I have a 60GB iPod Video (called Classic now but mine is that old). I haven’t had the hard drive problem you mentioned but I had one that a good whack fixed. One day I plugged the iPod into my computer. It updated as usual and said it was charging. The next day I noticed that the battery was only half charged. I thought that was odd but there wasn’t much I could do about it at work. I plugged it in again that night and again it said it was charging. The next day I noticed it hadn’t charged again leaving just a couple hours of battery life. I listened until it died. At home I plugged it in and received a message to wait until it had enough power. It never got enough to get any further. I saw three possibilities: the iPod was dead, USB cord damanged, or USB port didn’t work right. I ruled out the cord and ports. A few days later I knocked the iPod off my desk to the floor. It is a fake wood floor and the impact was hard enough to make the hard iPod case go flying off. I figured it would be way dead after something like that but it was able to take a charge again. Now I’m thinking maybe there is a loose connection inside of it. The charging problem still happens to me from time to time (usually because I drop the iPod). Every time my solution is to punch it and it will start charging again.