iPod U2 iPod. How to restore it?

[Christopher11]

I have a U2, black and red iPod, and am wondering how much it might be worth. The problem is, when I try to power on it just gives me the broken battery icon. Then it starts to power on and gives an address at Apple.com, then back to the broken battery icon.

On the back it says 'Special Edition 20GB'

Any ideas? Is there a way to get it working? Also, I wonder what it might be worth. Thank you for any replies.

 

[retta283]

Is there any symbol that appears above the web address? This helps to figure out what the error is.

 

[Christopher11]

I can't get it to do anything today but display that battery symbol. I don't recall there was a symbol though. I'll keep trying.

 

[Slix]

U2 iPods tend to be worth more than other iPods of the era, but it all depends on how good of shape it's in at this point.

Do you have a FireWire charger? Perhaps it's been dead so long it just needs to sit on the charge for a while before it'll boot properly.

 

[Christopher11]

That's exactly right; it's been dead so long the battery isn't responding correctly. I do hope I can revive it. Is there are Firewire to old iPod connector? Would that send more power to it than USB?

˜

 

[Slix]

A direct USB or FireWire wall charger would provide enough power to get it to power on. Both would be 30-pin connector cables, if you happen to have them. Firewire should send more power than USB I believe. I've had issues with one of my iPods that has a dead battery, and it will only turn on with FireWire reliably.

If you left it plugged in a while, did it eventually turn on?

 

[Christopher11]

I plugged the U2 iPod into a wall charger via USB and it seems to not be responding. It shows me nothing at all now. I wonder if I should just leave it plugged in longer.

 

[togruber]

Replace the battery and the iPod will work fine.