1. Hawkeye92391's Avatar
    I leave my phone charging overnight when it's close to dead when I go to sleep. The past couple of times I've done this, I wake up to my 9930 off and the slow red light blinking. It sounds like it keeps "bricking" itself, but it always comes back to life with a battery pull. is there anyway to prevent this from happening again? Or should I just go get another device?
    11-06-11 10:32 AM
  2. ljcn's Avatar
    You're lucky it comes back to life with a battery pull. My daughter's 9900 bricked itself completely and nothing would bring it back to life, so the device had to be exchanged. The problem seems to be caused by letting the battery level drop below the critical point at which the device software powers down the phone, after which it locks itself into a permanent reboot cycle from which it can't be extracted. Since this will in principle happen to any 99X0 if the battery level drops far enough, there isn't much point exchanging your handset for another. Just try to get it plugged in and charging a little earlier and you should be OK.
    11-06-11 10:59 AM
  3. jcp007's Avatar
    No matter which berry model that I have owned. I have always had it attached to a charger at the office and home as well as the car on occasion.
    11-06-11 11:28 AM
  4. mhw100's Avatar
    If the phone bricks because it runs dead then it the phone is completely unusable and dangerous. I don't believe this could be the cause as no manufacturer would release such a product...not even RIM. I'm going to kill the device and test this.
    Last edited by mhw100; 11-06-11 at 12:22 PM.
    antony99 and 1425956 like this.
    11-06-11 12:19 PM
  5. elphie28's Avatar
    If the phone bricks because it runs dead then it the phone is completely unusable and dangerous. I don't believe this could be the cause as no manufacturer would release such a product...not even RIM. I'm going to kill the device and test this.
    Is this the common denominator for the phones that have bricked themselves? I have tried to read all of the posts regarding this subject, and it seems so, but I might have missed something. I charge my phone at work and all night at home, too, and it would be nice to have THE answer to the problem. Maybe then RIM could fix it!?
    11-06-11 12:41 PM
  6. martinty's Avatar
    My Blackberry started doing this 3 days ago. Everynight. I am using an older folding blade charger. The only change I made was remove the new Facebook Messenger.

    Mine seems to crash at Midnight, The battery has never been below 50% when i plug it in at night. However when it does crash, and its still plugged in, it only charges to 75%. The red light does its slow fade, and the trackpad flashes.

    I am trying to do a wipe and reinstall the OS today to see if that changes it. It is a Telus 9900 running .440
    11-06-11 01:04 PM
  7. mhw100's Avatar
    I'll test it by attempting a low/dead battery test and report back here.
    Last edited by mhw100; 11-09-11 at 12:00 AM.
    11-06-11 01:19 PM
  8. ljcn's Avatar
    The battery has never been below 50% when i plug it in at night. However when it does crash, and its still plugged in, it only charges to 75%. The red light does its slow fade, and the trackpad flashes.
    This is a different fault than the one that has bricked a number of 99X0s and which is widely discussed across these forums. In that case, the trackpad is dead and the red light comes on for about 10 seconds, then off for about the same amount of time. This repeats about 5 or 6 times, then the phone shuts down and the red light stops blinking. If you replace the battery, the 10 second on, 10 second off cycle repeats, but nothing - and I mean nothing - will get the phone to restart or to show any other sign of life. The common denominator with this particular bricking fault seems to be that the phone's battery has run down to a critical or near-critical level before it is plugged in.
    11-06-11 01:27 PM
  9. ljcn's Avatar
    Mine is still returnable for a refund so I'll try to brick it and report back here.
    You're a real public servant! I'll be really interested to hear how you get on. If you don't manage to brick it by running it down to absolute zero, try running it down to red battery status, then plugging it in to charge overnight.

    Thanks for this - you are like the medical pioneers who injected themselves with smallpox to try to figure out how to build up an immunity to the disease.
    11-06-11 01:31 PM
  10. whyamisoepic's Avatar
    What are the results mhw100?
    11-07-11 07:00 PM
  11. whyamisoepic's Avatar
    Oh and also, I have done two full power cycles before and nothing was wrong with it.
    11-07-11 07:13 PM
  12. jcp007's Avatar
    I thought that the plug charger similar to the 9810 was provided for the 9900. If you use the folding blade charger similar to the PB, issues with the folding blade charger being used with BB smartphones.
    11-07-11 07:20 PM
  13. mhw100's Avatar
    My first test dropped the battery to 2-3% with the radios killed by the OS and the flashing yellow led. Charged it using the USB and it is fine. On this test I'm now down to 30% and I'll wait until the phone shuts down to see what happens after charging. I'll report back as soon as I have the results.

    Is there any other method of testing someone wants me to try in order to brick it other than these 2 methods?
    11-07-11 07:23 PM
  14. FBA's Avatar
    If the phone bricks because it runs dead then it the phone is completely unusable and dangerous. I don't believe this could be the cause as no manufacturer would release such a product...not even RIM. I'm going to kill the device and test this.
    Read all the posts written by users with bricked phones, including mine, then tell us what you think. There's no doubt in my mind that the dead/low battery issue is the trigger for the issue. It may not be the root cause and probably isn't, but it's what triggers the "bricking". Almost every post says the same thing - in that the phone dies after it hits the charger with a low/dead battery. You're right about it being dangerous. You're wrong about RIM releasing a phone not ready for market though. That was already was done and there's compelling evidence to back that up. Now, as I said, it may not be the direct cause, but it's certainly a huge trigger, meaning that the OS is very unstable.

    When you test, make sure you have lots of unread messages, many applications open /running. It may take many low battery charges before you brick it, if you do. You don't need any third party apps for it to brick.
    Last edited by FBA; 11-07-11 at 07:35 PM.
    11-07-11 07:30 PM
  15. antony99's Avatar
    The phones don't necessarily brick themselves immediatly when the battery is very low... mine was partially recharged, had turned the radio back on and updated with new emails -- but somehow died later on during the night.

    It seems odd to think that a low battery will cause the unit to fail at a later time - but that's what happened!

    ...and I know it is not the battery itself, as I tried the battery from my 2nd 9900 before I send the 1st one off for repair.

    You will become quite the hero if you work this out! ...and will go supernova if you then determine a fix too!
    11-07-11 07:43 PM
  16. mhw100's Avatar
    I thought that the plug charger similar to the 9810 was provided for the 9900. If you use the folding blade charger similar to the PB, issues with the folding blade charger being used with BB smartphones.
    Are there issues? I've used my 9700 charger and it charges it quicker and I haven't had an incident yet.
    11-08-11 12:33 AM
  17. mhw100's Avatar
    The battery died and the phone shut down. As I was moving it I inadvertently hit the telephone button and as as the phone was starting up I heard a "crack" - the type of electrical crack you hear when something has shorted out. We'll see what damage was done after it has a night of charging.
    11-08-11 12:58 AM
  18. Nashstruck's Avatar
    This investigation is an exciting read.
    I bet there's a bewildered RIM tech out there who's run out of ideas and is following this thread for the latest scoop!

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    11-08-11 01:14 AM
  19. antony99's Avatar
    This investigation is an exciting read.
    I bet there's a bewildered RIM tech out there who's run out of ideas and is following this thread for the latest scoop!

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

    I would like to think that ALL the RIM techs are working on this issue!!
    11-08-11 01:37 AM
  20. the7thdevil's Avatar
    Back when I used an Android phone and flashing between ROMs, I came across the same problem( repeated booting cycle after the battery is dried out) with a certain ROM I used. So this is more of a software problem, not hardware.
    imho i suggest people with bricked devices can try charging the battery up using another 9900- and if it doesnt works,install another OS version ( .474 currently available for 9900), since updating the OS doesn't require a battery at first.
    11-08-11 04:27 AM
  21. jcp007's Avatar
    Are there issues? I've used my 9700 charger and it charges it quicker and I haven't had an incident yet.
    Don't quote me on this but there have been posts that I read in the PB or 9810 forum that recount issues with the folding blade charger for the PB being used to charge smartphones. I believe that it has something to do with the amount of current that the adaptor handles. It sounds analogous to the AC adaptors for laptop docking stations being plugged directly into the laptops causing problems.
    11-08-11 04:46 AM
  22. BlazorBoy's Avatar
    What are the power ratings on the folding blade chargers and the ones supplied with the 9900? Thanks.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    11-08-11 04:57 AM
  23. mhw100's Avatar
    After killing the battery completely and the device shutting down it charged all night and was fine this morning. Lots of emails and apps open as suggested. Didn't appear to be any damage from the "crack."
    joju58, salexs11 and BerryBubbles like this.
    11-08-11 10:14 AM
  24. BerryBubbles's Avatar
    After killing the battery completely and the device shutting down it charged all night and was fine this morning. Lots of emails and apps open as suggested. Didn't appear to be any damage from the "crack."
    You are one brave individual!!
    11-08-11 10:46 AM
  25. salexs11's Avatar
    @mhw100, what is your PCB #?. Mine hasn't bricked due to low battery either.

    Mine is:
    PCB-31275-009
    Mexico 4
    11-08-11 03:05 PM
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