Blog

Apple iPod 2004 ‘U2 Edition’ HDD Replacement Process

Does anyone remember the iPod “U2″ special edition? There were a number of different versions, but this is the original one that came out in 2004. It’s essentially a 20 GB fourth-generation iPod, but with a red and black colour scheme and the band’s signatures engraved onto the metallic back panel.

While many people have moved on to the iPhone and other smartphones, the original iPods still have their fans and understandably so- they do what they were meant to do very well, with no unnecessary frills.

The problem with this one is that the small, 1.8″ 20 GB hard drive it uses has failed. Ten years is quite respectable for a hard drive, especially one that’s being moved about a lot. Unfortunately, replacement 1.8″ drives are becoming increasingly hard to find, as solid state (flash-based) storage has essentially taken over from miniature portable hard drives of this capacity. Toshiba no longer manufactures any 1.8” models at all (including the model used here), and this was cited by Apple as one reason for the discontinuation of the “Classic” iPod line.

Fortunately, we still know where to get our hands on reliable new drives, and while there are a number of issues in disassembling and reassembling the iPod fourth-generation, once this was done it was as good as new.

Opening up the iPod with the repair tool.

You can just about make out the ‘Sad iPod’ symbol that shows this iPod is faulty.

Now completely-disassembled, we can see all the component parts, plus the replacement hard drive (bottom right).

The replacement hard drive (left) has been installed and the faulty old one (right) removed.

Now that the U2 iPod is as good as new- all that remains is to copy the music the owner wants over to the new hard drive.