Hi Google Answers,

I have an infernal problem with my iPod that I believe a whole bunch
of people are having. I have a 4th generation 20GB grayscale iPod.
When i connect it to my PC (i use Firewire) and i put my ipod to my
ear, I can hear the iPod's internal hard drive trying to spin up, then
giving a click, stopping, then trying to spin up again. My PC
basically stops responding at this point until I manually disconnect
the iPod. I've heard a various solutions to this problem, but i really
would like to hear an answer from a Google researcher. One of the
solutions i heard involved sticking the iPod into a freezer for a
while and letting it cool down and then connecting it back to the
computer. Surprisingly, this actually makes it work....only for a
short duration however until the ipod warms back to room temperature.
What do you guys suggest? I can't believe Apple screwed up so bad!!

Regards,

Yash

I know that the iPod is out of warranty, but if you reset the
iPod(Menu + Center) , then when the HD spins up, pless and hold Menu
and Back buttons, which will bring you into the diagnostic mode. Run
an automatic test, then post the results here. I can't really refer
you to any Apple pages with the info I have about this problem. I'll
post more later.

HP USB FORMAT TOOL, this is basically the number one solution for any
problem you might experience with your ipod, ipodlinux, etc.
And since the official HP website for some reason decided to stop the
support for it.

This will reformat your iPod, so you can "set it to defaults" To
reinstall AppleOS you have to run the iPod updater.

MiRRORS: 
- http://www.megaupload.com/?d=89C1UB3E 
- http://rapidshare.de/files/18004567/usb_format.exe.html 
- http://www.filefactory.com/?425baa