Charging old ipod mini

Question

I HAVE AN OLD IPOD MINI (1ST GEN I THINK)AS IT HAS NOT GOT THE SIZE OF GB ON THE BACK AND ALSO HAS A CLICK WHEEL.
I CANT GET IT TO CHARGE THROUGH MY USB......PLEASE CAN SOMEONE HELP ME?
THANKS

Answer 1

Here is a helpful Article: iPod's Battery Doesn't Charge
See this link for a good bit of info: The iPod Battery Unplugged..
A synopsis of it is as follows:
"For best results, try not to use computer ports to charge your iPod. USB is especially sensitive to how many devices are on it and what the resulting bus voltage is. It may even display the charging icon but not be adding much to the battery. USB versions prior to 2.0 will not charge your iPod (and probably be too slow for its other functions). Even USB 2.0 is limited to 700 milliamps and an iPod "likes" to see one full amp for charging, plus some to spin the HD while mounted. Some (early) iPod models will not charge from USB, period. Some PCs use 4-pin Firewire cables (all Macs are 6-pin) which carry no charging voltage, so they won't work at all for recharging and can allow your iPod to run down and cause serious problems while updating firmware, restoring, or loading songs. Both USB and Firewire require the iPod to be mounted by your computer as an external drive, which means the iPod's HD is spinning, using some of the juice that the battery might like to have. And if the computer sleeps or is turned off, the battery won't charge and in some cases will actually drain through the port circuits. Bottom line: if your ports are not doing a good job of charging your battery, use the wall adapter to charge for several cycles before questioning the battery's credentials. If you have a new iPod which only comes with USB, don't panic; it can work fine. But if you do experience problems, either take everything else off the USB bus (except mouse & keyboard) and/or get an AC adapter."
Here is another possible way to obtain a charge.
I have not tested this myself, but some reports on these Discussions indicate that it does work:
With the iPod disconnected from the PC, open up "my computer". You will see all the available drives. Now, plug the iPod into the USB port on your computer. As soon as you plug it in, watch the "my computer" window for the external drive (your iPod) to open up. As soon as it does, double click on it. It should remain charging for you (and your iPod will say ‘Do Not Disconnect’). Don't close out of it until you think the charging is complete (about 4 hours). It appears as though, as long as the iPod is communicating with the computer, it is charging.