Hey all, I've been wanting to use my iPod mini again, so disassembled & assessed it this morning. I had originally modded this quite a long time ago, replacing the battery with one from iFixit and replacing the failed(?) drive with an 8GB Transcend compact flash. I had experienced some random crashing with it, so ultimately put it on a shelf years ago.

The battery no longer holds a charge, so I disassembled and found the 3.7V 650mAh iFixit battery swelling (not surprising after all these years). Looks like iFixit doesn't stock them anymore (also, no surprise there!) and I can get some from eBay for around $13 USD.

I had a vague recollection of the CF card flopping a bit and thinking that might've caused the instability, but found that I had put a piece of kapton tape holding it down. I decided to remove the CF card and inspect the logic board for any obvious signs of damage. Nothing jumped out at me, but I did notice that that particular Transcend CF card does have some exposed metal on the back side which isn't fully covered by the label. I decided to cover those with some kapton tape and, while doing so, noticed something next to my ESD mat (now taped to the case for safety)... a minuscule capacitor!



My desk surface had some random dust & dirt on it, so I'm shocked I even noticed it!

I then reinspected the logic board and the only place I can spot might have a missing capacitor is south-east (in the photo) of the drive connector. It looks like it's labelled C121, but I'm really struggling to read it:




It doesn't look like I would've made contact with it while prying up the drive connector with a spudger, After test-fitting the CF card to check for clearances, it looks like it could have been pressed up against the drive ribbon cable. Maybe the original micro drive had better clearance because it was thicker?

Anyway, does anyone have an iPod mini logic board at hand to compare with the photo and confirm that the capacitor is supposed to be in that location? Additionally, does anyone have a schematic or know the measurement of that capacitor for replacement?

While I have a hot air reflow station and a TS80P soldering iron with a relatively fine tip, I don't have a warming plate or magnification appropriate for this task. So, I won't practice on this yet, but want to at least buy the capacitor to have ready for when I have the tools and am comfortable.

Thanks in advance!

Is that it right there?

>> phunguss said:

Is that it right there? View attachment 20522 Click to expand...

Yes. My apologies for not highlighting it in the photo I uploaded!

This is a Gen 1 A1051 (fat - before they got super thin)?

>> phunguss said:

This is a Gen 1 A1051 (fat - before they got super thin)? Click to expand...

Yes, A1051 iPod mini. I do believe it's a gen 1 since the copyright is 2004 and I'd imagine the gen 2 would be copyright 2005 since it was introduced in February 2005.

The gen 1 & 2 are same physical case, though I do believe the logic boards differed slightly in components used, but it's been a while. They didn't change the form factor until the iPod nano was introduced in September 2005 (at which point they discontinued the gen 2 iPod mini.)

Either way, we have different versions.

But I would say, "YES, that is the capacitor from that location." You typically can't measure a capacitor in place, it should be removed from the circuit to measure it. Is it damaged/crushed that you can't get a reading from it?

>> phunguss said:

Either way, we have different versions. View attachment 20523 But I would say, "YES, that is the capacitor from that location." You typically can't measure a capacitor in place, it should be removed from the circuit to measure it. Is it damaged/crushed that you can't get a reading from it? View attachment 20524 Click to expand...

Thank you very much for comparing with your logic board!

Without proper magnification, it's really hard for me to tell if I can actually locate contacts to test it, plus I only have a multimeter. Looks like this will have to go back on the shelf until I have more appropriate tools or maybe I'll send it out for repair at some point.

Again, many thanks!