Can the hold button be replaced if broke?

If you aren't up to repair via david's direction, you would need a new logic board assembly, unfortunately.

Is it stuck on hold of off hold? If it is permanently off hold, consider yourself blessed! If it's stuck on hold, it seems to me that the damage is done and you can't hurt for TRYING to do a repair before replacing it.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

It is possible to repair, as david said, and I have done it-- it just requires a couple soldering points.

Find another old motherboard, and follow the cable down to the motherboard. The first two soldering points you come to need to be unsoldered, but first use a razor and cut the cable so you don't have to unsolder all 4 points that connect to the rest of the cable.

If you decide to try it, let me know and I can give you more detailed directions.

ADDED INFO TO CHANGE HOLD SWITCH:

Any kind of soldering should work, i think i use a tin-based solder. A soldering gun with a fine point is nice to use.

In order to replace this hold switch, you will have to take the old one off first. In order to do this, you need to actually cut the ribbon with a razor. If you follow the hold switch ribbon down to the motherboard, you will see there are four soldering points in a square. Two of them go to the headphone jack (those on the right) the ones on the left are not actually wired to these. So make a vertical incision on this cable splitting the two right soldering points from the two left (this is if you are looking at the motherboard with the docking port down and the battery up).

Once you have made this cut, heat up the two points on the right to remove the old hold switch.

Not get your new switch (I'd suggest getting one from an old motherboard that is broken-- you will need to do the same cut and unsoldering to get it off). When you have the new switch, just thread it in and solder it where the old one was, in the same position.

It is tricky, but good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!

My youtube video on how you can try to repair your HOLD switch

Hope it helps.

I just found this very promising and solder-free solution elsewhere on iFixit:

https://de.ifixit.com/Anleitung/iPod+Nan...

This Goes to Peder.... Is there a certain type of solder that you need in order to do this type of repair? Also what tools exactly to i need to do a job like this. I was at radio shack the other day and i saw all type of soldering tools and solders for electronics. For example i saw a tool that said vacuum solder. another tool that says remove solder. then the actual soldering one. Whats neccessary to do the job. Thanks.

There isnt a place where I can get that flex without looking for a broken one? PLZ T_T!!!! Im dieing without my iPod Nano...

hi all sorry for the botch but if your cable broke whilst it was locked cut the ribbon with scissors the circuit is bridged by the metal of the scissors and your pod will be unlocked .

ok so there still isnt a lock switch but at least the pod can be listened to

I have a 5th Generation iPod Nano that is stuck on hold. Toggling the hold switch does nothing, and I have reset/restored the device and the iPod is still stuck on hold. I looked at the teardown page for my iPod, which shows the internal workings of the ipod, and it seems the hold switch board is connected to the rest of the iPod by a ribbon cable. If I cut the cable, will the hold button turn off? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!