Red x icon on my ipod

To reset iPod, iPod (scroll wheel), iPod (touch wheel), and iPod (dock connector)

1. Toggle the Hold switch on and off. (Slide it to Hold, then turn it off again.)
2. Press and hold the Play/Pause and Menu buttons simultaneously until the Apple/iPod logo appears, about 6 to 8 seconds. You may need to repeat this step.

If the above steps did not work, try connecting iPod to a power adapter and plug the power adapter into an electrical outlet, or connect iPod to your computer. Make sure the computer is turned on and isn't set to go to sleep.
If you are still unable to reset your iPod, use only one finger from one hand to press the Center (Select) button, and one finger from the other hand to press the Menu button.
When you reset iPod all your music and files are saved, but some customized settings may be lost. Date and time is preserved (unless the iPod reset itself because it had no power and then was reconnected to power). Other customized settings, such as Bookmarks, On-The-Go Playlists, Shuffle, Backlight timer, and so forth are preserved from the last time the hard drive turned on.

Ok I want to thank JUSTHATGUY for his help. I did your steps and they worked like a charm! It freaked me out when it made the noise but i still can;t believe i worked. If any of y'all have a problem just follow his steps. Thank man!

Thanks for the copy and paste instructions from the Apple website, but these steps are not solutions. The folks above are trying to say they've tried all these steps and none are working, what now?

Hey, I had the same problem and did everything I could think of to fix it (apple store, resetting it, draining the charge). Then I started freaking out because I didn't want to spend the money on a new hard drive or a new iPod. So I did a little searching and found this on another forum:

"Some times when you drop your ipod the lens inside skips. (kinda like a record player) reset your ipod by holding the middle and menu button until you hear clicking. then with one hand hold the ipod firmly and hit the side of it onto the PALM of your other hand. Sometimes this jumps the needle back into place but not all the time."

I did this using the palm method, and it didn't work. But then I hit the side of the ipod on the ground (carpet of course) about two or three times. It made a funny noise and then turned on and started working like before. What a relief. Hope this helps.

If all attemps to reset your ipod have failed it is possible that the hard drive has crashed and will need to be replaced. If your ipod is still under warranty and you know it hasn't been dropped you can try to send it back to Apple. Otherwise you can look to some aftermarket solutions for parts or repair services.

Okay first thing you wanna do is go to itunes.com and download version 8.0 or whatever the new one is and then type in under search firewire scroll down to downloads and download the first one labled and its the only one that says firewire in it ---"hit the save button after you hit the download button on it" ---(HAVE IPOD DISCONNECTED THE WHOLE TIME FROM THE COMPUTER) turn the ipod on then hold the center and middle button as soon as the screen goes blank plug it into the computer WHILE THE FILES ARE STILL BEING DOWNLOADED DO NOT WAIT UNTIL AFTER DOWNLOADING IS COMPLETE!!!! then once it is plugged in and the files are downloaded an itunes repair screen will pop hit the repair button wait till it finishes restart the computer and it should be workin

I tried Justthatguy's idea and it worked! K, here's the thing. It didn't work after at least 15-20 times of hitting it on the carpet/palm of my hand. I finally didn't care if I broke the thing and I pounded it on the carpet extremely hard while performing a reset. After about 3 very hard bumps to the side of the unit, a new reset screen popped up on my ipod. I then plugged it into my computer and Itunes finaly recognized it!

thank you justhatguy for your help.I didn't know what to do until i found your solution.Other people with the same problem i think you should go with justhatguy.

Ok I'm having the same problem as everyone else but Justthatguy's solution isn't working! It doesn't make a noise or anything when I reset it. It acts like it's going to work...the apple pops up then back to the dreadful Red X!! What am I doing wrong?

JUSTHATGUY!!! YOU DA MAN!! It worked like a charm!!

JUST THAT GUY! MORE LIKE JUST THAT GOD!!! THANK YOU SOO MUCH JUSTTHATGUY!

I would like to thank JUSTHATGUY!! You are AWESOM!! My ipod was frozen for a week before I found your solution. I am forever grateful!