hi there, my optical drive was not really working from the beginning, so getting rid of it would be a good idea. the...

hi, had the same problem with the stuck power button. as user 'louiszro' suggested follow the instructions to dis-assemble your ipod just like for exchanging the headphone jack, but stop at point 13. after that, remove the 3 buttons('plus', 'minus', power - connected to each other) by removing the 4 screws. the problem with my ipd was that the very small black plasic peace (shown exactly here: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=14t62x4&...) wasn't were it is supposed to be - just compare with the other two buttons. i used a little bit of '2 components glue'(don't know the exact english term for that...) to stick this plastic peace onto the middle - backside of the power button. when assembling: be sure to push the 2 connectors from the LCD so they have proper connection. at first my player stayed black - thinking i fu**** it up - but the connectors just weren't sitting properly... check that out before assembling further. good luck - work carefully, and nothing should break! of course - if you have warranty,...

if your problem is that your player is pausing randomly - maybe just try using some WD-40 or similar to clean the contacts will fix that. you can just spray some WD-40 into the headphone-jack without dismantling it.

don't use to much WD-40, and hold your player with the headphone-jack pointing down. otherwise it may happen that the display gets damaged(happend to me - my display now discoloroud because of the liquid / but is functional anyway).