Ipod Stuck In Disk Mode
March 17th, 2006
If your iPod is stuck in “disk mode” and no matter what you try and do, you can’t reset it, there is an answer.
Not the End of the World
This happened to me today when I forgot to “eject” the iPod from the computer that it was connected to. The screen displays “disk mode” at the top and is in grayscale. There is also a battery indicator at the top-right and it says “safe to disconnect” in the middle of the screen.
The solution is actually quite simple. If the normal reset doesn’t work (slide hold on then off, hold the centre button and menu button at the same time for five to ten seconds), you will need to download the iPod Updater to perform a factory reset. You can get this here.
Reviving your iPod
Once the tool has been downloaded and installed, plug your iPod into the computer with the docking cable. Make sure all instances of iTunes are closed then open the updater tool.
This next step will wipe all your music and iPod settings. If your music is not backed up on your computer, you will lose it! I am not responsible for any losses the following step may cause.
Hit the restore button and the tool will wipe your iPod and revert it to the default factory settings. Now just put your music back on using iTunes and it should be as good as new. Hope this quick guide was useful to someone out there.
January 13th, 2007 at 2:12 am
thanks for the help - you fixed my ipod easy and quick
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:39 am
my ipod keeps going into disk mode even when i don’t have it plugged in to anything. it happened to me at work today and my bus ride home seemed so long. why is it doing that?
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Hi there. It is likely that you have an unstable firmware image on your ipod which is causing the bug. Download the latest version of iTunes from the apple website and once installed, plug your ipod in. Now update your iPod to the latest version available. Hopefully, this should get rid of the problem.
Optionally, you can also restore the ipod to factory settings if the problem continues. You will lose the music off your iPod should you choose this option and will have to transfer it all again.
January 28th, 2007 at 4:00 am
your advice didnt help me. my ipod is still stuck in disk mode. anything else i can try?
June 6th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Thank you very much!
June 6th, 2007 at 10:38 am
No problem, glad I could be of some help!
June 13th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
thank you very much i was freaking out
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:25 am
Thanks for the advice. Clear, simple, and - the best part - it works
Cheers
July 4th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Hi, my ipod nano (2nd generation) is stuck in disk mode!!
I cannot even get back onto the main menu!
If i try it comes up with “restore ipod on itunes” but the whole reason i messed it up in the first place was because i wanted it to show up in itunes!!! Very frustrating
Is there anything i can do, please help
very very pissed off person!!
July 20th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
My 2nd gen. mini got stuck in disc mode somehow (it wasn’t plugged in at the time), I was about to take your advice and factory reset my iPod but I reread the manual once more. I held down the ‘menu’ & ’select’ buttons at the same time for 10 seconds, then BINGO my menu screen appeared. And I didn’t even have to worry about losing my music.
Hope this helps someone in a similar situation!
July 21st, 2007 at 9:43 am
Hi there, thanks for pointing out that in fact, the first thing that should be tried is to do the ’soft’ reset method using the menu and select buttons. however, sometimes this will not work, in which case follow my steps above.
jono
July 25th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Thanks alot Jonny, really helped.
July 26th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
you are a genius! thank you soooooooo much i tried everything and it didn’t work.. thanks xx
August 10th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
o god thanks so much i was sooooooooo scared that i broke my ipod and everything. Just our luck to get the crappy ipods but good thing someone knows what their doing XD
August 18th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Thank you so much for the information. The soft reset worked beautifully!
September 4th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
ahhhh! i reset my ipod like every 5 minutes now (30 gb ipod video 4th gen) and it never like…finishes? it always corrupts again. its been in disk mode since i started too…and i dont know how to get it out of disk mode because its always fucking up…i just want to restore it…but everytime i plug it in and restore it…it never finishes …it stops or something…someone help!!!
September 4th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
^i think i meant 5th gen….
September 6th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
A quick fix is to leave your iPod in disk mode till it dies. I have a nano so it took about 14 hours, this may differ from iPod generations and complexities.
Once it is dead, charge it from your computer. If this doesn’t fix the problem try licking a window.
September 7th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
really?
hmm…ill try that…
annddd whattt about a window? ahaha
September 8th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
ahh…so everytime i restore it….it will restore but then it says…wait a few minues and the ipod will show in itunes…do not disconnect….but it never shows up….how long does it usually take?
September 13th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
If you are running a MAC computer, you can launch the Disk Utility from the Utilities folder in Applications. THen, plug in the ipod. Once the device shows up in the left hand side, select it. Click on the ERASE tab. You can select what to name the device and click erase. This will get rid of absolutley everything on the ipod, including the apple firmware. The computer will basically think its a hard drive. Then, eject it, plug it back in, and watch as iTunes recognizes it. then Restore it and update the firmware. The iPod will restart on it’s own after this and work fine. This should fix anyones problems on this post.
September 29th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Thanks for the help, I was so close to snapping.
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:16 pm
brilliant! thank you so much!
November 4th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Apple makes good firmware!
November 5th, 2007 at 9:23 am
nice one champo - ace dude.
November 26th, 2007 at 12:45 am
Thank you so much! the re-set works following your instructions. then i plug it into external speakers and shut it down when i am done listening to it.
next time i start it up, it always starts in disk mode again and i have to reset it again.
is that because of the external speakers?
November 27th, 2007 at 5:08 am
worked like a dream! thanx sooooooo much.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:24 am
Hi B.L. Ochman
I think it must be a problem with your external speakers or the firmware on the ipod. Try downloading the latest version of firmware (using iTunes) to your iPod and see if that gets rid of the problem. Good luck
Jono
November 28th, 2007 at 1:29 am
Thanks Alott, now i know what to do because of your helpful tip! Thanks!
December 5th, 2007 at 3:10 am
your advice payed off, i held it for ten seconds and my nano went unstuck. thanx vfor the advice
December 16th, 2007 at 12:20 am
your advice didn’t work for shit, UNTIL i had it in the dock and i was like, well, why not try? and then it finally worked. so if it doesn’t work for you, try that.
December 22nd, 2007 at 6:19 am
I have a second generation ipod mini and it is stuck in disk mode. And i dont know i have tried every way possible to reset it but everything has failed (reset with menu button and select button. trying to set it back to the factory settings) and i really dont care if all of my music is lost i just want to get it out of this stupid disk mode… can anyone help
December 22nd, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Hi Curtis
Have you tried following the “Reviving your iPod” instructions above?
Jono
December 24th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Its still dosent wor…i held it for ten seconds and every thing..if that dosent work what should i do now
December 25th, 2007 at 4:44 am
Tony：
Have you tried following the “Reviving your iPod� instructions above?
Good luck
Jono
January 3rd, 2008 at 7:35 pm
thank u.
January 10th, 2008 at 9:02 am
my ipod wouldn’t turn on and wouldn’t register when i plugged it in2 my computer. i think i disconnected it before pressing the ‘eject’ button by accident.
i held down the menu and center button for 5-10 seconds like you said and it turned on.
to whoever wrote this tutorial: you are brilliant!!! thanks so much
January 15th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I tried the Hold button and 10 seconds but it didn’t work… However I tried Curtis’s advise “(reset with menu button and select button. trying to set it back to the factory settings)” and Bingo I’m Jammin again THANK YOU I thought I was DOOMED!!
January 16th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
my ipod nano 3rd 8gb wont go off disk mode!!!!!!!!! please give advice, i tried the hold menu/select buttin for ten seconds and it diddnt work! please give advice as what to do thnx
January 19th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Okay, well, the link you gave is to download the lates iTunes… I can’t find any “iPod updater” :S
January 19th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Actually, what happens is when I “reset” it and turn it on, it gives me the apple support site and a folder image… ??? Help
January 19th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Sorry, spamming, but also: when you say it’s going to wipe out my music, do you mean from my iPod? or also iTunes??
January 20th, 2008 at 5:11 am
Hi Allie
Download the latest version of iTunes from the Apple Website. Install it then plug in your iPod. You can then use iTunes to reset your iPod back to its factory settings. You can also use iTunes to download the latest firmware to the iPod which might also help solve the problem.
Good Luck
Jono
January 20th, 2008 at 5:14 am
Hi Tina
iTunes has now changed and the ‘iPod updater’ is now an integral part of newer versions of iTunes. I recommend that you download and install the latest version of iTunes, plug in your iPod and then reset the iPod to factory settings via the user interface. You can also try using iTunes to install the latest firmware to your iPod which might also help prevent this happening again. When I say it will wipe out your music, I mean just on the iPod itself. Any music on your computer is completely safe.
Good Luck
Jono
January 20th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Thanks the solution to revive ipod from Disk mode works!!!!!
January 20th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Apparently, iTunes 7 was able to read my iPod and tell me it was in “recovery mode”. I restored it, and now I’m going to have to reinstall all of my songs on it, but that’s no problem - at least it’s alive!
Thanks again, really
January 23rd, 2008 at 3:47 am
Toggling hold whilst pressing the menu and select button didn’t work.
Thanks Frank, the letting it die method actually worked!
January 26th, 2008 at 2:15 am
i got the new i pod nano and i dont know what happened but when i plugged the i pod into the computer it doesnt show up and now i cant download any songs either =(
January 26th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Hi Sandra
I’m afraid that if you would like some help, you will have to provide some more information. Furthermore, your issue isn’t really related to this blog post. Have you ever had the iPod working on this computer? Does the iPod show up in My Computer? Does anything happen when you plug it in?
Thanks and good luck
Jono
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Thanks a great deal you are a genius
February 3rd, 2008 at 5:01 pm
No problem. Glad I could be of some help
February 4th, 2008 at 2:56 am
omg thank u thatnk u thank u!!! u totally saved my ipod , my headache is gone now. thanks a million
February 8th, 2008 at 1:34 am
error 1418 is coming .. gosh ! help me out
i have an iPod photo with color display
February 8th, 2008 at 1:38 am
i have tried many several techniques to bring back my iPod but its not working … a apple logo appear and then an chips kindof logo with an exclamtion mark comes.. :s
plzz tell me what should i do..
i cant even restore it my windows sometimes cant detect it/.
and whenever it starts restoring it..
an error 1418 , 1415 or 1417 comes up..
plzz help anyone..
my ID is jonny_bravo102@hotmail.com
February 10th, 2008 at 7:59 am
I was stick in “Disk Mode” but atfer I clear it…
I start loading back the music… after that it goes back to disk mode agin…
how to resolve?
February 10th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Hi there Aglat
One common problem is that iPod users don’t properly ‘eject’ their iPod from the computer or device it is plugged into. This can sometimes force the iPod into disk mode. When you are disconnecting the iPod from a computer make sure you ‘eject’ the device or if in windows use the ‘Safely Remove Hardware’ tool.
It probably isn’t the iPod’s fault - but if you do continue having problems you may want to reset the iPod to factory settings and consider doing a firmware update.
Jono
February 13th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
i have tried many several techniques to bring back my iPod but its not working … an apple logo appear and then a chips kindof logo with an exclamtion mark comes.. :s
plzz tell me what should i do..
i cant even restore it my windows sometimes cant detect it/.
and whenever it starts restoring it..
an error 1418 , 1415 or 1417 comes up..
plzz help anyone..
my ID is jonny_bravo102@hotmail.com
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me?
My iPod would not play a song, so I decided to reset it as I usually do, by pressing Menu and Select, and it then went on to display the Apple logo.
However, the Apple logo would show for about a minute, and then the iPod would kind of shut down and then the logo would show up again. This is all my iPod is doing.
I am able to get it into disk mode, but whenever I try ro sync or update my iPod it just tells me it has failed.
What can I do!?!?!?
March 4th, 2008 at 4:35 am
Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much. I was ready to cry and thought all my music and movies were gone. Ur the BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 8th, 2008 at 3:01 am
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. YOU HAVE TOOK A GREAT DEAL OF STRESS OFF MY CHEST. I LOVE YOU GUYS. THANKS AGAIN.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:03 am
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. YOU HAVE TOOK A GREAT DEAL OF STRESS OFF MY CHEST.
THANKS AGAIN.
March 20th, 2008 at 2:07 am
left my 2nd gen ipod untouched for months, it didn’t like that and answered with disk mode. select-menu 10 secs didn’t help, update via itunes didn’t help, reboot didn’t help
fiddled around abit and found this one by accident. everything back to normal, and even my music is still there
but this one helped, without destroying my data on the ipod:
(for 2nd gen b/w ipod)
******
1. reboot yout ipod by pressing menu and play for some seconds
2. press and hold next-track button (on the right)
3. you will see something like a progress bar below the apple logo
4. another reboot and you’re good
******
i have absolutely no plan what this did in detail. but it worked for me
April 5th, 2008 at 3:37 am
OMG THANK YOUU!!!! I WAS SO BAFFLED!!!
April 12th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
aalright guys i ALL OF THOSE AND IT DIDNT WORK.
sometimes it might work but if you were in my case none of it did.
finnally i fixed
what you have to do is plug your ipod in and click restore
then unplug it and put your ipod back in english
you wont have any songs on your ipod so then you need to just plug in on itunes and all your songs will come back on.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:17 am
Thank you so much!!!! You have been a great help!
April 28th, 2008 at 12:38 am
thanks alot. thoguht i was gonna have to go to da apple store.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:31 am
Your info helped. I didn’t drop the ipod though so it was weird that it had stopped working. Thanks
June 6th, 2008 at 12:26 am
This happened to me when I was at the gym and it really ticked me off, because the advanced controls are not intuitive at all. The reset option (menu plus middle button) worked for me. Thanks!
June 9th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I tried the updater, but a window pops up saying invalid service version.
Is there anything else I could try?
June 10th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
This happened to me out of nowhere, but when I did the reset thing, it went back to normal…and my music was still there. I thought reset would get rid of all my music, but it didnt!
June 24th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I think my ipod is royally screwed I turned it on and it was stuck and would not go past the apple screen I did manage to get it going once from here but its broken again i’ve tried all the factory reseting with no avail and it now seems it is stuck in disc mode with the do not disconnect icon but its the black and white version (hence me thinking its stuck in disc mode) when you unplug it the apple logo comes up and then tells you to do a factory restore however it wont pick the ipod up in itunes to do so & it shows in my computer as a removable disc, when clickingon this it asks if I want to format but not an itunes format so I am hesitant about doing this.
Any ideas?
I’ve come to the realisation that everything on there is gone but it would be nice to get it going and start fresh. Its a 30GB ipod video if that makes any difference.
Thanks in advance
August 10th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
THANK YOU! I dropped it (not even that bad) 7 days before my wedding with all the music on it for the big day and was freaking out! Really appreciate it!
September 9th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
thanks a lot
October 22nd, 2008 at 4:03 am
nice u got me up n runnin again even tho i have the iphone now.. i just dont want to have a wasted ipod sittin around
October 31st, 2008 at 9:00 am
Oh my god thank you. I was getting soo frustrated and didn’t want to have to wipe everything. Thanks!