iPod “White screen of death”
White screen on your Ipod? This article covers the story.
Recently. I started having troubles with my Apple iPod Nano 2nd generation, 8GB (black). I didn’t have a clue what happened at first. I took it out of sleep mode and I got this strange white screen.
I didn’t hear any sounds as well because I disabled all the clicksounds etc. I used to experience some hangups before with some older firmware versions so I dediced to give the ipod a hard reset, switching on and of the hold button and then pushing menu+select.
rebooting the ipod
a working LCD, showing the ipod menu
Remarkably, it rebooted and the menu was backup again. I was happy! Untill I decided to put it into sleep mode and put it back on again. WTF! Again a white screen. My iTunes was still able to see the device and I was able to copy files to and from it.
So I thought, OK, lets reinstall the firmware, backup all my mp3s and wish for glory. I was proven wrong. The device repeatedly gives me the so called ‘White Screen of Death‘. I found this term/description during my Google quest for solutions.
I decided to get a little deeper into the problem. A lot of people were saying that it was the LCD that was broken but that made no sense. The LCD was working perfectly! I even managed to put the iPod into software debug mode (ipod diagnostics). To get into debug/diagnostics mode; reboot the ipod (hold on/off, menu+select) and before the apple logo appears, press select and LEFT, your iPod should now start debug mode. The menu the tech savvy people use to determine the problems your iPod might have. All tests ran fine.
ipod diagnostics menu (debug mode)
iPod though, after rebooting, Still the white screen of death.
the infamous “White Screen of Death“
All sound is working, you just have to know your menu by heart or hard reset your device EVERY time it goes into sleep mode. Of course my 1yr warranty has expired, Apple is not admitting any problems and I’m stuck with this really expensive 8GB pendrive. Because I see no other use for the device than that.
The only thing I haven’t tried yet is to restore the ipod manually and unluckily, I think rockbox or those other opensource music solutions don’t fit on the nano 2nd generation, otherwise I would have tried that because I believe this is an Apple software problem causing the device to suddenly malfunction. If you know otherwhise, please let me know! Or you encountered a similar problem, have a solution that worked for you, have any contacts in Apple that are willingly to send me a new one (the new 4th. generation will do guys!) or want to rant about the fast product cycle of Apple iPods and how much they basically suck at providing customer support in these cases, you are welcome to comment on my blog! 
The full flickr set of images you can find here
its clearly not you fault. apple is being F’ed up by not helping you out. hope everything works out man.. good luck
you nerd man
Try a iPod Classic as your next purchase and enjoy the famous Albumart which responds as quickly as Vista on a 386.
@Kleez
thanks! i take that as a compliment. I believe posting these issues is the least I can do to stir things up.
Got the same problem mate. No idea how to fix it – have tried resetting it and now trying to get it into disk mode. Only problem for me is the apple logo appears about once every 50 times when resetting it!
“White Screen of Death” happened to me also. But now I can’t even get the apple to show so I can reset. For what I need the thing is not of much use. When I talked with apple support the young man was sure they were working on it. How many years does it take.
WTF
Same problem. Getting the white screen (and sometimes a dark screen with vertical lines) only mine won’t play any music, like some people’s will. I’ve reset it several times – apple logo comes up, but after that, it’s the white screen again. Very frustrating. Rawr.
the same thinq is happeninq to my ipod riqht now. i charqed it, and in the morninq,the white screen was on. my music was playinq, then the white screen turned into a black screen. now its back to the white screen. i’ve reseted it, i’ve tried all the steps, but nothinq is workinq.
any help ?
the apple loqo won’t show either.
@Angi, @Miranda.
unfortunately still no answer is provided. I got the ipod stored away somewhere. Maybe when Apple will admit the problem and fix it or otherwise find a solution for it i might be able to reboot it..
In the meanwhile, I needed a new phone as well so I bought the Apple Iphone 16GB. Now I can enjoy music on-the-go again.
Yep, exact same issue exactly and exactly same IPOD. I get the white screen of death all the time now, I don’t even get the apple when I reset it. It still plays music, but I need a photographic memory to track my 1,500 songs on it. I took it to the Apple store and all they said was I need to buy a new one. This one just ran out of warranty, what a bunch of crap. I wish I had an answer or someone to escalate to, it’s ridiculous that they don’t stand behind their product…just “buy a new one”. I’m pissed.
I went to the IPOD diagnostics screen you have above, and under “options” i clicked on the ‘reset test’. When I do that, it resets the IPOD and I get my screen back. It’s odd, because when I try a normal reset I don’t even get that far, just remains a blank white screen. BUT, it’s only good until I turn it off, because when I turn it back on it’s back to the white snow screen. So, I would need to do that every time I turn my IPOD on to get my screen back. It’s not a fix, but at the very least if you need your IPOD screen you can get it back for as long as you can leave it turned on….at least I do.
Hey Jimmy, thanks for commenting!
I know thats exactly what I did..for 2 or 3 times. then I got fed up with it and threw the ipod in a drawer. Shame Apple doesn’t fix or acknowledge this problem.
I have the same problem, have tried all the same solutions including restoring factory defaults, nothing seems to be a permanent solution. Its a shame everyone doesn’t ban together and give Apple a little poke to get this fixed, but when you are the primary seller on a market you don’t always have to have good service.
Ugh my ipod started doing this today too. Hopefully I’ll get lucky and it’ll work in the morning.
Same thing happened to mine. White screen…it worked after a reboot but then stopped working. Now it won’t show the apple icon when rebooting. i thought it was something I did but I guess not.
hey mine did the samething i can listen to music i just cant see it!!
i am getting so pe’d at its not even funny but i am hopefully getting a new touch for my birthday!! :]]]
Same thing here I was working out at the gym and right after I disconnected the ipod from the treadmill. It just displayed a white screen I had connected the IPOD there many times before so I thought maybe the gym equipment messed up my IPOD for good and now come to find out its apple who doesn’t know how to make good quality electronics
Thanks guys, this is all good stuff. Today I’ll be attempting the same thing on my sons classic, keeping my fingers crossed.
I’ve heard a recurring theme in the posts above… shortened lifetimes of these fragile devices, poor quality electronics, lack of support, etc… But ultimately arent we all to blame? Wanting it smaller, faster and lighter, and cheaper, the greater the chance is something is going to go wrong, period. We’ve become a throw away society, so things are made not to last, or maybe make it to the end of the warranty period if your lucky. If it dies in the warranty period, you get it taken care of, even if very slowly. Are you really surprised by disposable consumer electronics, regardless of price? What do you think has been a huge force in driving our economy in the past few years? Having been in the semiconductor mfg industry for more than 25 years, I’ve seen the huge advances in micro electronics and realized their benefits first hand. However, I’m not prepared to pay the price of, nor carry around in a backpack, a bullet proof mp3 player or telephone. Are you?
Just trying to stir the pot a bit…
Personally I don’t think apple gives a crap if they fix the white screen of death… They still sell the damn things like crazy. It’s sad that products aren’t made like they use to be. Now everything is disposable garbage! I refuse to pay $150 so I can have a working screen for a few months then have 2 damn ipods that dont work right…. APPLE U SUCK!
same problem here, rebooting doesn’t help, screen remains white and music still plays. I did not try installing older versions of software yet. Wonder why Apple is not responding.
Ok, my girlfriend has a 5th generation classic. Same problem started just recently. White screen sometimes has a few horizontal lines on it and music plays as normal. When the ipod is charging you can see the screen toggle with a few lines flashing. I’m guessing this was supposed to be the little battery indicator in the top right corner. Changed the battery because it was only at the end of the charging cycle that the screen works. So when the new battery was charged up it works once again. Reset it though and the same problem arises, even with a full battery. So now i’m thinking it has to do with the time the screen is on for. As the ipod gets charged through the night. I’ve done a bit of research and as far as i can see its a 50 50 split from screen to logic board. I’m changing a screen as its only 50 bucks, seems the most logic one to change too as lcd screens have a liimted life, this one has almost 3 years or so on it. Which isn’t bad for electronics these days. She was under the same illusion that alot of you others are with. I’ll just buy a new one. Something should be shouting at you right now. Why on earth is someone who is unhappy with apple, or their product, service etc is willing to buy another product from them. Be it an ipod touch or 5th gen or 6th etc. If their service isn’t good with this product why on earth do you think it’ll be good with their next one. It seems a search for ipod faulty screens comes up with ipod admitting their itouch has a similar issue. STOP BUYING THEIR STUFF. unless you only want it for the poser factor. In that case print up a copy of a working ipod screen paste it on your faulty ipod, and walk around saying how wonderful their new product is. Apple will not fix anything out of warranty and they don’t need to. That’s what warranties are for. They know that people will want the new product and will run out there and buy it. My advice, fix it if you can yourself. If you can’t and want it. Pay huge amounts for apple, or a technician to fix it. If you still want another ipod, go out and buy it. Don’t expect it to last forever they are throwaway (although expensive) items, as bob say’s, but expect it to have problems and expect it to stuff up in a time shortly after the warranty expires.
none of this stuff works for my 6th gen classic any one have any suggestions?
Hi martin, just come across your blog, and yes I have the same problem. My guess that Apple have written something into the new itunes which is causing this problem, and once you upgrade the ipod software you cannot go back! I wonder why?
It is definately a software based problem as the hardware works fine, and the cynic in me says it has been done on purpose to extract more of our hard earned cash by Apple.
My 2nd Gen Nano at 4GB was a present but I have enjoyed using for the past 18months and want this problem solved for all 2nd Gen Nano users out there. I intend to contact as many Consumer TV programs I can to highlite this problem. Aplle will not do anything unless the media get on their backs. Adverse publicity is our only weapon.
I have the same problem with my 2nd gen Nano, it still connects and registers with Itunes, plays songs and can be reset, restored etc., but it will display nothing but the white screen of death.
This was my first purchase of an Apple product, and from the sorry excuse of support and failure to respond to this issue in any way other than to try to sell you another one of their pieces of junk, I will never buy another product from Apple period.
My guess is that there is a timer set to cause them to fail just after the warranty expires to get people to buy a new one, but not me; not ever.
Apple Sucks!
i saw some thing on tv about complaning to companys and they said dont focas on how they suck (witch they do so mutch) any way point is say you like the product (ipod) but say you are disapointed with the quality and stuff i dont know if this works but im going to try ill give an update when apple respondes to my email
any body have apples email
ya frnds i am also suffering through such a problem but in 10 or 15 tries i get the display and when i switch it off then it again turns blank on starting again……
lets see now wht 2 do
Yep, i’ve got the same thing going on with my black 8gb nano. Doesn’t look like it’s going to get resolved anytime soon either seeing how theres still problems showing up in Aug 09 and this thread was started in Sept. of 08….. Sucks ballzinis!
@Camel83 indeed, someone at Apple probably already have read this thread but nonetheless there is no action involved..Probably because we are just a few having problems of the many without problems
D I S C L A I M E R: FROM APPLE
Please read carefully between or over the lines: APPLE CARE POLICY: DATED : CURRENT
The ipod/iphone is a product,whose problems can be raised only for the first year afterthe purchase date during/after which you shall receive answers that may not be acceptable to you. The company shall in no way entertain disgruntled elements who have problems with their above products, be it legal , illegal,covered by Federal laws or your in-laws and outlaws.
Any extension of warranty shall be obtained for another one year, for a price, during which ,as during the warranty period, you will be replaced with a RE FURBISHED piece. The term replaced’ should notbe read as replacement with a new product. The company in no way whatsover, stocks spares of any product in parts or the sum of it.The customers of Apple are expected to be well aware of the above rules and shall not post problems beyond the company’s own set of default FAQs .
Apple shall replace your product , if you insist, for a cost that is as low as 95% of the new current model with a REFURBISHED piece of the model you submit. Even though the price will be as Low as 95% you may argue to bring it up to 100% which the company may agree on a mutual understanding.
These products do not have Apple certified replacements for the parts or service whatsoever during any period. The customer shall in no way express dis satisfaction directly to the company, that in other terms mean that the above clauses have not been read carefully.
White Screen of Death is not a symptom or technical failure recognized by Apple. The terms in application for I phones and I pods as recognized by Apple are to be reffered and any other fantazized coining of terms shall be termed as redeemed fit for ignorance from the company.
The company holds the right to tell the customer to dispose the products it seems fit as garbage to the place it belongs, that is garbage dump.
The company shall in no terms and way consider itself responsible to any product it sells, beyond its warrantied or otherwise, life span of 365 days.
Uder UK consumer laws there is no fixed time period for a wanrranty and Apple cannot hide behind sucha clause as this would be thrown out by UK courts. We have an unfair clauses act which outlaws such rubbish.
A product has a lifespan which must be reasonable based on the costs of purchase. In the ipod case it should be around 5 years not 12 months.
I have already contacted our local trading standards who are looking into this case. in the meantime I suggest Facebook/Youtube and other website postings may jolt Apple into action.
This exact problem is happening to my 3rd generation ipod nano it will play songs but the Lcd appears to not be working. The apple logo will not even show on my ipod. I’m pretty angry as i just bought a whole car stereo and soun system so that i could play my ipod through my car and a day after this happened. My ipod is only a year old also. Any suggestions or should i just buy another piece of crap?
I have had the same problems… white screen.. reset and the menu returns until you shut it off. I have reset if a few times now I can’t see the apple anymore to complete the rest. My computer sees it and it plays. Someone mentioned that this is happening after the itunes upgrade? I have old computer backups saved and I may have an old version! I am going to try and uninstall it and re-install an older version. Did someone say they think it was happening after 7.1?
I’ve had this same problem! It’s a pain in the ass. It started as vertical lines and then it went full white. I left it off for a few days and then charged it up and it was fine. Now it’s done it again. I’ve tried my last solution but so far no luck. I can’t even get the reset Apple logo to appear. It’s just white or off. It still connects to iTunes and my car FM tuner though. So frustrating, I’m thinking of ditching iPods altogether. I’ve had two all up and they’re both pieces of crap.
Same story: 2nd generation nano got the white screen of death.
Right after registering a new 4th generation nano, I went to sync my 2nd generation nano, and it went to the white screen. I have used that 2nd gen. for about 3 years w/o any problems. Reseting, restoring, etc have NOT worked. Syncs, loads itunes, but no screen.
Apple support told me it was “old” and I needed to buy a new one.
Shouldn’t they disclose that they have a 3 year ‘expiration date’?
They will ‘fix’ it for $99.
I am returning my new one.
My 2nd Gen Nano which is a few years old has also recently gone white screen, but otherwise functioning, just as everyone else is describing.
In an unrelated but similar incident I’ve fixed a problem with my TomTom Satnav by restoring an older version of its internal software. I’d like to think that all of us with ‘broken’ iPods could fix them in a similar way.
Has anyone (like Kathy who posted on 7th Sept) had any luck restoring older versions of iPod software?
I’m willing to give it a try, but does anyone have insight into where older iPod software can be downloaded?
Hi all,
I have the exact same problem on my Nano 2G 4GB, screen completely white yet music plays and the wheel is responding – reset and screen comes back until it sleeps again then problem returns. I have hardly used this Ipod so I am more than a little pissed by this. It all seems to tie in with a firmware update to 1.1.3, I have tried absolutely everything to fix it without success (not tore it apart yet though) I am trying to downgrade the firmware but am having difficulty locating the old firmware – files 29_1.1.1.ipsw or 29_1.1.2.ipsw should work, anybody got these files? I have contacted apple support but I am not hopeful … Sony player next time I think.
I have the same exact problem. I did have the screen randomly work at times a while ago, but now it never works. I’ve seen so many forum threads about this and heard of people trying to contact Apple, but to no avail. Hopefully getting an iPod touch whenever it gets a camera and a worthy update from the 2nd gen. This problem is so frustrating.
Hey guys, I’ve the white screen also. First it sometimes and now it doens’t work at all. I also already replaced the screen. That didn’t work. I like to say that it’s not the Apple firmware! Rockbox did release a version voor ipod nano 2g this month. I installed it and booted from it. And still my screen was white..
I had the same problem with my Ipod touch. its still in warranty so i sent it in for repair/replacement. It was nearly blemish free as it had been kept in a hard case. It was never dropped or abused in any way. Its been in my desk drawer at work and on top of my desk while being used. I sent it in for service after finding hundres of thousands of examples of the same thing happening o other ipods on the internet. It was returned to me. they refused to fix it saying that it had external damange/abuse. It came back with a nice big dent in the back. it was shaped exactly like it was slamme on the edge of a desk. Iwill never give apple another dollar.
I have had that problem forever and I still cant find a solution. Apple seriously has issues now that I have discovered that my first generation ipod touch is having issues with the headphone plug thingy and I can no longer hear any music from the left headphone =.=…. I think my next purchase will probably be a zone over an ipod cuz ive had 3 and theve all gone bad in one wat or another.
me same problem, with the ipod nano with biger screen, only got it for 1 or 2 years. i only get screen when i just turn it on. cant watch films anymore dont like that hope i can get menu foce to work that will make it easyer
My wife’s ipod nano has just gone white but as it is under a year old she is ok, however as we are in the EU there is a clause that states items must be sold with at least a 2 year warranty on electrical goods, it is as follows clause 1999/44/EU, the only down side is that even our own trading standars offices dont know of it’s existance yet but good luck to you all.
I can’t believe how bad apple has become. My 4G Nano, 2nd gen has been flakey since day one. They told me it’s normal to have to reset/restore/reload it. Yeah, whatever.
Now i can’t get anything but a white screen and they won’t help. If I ever meet Steve Jobs I’ll kick him in the balls.
My 2nd Gen iPOD also suffers from this same screen issue.
I have found that this seems to be temperature related.
If I put my iPOD in the fridge for 15 minutes, or the freeze for 2 minutes, the problem goes away, for a while. When I dock the unit in an iPOD compatible clock/radio, it eventually heats up enough and the “white screen of death” re-appears. Problem has got progressively worse or the past few months, the iPOD it now almost unusable.
We have the same screen problem with a 4GB Nano. So I turned it off and put it in the feeezer (previous post) for a few minutes. The screen is now Normal. I’m sure it is only temporary.
Turned unit off and back on and lost the screen again!
Hit it with a hammer, thats how I fix things when they don’t work
I had the ipod White screen of death too, and I tried everything to try to fix it, including restoring, resetting, etc. but I finally got the screen to work by going to the diagnostic menu and running through some of the tests there. Then I reset the ipod and VOILA!! THE SCREEN CAME BACK! knock on wood, it’s been working for a few days already with no problems. Now if I could just figure out what I did… I think it was an LCD test or the “key” test.. hmm..
Does anyone know where I can find a list of the menus (ipod nano 2nd gen.) so that I can navigate the ipod without being able to see the menus? Thanks.
Of course restoring the software does not actually restore the software at all.
It downloads the current software in your ipod, removes any other files on the device, then uploads the same software it has just downloaded.
Hence this is not a FIX at all.
More of Apples smoke and mirrors nonsense.
Dude, Having d same prob wid my nano 2nd generation 2gb model.
Help me dude, Wat shud I do now..??
Will they replace wid d new 1..??
Wat wud I need 2 do..??
Just came across this site after my 3rd generation 8gb ipod nano went white. It was just sitting on a ipod dock where it’s been for nearly a year and without so much as breathing on it it decided to go white. It’s obviously not under warranty and Ive tried all the fixes here and elsewhere and I’m out of ideas. It had never been dropped, abused and had been babied and pampered since the day I bought it so this makes absolutely no sense. Apple needs to get their head out of their @ss and acknowledge a problem exists and do the right thing. If this doesnt get resolved sooner rather than later Apple’s lost two loyal customers for sure and my wife and I will be sure to share our experience with as many people we know.
i have the same prob with a 2nd gen like everyone else here, it plays music,just no display.
i would like to run a diagnostic but there is a white screen all the time!! is there anyway that i can run it through pc or something?
@Sam if you are a Apple fanboy buy a new model, otherwise i’d go for a new mp3 player from a different brand.
More light on Apple’s problem!
It seems that the reason why the firmwear will not be fixed is because this is encrypted.
If Apple put out a fix for the software then they open themselves up to suits for neglegence, and any software put forward for downloading could easily be decrypted by some of the more inteligent mortals out there.
In short there is no advantage to Apple to fix the problem.. and many reasons why they shouldn’t. So guess what.. they wont!!
I suggest anyone going to any kind of exhibition – trade fair or demonstration where Apple is there takes their iPod and asks them why it doesnt work. A few red faces would not go amiss here.
A new product that can be used to view your old kodachrome dia-positives, if you have any left, has been launched by apple yesterday.
It is called I-pad. Imagine that 8×10 size screen going white in 12months+1 day.
You have a great transparency viewer.
Alot of bloggers are not really happy with this new iPad.There was just too much hype about it and alot blogers got disapointed.Thing is, I can actually see lots of the cool potential of the gizmo. Third-party soft for playing tunes, games, papers and magazines and FFS books, all sorts of cool stuff, but IMHO they just didn’t really sell it properly (excluding the books). It looks rather incomplete
I have the same problem white screen but i cant even get the apple logo when i try to reboot . having read all of your entries i have contacted the bbc watch dog program and let them know but it does state on there that the more people that report this the more likely it will be looked into so anyone who reads this go to bbc watchdog and complain then maybe they will do something about it when they get national tv bad publicity
%% Cold trick works %% *workaround not a fix*
Refrigerator for 10 min
Freezer for 5 min
* Might have to manually reset ‘menu+select’
This is the only thing I’ve found that would work.
Obviously the LCD itself isn’t the problem. Try to spread this message, there are too many unnecessary nano paper weights out there.
Mine had the same problem yesterday. Nothing showed up, except for the white screen and sometimes blue and green vertical lines, except I could still play music. But today, the white screen of death was there, with a tiny yellow line. No music played at all, and not even the clicker. I plugged it into my computer and it said that the disk was not readable by the computer. Now it just has a black screen of death. No music, no clicker. It’s dead. It’s almost three years old and I used it almost daily. I don’t know what the problem is, but I’m pissed. I don’t have the money to buy a new one.
Reading Hues post, I do remember the first time I got the white screen. It was a very cold day in December. I originally thought that the screen had frost.
Anyway, I try some of the thing listed earlier.
Same problem here: iPod 5.5G 160GB, must be three years old. Recently these white screens appeared quite randomly. Can not be mounted anymore, so I guess it’s not just the display but a crash. Rebooting always fixes this for me.
OK, I’ve got it figured out now. I had the white screen of death on a 2nd gen. Ipod nano. Everything I tried didn’t work, then one day the screen came back! It lasted a few days until I dropped the ipod, and the screen went white again. I realized it must be a loose connection, so I rapped it on my desk and the screen came back! Now, it’s important to hit the ipod on the table in just the right way. I experimented with several angles and the best one is to hold your ipod straight up and down (with the screen at the top) and hit it sharply on your desk on the side with the jack (where your ipod cable connects). You don’t have to even hit it very hard. Try it!
%% Cold trick works %% *workaround not a fix*
Refrigerator for 10 min
I tried for two minutes in the refrigerator
Really works
ok guys – I ordered some cheep china parts – and – believe it or not – the lcd (5$ cost) solved the issue completetly!!
have fun! and enjoy ipod nano
There Seems to be moisture sensor inside the headhone jack that if tripped triggers this whitescreen Phenomena!!
my ipod screen is white but i can hear click sounds and can play songs by luckily sensitizing with sound and direction
please note: my ipod is a second generation 8GB.
I had this problem when I charged my iPod on a wall charger, I unlocked it and “the white screen of death” apeared! I checked out this website, then I restrored it to the factory settings, it took the software from it and it automaticly turned of. Then the computer came up with an error telling me that the restore couldn’t go ahead for some reason. I paniced as my iPod was turned of without a software and the computer couldn’t find it. It just said uknown USB device. I held the power button for about 30 second and it turned on, it works now, it even locks and unlocks as it should. I got off this one lightly, unlucky for those that this dosn’t work, I suggest you send it too apple were they might be able to solve the problem, hinton99 out.
Tried EVERY trick in I could find on the net, finally got a new lcd from idemigods.com, replaced it an Voila! No more WSoD
@JimRiv
Haha!
I wonder if Henrika’s method works or not .or is it just a promotion of idemigods.com ? may be im thinking too much.
I also have a Ipod nano 2nd and having the same problem.
I am thinking of getting a new lcd screen for it , but i want to know if people have tried it.
We carry out this repair regularly and my experience with this problem is either related to a loose ribbon cable, defective screen or maybe a software glitch.I found one with metal filings inside it, which isn’t going to help.
But before you think about taking it apart first try restoring from itunes, try holding the menu and select buttons down for about 10secs after you have toggled the hold button, contact Apple, you might still be in warranty and if you aren’t and you don’t want to pay Apple to fix the unit then maybe look at a local console fixer (I’m pretty good!).
The hardest part of resolving the problem is getting the case off! It’s relatively easy when you know how but trying to do it with no tell tale signs is almost an art form.
let your ipod die then try putting it in dfu mode it has worked for me before. hope this helps
There’s no solution for this? Dangit. Mine has the white screen of death, but still plays music and clicks. But no screen! I’ve tried everything-when I reset it, it goes STRAIGHT back to the white screen! I’m praying this is only temporary, or that apple adresses the problem. -_-*
I was doing an LCD replacement, after doing it I had the white screen, tried putting in the old LCD and still had just a white screen. Tried all your suggestions and it was still happening.
In the end I had to blow out where the ribbon cable connects to the motherboard and clean the contacts on the ribbon cable with an eraser.
please help. i tried everything and doesnt work! help!
Yup, just got hit with the White Screen of death on my I-touch 8gb. What a bitch ! WTF is wrong with Apple. Apple store cant fix it. Now thats what you call customer service not !!!
SAme thing happened to me it was fine before but when I turned it on it was all white and then after 20 secs it’d go dark like how I set the baklight to do, and my music strill worked and all I just couldn’t see the screen so I looked every where online and nothing would work so I need to get a new one
yep same thing is happening to my ipod, started with lines and then slowly went white can still hear music so still using it, still charges still regs on computer, can change from shuffle on/off from docking station. could just see faint outlines of screen content if i tilted the pod at right angle in light but unreadable. wont bother buying a new one will look for other brands, recently bought my daughter one too! guess hers will last about a yr like mine!! i guess the ritual ipod god worship will be a fading religion in my house!! music gets me through the day.
my ipod touch wont turn on and itis stuck on this white screen what do i do
This is exactly what happened to me. I turned it off and the screen went funny,didn’t think anything of it. Tried to turn it back on and was just blank, reset it and the screen was working fine again! Turned it off later and now only a white screen I don’t even get the apple logo when i reset it
My 4th generation 8gb ipod just started doing this tuesday. I thought I did something to it but I was pretty glad to find out that it’s actually a technical problem with apple itself. I called them up and told them about my problem and they gave me two choices; I could either send it in and have them fix it for me for a price of thirty dollars but there could still be a chance for the white screen or they could send me an email explaining to me what I should do to try fixing it myself but it’s all crap that is obvious. Now why should I have to pay thirty dollars for something that’s not my fault? Thirty dollars doesn’t sound like a lot but hell I didn’t do anything I just locked it then unlocked it and bam, White screen. I’ve tried everything! I’ve tried putting it into disk mode, I’ve tried the diagnostics mode, I’ve tried letting it die then recharging it. I’ve restored it but nothing is working. I believe some justice should be brought upon apple. This is the third damn apple product I’ve gotten and it malfunctioned. I’m looking at my first generation ipod touch right now and that thing broke a while back. Don’t know how it just did. It tells me to recharge it then to connect to Itunes and it will not connect to Itunes so I don’t know screw apple, I’m going back to regular mp3 players, they might not have so much room but at least they can last me two-three years unlike any of my ipod products which have lasted me less than a year.
Hi, I have an Ipod nano 3g 8gb with a white screen and no Apple log but just tried putting it in the fridge for 10 minutes and…IT WORKS!!! Give it a try!!
GRR! Had my ipod nano 3g 8gb for aaages, seriously couldn’t live without it. Been on holiday for a week in a caravan & it broke so i spent daays thinking I’d broke it, only to return home & type it into google search & find that I’m not the only one. Seriously hope there is a solution I’ve tried most ideas..except that fridge one haha ^ ^ ^ .
I got some water damage to my 3rd Generation iPod touch (8 GB). I freaked and searched on google how to fix this. One remedy was to take it apart and dry the screen. I tried doing this, but didn’t get past the first step (take the metal back off). I got frustrated and popped the back completely back on and the screen had bars that were flashing and moving across the screen vertically. I called my mom at work and told her of my idiotic attempt at fixing my iPod. She told me not to mess with it anymore and find something else to do. My iPod screen was wet for more than a day.
Then one of my mom’s friends told me to put the oven on the lowest setting, place my iPod in a dish, and bake it. But he also told us to monitor it because if it got over 200 degrees, the iPod will melt. My mom planned on doing this while I was at a 3-hour Marching Band practice.
She had successfully baked all the water out, but after letting it cool and charge, I still had the bars on my screen.
Then today, while looking up how to figure combinations on my iPod, I got the White Screen of Death. I pressed the home button and the on/off button at the same time and got rid of it. I continued to do combinations, when my screen faded into, yet again, the White Screen of Death. I’m wondering if anyone else has had this problem other than me.
Really, really helpful/useful post. Will facebook it to spread the word! Thanks, El
Byron’s tip (rapping the iPod on the table, holding it straight up) helped for me!! I have a 2nd Gen Nano 2GB which got the WSoD a few times in the past year. I forgot how I got it working again the first times, could be by resetting it or maybe just by accident. One time, I tried letting it play till the battery was totally empty and that worked for me. But it easily might have been for another reason (maybe I shook the iPod just in the right way).
The last time the WSoD showed up, a reset couldn’t be performed. Trying that, the Apple logo didn’t even appear. But a few times rapping it on the table in upright position (having put a magazine in between) did solve the problem.
Thanks Byron (and Martijn for this blog)!
I have the same situation. After 4 years with no problems at all my ipod nano 8gb is now in the “white screen of death” mode. No way of resetting or going into diagnostic mode, nothing happens. now is in a black screen mode with no signals of life.
Hoping someone find out a solution….
I have a 2gen 4GB, I get the white screen with vertical lines. I have tried resetting, I don’t get the apple logo & I can still play music. If I rap it on the table the lines get darker & a few more lines appear, but no correct pictures. Any idea what to do next???
I keep having sporadic problems with the White Screen of Death & weird screen display problems, but when it happens, tapping it on a table (see my other post, above) and then resetting the iPod always works. It must be a loose connection. I’m going to keep my ipod nano until the cows come home…
I have the iPod nano 8G that just went white. I have been very careful, respectful and reverent toward this unit. I just went to the Nice, France Mac store and was told to buy a new one. WHAT! I said it must be the French. Nope. You have all confirmed there is a problem with the iPod nano 8G Second Generation. Come on, Steve, work with us here. Help find a solution or replace a defective product.
Ohhhh my, I just got the white screen og death on my nano 8gb 2.gen. and can tell for all your posts that there don’t seem to be any way to resolve this problem, I have tried all the reset and restore functions but with no luck so I guess that, as another wrote, I now have a very expensive memory stick……..
What i did was push down the screen but not to hard, it works now
Seriously no joke – as a last resort i put the darn thing in the fridge. I sat staring at the timer like a woman waiting for a pregnancy test – 10 minutes later i opened up the fridge to grab my beloved baby out and she was all lit up like a Christmas tree! Unfortunately it’s only a temporary fix, cause 10 minutes later she’s back to white, and i can’t get the fridge trick to work again, i keep trying.
i have the same problem but every time i reset, it works until it goes to sleep, I turned off the “lock mode” it runs my battery faster but as long as I don’t hit the sleep button it works great. when I plug it in to the computer it goes to the white screen, when I took it in the apple tech at the genious counter said, well you can’t fix it, I will replace it for $150 dollars or you can just buy a new one for $199 oh and yes my warranty had just expired ( go figure) so i restored it with itunes and it didn’t fix it, I reset everything to factory settings and it deleted all my apps and still doesn’t work so I completely erased it, by the way never do this ( i was desperate) it deleted everything and just gives me a world with a usb picture and moments later, a white screen. I think apple is just forcing you to buy new ones, very smart on their part. but as for me I am done with them. good luck guys.
i dont even know if what i have is the white screen of death like it works fine accept it has a white kind of thing always flashing on it. i use to be able to slap it with my hand really hard then it would go away and be good as new so now im unsure n if its the screen or what?
maybe a loose screen, anyone wanna help?
email me =]
My son experience the same problem with his Ipod. First white stripes vertically then a totally white screen. 2nd Gen Ipod nano 8GB now 1 1/2 year old and bought it then in New York as a present. In spite of reset attempts many times the ipod only gives a light beep twice but furthermore no luck what so ever getting any other screen in sight.
Also restoring the software through the Itunes programm on the computer does not have any effect. Reading all the nasty messages on this site and other remarks on the internet you can see where it leads to if a company gets too big and successfull. They forget how they became that big and successfull “through their customers”! Come on Apple!! Do a better job with this failure.
*Firmware files*
Read this entire blog (good stuff) but none worked for me. Found this discussion on Apple’s site with links to 1.1.2 and 1.0.3 firmware. Tried that too (no luck) but wanted to pass on the info. Going to try Rockbox next.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9077546
thanks. this helped a lot i was so scred my ipod was done for but i got it back
I had the same problem! Except I have multi-colored horizontal lines across my second gen iPod nano screen. At first it only happened occasionally, and if I turned it off and on it would go away. Then it started happening more and more. And now I can’t get any normal iPod screen. The warantee expired and Apple won’t help me with the problem, they tell me it’s more worth it to buy a new one. I think it’s a software program, and I’m very mad that apple designs such shitty products that aren’t meant to last more than 2 years. I have music that I will lose, and cannot get back.