Difficulty
Very difficult
Steps
25
Time Required
- Hard Drive 25 steps
Featured Guide
This guide has been found to be exceptionally cool by the iFixit staff.
Introduction
Upgrade your storage with a new hard drive.
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Insert a plastic opening tool into the seam between the front and back of the iPod.
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Insert another plastic opening tool into the seam between the front and back of the iPod, leaving at least 1.5 inches of space between the two tools.
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At an angle, carefully insert a putty knife about 1/8 inch into the seam between the two opening tools.
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Once the putty knife has cleared the lip of the rear panel, pivot the putty knife so that it is vertical, and carefully (but firmly) wiggle it straight down into the gap between the opening tools.
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Push with your fingers on the rear panel behind the putty knife to minimize bending. Slowly flex the putty knife, as shown in the picture, to ensure that most of the metal tabs on this side of the iPod are disengaged.
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Remove the putty knife from the iPod and reinsert it closer to the corner of the iPod, using the same wiggle method as before.
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Near the headphone jack, insert a plastic opening tool into the seam between the front and back of the iPod.
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Near the center of the display, carefully insert a metal spudger into the gap created by the plastic opening tool.
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Using the metal spudger, disengage the single clip on the top of the iPod.
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Near the other top corner, insert a plastic opening tool into the seam between the front and back of the iPod
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On the other side, insert a plastic opening tool into the seam between the front and back of the iPod.
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Remove the opening tool from the top corner and insert it into the seam between the front and back of the iPod, leaving at least 1.5 inches of space between the two tools (as done on the other side).
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At an angle, carefully insert a putty knife about 1/8 inch into the seam between the two opening tools.
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Once the putty knife has cleared the lip of the rear panel, angle the putty knife so that it is vertical, and carefully (but firmly) wiggle it straight down into the iPod via the gap between the plastic opening tools.
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Push with your fingers on the rear panel behind the putty knife to minimize bending. Ever so slightly flex the putty knife to ensure that most of the metal tabs on this side of the iPod are disengaged.
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Carefully insert a metal spudger into the area near the stubborn metal clip.
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Gently wiggle the metal spudger down so that it is all the way in the rear panel.
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Gently begin to disengage the clip from the front panel.
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Continue to push up on the front panel with the metal spudger until the metal clip releases.
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Grasp the front panel assembly with one hand and the rear panel with the other.
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Gently (GENTLY) disengage the remaining clips on the rear panel by pulling the tops of the front and rear panels away from each other (think of the bottom of the iPod as a hinge), taking great care not to damage the ribbon cables holding the two halves together.
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Use a spudger to slide up the connector holding the orange battery ribbon in place. You only need to lift the locking bar up about 2 mm to free the cable.
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Slide the orange battery ribbon out of its connector.
If the small battery black/white connector pumps out of the ipod when you are trying to unplug the cable...REMEMBER the "U" black shape is meant to be just in the same direction as the blue plastic "U" beside it. If you plug it back in the wrong way it will display "Charging please wait..." forever!.
:)
How did you get the black battery piece to stay in after it popped out?
I knocked this little bit out too! Any tips to get it back in? Soldering?
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Place the rear panel next to the iPod, being careful not to strain the orange headphone jack cable.
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Lift the hard drive up with one hand so you can access the headphone jack ribbon beneath.
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Use a spudger to flip up the plastic tab holding the headphone jack ribbon in place. The tab will rotate up 90 degrees, releasing the ribbon cable.
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Slide the orange headphone jack ribbon out of its connector.
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The rear panel is now free from the iPod.
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Now to repair the damage caused by liberating the internal parts of the iPod Classic! It is highly likely that at least one of the metal clips in the lower case has been bent upward. These clips must all be pointing downward in order to reinstall the rear panel.
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Take the broad, flat side of the metal spudger and push the clip down, taking care not to tear the thin metal rail from the rear panel.
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On a clean, hard surface, lay the rear panel on its side. Carefully but firmly push down on it, rolling the entire lip side back into its proper spot.
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Rotate the hard drive out of the framework and place it so that the connector is facing up.
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Use a spudger to flip up the plastic tab holding the orange hard drive ribbon in place. The tab will rotate up 90 degrees, releasing the ribbon cable.
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Slide the orange hard drive ribbon cable directly out of its connector.
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If you are replacing the hard drive in your iPod and it did not come with the rubber mounting brackets and foam padding, transfer these items from your old drive to the replacement drive.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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25 Comments
The instructions worked like a charm. This is not for the faint of heart and requires some modicum of skill, but I saved a buttload of money by doing it myself. You will definitely need the recommended tools.
It worked like a charm... Just need to follow the instructions carefully and you can avoid to spend 200 something € to buy a new iPod!
Thanks iFixit
i couldn't get the plastic opening tool in between the 2 sections. i ended up using two razor blades instead of the plastic tools and the putty knife, i was able to replace the hard drive with very little struggle and almost no cosmetic damage(not that i care what the thing looks like)
Thanks for a highly useful guide. Slowly and methodically, using a single-bladed, razor blade, I was able to open the case, following this procedure. Patience is, indeed, a virtue, in this case.
I was able to successfully replace the hard drive and battery.
The only snag I encountered was that the headphone jack ribbon was glued to circuit board adjacent to the connector under the hard drive. (I just left this ribbon be, not wanting to risk damaging the ribbon.) It was a bit awkward straightening the case edges, but I managed.
Overall, I'd give this guide a grade of "A"....it was nearly perfect and very clear. Bravo!
Well I managed to get it apart, though it wasn't all that difficult with the right tools, but getting it back together has been a nightmare. Just saying "reverse the process" is reall not quite enough in this case. All the little pieces of shock padding keep falling off, it's almost impossible to get the two wires plugged back in as well as keeping them in place, but I got there in the end. Or so I thought . Now my ipod has no sound (except from dock output) - and on investigating I find I have severed the orange cable near the jack itself- either by bending it or catching it on something. So another part to buy. So it's a warning to be very careful.
Yeah. I did it. It wasn't easy, and the results could have been prettier, but I did it.
On opening, I found my plastic tools to be useless. I ended up taking the blade of a cheap Gerber knife to the thing, being careful not to damage the rails. I found that thin grade guitar picks were a great thing to stick in the spaces!
It's a good idea to take a picture of the innards once you open it. The little bumpers can be a bit tricky to reposition when you put it back together. Also you'll want to remove the blue foam padding if possible from the old hard drive and stick it to the new one.
Don't freak out when you get to the ribbons. They're tougher than they look, and they seem to know where to go. I did have to use a pair of needlenose plyers to guide the headphone ribbon back into place.
If you're a stickler for aesthetics, then pay close attention to steps 21-23. Especially 23, or you'll have unsightly gaps along the edges.
The hardest part of this project is taking it apart. Take your time.
This is great instruction.
Could you please add the list of compatible hard drives.
I have a need for larger hard drive and plan is to install 512GB SSD drive for my iPod Classic 160GB 7th Gen. Do you now is there some limitation in HD size in iPod?
The plan is to replace original 160GB hard drive with Samsung PM851 512GB SSD drive
Based on my understanding this adapter works
Mini PCI-E Msata SSD to 40pin ZIF Adapter Card
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-PCI-E-Msata...
with Samsung PM851 512GB mSata Internal Solid state drive SSD
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-PM851-51...
I guess that I need also new wider back cover for iPod classic.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/upgrade-iPod-Cla...
I'm not sure how much space is needed for Msata to SSD adapter and ssd drive
Any comments?
@Jari
Have you considered using a Compact Flash instead of SSD? i.e. check eBay for "CF to Zif 1.8" HDD SSD IDE Adapter"...
I tried to install Samsung PM851 512GB SSD drive for iPod Classic, but iPod does not detect the drive.
I formatted SSD drive to FAT32 beforehand, but finally I had to intall original 160GB drive back.
Jari -
This was indeed a tough shell to crack! The plastic tools can bend easily and become weak so be careful as you are trying to create the initial gap for the putty knife. Once you get one side unhinged, the rest moves much more quickly!
Upgraded my 80 to a 120 and did the battery while I was at it...now hopefully I can squeeze another 5 years out of my iPod which should be long enough for a Apple to release Touch with a large enough hard drive for all my music!
The guide is very good. Take your time and with patience and perseverance it can be done. I used a kitchen palette knife to prise open the case. I replaced the hard drive and after several attempts at fixing the hard drive cable in place given that the flimsly retainer clip broke first time on the new drive. I used a piece of paper in the slot to keep the cable connected and secure which was then curved back and taped into place to keep the pressure on. Fiddly but sucessful. I now have my ipod up and working. Not bad for a 7 year old piece of kit which has has a few knocks and bashes on the way. So it is worth trying!
Had great success using 6 guitar picks instead of the putty knife. Allowed me to move in smaller sections and caused zero damage to the iPod. Didn't even bend any metal clips mentioned in Step 21! Replacing a damaged drive with 128 GB of flash memory using StarTech 1.8-Inch ZIF to CF Adaptor and Komputerbay Dual Micro SD to CF adaptor. Can use two cheaper 64 GB SD cards to achieve a solid state 7th Gen Classic!
Don't know much about memory technologies but why did you use 2* micro SD cards instead of a 128gb CF card?
A very useful guide -I read through a couple of times before starting. I did not have spudgers, but used a variety of other small tools. It came apart more easily than expected, and the case only needed one clip bending back. There are some minor marks at the joint between case and front, but all works fine.
I don´t have the plastic tools, which I believe are meant to open the device without scratching it. I still haven´t repaired my iPod Classic, but I followed the instructions to open it and identify the hard drive model so I could order a new one. I opened it with a round blade knife and two coffee spoons. :) I wasn´t afraid to scratch the dang thing as it was already badly scratched. It will be my "backup" Classic, as I already got myself a new one (one of the last ones).
Is there a drive bigger than the 160 Gb that will fit? I just need more space. :)
I would like to try this because my iPod classic died and I'm very upset that it's been discontinued. I have no want for a Touch and I listen to too much music for a low GB. I must ask though where you got the new hard drive? Or what kind of hard drive it is. I've only ever installed a hard drive in an XBox 360 slim and that was just opening a panel and slipping it into a port. Thanks.
Everything went smoothly. I replaced both the drive and the battery at the same time. I suggest you invest a little $ and buy the necessary tools as I did. Makes everything sooooooo
much easier. Took about an hour but what the heck.....I wasn't doing much else. Now I have my Tunes back! Thanks iFixit.com!
Kenny From San Clemente, CA
Great guide, just take your time and make sure you use the proper tools. Used this guide for my iPod and you can't tell it has been opened whereas I used a different guide in the past for the Mrs's iPod with no where near as good results.
This is a great guide, I was able to change both my hard drive and my battery in a simple 30 minutes since my package arrived. My iPod always worked really hard just to stay powered on, it felt like it was going to explode every time I picked it up, now the iPod is running quietly and smoothly with no problems. And for once I am able to sync all of my music from iTunes onto it.
A few weeks back I saw someone selling a 160 gig Classic on LetGo for $35 and decided to get it. Got home and discovered why the price was so low, the disk could not be accessed when I tried a restore. So I ordered up some parts from Amazon, a ZIF to CF adapter board and a CF to SD adapter. Ran about $20 for the pair. I went to Harbor Freight Tools to see about a putty knife but decided to get a razor blade with handle that I found in the paint scraping aisle where the putty knives were. Turned out this was the only tool I needed to get the clips undone while not uglifying the iPod. I pried on the edge of the back case like the instructions show using the putty knife to do, then a very small amount of persuasion by placing a small flathead screwdriver in the gap and a bit of twisting got it apart.
(cont'd) I put a 32 gig SD card in the adapter for testing, then put the adapter into the ZIF adapter and slid it in. I had a 32 gig solid state Classic to show for my efforts. I synced some music and tried playing through some headphones to see what I got, after all this was a cheapie secondhand 'Pod so had to find out if it'd work. Works great.
I see that Other World Computing has a more elegant part going straight from ZIF to SD, I think I'll try that. The slim 7th gen doesn't look like it'll hold the adapter contraption in there now. I haven't tried closing it yet since I need a bigger SD.
Thank you for the guide! It is indeed very difficult, but not impossible. I followed the directions as closely as possible. I had to use a utility knife to open it. The seam was too tight for the plastic tools. Everything else went fine. If you use extreme care and follow the directions exactly you should be able to do this with no damage to ribbon cables. I did, at times, feel like I was performing microsurgery. :-) All went well in the end and I once again have a working iPod classic - at a fraction of the cost of replacing it. Thanks again for the guide and for the great customer service when ordering the parts.
The instructions were absolutely clear( even if I deduced some of the words from the context) :-) The only difficulty for me, was to put as much power on the putty knife as necessary. Too little and too shy at the beginning. ... but then you get the necessary feeling! Again it's not as difficult as it seems in the beginning. By the 25-th fixing you can open a little fixing shop :-D. Thank you iFixit!!! Thank you all enthusiasts who post here!!!
I was able to successfully install the physical drive, however the volume is not working well-it can be heard faintly if the volume is cranked all the way up-but its all very distorted. Any suggestions?
If you're meticulous, the job can perfectly be done, without any of the recommended tools. I hadn't the time to order them, so I opened my iPod with the large blade of my Victorinox swiss army knife. By just following the instruction I succeeded in releasing all of the metal tabs all around the iPod, and didn't damage any of them. You can clearly hear them "declipsing". I think the blade of the Victorinox is thiner than the putty knife, the only thing you have to take care of, is not to cut the black or silver painting of the front of the case, but if you are used to cut with a knife, you should succeed. Just be aware that it is however a difficult job !
jcfsystems - Reply
Thank you for these instructions - my dead iPod classic (that died whilst attached to an ipod dock during a heavy thunderstorm which took out the dock too) is now working again. Opening the case took me 40 minutes and 7 plastic case openers not to mention very sore hands but the rest of the process worked fine. thanks again
Stuart Hutchesson - Reply
Opened it up with MANY super thin nylon guitar picks in less than a minute starting from the two tabs on the bottom - I used the putty knife in my shop for wood filler and patching walls :)
cmguitar - Reply