My I-pod Has Gone Wrong.

[Richb2004v2]

My ipod malfunctioned a month or so ago. It seemed to lock up and the screen showed a file with an exclamation mark. Looking on the Apple site it seemed to indicate that it wasn’t anything to serious. I followed instructions and tried to sort it, sadly without success. I eventually took it to an Apple dealer in Pattaya. They tried to remedy it in the shop, also without success. They then sent it to Bangkok for further investigation. After three or four weeks they contacted me/ my wife and told her that there was nothing that can be done! I only returned to Thailand from work a few days ago so have not had chance to talk to them. I am going to go and pick it up and talk to them tomorrow. I find it hard to believe that the ipod is irreparable. It’s not like it was run over by a car. My next step will be to contact apple outside Thailand. I bought the unit outside Thailand. I don’t know if this will effect their commitment to fixing it.

Have any of you any experience with Apple in Thailand, or have any of you had the same problem with your ipod. I really do not wish to have to buy a new one as I have only had it less than two years.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

My ipod malfunctioned a month or so ago. It seemed to lock up and the screen showed a file with an exclamation mark. Looking on the Apple site it seemed to indicate that it wasn’t anything to serious. I followed instructions and tried to sort it, sadly without success. I eventually took it to an Apple dealer in Pattaya. They tried to remedy it in the shop, also without success. They then sent it to Bangkok for further investigation. After three or four weeks they contacted me/ my wife and told her that there was nothing that can be done! I only returned to Thailand from work a few days ago so have not had chance to talk to them. I am going to go and pick it up and talk to them tomorrow. I find it hard to believe that the ipod is irreparable. It’s not like it was run over by a car. My next step will be to contact apple outside Thailand. I bought the unit outside Thailand. I don’t know if this will effect their commitment to fixing it.

Have any of you any experience with Apple in Thailand, or have any of you had the same problem with your ipod. I really do not wish to have to buy a new one as I have only had it less than two years.

How old is it? Is it under guarantee? Sometimes with things like this it can be cheaper to buy a new one.

[penguin]

I bought the unit outside Thailand. I don’t know if this will effect their commitment to fixing it.

I think therein lies your problem. I remember being told last year by a friend in the same situation that Apple Thailand will not service ipods purchased outside of Thailand. I can't remember now if he was trying to have his repaired under warranty or not, maybe that was the problem and you will have better luck.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

I bought the unit outside Thailand. I don’t know if this will effect their commitment to fixing it.

I think therein lies your problem. I remember being told last year by a friend in the same situation that Apple Thailand will not service ipods purchased outside of Thailand. I can't remember now if he was trying to have his repaired under warranty or not, maybe that was the problem and you will have better luck.

I would be very surprised if I-pods don't have an international warranty.

[waldwolf]

From Apple website:

If your iPod is frozen or won't turn on, it may be because iPod is paused or the Hold switch is in the locked position. If so, a lock symbol appears on the screen. Slide the Hold switch to the unlocked position and check the screen.

If you are using your iPod as a hard drive (disk mode), it is normal for "do not disconnect" to remain on the screen until you are ready to eject the iPod in iTunes or from the Mac OS. To avoid having the iPod freeze learn how to eject and disconnect iPod from your computer.

If your iPod is frozen or won't turn on...................................

Details on a possible fix, here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61705

Apple Hardware Warranty, here: http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/hardware.html

Hope this helps.

waldwolf

[hellohello]

Ive used Apple center in Phuket and the one in KL. Both serviced ( replaced) my ipod free of charge. Good service but it took a while. Go to apple website click on service and add your Ipods serial number to see how many days left on your warranty.

http://phuketalpha.com/MacMini.htm

If your near Penang ever I highly recommend these guys.

http://www.cgcomputers.com/

[hellohello]

Another thing:

If your warranty is expired you are SOL. sorry

I cant recommend enough extending with Apple Care- I keep all my apple products up to date- My Ipod has overheated allot here ….

By the way….. I found out Apple care dose not cover tsunami's.

[Richb2004v2]

The i-pod is around 18 months old and I bought it in Hong Kong, which I now realise was a mistake. At the time there wasn't an Apple dealer localy.

I don't mind paying to have it repaired.

I tried the fixes from the Apple sire, but they didn't solve the problem.

Anyway, I am going in to the shop today and will report after that.

Thanks for the advice.

[hellohello]

Good luck Rich- Mine was un-repairable TWICE and had to be replaced TWICE. I hope yours is fixable. Thanks for your post - It reminded me to extend my warranty!!!

[Richb2004v2]

I turns out that the hard drive is partially corrupt. This makes sense I guess, and would make it beyond economical repair. The guy in the shop said that only the tracks on the corrupt sectors would not play, but when I got home and plugged it in it seems quite useless. It doesn’t register with the PC and flips between being ok and showing weird things. I guess I will have to right it off. I am quite disgruntled as I have had it less than two years. It will be 12,000 or more to replace. I probably won’t bother.

Thanks for the advice anyway.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

I turns out that the hard drive is partially corrupt. This makes sense I guess, and would make it beyond economical repair. The guy in the shop said that only the tracks on the corrupt sectors would not play, but when I got home and plugged it in it seems quite useless. It doesn’t register with the PC and flips between being ok and showing weird things. I guess I will have to right it off. I am quite disgruntled as I have had it less than two years. It will be 12,000 or more to replace. I probably won’t bother.

Thanks for the advice anyway.

How do you connect to the computer - I found a lot of my probs were solved when I used the firewire connection - as opposed to the USB.

[waldwolf]

If your somewhat mechanically inclined, you may want to consider a "Do-It-Yourself" repair. Impossible you say? No...........not really.

First, have you tried reinstalling the iPod Updater which you can download from the Apple Support website?

"Restoring iPod to Factory Settings"

If above doesn't work, how about replacing the harddrive yourself?

There's a great blog which details exactly how to do so, including "step-by-step pictures".

"Replacing the Hardrive of an iPod"

Nice little project for one of these rainy nights.

waldwolf

PS - Be sure to read the response threads in above, for more information and suggested fixes to various iPod problems.

[Richb2004v2]

That is a fantastic site. Thanks for the help. I am going to take my broken i-pod to bits latter today. I don't see it being difficult. The main problem will be in finding a replacement hard drive. I have no idea of accessibility of parts here in Thailand. Do you think I have much chance of finding a replacement?

Thanks again.

If your somewhat mechanically inclined, you may want to consider a "Do-It-Yourself" repair. Impossible you say? No...........not really.

First, have you tried reinstalling the iPod Updater which you can download from the Apple Support website?

"Restoring iPod to Factory Settings"

If above doesn't work, how about replacing the harddrive yourself?

There's a great blog which details exactly how to do so, including "step-by-step pictures".

"Replacing the Hardrive of an iPod"

Nice little project for one of these rainy nights.

waldwolf

PS - Be sure to read the response threads in above, for more information and suggested fixes to various iPod problems.

[penguin]

I'd say you do have a chance of getting a replacement hard drive. A lot of people have fairly new iPods with broken screens that are too expensive to fix so some repairers buy the damaged ones for parts. There are probably some small shops in the back corners of Pantip doing just that.

[waldwolf]

............That is a fantastic site. Thanks for the help. I am going to take my broken i-pod to bits latter today. I don't see it being difficult. The main problem will be in finding a replacement hard drive. I have no idea of accessibility of parts here in Thailand. Do you think I have much chance of finding a replacement?

Thanks again.

You should have no problem finding a replacement harddrive. (The HD itself is probably the most frequently replaced part in iPods.)

Obviously, you could get a new HD from Apple (Thailand), however buying an exact replacement from Toshiba or other HD manufacturer may save you quite a bit of money. Then there's the "used" route where you could save a great deal of money, but probably won't get a warranty and the overall life for the used part will be unknown. As penguin suggests, check the shops in Pantip or other areas.

Don't know how up-to-date this list is, but hopefully a few phone calls will give you some good leads: Apple Stores in Thailand

When you finish the repair, post back and let us know how things worked out. Who knows, perhaps this could be the start of a new "side-business" for you.

waldwolf

[thaiowl]

I bought my son an Ipod Video on Ebay. Everything was fine until he dropped it and broke the LCD screen. Apple wouldn't touch it so I bought a replacement screen on Ebay but had problems installing it. Anyway, I sent it to http://www.ukipodrepairs.com in the UK and they fixed it...good as new. The repairs aren't exactly cheap but they are cheaper than buying a new Ipod.

[Richb2004v2]

I went to Pantip and after much searching I found a second hand drive at the Apple Service centre. I would have checked there first, except I didn’t know that shop was there. Anyway, they could do me a second hand 20gig drive for 4500Baht, with 2 months warranty. In the end I decided to give it a miss and maybe buy a new i-pod for Christmas. But if anyone has the same problem the drives are available in Bangkok Pantip.