How to reset a locked up iPod Nano
July 20 Carl Nelson
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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!
Filed under: Consumer Electronics
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?
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!