it was fine. THANKS SO MUCH. That actually worked!!! BTW … after the 1st time, I backed it up … scared me into it.
My iPod has a huge padlock on the screen, and a combination lock. I have absolutely no idea how or why this happened, and help would be much appreciated.
OMG thanks it worked
Hey, I just bought a yellow nano cromatic. A couple days ago I was using it and all of a sudden it locked right up. My computer doset reconize it, and I have tried reseting it any times. If any one knows any thing that might fix my problem it would be greaty appreaciated.
Thank you!!! I figured that there had to be a way to do that!!!!
More than 2 years later and your post is still “saving people’s life” ! ;-)
Thanks a lot!
hey thanks it helped.
mine did this twice in 2 weeks.
sometimes my menu button doesnt work. do you know why?
hey but wat if ur sis resets the lock combination on your ipod nano and then falls asleep and dosent remember it how do u unlock it.
Wow, it worked! Awesome!
hey uh i dnt remember my lock code wut do i do
OMG I love the internet!! It worked and saved me alot of hassels Thanx
ya it worked 4 me but then i pluged it back into the computer and it said that it synced all my songs back on but it actually wipped all my songs off my ipod and was usin up all my gbs
Thank u guys for info it helped me to unlock mine too! xoxo
Thanks! Your tip fixed my wife’s nano and restored peace to my household. Great tip!
Thanks, I used to have to wait till the battery ran down to reset mine. This worked great.
Hey ummm my ipod had started to the main menu but it just went back to the combonation lock omg i am getting freakin pissed~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My friend locked her ipod and now she forgot her combo and we do not know what to do if it is locked no way to open it as far as we know… And we wondered if there is a way to unlock it?
holding down the play/pause and the centre button used to work for me, but now it doesn’t… the only way to clear my nano lockup is to let the battery run down
if anyone knows any other methods I would be more than happy to hear them!!
i like to listen to my ipod when I can’t get to sleep, but inevitibly it locks up about two hours after I switch it on, so if I fall asleep while it’s playing it’s at least another full day before the battery runs down before I can listen to it again. Last night it locked up at 5.02 and it’s still got battery power and won’t unlock! It’s now 1.25am and I have to get up for work at 7… I could do with it working now grrrr!!!
Thanks it worked. Mine locked up while it was charging. Really wierd.
thanks a ton….sure worked….cheers
can anyone help me the Problem with my ipod is that when undocked it is locked however will plug into PC and you can upload songs videos photos etc then play them back using the docking station.
how can i get it to unlock
My ipod has been locked for about a month. Absolutely, totally, nothing works. and i’ve tried everything, i’ve scanned forums, i’ve searched manuals. I’ve toggled the lock on and off button and held the menu and centre button. I’ve searched to see if there’s a ‘locked’ file in my hidden folders, as others have suggested. I’ve let it run out of battery several times. I’ve even restored it to factory settings, several times, wiping my music in the process. About a week ago, i gave it a good whack on a bookcase, and it unlocked! So, overjoyed, I happily listened to music, overwhelmed by how much I love my music. And then… half an hour later… it locked itself again. Bashing it up doesn’t work now. NOTHING WORKS!!!! Last time I ever buy Apple….
If anyone has any suggestions, anything at all, let me know!
hey but wat if ur sis resets the lock combination on your ipod nano and then falls asleep and dosent remember it how do u unlock it.
Worked (!). My iPhone (and my wife’s too) also locks up frequently . . . the trigger seems to be when I’m on the phone and an alert triggers – either received mail, message or an appointment. You can’t hang up, the screen doesn’t respond (it’s blank) and you have to fight the urge to flush the thing down the toilet. Similarly – if you’re on a call and an alert comes through, you must respond to the alert before you can do hang up or do anything else related to your immediate priority – the call. Not very well thought out . . .
Look i’ve tryed every thing that i was asked to do and it will not unlock , so if there are any other way to do it let me know , because i’m completely locked out and if that is the case where it dosen’t change i will never buy one of these things again, all i want is to use it during work i’m a landscaper i need my music please help
Thanks much, you just saved me a frickin hassle! Only had this one since Mother’s day :(
whew thanks a lot! i almost freaked out i thought my ipod was a goner!
Thanks – this also helped with a nano that would only charge on any docking station but didn’t react to the docking station’s play/pause/ffd/rew etc buttons!
I tried everything too, to no avail, then I bashed it a few times and it finally worked – placed it on a book with the scree facing down and hit it on the back with large scissor handles :-) very pleased, though not pleased with the neanderthal-like method to fix what seems to be a very common 2010 problem!
My IPOD nano locked up. The screen stayed lit and none of the conventional methods to make it work were affective. I placed it in the freezer overnight. It may have been in there for 8 hours at about 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit. I got up the next morning took it out of the freezer and the buttons began to respond. The idea came from a friend that had a computer hard drive fail and placed it in the freezer. I’m aware that the IPOD uses IC chips for memory vice the disk in a hard drive but this worked.
I figured this wouldn’t work because I’ve got an older generation nano but it did and I didn’t have to wait 8+hours for my freshly charged battery to die. I’ve had this for many more years than I expected to and it’s just started to give me problems in the last few weeks…I suppose it’s at the end of its life :(. Thanks, and good luck with yours!!
Thanks Carl u saved me for a lot of trouble :) and it worked just as u said!
Cheers…
Julian
Thankyou
You stopped a little girl’s tears and made Papa’s life that much easier :)
Regards
Dec
I flippin love you! Thanks soooooo MUCH!
THANKS! Quick solution for sure! I too love the internet! Great advice friend!
my ipod nano has been locked for a while and i didnt set a combination for it and ive tried everything and it dont work so if u have any ideas let me know
my girlfriends ipod nano was dropped into water,let dry and now it will not unlock, what do i do?
I think her ipod nano is more “destroyed” than “locked” sorry
whew it worked again!! i gotta admit i almost forgot about this whole resetting thing as i initially panicked when windows didnt recognize my drained nano and talked shit about replacing the device so i thought it’s a different problem this time. ithought it has something to do with the internal battery but then i remembered having a bookmark on resetting this damned piece and here i am rejoicing in this comment. thank you once again!
i can’t believe i almost throw that crap away and almost give apple another considerable amount of $$. screw apple for that unwarranted random LOCK.
wisdom: “before ye buy another nano, hold menu+center button, and kicketh apple in teh crotch!”
Thanks man ! It works for me ! :)
you’re my best friend right now.
when my IPod was connected and itunes lost my music on my IPod and most of whats on my IPod is’nt on my computer! then it wouldn’t disconnect so I just pulled it out because there was nothing else I could think to do and it still said it was connected and got stuck like that….
Saved my 2 hour car journey acoss London. You da maan!