Chosen Solution
I recently purchased this ipod second hand, it had a faulty hard drive, so I didn’t check it’s charging capabilities before unfortunately, the hard drive change was pretty straight forward and I have left the case open for testing, I have discovered I can only charge when connected to a PC/laptop. I have tried a second battery, a basic reset, full restore, different USB cables, different wall sockets, different official USB wall plugs, and a USB power pack. The ipod case is still open. Can anyone shed some light for me? Thanks!
Whimsa, since it does “charge when connected to a PC/laptop.” my first check would be the AC charger. Make sure that is working. My second check would be the dock connector. Check for broken bend or corroded pins. Also clean the connector with some isopropyl alcohol and a few puffs of air
Hello, I had a similar problem with my iPod. It’s an iPod classic 80gb Original / 6th gen, model number A1238 (as written on the back chromed / shiny case) or MB147 ( as shown on screen - Settings - About). It would charge when connected by a cable to the usb port of a computer or tablet - but would NOT charge when using the same cable connected a generic mains usb charger. I tried various chargers with it - but none would work . They WOULD charge my Kindle, phone etc - but they wouldn’t charge this iPod. It was like they weren’t compatible. Whenever I tried them with it - as soon as the iPod was connected to a charger - it would turn on - but there was no “lightning symbol” on the battery icon to indicate it was charging. The cable I was using had a standard usb type A plug on one end and the 30pin “Apple” plug on the other. The usb type A plug (that plugs into the charger or port ) can be seen to have four connectors - call them 1 2 3 4. Connections 1&4 carry the power ( e.g. 5v and 1A) for charging. Connections 2&3 are the data lines connections. The fact that my iPod would charge from a port - but not a charger - led me to think that maybe the port was supplying some sort of data signal - triggering the iPod to accept charging of the battery. In order to test this - I blanked off the two inner connectors 2&3 with a small piece of paper - and then plugged in the usb plug to a computer port. Sure enough - the iPod turned on - but would not charge. So this confirmed that some sort of signal or voltage level needs to be present on the data lines - connections 2&3 - for this iPod to accept a charge. I have since read elsewhere that 2.0V present on both connectors 2&3 - will trigger the iPod to accept charging. Anyway in the end I went to eBay and bought a charger that said it was specifically compatible with an iPod classic 6th gen. It was approx £4.50 so I thought it worth a punt. It works! So the conclusion of all this - is the iPod classic 6th gen needs a compatible charger.
