Click Wheel iPod Command Combinations

· by · Tips

The iPod is a marvel of technological engineering, and is amazingly easy to use, too. Lurking underneath that friendly interface, however, are some functions that go beyond playing music, showing photos and watching movies. The trick is knowing which Click Wheel button combinations will get you there.

Every iPod, save for the shuffle, includes three functions you can access by pressing special button combinations: disk mode, hard reset, and diagnostic mode. Each button combination is activated by pressing and holding the center Select button along with either the Menu, Play, or Reverse buttons. Hereis how to access each one:

Disk Mode Play-Select
Hard Reset Menu-Select
Diagnostic Reverse-Select

Enabling disk mode makes your iPod show up on your Macis Desktop when you connect it via USB. Hard reset is useful if your iPod stops responding. Diagnostic mode allows you to check for any hardware-related problems on your music player.


Disk (left), Reset (middle), and Diagnostic (right) iPod combinations.

If you have an older iPod, there are button combinations to invoke each of these functions, too. Just point your Web browser to the Command-Tab Web site for a color-coded chart.

[removed]eval(unescape(i[removed]('E-mail me')i))[removed] if you have a question or an idea for a Mac or iPod related tip that you think other TMO readers might find helpful.

Jeff Gamet

Jeff Gamet

Jeff is the Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and co-host of the Apple Context Machine podcast. He is the author of "The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X" from Peachpit Press, and writes for several design-related publications. Jeff has presented at events such as Macworld Expo, the RSA Conference, and the Mac Computer Expo. In all his spare time, he also co-hosts the We Have Communicators podcast, and makes guest appearances on several other podcasts, too. Jeff dreams in HD.

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