iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Fourth Edition

The iPod’s Self-Help Modes

If you’ve used a computer for any length of time, you know they can sometimes crash, lock up, or have days when they’re just not feeling well. Fortunately, just like your computer, you can reboot your iPod; all you have to do is push the right sets of buttons.

Note

Starting with the iPod Mini in early 2004, Apple fundamentally changed the iPod’s hardware controls by placing the buttons directly on the scroll wheel and turning it into a click wheel. Pretty much every new iPod model made after that used the click wheel, including the iPod Photo, the iPod from HP, the U2 Special Edition iPod, the iPod Nano, and the video iPod. If you see button-pushing instructions that refer to a click wheel iPod, they’re referring to any and all of the aforementioned models.

How to Reset an iPod

If your iPod seems frozen, locked up, confused, or otherwise unresponsive, you can reset it without losing your music and data files. Some customized settings may get wiped, and things like Bookmarks in long files, the backlight timer preferences, and On-The-Go Playlists may only be saved from the last time the iPod’s hard drive turned on.

Here’s the iPod’s reset sequence:

1. Slide the Hold switch on and off again.

2. On click wheel iPods—which include most models released in 2004 or later—press and hold down the Menu and center Select buttons. On non-click wheel iPods, press the Menu and Play/Pause buttons on the front of the iPod simultaneously.

   Hold the buttons down until you see the Apple ...