7 Replies Latest reply: Apr 7, 2012 1:22 AM by the fiend
seabrookgal Level 1 Level 1 (0 points)

I always thought that I could return my Ipod to Apple to have the battery replaced.  Now I'm reading that if you send it to Apple, they will send you a replacement IPod and not transfer any of your songs.  Is that true?  I just want a new battery!  Cindy

iPod classic, Windows XP
  • 1. Re: battery replacement IPod
    the fiend Level 5 Level 5 (7,375 points)

    Yes, that's the way it works. Are you using Sync or Manually Manage for your iPod?


    • If you use Sync, then your songs are all in your iTunes Library, surely?
    • If you use Manually Manage, where are the songs that should be in your library?

    The content on the iPod is a copy of your iTunes Library, and should not be relied upon as your only copy. If you can, now would be a good time to back up the content of your iPod. Search through the discussions to find information about recovering music, from an iPod, that isn't in your library.

  • 2. Re: battery replacement IPod
    seabrookgal Level 1 Level 1 (0 points)

    Thanks for the reply!  I Manually Manage my songs, and only keep those songs in my library that I've purchased.  I have over 3000 songs in my IPod (only 10% which have been purchased).  The rest have been uploaded from CDs, etc.  I don't like keeping that much music on my computer, so I usually delete the songs after I've transferred them.  A battery isn't that hard to change!  I found companies online that will do it much cheaper than Apple charges to replace your Ipod. Also, they can usually save your music. If I had known what a hassle it would be to own an IPod (I can't transfer music to my husband's Ipod, I can transfer music from my IPod back to my computer, etc.), I would have purchased an MP3 player instead.  A person at Best Buy told us those programs to recover music are pretty much illegal. 

  • 3. Re: battery replacement IPod
    the fiend Level 5 Level 5 (7,375 points)

    You're correct, there are cheaper options than Apple for replacing the battery. If you can find one you think is reliable, by all means use it. Since they actually replace the battery (as opposed to Apple's replace the iPod), there should be no problem with your music.


    It's not that owning an iPod is hassle - you should regard the iPod as a copy of your iTunes Library and therefore always have the original version (the iTunes Library) there for when you need it. One thing to note is that eventually, every MP3 player will fail somehow. If your only copy of your music is on the player... ooopps!


    For the future, you may want to keep all your music as a Library on your computer as well as the iPod. The programmes for retrieving music from the iPod are not illegal (as far as I know), nor is using one to recover the music for which you have paid. What is "illegal" is to import CDs into iTunes and then sell the CDs, so that your only copy is the one which you have no right to keep. Without going into too much detail, it's sufficient to say here that when you buy a CD, you actually buy the pyhsical CD but not the music on it. If you then sell the CD, it would be against the rules of copyright to keep a copy of the CD's content for yourself. (There are countless arguement, discussions and points raised about this. And I mean countless!)


    If your computer does not have a large enough hard drive for your music collection, you could always transfer the iTunes Library to an external hard drive. One has to go through a procedure to set it up correctly and then always make sure the external drive is ready before starting iTunes, but it does overcome limited size internal drives.

  • 4. Re: battery replacement IPod
    seabrookgal Level 1 Level 1 (0 points)

    Hey, Fiend,

    THanks again for your advice.  One of the reasons that I delete music off my ITunes Library after I've uploaded it from a CD is that after a month or so, ITunes doesn't recognize the songs and I have to show the "source."  It won't let me play them unless I upload them again.  It's not a problem with computer memory size.  Maybe I just don't really know enough about this stuff.  Jeeze... Maybe you can't teach an old dog new tricks.... Seabrookgal (an old gal)

  • 5. Re: battery replacement IPod
    the fiend Level 5 Level 5 (7,375 points)

    That doesn't make sense. Once you import a song into iTunes, the iTunes progamme should keep the information about the song and therefore there should be no problem "recognising" the song, why would that change? If it is changing, then perhaps Windows Media Player or a similar programme is changing the file information.


    Or is that not what you meant by recognise? I'm also not sure what you mean by "showing the source". Do you mean that the songs get an exclamation mark next to them and if you try playing them you see a message about not being able to find the file?


    If so, then either the song's filenames are being changed, the files are being moved after you have imported them into iTunes, or the drive they're stored on isn't ready when you open iTunes.


    • You can import a song into iTunes and then change the song name etc. in iTunes, but if you rename the "filename" then iTunes will lose the song. If another programme changes the filename, then of course, iTunes will no longer know what it's called.
    • If you move the file after importing, then once again, iTunes loses track of the song.
    • If the iTunes Library is stored on a drive external to the computer, then that drive must be on and ready before iTunes is started. Otherwise, when iTunes looks for its Library, it will not find it. Then it will start a new empty Library on the C:\drive.

    Whatever the issue, you should not have to re-import songs on a continual basis, nor should there be any need to delete them, unless you don't want them any more.


    For instance, I import an album, make any changes necessary to the album's titles etc. and then use Sync with the iPod. If I want to then change any more information, I do it in the Library, then connect the iPod to iTunes for a Sync which will then make the changes on the iPod, and at the same time play counts are transferred from the iPod into iTunes (if you like play counts - many do). That way, I manage my iTunes Library, but let iTunes Sync changes between the Library and iTunes.


    I do not try to make Library changes on the iPod itself while it's connected to iTunes. What I do set - once only - when the iPod is connected to iTunes, are the options for the Photos folder that will be used, that All Ticked Songs and Vidoes are Synced, and All Ticked Podcasts are put on the iPod.


    That way, when my iPod goes to "another place", my new iPod simply has to be connected to iTunes and everything that was on the old iPod would now be on the new one. In fact, I had to do just that, when my 30GB iPod needed a new battery (yes, I got it from Apple), then when my music library became too big for the 30GB iPod, I bought the 160GB Classic.


    Acutally, the is one other time when this becomes important. If ever your iPod requires a Restore, be aware that the Restore procedure erases all the content from the iPod. I don't recall ever having to perform a restore myself, but there are times when it does happen. For such events, iTunes has the Restore feature, which you may notice on the Device/Summary pane (tab) that shows up when the iPod is connected to iTunes.

  • 6. Re: battery replacement IPod
    seabrookgal Level 1 Level 1 (0 points)


    Yes!  After awhile, I go to play a song and it has the exclamation mark next to it.  I haven't done anything to change the names or info on any songs.  These songs will play from my IPod, but not from my computer.  They're songs that I upload from CDs.  But it's also music that my choir director will send for us to listen to (from his MP3 Player).  They will play for a few days, and then I can't play them anymore after that.  So that's another reason I don't tend to keep that stuff on my computer.  I don't know what I can do to prevent this from happening.  Again... thanks for your continued help... Cindy

  • 7. Re: battery replacement IPod
    the fiend Level 5 Level 5 (7,375 points)

    You probably need to work out why the songs are being lost by iTunes, because in the long run, that will cause you big issues, such as the time you need to perform the Restore that I mentioned before.


    Is your library stored on an extrenal hard drive? If so, make sure that the drive is on and ready before you start iTunes. Also, when the drive is ready, it needs to have the same drive letter allocated to it as the previous time.


    If your library is on the internal drive, then it's a different problem, perhaps another programme is re-naming the files. Or, have the files been moved since they were imported? Can you do a search on your computer to try and find the files? If so, are they where they are supposed to be?


    If you don't know how to do this, is there anyone you know who could look at your computer to see if they can work out what is happening?