[DizzleNizzle20]

Ok I was listening to my ipod like any other day when all of a sudden it goes in to a super random play which it skips from song to song, not even playing a single second of any song. I cut my ipod off and then back on and the problem continued. I did the reset option of holding the "select" and "menu" button for 6-10 secs and the problem continued.
After trying the reset option a couple times an icon w/ a folder and an exclamation point comes up. I go online to apple.com/support to find out what the problem is and i follow all steps to solve my problem. In the mean time while playing around and trying to fix my ipod it makes a very loud clicking noise when running. And no this isnt the same click when browsing through your data but an internal click from inside the hardware.
After playing around for 30 mins or so my ipod completely erases itself, leaving me w/ what i had when i first got my ipod out of the box when bought. Next i uninstalled all my itunes and ipod software from my desktop computer (windows millineum system) and reinstalled my itunes and ipod software, and hooked it up. I put a few songs on my itunes to upload into my ipod to see if that'll work. Now the "Do Not Disconnect" will not go off of my ipod screen and my itunes/ipod software that came initially w/ my ipod will not even recognize my ipod, not to mention my ipod is 2 yrs old so the tech support with apple wont even help me over the phone. WHAT DO I DO!?!?!!?...thank you for your time and consideration for reading this and please help me /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[katya]

I had similar issues with my iPod. I think Apple's suggestions are good but sometimes it takes many attempts of the same action to get the desired result. You may have to restore it. I did and had a problem after that but reset it successfully after 10 attempts.
I hope you have a complete music library to rebuild your iPod playlists. Good luck.

[digidan]

loud clicking? Yech - I hope that's not a hard drive failing...
I've heard that when the read head of a hard drive (ipod or not) starts rubbing against the disk itself - it will make a scratching, clang type noise. (I've heard it before - not on my HD, fortuantely.)
I wonder if that's your problem. If so, that's the end of the iPod. I can't be sure, so take it to your nearest Apple store and have a genious look at it.
I just have no other idea what could make a loud clicking from inside the machine itself - other than a hard drive failing... O.o
That would explain why it gave the folder/! icon (It couldn't find the music folder), why it won't be recognized by windows (the HD is unreadable), and maybe why the music went nuts. (if the head was skipping from song to song, eg it was loose, or bouncing off the disk itself, it couldn't read the file.)
If it IS a failed hard drive, it may still show the do not disconnect screen, as that's probably part of the firmware.
Good luck!
-Dan