Apple’s iPod Nano has introduced the revolutionary scroll wheel ever since the first generation. It is something that was a big lure of an iPod, and has been implemented exceptionally well into the music player that you know and love.
Sadly, there are times when your iPod’s scroll wheel may not work as well as when it was new. As an iPod Nano owner myself, I know the feeling all too well when I open my iPod and realize that the scroll wheel isn’t responsive, again. It is a problem that I have seen numerous times with iPod Nano owners, and strangely enough, it is something that Apple hasn’t really gotten around to fixing. Hopefully, one of these fixes found in this guide will help make your iPod scroll wheel as good as new.
1. Take it to an Apple store.
If you’re in luck, then maybe your warranty hasn’t even expired yet. If you’re experiencing any problems with your iPod, it’s best to let that cover it rather than trying to fix it. Trust me, it’s worth it. If not, then it may be useful to get some advice from Apple about your iPod’s current state.
2. Make sure your iPod is fully charged.
It’s something that I’m sure sounds very simple, but I find that my iPod becomes unresponsive at times if the battery is very low. Charge the battery more often if you find the battery indicator is constantly in the red.
3. Reset your iPod.
Sometimes it’s not just the scroll wheel, but the entire iPod that is unresponsive. An easy fix for this is to hold the center and menu buttons until the iPod restarts itself. This is an extremely useful fix for a lot of common iPod problems.
4. Press Hold, then wait a minute, then unlock your iPod.
This is the fix that Apple provides, so I might as well list it here as well. Basically, their explanation is that every time the iPod comes out of a long sleep, it calibrates the scroll wheel to the surrounding pressure, so it can detect when it’s being pressed. Whatever you do, don’t press on the scroll wheel when you wake your iPod. Try this, if it works, then just keep this in mind whenever you unlock your iPod.
5. Restore and update your iPod.
If your iPod still isn’t working, then it may be a software issue. Get the latest software for your iPod on iTunes, and then completely restore your iPod to factory defaults. Don’t worry, if you update your iPod with your iTunes library, it will be very simple to sync back all your music, video, and pictures back into your iPod. However, try using your iPod before you sync everything in, just to see if restoring had any effect.
6. Clean out your iPod.
What I mean by this is try to remove the ‘stuff’ that’s in between your scroll wheel. Try to use some thin card of some sort to get that ‘stuff’ out. It accumulates over time, and it’s not exactly beneficial to your iPod.
7. Take the iPod apart, look at possible hardware problems.
At this point, after restoring and resetting your iPod without luck, it is most likely a hardware problem. There may be a problem with the scroll wheel device, and there may not be much you can do about it. You can try (before taking it apart) pressing the iPod together tightly, and hope that the sensors for the scroll wheel touch if they were apart before. Another possible fix that is being floated around is try pushing a card up the iPod’s USB wire slot. Sometimes if you nudge around, there have been cases where that has temporarily fixed the iPod. Still, hardware problems are difficult to resolve, especially if you don’t have any replacement parts.
Hopefully this has been useful in fixing the problem with your iPod. If you have any questions, or like to share a success story, please feel free to comment below!
