How to Disk Scan your iPod
The iPod's self-medication
A time may come when you power up your iPod only to see an animated scan disk icon accompanied by a progress indicator. What gives?
The iPod is performing a self-evaluation and will self-medicate if needed. It's actually a good thing and doesn't necessarily mean you're iPod is in trouble. Chances are, if you're seeing it when you turn on the iPod, it has detected something it doesn't like about a file it has stored and needs to perform this diagnostic procedure. Scan disk on the iPod is similar to the scan disc your operating can perform. The iPod is looking for bad sectors on the drive and has the capacity to repair any problems it finds by cordoning off the bad sectors so they're not used.
It's not necessary to wait for the iPod to decide to perform a scan disk on its own. This can be forced by a little known procedure. These scans can take from 15 to 20 minutes to perform and performing a scan just before you're about to put on the headset for a listen isn't such a good time.
To perform a disc scan follow these steps:
- Perform an iPod reset, but when the Apple logo comes up...
- When you see the Apple logo appears on the screen press these three buttons at once: Rew, FF, Menu and Select button (center button)
- The iPod is now performing a manual disc scan
The disc scan prompted manually is the same as the one the iPod will perform involuntarily. Gauge the time it takes with the progress indicator. Once it's complete there will be an icon showing you the result.
The checkmark is the most desirable result. Not only is the scan complete, but it found that your disk has no problems.
The arrow scan icon means the scan has completed and iPod found errors, but was able to correct them. This icon is okay, too. What can you say? Errors happen.
The disc caution sign means that the scan failed or couldn't complete. It will try again the next time you reset the iPod using the handy iPod Reset instructions.
This indicates that you cancelled the disc scan. This can be done by pressing the select button (button is located in the middle of the thumbwheel). Hey, not everyone has the luxury of waiting for a scan to complete, especially when you need to hear some tunes.
It is with no pleasure that we must show this icon. If you've never seen this icon consider yourself lucky, it's the Sad iPod icon. This is the worst possible result of a scan. It will usually show up if you've had persistent problems and are performing a disk scan as a method of troubleshooting. If you see this after a scan, it's time to perform the iPod restore operation. If you've already performed the iPod restore then it's time to send it in for repair.