Hey all,
I got my Droid 4 a month ago and rooted it. It ran out of power while I was outside. When I tried charging it, a battery icon with a question mark comes up. I can't boot to Safestrap, and when I go to Fastboot, it says "Battery Low -- Cannot Program".
The phone doesn't turn on unless I plug it into the wall charger. If I plug it into the USB port on my laptop, the green LED comes on, but it won't turn on. I can boot to Android recovery, and I tried formatting /data and /cache, but that didn't help.
Funny thing: I can keep the phone in Android recovery, leave it plugged in, and it charges up enough to stay on for a while when I unplug it.
Now, I know about the Macgyver trick, and I'd like to give that a shot. iFixit has a fantastic teardown of the Droid 4, but unfortunately, removing the battery would very clearly void my warranty (although I guess having Safestrap voids that already), and I'm worried about doing permanent damage to my device. Are there any solutions besides "beg Verizon for a new phone"? Has anyone tried Macgyvering a Droid 4?
Curious, if you do BP Tools, does it drop you into Safestrap? I know mine does, and then maybe you can change some settings. Also, you could try to make a "Factory Cable". I know I made mine from my old OG Droid dock as it had the 5 wire jumper, and just jumped the 2 wires and it allowed me to flash w/o a charged battery.
I would ensure that the charger is putting out 5.1v and 850mA as my d4 won't charge or power on after the battery dies unless its with the factory charger or one that meets these specs
Sent from my DROID4 using XDA
Soulmech said:
Funny thing: I can keep the phone in Android recovery, leave it plugged in, and it charges up enough to stay on for a while when I unplug it.
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Click to collapse
Have you tried leaving it plugged in for an extended period of time, say overnight, and see if it'll boot up?
gdeeble said:
Curious, if you do BP Tools, does it drop you into Safestrap? I know mine does, and then maybe you can change some settings. Also, you could try to make a "Factory Cable". I know I made mine from my old OG Droid dock as it had the 5 wire jumper, and just jumped the 2 wires and it allowed me to flash w/o a charged battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried BP Tools. It lets me drop into Safestrap, but Safestrap won't load due to the battery issue.
Hope you don't mind me asking, but what's a factory cable? Is it just a USB cable with the B end cut off, and the black and red wires stripped? My issue with jumping the device/battery is that I'm unable (or supposed to be unable) to remove the battery, so any solution along those lines would have to allow me to keep the battery in place. Otherwise, my warranty is voided.
I know root voids it, but I'd have a better chance of sneaking that by than an obviously-moved battery.
dbreezy187 said:
I would ensure that the charger is putting out 5.1v and 850mA as my d4 won't charge or power on after the battery dies unless its with the factory charger or one that meets these specs
Sent from my DROID4 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the charger that came with the phone. It says 5.1V/850mA on the side.
bdbraaten said:
Have you tried leaving it plugged in for an extended period of time, say overnight, and see if it'll boot up?
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Click to collapse
Tried it last night. Left it in recovery for a good 8 hours or so. No dice.
Did you try opening it, then removing the battery? If you pull up too hard with out a removal tool, the glue is strong enough to allow the battery to bend and break internally, causing this error. Might check if another battery works, there are some available online if you search.
nequeelrey said:
Did you try opening it, then removing the battery? If you pull up too hard with out a removal tool, the glue is strong enough to allow the battery to bend and break internally, causing this error. Might check if another battery works, there are some available online if you search.
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Click to collapse
Isn't the reason the battery is non-removable because the type of battery chemistry used can explode of that type of damage occurs? Or do they just hate us?
Has anybody ever been turned down for warranty work that is hardware related, even if they are rooted, etc? I've never heard of it happening...
If OP get a dud battery, s/he should just get it replaced by Moto. They shouldn't have to try to replace it themselves.
Try the instructions from this thread and let us know if it works...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=23678683&postcount=1
The OP said they tried the BP Tools method but it is disabled due to Safe strap using that as the trigger for its bootstrapped recovery.
Using a factory cable would allow you to boot the phone and either flash the stock firmware or uninstall Safe strap and let you charge the phone while in BP Tools mode.
That is the only safe a certain way to recover the device. Hot wiring the battery with a USB cable cannot be considered safe, but will work if you want to fix it yourself without a factory cable.
Using a factory cable to flash the full XML.zip with RSD Lite is the first thing a technician would do to restore it if it was returned under warranty anyway, after checking for physical damage of course.
I've got a few factory cables laying around and would be more than happy to send you one, let me know. Just cover the postage and you'll be flashing in no time.
So to update: I have an insurance policy with Global Warranty Group, and I filed a claim with them, which got me a new device (instead of a refurb). So, I suppose the issue is moot.
Rick#2 said:
I've got a few factory cables laying around and would be more than happy to send you one, let me know. Just cover the postage and you'll be flashing in no time.
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Click to collapse
I would be grateful if you could send me one. I will PM you to figure out details on paying you for postage.
The same thing is happening to me and I have Droid X, any help?
Will BP work after removing safestrap from the advanced menu? If so I think you could use that link to charge from BP.
Sent from my DROID4 using xda premium
usb cable splice works
Just chiming in here to confirm a spliced usb cable will charge an xt894 battery. my situation was pretty much an xt894 with a wiped system (therefore, unable to charge) and not enough battery to fastboot. if I plugged it into a charger or a 5v usb slot from my computer just a green led would show on the front, but no charge. I removed my battery, cut a usb cable in half, and hooked up the wires to the coresponding terminals on the battery (which are clearly marked) and it charged up just fine and I was able to fastboot.
Not the prettiest solution, but it really helped me out when I absolutely needed to charge in order to fastboot, although it will void your warranty if that's important to you.
I currently have a problem where the question mark shows in the battery while charging and I'm unable to boot into OS or safestrap. I'm not at home right now, but I have an extra battery that I'll pop in later to see if that changes anything, or has enough juice to fastboot.
This morning my wife woke up to no battery charge, because I stole her charger in the night. But she has the question mark even though the phone was working fine last night! I wonder, considering I left the USB cord plugged in on the D4 end when I took the charger (to use my cord) could I have screwed something up? She's going to leave it in the OEM charger all day at work, but the quesiton mark worries me.
My question is, if I do the cut cord trick to manually charge the battery at the terminals, does that help recover it so that it can be charged via regular means? Or is it just a way to get the data off the phone? Phone is stock 4.1 with root.
Related
Ok so this nook was bought brand new in December 2010 For my mother In-law. She hasn't used it much. So I asked if I could put Android on it? She said sure cause she hasn't used it at all. As a matter of fact the NC was totally dead when she gave it to me. So I get back to my house and put it on the stock charger. I let it charge for 2 hours. I picked it up and turn it on and all I see is this message: Battery too low to power ON. I did a search and turned up similar problems but the nc where all rooted. I'm wondering if other people have had this same problem? And what they did to solve this as it is more then likely an easy fix. A. Take it back to the store and exchange it. Or. B. Send it off for repairs. C. Someone On XDA has the answer.
Also I've done some trouble shooting like trying to reset it. Also I've used 3 Other chargers and its still not charging or turning on.
Edit: It turns on it just stays at the screen with a red battery displaying the message in the title. Also after charging for a while the screen kind of lites up like its going to turn on but only goes black after that and then comes back to the same red battery screen.
jvillejoe said:
Ok so this nook was bought brand new in December 2010 For my mother In-law. She hasn't used it much. So I asked if I could put Android on it? She said sure cause she hasn't used it at all. As a matter of fact the NC was totally dead when she gave it to me. So I get back to my house and put it on the stock charger. I let it charge for 2 hours. I picked it up and turn it on and all I see is this message: Battery too low to power ON. I did a search and turned up similar problems but the nc where all rooted. I'm wondering if other people have had this same problem? And what they did to solve this as it is more then likely an easy fix. A. Take it back to the store and exchange it. Or. B. Send it off for repairs. C. Someone On XDA has the answer.
Also I've done some trouble shooting like trying to reset it. Also I've used 3 Other chargers and its still not charging or turning on.
Edit: It turns on it just stays at the screen with a red battery displaying the message in the title. Also after charging for a while the screen kind of lites up like its going to turn on but only goes black after that and then comes back to the same red battery screen.
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Click to collapse
what are you charging from? are you using the stock nook cable and plug?
Yes. And charging it from the wall outlet. Did that with the stock charger. my charger from my HD2 and also tried with the charger from my vibrant. All have the same affect. It has the red battery and the messege below and it also has been a total of 6 hours of charging 2 hours each with the all the chargers.
That stinks. You may have to contact B&N for it. If your using the stock and other chargers then it must be a battery failure.
altimax98 said:
That stinks. You may have to contact B&N for it. If your using the stock and other chargers then it must be a battery failure.
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Click to collapse
Yeah seems to me thats what it must be I'll post back what I find out.
When that message is displayed, try holding the power button for 30+ seconds and then turning it back on.
That has worked for me the couple of times it seemed stuck on that screen.
RobertsDF said:
When that message is displayed, try holding the power button for 30+ seconds and then turning it back on.
That has worked for me the couple of times it seemed stuck on that screen.
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Click to collapse
Nope its not working at all. I was wondering is there an SD card that come with the NC bought brand new from B & N?
jvillejoe said:
Yes. And charging it from the wall outlet. Did that with the stock charger. my charger from my HD2 and also tried with the charger from my vibrant. All have the same affect. It has the red battery and the messege below and it also has been a total of 6 hours of charging 2 hours each with the all the chargers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're using other chargers, it's possible that you've damages the usb port. The NC uses a non standard usb port, which has two stages. The first stage is standard 5 pin uusb communication, the second stage is non-standard 12 pin charging...
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App
Non-Standard chargers...
As far as I can tell it works fine with any microusb cord.
Their charger cables break...(bend and break) very easy. I have gone through 2.
The upside is that their charger provides power far faster than the normal microusb cords.
At this point...I'm charging mine almost exclusively from my stock evo cord.
If you don't turn off the screen when charging...it may not have enough power coming in to actually build a charge without their cable.
danger-rat said:
If you're using other chargers, it's possible that you've damages the usb port. The NC uses a non standard usb port, which has two stages. The first stage is standard 5 pin uusb communication, the second stage is non-standard 12 pin charging...
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never used another charger besides the stock charger that came with the NC. Up until this happened all that was ever used was the stock cable for charging. I only used another charging cable once I ran into these problems cause I figured the cable was damaged. Its happened to me before with other devices. But the same results happen with every cord I use. When I plug it in it lights up and shows the red battery screen. So that tells me that the cord or USB port couldn't be the problem. Cause its clearly getting power its just not charging.
Fattychance said:
As far as I can tell it works fine with any microusb cord.
Their charger cables break...(bend and break) very easy. I have gone through 2.
The upside is that their charger provides power far faster than the normal microusb cords.
At this point...I'm charging mine almost exclusively from my stock evo cord.
If you don't turn off the screen when charging...it may not have enough power coming in to actually build a charge without their cable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When charging I can not turn the screen off it's stuck on the screen with a red battery.
jvillejoe said:
Nope its not working at all. I was wondering is there an SD card that come with the NC bought brand new from B & N?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. They sell it without one...the 8GB internal storage is enough for looooottts of books. The microsd was just a nice + for people with lots and lots of music.
I had this issue as well, but I found a fix!
No matter what I did or how long I let it charge, it would always have that red low battery icon.
What I ended up doing to fix it was opening up the back of the unit and disconnecting the battery cable from the unit. I then plugged it directly into the wall without the battery connected to see if it would boot, though I don't know if that was necessary, I don't even remember if it booted that way or not.. I think it did not.
Anyway I unplugged the power cable again, reconnected the battery, then plugged in the power cable and tried to boot and it booted up perfectly after that. The battery icon indicated 13% charge, but it quickly charged back up just fine.
FYI I left the unit in the car overnight right before this happened, and it was pretty chilly that night, 10-20 degreed Fahrenheit. I suspect that caused the issue for some reason, so I've been sure not to do so since.
P.S. I had to do a fair amount of googling around before I found good instructions on taking apart the NC. I think I had to take off the 2 screws under the SD card slot and use a butter knife to just pry the back off. It's just held in with clips and you can't tell it was opened except for the little stickers over the screw holes.
bstock said:
I had this issue as well, but I found a fix!
No matter what I did or how long I let it charge, it would always have that red low battery icon.
What I ended up doing to fix it was opening up the back of the unit and disconnecting the battery cable from the unit. I then plugged it directly into the wall without the battery connected to see if it would boot, though I don't know if that was necessary, I don't even remember if it booted that way or not.. I think it did not.
Anyway I unplugged the power cable again, reconnected the battery, then plugged in the power cable and tried to boot and it booted up perfectly after that. The battery icon indicated 13% charge, but it quickly charged back up just fine.
FYI I left the unit in the car overnight right before this happened, and it was pretty chilly that night, 10-20 degreed Fahrenheit. I suspect that caused the issue for some reason, so I've been sure not to do so since.
P.S. I had to do a fair amount of googling around before I found good instructions on taking apart the NC. I think I had to take off the 2 screws under the SD card slot and use a butter knife to just pry the back off. It's just held in with clips and you can't tell it was opened except for the little stickers over the screw holes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feed back. I'm wondering by un-pluging the battery from the nook if it resets it. Kind of like if a phone freezes or if your computer freezes and you pull the battery. Seems like a plan. Not sure if this is what I'll do as I'm sure its still under warranty. If it comes back and its not covered or B & N wont replace it I guess thats my only hope.
im having the same problem as well it was off for a while and now its at the red batter screen. i guess ill try and take it apart?
CLMT said:
im having the same problem as well it was off for a while and now its at the red batter screen. i guess ill try and take it apart?
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Click to collapse
If your not worried about voiding the warranty then sure I guess its worth a shot.
So I got it fixed right. All it was was a faulty cable lol!
jvillejoe said:
So I got it fixed right. All it was was a faulty cable lol!
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Click to collapse
I had this problem too, but I'm not sure "faulty" is the right word for the cable.
My friend borrowed my nook and returned it with a dead battery (Thanks asshole). So I plugged it into my computer at work and just got the always-on low battery message. After 45 minutes I took it to my car so I wouldn't forget it. I plugged it into my USB charger in the car using a different cable. Two hours later, same state.
When I got home I pugged it into the Nook wall charger with yet another cable (not the nook's original) and got the same thing. I searched here to see if I could figure out what was going on and decided to try the original cable with the wall plug. literally two seconds after plugging it in it started booting into Froyo.
I'm sure I didn't have four "faulty" cables. I think those that are saying you should be using the original are correct. The others worked fine when the battery wasn't empty, but mine only responded to the original once it got to the point of the unending low-battery message.
Original charger / cable required with totally empty battery
Same here. With battery completely empty and non standard cable,stuck at red battery sign forever. With orginal cable, boots fine and charges.
solution I found
Have CM7 installed on SDCard, got the battery icon, even with the unit plugged into the charger with oem equipment. Held the power button 'til the unit turned off completely, removed the sdcard, rebooted. Nook booted into stock fine, turned off, re-inserted sdcard and rebooted. All is well.
I was flashing the latest iceandfire rom, did a reboot and the Moto logo came up but it never booted. Holding the power button didn't do anything so I pulled the battery. Now there's nothing. The LCD never comes on, can't get into recovery or boot loader. No charging light, nothing...
This has happened to me before and I had it sent back to Motorola. They were able to reflash the phone, I know because I got the same phone back. How they managed to flash it without it powering up is a mystery to me but I know it's possible. Has anyone managed to do this? I would send it back to Moto again but this time, it's out of warranty.
Did you charge with USB cable? I had this once where USB charge completely failed. I just had to use my car charger and that fired the phone back up.
I had this happen to me also...use a Motorola brand (no copies) wall or car charger and leave it plugged in. My MS does this when it gets really close to 0% charged...
Sent from my Milestone using XDA Premium App
I don't think the battery is dead, it was full and I was plugged in while I did the flash. The charge light flicks on and then goes out when I plug any cable in but I'll give it a shot with the moto charger when I get home.
yeah, the phone's bricked... using all factory chargers and cables, it still doesn't power up.
I give up... tried all night to get it to the boot loader. I guess I'll be selling this thing for parts and use this iphone4 I got through Fido retentions until I figure out my next phone
Before you throw it away:
Try getting another (full) battery or another Milestone (to charge it), or something like this: (I am not allowed to post a link, so google: UNIVERSAL BATTERY CHARGER, select the first video in results).... charge it, then re-insert the battery and try to power on device holding d-pad UP + pressing power button.... it should bring you to bootloader mode, then connect usb cable and use RSDLITE to flash the appropriate SBF for your device and region..... and for ROMS (SBFs) google: milestone sbf, select the first link in results.... hope it helped... cheers....
Does the "McGiver" jumpstart thing using a usb cable with the device end cut and keeping some of the wires connected to the device in the battery compartment work on Milestone? I know a friend that could "unbrick" his Defy using this method....
Do you have a link? I remember reading this somewhere as well. It's worth a shot, not like the thing can be more dead. I still don't think it's the battery tho, it was full when I performed the flash.
Nevermind.... I found it, it didn't work... lol... oh well..
Sometimes the batteries memory will glitch
Not the battery, it was full when I did the flash and I tried jumping the battery terminals with a USB cable. It was good while it lasted but I already picked up a BNIB Captivate for $300 off Craigslist.
Anyone know what a Milestone sold for parts would be worth? It's about a year old and I would say the condition is 8.5-9.0/10
baoli said:
Not the battery, it was full when I did the flash and I tried jumping the battery terminals with a USB cable. It was good while it lasted but I already picked up a BNIB Captivate for $300 off Craigslist.
Anyone know what a Milestone sold for parts would be worth? It's about a year old and I would say the condition is 8.5-9.0/10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before you sell it, take out the battery, SIM card and memory card, then leave it for AT LEAST 5 days. Then try again.
I have a similar problem with my milestone, at first I thought it was dead, then after a week I tried again (just on the off chance) and was able to get into the bootloader menu and reflash it.
There is something inside the Milestone that holds charge for several days, and pulling the battery for at least 5 days seems to clear it. This has happened 3 times with mine, and each time I was able to get it started again.
This may not work for you, it depends on exactly whats wrong with yours, but its worth a try.
there is a post from a guy looking for the motherboard... u might want to see that... sorry for ur device
My droid 3 will not boot, if I plug it in to my computer, it will not turn on and it will show no screen, it all happened after I restored my phone on a low battery. It is missing certain files like the bootloader so i can't restore the rom on the phone. What should I do?
trevorjanssen12 said:
My droid 3 will not boot, if I plug it in to my computer, it will not turn on and it will show no screen, it all happened after I restored my phone on a low battery. It is missing certain files like the bootloader so i can't restore the rom on the phone. What should I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it needs to charge. Plug it into a wall socket.
Well I need to get the phone back up and running and the bootloader as well as the charging program is missing. I have a brand new battery for it. It is fully charged.
I got the phone up and running
trevorjanssen12 said:
I got the phone up and running
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what was the problem
jithudigitised said:
So what was the problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem was when I originally tried to flash it... it failed due to dead battery... WORST MISTAKE EVER... so I purchased a fastboot cable and tried to get the phone up and running but it was mounting the device in windows as OMAP4430 so I tried again last month and I got it back up and running with the latest version of android... the one that came with the device.
I AM SO ANGRY AT THIS PHONE.. IT WILL NOT EVEN BOOT IN TO ANDROID!
trevorjanssen12 said:
The problem was when I originally tried to flash it... it failed due to dead battery... WORST MISTAKE EVER... so I purchased a fastboot cable and tried to get the phone up and running but it was mounting the device in windows as OMAP4430 so I tried again last month and I got it back up and running with the latest version of android... the one that came with the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having a similar issue with trying to fix a friend's phone that only displays the "Dual Core" logo when plugged into the computer. The computer itself doesn't appear to register that the phone is connected so doesn't show up in device manager that I can see. Plugging into a wall outlet doesn't light the device screen up, only the computer (Win7 box). I believe he dunked the bootloader, and it's bricked, but I'm trying to fix it anyway. Anyone reading this, I would appreciate any useful pointers or suggestions. Thanks all.
bwpoersch said:
I'm having a similar issue with trying to fix a friend's phone that only displays the "Dual Core" logo when plugged into the computer. The computer itself doesn't appear to register that the phone is connected so doesn't show up in device manager that I can see. Plugging into a wall outlet doesn't light the device screen up, only the computer (Win7 box). I believe he dunked the bootloader, and it's bricked, but I'm trying to fix it anyway. Anyone reading this, I would appreciate any useful pointers or suggestions. Thanks all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
battery maybe dead, if software is corrupt/soft bricked, phone will not charge battery
get a Motorola Factory Cable Adaptor by Team Black Hat or Battery Desktop Charger for Motorola Droid 3 XT862
sd_shadow said:
battery maybe dead, if software is corrupt/soft bricked, phone will not charge battery
get a Motorola Factory Cable Adaptor by Team Black Hat or Battery Desktop Charger for Motorola Droid 3 XT862
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That occurred to me as well, I'm going to first see if the local Verizon store can charge it (or even replace it) for free. My friend actually did manage to score a power cable, but I'm not convinced yet that that is what I need (since I'm getting nowhere with it). I'd like to eliminate the battery as an issue if possible first before spending any money.
bwpoersch said:
That occurred to me as well, I'm going to first see if the local Verizon store can charge it (or even replace it) for free. My friend actually did manage to score a power cable, but I'm not convinced yet that that is what I need (since I'm getting nowhere with it). I'd like to eliminate the battery as an issue if possible first before spending any money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon will not replace battery for free, if phone is more than 1 year old
The software that charges the battery is very easily corrupted, can be reflashed with firmware, but need a charged battery.
The TBH factory cable adaptor will power the phone direct from usb port, no battery is even needed, then firmware can be flashed and charging will work again.
sd_shadow said:
Verizon will not replace battery for free, if phone is more than 1 year old
The software that charges the battery is very easily corrupted, can be reflashed with firmware, but need a charged battery.
The TBH factory cable adaptor will power the phone direct from usb port, no battery is even needed, then firmware can be flashed and charging will work again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've actually gotten a battery in the past for an obsolete phone, but out of packaging and possibly used. My friend acquired a power cable (not sure from where) which just lights the screen as described above (with or without battery installed), but turns off as soon as I unplug it, so I have my suspicions about the usability of his cable. I struck out with the local Verizon store, so will just order the wall charger and charge the battery next. Crossing fingers... Thanks for supplying that link tho, that's the one I will use.
Follow-up: It took 3 weeks to receive that battery charger from Singapore of all places, but it worked. I didn't charge it up all the way, maybe just to 50%. The phone with battery immediately was able to boot into fastboot. Using rsdlite and motohelper installed, I had the phone back to fully functional within 15 minutes.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
Great, thanks for the update.
---------- Post added at 08:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:17 AM ----------
One thing you should check.
Is the battery bulged on one or both sides?
If you lay on a table, does it spin like a top?
If so battery should be replaced.
sd_shadow said:
Great, thanks for the update.
---------- Post added at 08:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:17 AM ----------
One thing you should check.
Is the battery bulged on one or both sides?
If you lay on a table, does it spin like a top?
If so battery should be replaced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the battery was/is fine (in fact, fully charged afterwards it lasted 2 days on standby). I think my friend probably was just trying to flash a new ROM and didn't notice he had such a low charge. Still not sure why the cable he bought didn't provide the necessary charge to recover, but that's what you get sometimes with aftermarket equipment I guess. Still, it's good to know that is a possible solution for someone else down the road.
sd_shadow said:
battery maybe dead, if software is corrupt/soft bricked, phone will not charge battery
get a Motorola Factory Cable Adaptor by Team Black Hat or Battery Desktop Charger for Motorola Droid 3 XT862
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already have this and I did not get it working so I got a DROID 4
Hey all,
Before I even start here, please no snide replies about using the search box on here or anywhere... if the answer is out there, I'm at a loss for the keywords to get it. Fair enough? As FYI, bootloader is (was??) unlocked, rooted, and has cwm recovery.
So I dropped my MB886 cracking the screen (round of applause please) and in the process of disassembling the case to install replacement I tore (severed) the battery connection cable. Fast forward to phone now reassembled with new screen and battery installed --> -->
The phone now has a green LED that will respond with blinks to button certain presses i.e. the simulated battery pull, but the device doesn't show up in lsusb output or device manager. I've read of similar problems where the phone has been brought back, and I've read of the exact problem with no solution. Basically the only two things I've really read that supposedly work are battery pull button sequence and using OEM charger/cable to get battery to take a charge.
Unlike, say the Atrix 2 where the lonely white LED is there to serve as a reminder that it is a hard brick and that's all you're ever going to get from it again, I haven't even read that this is in fact the #1 sign device is now a brick. So could someone verify it is or isn't? I've never tried to access a device this way, but Is JTAG an option?
I don't get why this should be, despite battery issue, it's all simple hardware swapping involved here as the software wasn't touched and was 100% working even with cracked screen.
Thanks for anyone with an answer or the direction to one.
2 things it could be then: you over- or under-tightened the new battery cable screws to where there isn't a good connection with the board. The screws have to provide equal pressure on the positive or negative contacts or otherwise there's a fault in the circuit.
OR
Your new LCD/digitizer is defective OR wasn't seated well.
Since it was working before, and since you didn't break anything else (to your knowledge), those are the two things I would check.
Dr. Orange said:
2 things it could be then: you over- or under-tightened the new battery cable screws to where there isn't a good connection with the board. The screws have to provide equal pressure on the positive or negative contacts or otherwise there's a fault in the circuit.
OR
Your new LCD/digitizer is defective OR wasn't seated well.
Since it was working before, and since you didn't break anything else (to your knowledge), those are the two things I would check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
--
hey, thanks for the input. I remember battery connections being snugged when I originally took it apart, and to be honest, short of having a mini torque wrench I don't know I could put them back any closer to that. the digitizer could certainly be either defective or perhaps have a bad connection, and i am certainly willing to test/check for either, however do you know that this would prevent the phone from booting or cause it to only display the green led as a sign of life? something of the "halt on all errors" in pc bios? seems logical that the led would (or could've) been used like the oc speaker and blink out some code relaying you've got a bad O2 sensor or the gas cap isn't tight.
Over tightening can cause problems. So loosen them a bit if it's just-short-of torque wrench tight. I don't know why it does, but I've read people had problems when they over tightened those screws. That green light could be telling you that the battery is connected poorly.
Is there a possibility that the battery is so depleted that it won't charge? For that, you need a factory cable to charge the battery with power off.
Sorry, to clarify, no I just snugged the battery connections when reassembling, I only meant that i don't think i could get them any closer to the way they were originally without aid of something like a torque wrench.
As for battery charge as a potential issue... to be fair, I only have a OEM Moto wall charger and I think the cable I am using is Samsung. Surely the cable itself isn't the weak link in this chain? A car battery on a multimeter reading 12.0 volts is something like 50% charged and about 12.8 volts is looking pretty good, anyone know what I should get out of the 3.8V Li-Ion on a meter?
PS I double checked the both data cable connections to the motherboard, so I doubt just a bad connection is to blame here.
slerros-1.0 said:
Sorry, to clarify, no I just snugged the battery connections when reassembling, I only meant that i don't think i could get them any closer to the way they were originally without aid of something like a torque wrench.
As for battery charge as a potential issue... to be fair, I only have a OEM Moto wall charger and I think the cable I am using is Samsung. Surely the cable itself isn't the weak link in this chain? A car battery on a multimeter reading 12.0 volts is something like 50% charged and about 12.8 volts is looking pretty good, anyone know what I should get out of the 3.8V Li-Ion on a meter?
PS I double checked the both data cable connections to the motherboard, so I doubt just a bad connection is to blame here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should get from 3.8 to 4.1.
slerros-1.0 said:
As for battery charge as a potential issue... to be fair, I only have a OEM Moto wall charger and I think the cable I am using is Samsung. Surely the cable itself isn't the weak link in this chain?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I say "factory" cable, I'm not talking about the cable that came with the phone. There is a special Motorola cable (that you can even make yourself) that can charge your phone in situations when your phone is normally not willing to accept a charge.
If all else fails, try this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1077414
Yes! This is brilliant and certainly answers a few questions. It'll take me a bit to get this together to try it, but I'll post back when I get a result. Cheers!
slerros-1.0 said:
Yes! This is brilliant and certainly answers a few questions. It'll take me a bit to get this together to try it, but I'll post back when I get a result. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Scratch my previous answer. Seems I misunderstood what a "factory cable" is for. It can't actually charge your battery, instead it is used to power the phone so that you can flash/diagnose it, even when your battery is dead. Normally, you need a working phone to charge the battery (with the stock "charging cable").
This information may or may not help you. At the very least, using a "factory cable" may allow you to power your phone on, which would tell you whether the problem is your battery or the phone.
quasihellfish said:
Scratch my previous answer. Seems I misunderstood what a "factory cable" is for. It can't actually charge your battery, instead it is used to power the phone so that you can flash/diagnose it, even when your battery is dead. Normally, you need a working phone to charge the battery (with the stock "charging cable").
This information may or may not help you. At the very least, using a "factory cable" may allow you to power your phone on, which would tell you whether the problem is your battery or the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, i'll take it regardless... i've acquired one of these mythical factory cables and it gets me into fastboot and recovery, so i'd wager, even though i haven't seen it, that it would boot all the way. so being that i don't have either the original charger (although have one that's motorola) or cable (samsung), my best bet is probably just find a store that has both an OEM motorola charger and cable even if they're not for the MB886? surely one for a moto x would work to charge battery, no?
or is this like a chicken and egg problem i now have? a catch 22? i can't charge the battery without a working phone, and i can't have a working phone without a charged battery? golly gee, anybody out there with an MB886 want to charge my battery for me? can i just hotwire the battery to a couple of leads from a charger and bypass using the phone as the charging device? at least to give the battery say 15%-20% to get something to happen... like get this rain cloud perpetually parked above me to blow over from above my head for a day or two maybe?
so, with phone plugged in with "factory cable" here's what i get and when... the phone bootloops on the "bootloader unlocked" warning screen if i don't press anything. volume down gets me fastboot, volume up gets me recovery. phone shows up in both and takes commands... so is it possible i just need to restore a nandroid backup, or is the battery charge the better bet now? i would just try the nandroid for $h!ts and giggles, but the last one i have isn't as fresh as i'd like, but is certainly usable if i must.
slerros-1.0 said:
well, i'll take it regardless... i've acquired one of these mythical factory cables and it gets me into fastboot and recovery, so i'd wager, even though i haven't seen it, that it would boot all the way. so being that i don't have either the original charger (although have one that's motorola) or cable (samsung), my best bet is probably just find a store that has both an OEM motorola charger and cable even if they're not for the MB886? surely one for a moto x would work to charge battery, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any generic USB charging cable SHOULD be good enough to charge and flash your phone, especially a Motorola cable. I'm currently using an old Blackberry cable for everything. They should be all the same. In rare instances, a cheap cable may give you issues (I think I had a cable from an old Samsung phone that I couldn't get to work right).
I guess just keep trying until you find one that works. Hate to tell you to go spend $20+ on an official Motorola charger...
Regarding your battery, yes you may be in a bit of a pickle. I've never had to do it, but I've read of users who had to short some leads in order to directly charge the battery. Trying searching through the forums, I'm sure the info is here.
---------- Post added at 02:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:55 PM ----------
slerros-1.0 said:
or is this like a chicken and egg problem i now have? a catch 22? i can't charge the battery without a working phone, and i can't have a working phone without a charged battery? golly gee, anybody out there with an MB886 want to charge my battery for me? can i just hotwire the battery to a couple of leads from a charger and bypass using the phone as the charging device? at least to give the battery say 15%-20% to get something to happen... like get this rain cloud perpetually parked above me to blow over from above my head for a day or two maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=892026
All hope is lost, I am now looking for a replacement.
Ok, so here's where I am at with this now... As we're basically talking about any regulated power supply that can put out an excess of (around) 3.8V and 800mA I've opted to use an old ATX computer power supply and wired the mini B USB end of a cable known to have in fact to have charged this very phone... nothing. I have also, for sake of hope, even tried using the wall wort from an iPad (which puts out a cool 5.1V and up to 2.1A). The green LED will shut off after a while of being plugged into said charger, but still no booty action.
As stated before, the phone still works with the factory cable.
So, I gather from this that...
A. some hardware component (i.e. resistor, etc...) on my phones board that is involved in the charging process has gone kaput.
or
B. There is some software flag flipped somewhere that could be unflipped with or without some trickery to what actually is VS what I want the phone to think it's seeing.
Anyone have any thoughts on this or something similar pertaining to B as a course of action?
*update to my update* ... umm, which should now be up to date??
I did a complete wipe of the phone (/system, /data, /data/media, /cache, and /dalvik-cache) and reinstalled the rom... and still nothing.
1) Can't charge while it is in normal mode.
2) Can't charge with USB C to C
3) Can only charge using USB A to C, while the phone is turned off. It still splashes the logo and vibrates repeatedly.
The port is not visible to any laptop, so adb and fastboot seem out of the question.
The stock recovery on this device has "apply update from SD card", so I need to figure out how an update.zip should look like.
Razer have a bunch of older stock ROMs on their site.
Can I just take the latest, rename it update.zip, put it on a micro SD and use the stock recovery to fix things?
Just saw the tear down. It's worse than my N10+ port PCB to replace.
However if the battery is getting near its lifespan maybe now is the time as the battery needs to come out anyway to replace the port PCB.
The port PCB price is probably low.
blackhawk said:
Just saw the tear down. It's worse than my N10+ port PCB to replace.
However if the battery is getting near its lifespan maybe now is the time as the battery needs to come out anyway to replace the port PCB.
The port PCB price is probably low.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The other thing I just found is that when I use "apply update from ADB" it used to complain about init.usb.rc, init.usb.configfs.rc. I looked at both files. 0B length with 1969 date on them. What?
There must be some way to flash a recovery from the sd card instead of using the USB port.
The thing is the battery held the whole day after a night charge yesterday, so probably not the battery. I have a feeling some apps I used to "improve" the battery and "fix" the system deleted some bits.
pensive said:
The other thing I just found is that when I use "apply update from ADB" it used to complained about is init.usb.rc, init.usb.configfs.rc. I looked at both files. 0B length with 1969 date on them. What?
There must be some way to flash a recovery from the sd card instead of using the USB port.
The thing is the battery held the whole day after a night charge yesterday, so probably not the battery. I have a feeling some apps I used to "improve" the battery and "fix" the system deleted some bits.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have a bad usb port PCB I would replace it now.
They can cause a lot of mischief and in other services that you never expect it to.
The battery is cheap so it's easiest to replace it at the same time as you need to pull it anyway.
200 or more full charge cycles, replace.
One more thing. I bought a wireless charger to see if it is 100% the port, and the wireless charger has not made anything easier. It seems not capable of getting any charge in. So at the moment I have only one to charge it, turn it off and use USB A to USB C cable.
pensive said:
One more thing. I bought a wireless charger to see if it is 100% the port, and the wireless charger has not made anything easier. It seems not capable of getting any charge in. So at the moment I have only one to charge it, turn it off and use USB A to USB C cable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably a defective charge port PCB... you can try a factory reset or reflashing the stock firmware if really want to test it.
Check for any signs of battery (rear panel or display bulging) swelling; replace battery asap if present! Batteries can fail at any time.
blackhawk said:
Probably a defective charge port PCB... you can try a factory reset or reflashing the stock firmware if really want to test it.
Check for any signs of battery (rear panel or display bulging) swelling; replace battery asap if present! Batteries can fail at any time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have now done the factory reset, didn't help. Nothing is bulging. I would like to flash a fresh factory ROM, but I have no access to the port. So, no fastboot and no adb. I can't even install proper drivers in Win10 PRO since the laptop does not recognize the phone, at all.
I am searching now for any solutions with the sd card. People used to do that, updates with *.zip on an sd.
Since it is out of warranty anyway now, I have finally unlocked the bootloader.
I am trying to find out if the ROMs Razer provide on their site are signed or not.
pensive said:
I have now done the factory reset, didn't help. Nothing is bulging. I would like to flash a fresh factory ROM, but I have no access to the port. So, no fastboot and no adb. I can't even install proper drivers in Win10 PRO since the laptop does not recognize the phone, at all.
I am searching now for any solutions with the sd card. People used to do that, updates with *.zip on an sd.
Since it is out of warranty anyway now, I have finally unlocked the bootloader.
I am trying to find out if the ROMs Razer provide on their site are signed or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The port PCB needs replaced... if you're lucky that's it.
Don't make it harder than it needs too be...
blackhawk said:
The port PCB needs replaced... if you're lucky that's it.
Don't make it harder than it needs too be...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if you have had a chance to see the USB port assembly on Ebay? Some prices are close to $120. Add to that labor costs (unless you think I should do the deed myself) or costs for tools and fresh adhesive for the plastic that covers speakers, etc... and it is going cost me more than I paid for it new.
OEM RAZER PHONE 2 RZ35-0259 REPLACEMENT USB_FLEX_C FLEX CABLE RIBBON CONNECTOR | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for OEM RAZER PHONE 2 RZ35-0259 REPLACEMENT USB_FLEX_C FLEX CABLE RIBBON CONNECTOR at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.ca
blackhawk said:
OEM RAZER PHONE 2 RZ35-0259 REPLACEMENT USB_FLEX_C FLEX CABLE RIBBON CONNECTOR | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for OEM RAZER PHONE 2 RZ35-0259 REPLACEMENT USB_FLEX_C FLEX CABLE RIBBON CONNECTOR at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.ca
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thank you for finding this, but it looks like the ribon connector wire only. The PCB besides the port also has the microphone, I think. It appears to be sold as a unit. If the problem is the wire, then sure this would be the part.
In any case, I have managed to get the wireless charger to charge. Depending on how fast the charge will be lost today will tell say something about the battery.
pensive said:
Ok, thank you for finding this, but it looks like the ribon connector wire only. The PCB besides the port also has the microphone, I think. It appears to be sold as a unit. If the problem is the wire, then sure this would be the part.
In any case, I have managed to get the wireless charger to charge. Depending on how fast the charge will be lost today will tell say something about the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm just saying keep looking. I was surprised at the apparent lack of availability though.
Meh I feel your pain...
Maybe one of the mainstream parts venders or buy a cheap Ebay one with busted display.
My Note 10+'s port PCB goes for $20, that surprised me.
blackhawk said:
If you have a bad usb port PCB I would replace it now.
They can cause a lot of mischief and in other services that you never expect it to.
The battery is cheap so it's easiest to replace it at the same time as you need to pull it anyway.
200 or more full charge cycles, replace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately replacing the USB charge board and port in the phone doesn't always fix it. I have a box of nearly a dozen RP2 main boards I need to dig through to figure out what the actual cause of the charging boot loop
KaptinBoxxi said:
Unfortunately replacing the USB charge board and port in the phone doesn't always fix it. I have a box of nearly a dozen RP2 main boards I need to dig through to figure out what the actual cause of the charging boot loop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you played with any OS shortcut apps on it?
The Android Setup apk will get screwed up if you access it after the original setup.
Specifically it will alter the port behavior when you connect with it. Very irritating, took me days to finally track it down on my 10+
If you clear it's data in settings it may leave the null mark that's screwing it up. Some 3rd party apps can completely clear that null mark.
Otherwise factory reset.
blackhawk said:
Have you played with any OS shortcut apps on it?
The Android Setup apk will get screwed up if you access it after the original setup.
Specifically it will alter the port behavior when you connect with it. Very irritating, took me days to finally track it down on my 10+
If you clear it's data in settings it may leave the null mark that's screwing it up. Some 3rd party apps can completely clear that null mark.
Otherwise factory reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a hardware issue, nothing any kind of reset can fix or app clearing. Even if you have the device entirely powered off, plug it in on anything 2Amp or higher, it'll loop
KaptinBoxxi said:
This is a hardware issue, nothing any kind of reset can fix or app clearing. Even if you have the device entirely powered off, plug it in on anything 2Amp or higher, it'll loop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not how the issue I saw behaved; only happened with the device powered on and it didn't boot loop. Just an annoying pop up message.
If it has a port PCB, try replacing that. If it's just a charge port with no components on it... it's likely either corrupted firmware (reflash) or a mobo failure.
A loose connection or bad contact is also possible.
That's my guess...