Made HDD, Battery and case upgrades to my ipod video 5th Gen and now I am told "Connect to your computer. Use iTunes to restore."

Question

I have a 5th Gen iPod Video that I have had many years now.  It has worked faithfully until about 2 weeks ago and the HDD totally died on me.
So I decided to upgrade from a 30 to 60 gb HDD, replaced the battery for the appropriate HDD and bought a new back shell for the unit.  I made incremental installations as parts arrived.  First the HDD itself and the next day the battery.  Both went in with no problem and I have been running them in a jerry rigged case (basically the 30gb back case has been taped together to make sure it was going to work OK.  I have been taking it to work with absolutely no issues, great response and great battery life.  Synching is fabulous.
Here is the issue, I hope this makes sense...
Today I received my 60 GB silver back cover and moved all of my parts over.  It seems to fit fine.  Headphone jack is working fine.  However, now the hold button is unresponsive (which is not a big loss to me but still just so you know).  I can play music and I can sync.  However, if I restart the unit, or I try synching a second time, I get screen saying "Connect to your computer.  Use iTunes to restore."  It does not matter if I snap it shut or leave the case loose, this happens.
I have this error until I open my case up again and do nothing else.  At that time, the error goes away, and my ipod is fine again.  Then, the screen comes back after restarting to a normal boot.  But, if I sync or restart without doing anything else, we go through the motions again until I open the case back up.
I have disconnected the battery as well as the HDD, but still have the problem.  I have also disconnected the cable coming from the hold button/earphone jack to the M/B,
Has anyone else ever experienced this issue or have any suggestions.

Answer 1

Shouldn't you contact the vendor or person who sold the back cover?  At the very least, it has a Hold switch that doesn't work.
This web site has repair guides
http://www.ifixit.com/Device/iPod_Original
and they call it "Headphone Jack & Hold Switch"
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPod+5th+Generation+%28Video%29+Headphone+Jack+%26+H old+Switch+Replacement/604
Under Relevant Parts, they seem to list separate parts for the thick and thin back cover.
On a side note, another way to fix your iPod is to use a compact flash card instead of a hard drive.  This web page has details
http://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-your-5th-Gen-iPod-Video-to-use-Flash-Mem or/
Then, you can use your existing thin profile back cover that works.  I replaced the hard drive in my 4th gen iPod with a CF card.  Currently, it is only 8GB, but with lower prices these days, I may soon upgrade it with a 64GB CF card.  But it works great with the 8GB card.  The iPod is noticeably lighter.  There is no hard drive spin-up delay.  The battery lasts longer per charge.  And it is no doubt more shock-resistant.