How can you tell if you need a new motherboard?

 

Some observations:

Screen is blank (could be a screen but is often a motherboard)

Sync problems (iPod won't sync to iTunes)

Sad iPod face (sometimes this is the hard drive, sometimes it is the motherboard)

 

On iPod Video, if you get the message (in 3 languages) "Use iTunes to restore" this is...

in the best case, a low battery (charge up or replace)

in the worst case, a broken main board

 

On iPod Mini:

If you know the hard drive is good, the sad iPod face is telling you the main board is bad.  For Minis, buying a new motherboard is more than (or almost more than) buying a working Mini.  They run ~ $35 so it's really not worth doing.

 

How do you know the hard drive is good? If you can see the iPod on your computer as a hard drive, and can write to it manually (drag a file to it and see if it saves).  If you can see the iPod as a drive, but you can't sync with iTunes, you probably have a busted motherboard.