# Increase USB Voltage to Rescue Data from an iPod



## Torqued (Feb 9, 2009)

I've got a first gen Nano. Years ago I bought an AC power cord for it to charge it without using a computer. The cord promptly fried the battery (gotta love China). I could still use the iPod as long as it was plugged into some kind of charger.

Next, the hard drive crashed on my computer, and I lost iTunes with all the songs on my computer (took days to rip down the CD collection and compile playlists). I know, I should have backed it up. Thought I did, but can't seem to find the DVDs. 

Got a new computer, reinstalled iTunes and found out how get songs off an iPod and back on the computer. I had a cell phone with iTunes on it that had a limit of 100 songs. I rescued the 100 songs successfully from the phone, and want to get the 1000s of songs off my iPod.

Well wouldn't you know it, the iPod decided to fall to the next level of failure. It no longer works with the car charger or the power fed to it by the USB port when attached to a computer. It tries to power up, but it just can't seem to get enough power.

It will still power up using the AC charger that fried the battery. The output on the transformer says 9V. Ahhh, this might explain why the battery fried the first time I used this charger (the power feed from a USB port is around 5v).

Ok, where all this is going is I cannot perform data transfers with an AC charger. It needs to be hooked up to the computer's USB port, but the USB port doesn't output enough power to get the iPod running. See the problem?

Here's what I tried. 

1. Placed the iPod in a toaster oven and brought it up to about 150. Heating a battery (inside the iPod) sometimes allow you to get a little more out of them. Same problem as before. 

2. Went the other direction and tossed the iPod in the freezer. Maybe the cooler temperatures would provide less resistance and I could get enough current to flow using the USB connector from the PC to get it running. No dice.

3. Got a little more aggressive with it. I stripped the wires from the AC power supply and spliced them into the USB cable's positive and negative feeds that lead to the iPod (red and black). I left the power leads coming from the computer unconnected. I left the 2 data wires connected to USB plug (green and white) intact with the hopes of powering the iPod using the AC adapter, and retrieving the data using the USB port. Didn't work. The iPod would not power up. I'm guessing there is some kind of common ground between the power ground and the data ground that I'm not configuring correctly with this setup.

4. I patched the wiring back up and the iPod still works if I use the AC power supply. I considered trying to splice the two data wires (green and white) from the USB cable into the connector that came with the AC charger. Popped open the iPod 30 pin plug that came with the AC charger and there are not metal leads to the right pins to solder wire to. The only pins that have metal contacts are the ones used to supply power. (You almost need a microscope to work with these tiny 30 pin connectors).

Does anyone have some ideas how I could increase the voltage to the iPod and retrieve the data without damaging my computer? Add a battery somehow, or hotwire a usb hub? I've seen some connectors that you can build your own iPod dock, but I've seen conflicting wiring diagrams and I'm really looking for a simple one time shot here. 

Any help much appreciated.


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## Frank4d (Sep 10, 2006)

I suspect you need a common ground between the computer and the iPod. Leave everything connected as it is, but add a wire from the USB black wire (iPod ground) to your computer ground (a good chassis connection should do).


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## Torqued (Feb 9, 2009)

Frank4d said:


> I suspect you need a common ground between the computer and the iPod. Leave everything connected as it is, but add a wire from the USB black wire (iPod ground) to your computer ground (a good chassis connection should do).


Thanks for the advice. Just tried it. Took a wire with aligator clips and clamped it to the fan guard on the back of the computer (bare galvinized metal) and hooked the other end to the severed black wire coming out of the USB connector. No luck. Tried hooking the chassis ground to the black wires from the AC adapter that is spliced into the black wire leading to the iPod. No luck. Tried connecting the black wire coming out of the USB plug to the black wires from the AC adapter and leading to the iPod (with and without the chassis ground), still no luck.

Any other ideas I might try?


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## wacor (Feb 22, 2005)

find a friend with an Ipod and borrow their battery

Sounds like your is toast

Or did I miss you saying you tried that?


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## Torqued (Feb 9, 2009)

Not a bad idea. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone with an old nano and I would be a little hesitant to split their case open to borrow the battery. 

I looked at some sites that show a special tool to pop the case open and two wires coming from the battery. Some of these sites sell the battery and lcd screens. My lcd is shot as well, there's one corner I can still see. (I've gotten pretty good at figuring out where the "cursor" is from that one little corner). 

Maybe I should approach this as a repair job instead of a "retrieve the data" job and get the parts to fix the two problems. I could end up with retrieved data AND a functioning iPod. Wouldn't that be nice? Or I might end up spending money on parts that don't solve the problem that could have been put towards a new iPod with more memory. (The latest problem might be more than just a fried battery). Hmmm....

When I plug the iPod into the USB port on the PC, the screen (what's left of it) it flashes repeatedly, like it's trying to start, but just can't quite do it. Is this a common symptom with battery failure? If so, this could help me choose between attempting to repair it vs. simply trying to recover the data. 

I guess I could leg into it and start with a "no buck" approach. Pop the case and splice into the battery wires. Without having a charged and functioning iPod battery, the question becomes what to use for a power supply? 3AAs (4.5v), 4AAs (6v), a 5v wall wart? Should I wire in a resistor to limit current? I just don't know. Using an actual charged iPod battery would be the safest approach. 

Thanks for the idea, you've got me thinking through some additional approaches. Much appreciated! Keep the ideas coming!

Edit: There are 3 wires that appear to be coming out of the battery, red, black and white. Hmmm....


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## wacor (Feb 22, 2005)

I suspect the lcd is fried

No expertise on that but I would think if the unit powers up with the ac adapter the screen should also.

here is a video on how to take the 2nd generation apart. you can search to see if they have something on the first generation. Not sure how much different they are as I never had one.
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/v...-2nd-generation-ipod-nano-for-repairs-217888/


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## Torqued (Feb 9, 2009)

Battery is 3.7v 400mAh. Hmmm....


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## Torqued (Feb 9, 2009)

wacor said:


> I suspect the lcd is fried
> 
> No expertise on that but I would think if the unit powers up with the ac adapter the screen should also.
> 
> ...


The iPod works with the ac wall charger. The lcd is damaged, but it does work. When I plug it in to the pc with the usb cable, there just doesn't seem to be enough power to get it started. It tries repeatedly (flashes), but never fully starts up.


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