My ipod today gave up, one min it was working and the net no sound and it would not play just skip from track to track. Now i get nothing, i have rebooted it by pressing the buttons but i now get a red circle with a red cross in the middle. Can anyone tell me what this means as i can't do anything on Apple support as i can't get the serial number as the blooming thing won't connect to itunes either.

What type of iPod? If it's a touch FDU mode might help:

http://iphonecafe.org/2008/04/how-to-put-your-iphone-or-ipod-touch-into-fdu-mode/

Might work with others too, but not sure. Worth a try/google I guess. Free afterall. Good luck!

Just found the serial number and put it in the Apple support and they want me to pay for someone to help me, what a fooking con. I just want advice. These things aren't cheap and they want me to pay extra for a problem. Not happy about that.

Just spoke to Apple tech team and my ipod hard drive is fooked and now have to buy a new ipod.

Can't you just pop a new drive into it?

I've never tried myself but wouldn't be suprised if it were possible.

You could try http://www.ifixit.com/ if you want to fix it yourself.

How old is it?

Don't forget the warranty laws.

It is possible, if very fiddly, to replace the hard drives. The difficulty is getting them open without damaging the case.

Exactly how old is it, and what model?

It's 3 years old and used everyday all day and it's the 120GB classic.

Quick googling shows the HDD is about £80 for the part.

http://www.parts4ipods.com/Samsung-HS161JQ-160GB-Hard-Drive-for-iPod-Classic

And how to take it apart.

Very fiddly by the looks of it, and easy to damage the case so it won't go back together again. Replacing the iPod suddenly seems an attractive option after reading that

If it's used that much over 3 years, then the HDD may have simply worn out.

Quick googling shows the HDD is about £80 for the part.

http://www.parts4ipods.com/Samsung-HS161JQ-160GB-Hard-Drive-for-iPod-Classic

And how to take it apart.

Very fiddly by the looks of it, and easy to damage the case so it won't go back together again. Replacing the iPod suddenly seems an attractive option after reading that

If it's used that much over 3 years, then the HDD may have simply worn out.

If it's fooked then I'd have a go at popping the case open. You've nothing to lose. If you can get the case open order the drive.

I bought a new 160gb ipod classic and all happy again.