Go on line and look up trouble shoot in diagnostic mode. You then can check the hard drive, the buttons, ear phone jack etc. That should help some. Watch a few of the youtube videos on opening them. None of them are that good. Start where it plugs in then work on both sides placing something in the opening to keep it opened. Opening is sometimes very difficult.

I would try to reset it 6-7 times before I did anything else. That has worked for me in the past. sometimes you can’t load it the same way either. Sometimes you have to drag the music over to the iPod in iTunes shown by your music. I have 5 of them. I use them for books and music.

It sounds like the connection might be bad. I would go to youtube and watch opening the 30GB you have. Sometimes it is easy…sometimes very hard. I have opened and redone 3. They were all different and once you get inside it’s easy to break things. Check for parts… it’s pretty old. If they have videos you will see the parts easy enough.

They hate being dropped. I would get a little 50$ one for work out and give it a rest at home unless you want to open it up. That can go south in a second or be very easy. I would watch a few videos on it. Getting the cover off is the toughest part on some of them. Then just move slowly and don’t break any of the connections.

Is it a Classic? How old is it? You might have something loose inside. If it works at home I would delegate it to music at home unless you want to dig into its insides. I have opened and repaired 3 now. Getting the cover off isn’t always easy. The insides are actually not so bad. That bottom plug takes a lot of wear and tear.

It may be nothing or a lot. Did you try just dragging songs from several places into you iPod where it shows when plugged in to computer. Sometimes it quits being able to be loaded the original way.