[EvilSmoothie]

I've already had to replace my first 9900 because of this and vodafone now want to send it away for repair which i really don't want to do!! Any help would be massively appreicated.

I've gone through the web searching for a fix and have tried all sorts of ways of pulling the battery and timing it to the red blinking led to no avail.

Basically i put my 9900 on charge last night I woke up this morning and the screen won't turn on. The red light comes on every now and then if i press the red button or put it on charge but there are no signs of it even trying to start up, the screen remains black. I have tried to connect it to desktop manager and reload the OS however it get stuck at loading JVM when trying to reconnect to the device.

Has anybody managed to solve this without sending it off?

[DeeNiceJones]

That's really strange that the phone company won't replace the phone. You usually have a 1yr warranty and they should replace the phone for you without any charges. I'm not sure of how phone companies work in Europe but you can do that in the U.S. I have a torch and I had to have it replaced twice during the year that I have had it. See if Vodafone can replace it at the "store" or if they can send you a new BB and you send the broken one within a few after receiving the new one. That is crazy that they are going to make you send it away for a repair and the phone just came out a few months ago. Sorry to hear you are having this problem. Hopefully a manager or someone higher up at Vodafone can assist you.

[EvilSmoothie]

Typically in the UK any over 28 days old will be sent away for repair and the 1 year warranty will cover the costs of the repair... its a joke on a phone less than 2 months old

[HaTaX]

I just encountered the exact same thing last night / today. Last night my battery was dead to the point of it did the "Battery drained, shutting handheld down" and powered itself off. I do have 2 extra batteries for it and was thinking about swapping the one in from the charger, but I decided to just set the 9900 on the charging pod and let it have a full charge overnight while it was off. The charging indicator came on okay and I went to bed.

Wake up this morning, take it off the charger and try to turn in on and I get stuck in the dreaded red led loop. Red light comes on for about 5 seconds, then shuts off, and comes back on 15-20 seconds later again, it then just repeats this over and over.

I did find if you remove the battery and plug it in, eventually I got to the "bad battery" screen and it sits there. If you pop the battery in then while its at that screen, it will start the red light reboot process all over again. So I decided to see if I could reload the OS on it with app loader and here's where I got stuck.

If I pulled the battery out completely and let it boot to the no battery screen, app loader would recognize the device properly with the correct pin, and if the battery was in it would just stay in a loop.

Currently trying a few unconventional tricks but thus far I haven't gotten it to do much beyond start the reload process and then it starts the reboot loop while waiting for device initialization (Reconnecting to JVM) and eventually app loader says it can't reconnect to it.

Going to try a few things here before I bring it back in, but seriously WTF. I'm seeing a trend with people experiencing this with a dead battery, seems this thing has a real problem recovering from whatever is caused by charging a dead battery with the device off.

[claykin]

I just encountered the exact same thing last night / today. Last night my battery was dead to the point of it did the "Battery drained, shutting handheld down" and powered itself off. I do have 2 extra batteries for it and was thinking about swapping the one in from the charger, but I decided to just set the 9900 on the charging pod and let it have a full charge overnight while it was off. The charging indicator came on okay and I went to bed.

Wake up this morning, take it off the charger and try to turn in on and I get stuck in the dreaded red led loop. Red light comes on for about 5 seconds, then shuts off, and comes back on 15-20 seconds later again, it then just repeats this over and over.

I did find if you remove the battery and plug it in, eventually I got to the "bad battery" screen and it sits there. If you pop the battery in then while its at that screen, it will start the red light reboot process all over again. So I decided to see if I could reload the OS on it with app loader and here's where I got stuck.

If I pulled the battery out completely and let it boot to the no battery screen, app loader would recognize the device properly with the correct pin, and if the battery was in it would just stay in a loop.

Currently trying a few unconventional tricks but thus far I haven't gotten it to do much beyond start the reload process and then it starts the reboot loop while waiting for device initialization (Reconnecting to JVM) and eventually app loader says it can't reconnect to it.

Going to try a few things here before I bring it back in, but seriously WTF. I'm seeing a trend with people experiencing this with a dead battery, seems this thing has a real problem recovering from whatever is caused by charging a dead battery with the device off.

Which software version is on your phone?

I assume you tried your 2 spare batteries.

[anon(728548)]

I've already had to replace my first 9900 because of this and vodafone now want to send it away for repair which i really don't want to do!! Any help would be massively appreicated.

I've gone through the web searching for a fix and have tried all sorts of ways of pulling the battery and timing it to the red blinking led to no avail.

Basically i put my 9900 on charge last night I woke up this morning and the screen won't turn on. The red light comes on every now and then if i press the red button or put it on charge but there are no signs of it even trying to start up, the screen remains black. I have tried to connect it to desktop manager and reload the OS however it get stuck at loading JVM when trying to reconnect to the device.

Has anybody managed to solve this without sending it off?

When you're trying to load JVM and it gets stuck, un plug it and plug it back in and click the retry/ok button. If that doesn't work unplug it again, pull battery put back in, then plug into computer again and click ok/retry. I had a jvm loading issue and solution 1 fixed it for me.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[HaTaX]

Which software version is on your phone?

I assume you tried your 2 spare batteries.

I did try both of my extra batteries (which were charged to 100% and 70%) and had the same results. Had version 440 loaded on the phone when this happened, and have also tried the 353 radio file. I can actually get it to load a different SFI file, but at the JVM boot process it always restarts, verified that the SFI file is changing versions by looking at the details in app loader. Maybe I'll try some older SFI files and see what I can get it to do...

When you're trying to load JVM and it gets stuck, un plug it and plug it back in and click the retry/ok button. If that doesn't work unplug it again, pull battery put back in, then plug into computer again and click ok/retry. I had a jvm loading issue and solution 1 fixed it for me.

Also tried the above and didn't make any progress, still the same message that it can't get into the JVM. I assume the JVM itself is crashing upon starting and causing the reboots, so it can't attach to it to load the new files... NG

[anon(728548)]

I did try both of my extra batteries (which were charged to 100% and 70%) and had the same results. Had version 440 loaded on the phone when this happened, and have also tried the 353 radio file. I can actually get it to load a different SFI file, but at the JVM boot process it always restarts, verified that the SFI file is changing versions by looking at the details in app loader. Maybe I'll try some older SFI files and see what I can get it to do...



Also tried the above and didn't make any progress, still the same message that it can't get into the JVM. I assume the JVM itself is crashing upon starting and causing the reboots, so it can't attach to it to load the new files... NG

Okay. Pull the battery and see if you see an error ### screen then try running app loader

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[HaTaX]

Okay. Pull the battery and see if you see an error ### screen then try running app loader

Never can get the screen to display anything but a dead battery icon when I remove the battery, otherwise the screen never comes on. Already filed to have a new one sent to me and I grabbed a loaner ($50 return fee) for a few days from T-Mobile till the new one shows up. Looks like I have 30 days to return the loaner.

[altrax]

Wow I'm glad i read this... i am experiencing the same problem and was about to buy a new battery. I've tried everything under the sun to try and reload the OS or force my 9900 to charge but nothing.

I guess now i have to make the trip to my local rogers store

[EvilSmoothie]

This is ridiculous. It's my first ever blackberry device and am starting to wonder why I didn't just go and get an iPhone. I will probably get slated for saying that but I am really less than satisfied with RIM at the moment. I love the phone itself the keyboard is fantastic BBM is great, the web browser is more than adequate for my needs. I chose the keyboard over a big display as i never used any of my old full touch screens as a device for watching video's and did not regret that choice one bit. Battery is not great by any means but not really worse than an android phone. So when it works properly it is by all means a fantastic device. This however, is a ridiculous problem to be having AGAIN. It's not like I'm being overly critical and complaining about a squeaky battery cover. It appears to be cropping up a lot looking through various forums and from what the service man said in the vodafone store. Rant over. Will just give my experiences as it may help lead towards a solution/knowing the problem.

My first blackberry was completely as new with stock OS, all I had done was download a few apps from app world and send some messages. I was at work and the battery completely drained, device shut itself down and this happened. I got it exchanged on the spot for a brand new one. I accepted it was probably a one off and these things happened, no worries.

This new one I updated to OS 440 hoping to improve some battery life and it's happened again, however this time the battery was too low for radio use but I plugged it back in before it go to the point of shutting itself down and I could see the icon change to show the battery was charging. Pretty sure all the radio came back to life as well. I woke up in the morning and it was dead. Tried battery pull etc. would not come back to life, simply had the red led cycle otherwise the phone was lifeless. Tried a new battery in it at vodafone however still would not boot up.

The Vodafone person booking it in said he had booked two in already that day with the exact same fault.

[HaTaX]

I'm thinking this particular hardware revision or build of this device has a faulty PMC (power management controller) in it. The PMC controls the charging and discharge rate of the battery, also the phone queries the PMC at startup to make sure it has enough power to boot and that the battery is good to go. (Not below a certain voltage, and that it passes a security check) I believe the OS 7 phones are the first BBs to implement "secure" batteries, and maybe that along with a newish PMC is giving them issues...

We've all heard rumors of a 9910 / 9940 refresh and it may be that the PMC is the main hardware culprit for a revision so soon. Gives them an opportunity for a larger battery and a focusing camera to get added to the list too...

[RDslva]

This is awkward. This exact same thing happened to my Bold last night/this morning. Plugged in fine, woke up to constant re-boot.
I was running .440 too. Weird.

Does anyone know of a fix for this?

[HaTaX]

Seems like 440 might be suspect if that's what we were all running and they all died at a particular time. Odd part is that I DID get the radio / kernel file to load back onto the phone fine. I tried 250, 353, and 440 and they all did exactly the same boot loop.

In app loader I could verify that it did have the particular SFI file loaded, so that part worked okay. I even went so far as to intentionally brick it completely (pull usb with no battery in it while it's doing the initial load of the OS) and it still did the reboot loop upon starting the de-brick process.

I've got a loaner for 30 days and my replacement shows up tomorrow, that was my fix.

[RDslva]

Seems like 440 might be suspect if that's what we were all running and they all died at a particular time. Odd part is that I DID get the radio / kernel file to load back onto the phone fine. I tried 250, 353, and 440 and they all did exactly the same boot loop.

In app loader I could verify that it did have the particular SFI file loaded, so that part worked okay. I even went so far as to intentionally brick it completely (pull usb with no battery in it while it's doing the initial load of the OS) and it still did the reboot loop upon starting the de-brick process.

I've got a loaner for 30 days and my replacement shows up tomorrow, that was my fix.

Did you manage to get it to re-load the OS at all? I wonder if there is a way to get the device to a 507 Java error. That would (to my understanding) allow a clean install of an OS.. yes?

Maybe pulling USB after/during App Loader is deleting the files on the device?

[mssca]

@ EvilSmoothie,

I know that iPhones breaks down more often than Blackberries. However, Apple Canada (yes, at least Apple in Canada) will replace your entire iPhone unit within the first year NO questions asked.

My brother walked in to an Apple store and replaced the whole unit just because the battery don't hold much charge. They even didn't test the iPhone before give the new one to him. Now that's customer service. If my Bold 9900 ever run in to this loop issue, I am going to walk in to the RIM head office and ask for the same service.... or better yet, Telus already replaced my first unit during the first 24 hr anyway!

I feel your pain... I am mad too... If I ever end up with a refurbish unit within the first year, RIP to RIM and my next phone will be iPhone 4s or iPhone 5 and I never going to look back.

[HaTaX]

Did you manage to get it to re-load the OS at all? I wonder if there is a way to get the device to a 507 Java error. That would (to my understanding) allow a clean install of an OS.. yes?

Maybe pulling USB after/during App Loader is deleting the files on the device?

Tried that one too, all it did was not complete the wipe and it went into the loop again, if I waited longer I could get the single fast flash which means no OS installed. Never could get the loader past "Waiting for JVM initialization", the phone was always looping by that point.

It kept returning a PIN of 0 as well during the process, remove the battery however and eventually the PIN would be displayed again. Funky stuff, definitely something hardware-ish going on there, and it seems to have happened to all of us while leaving it plugged in charging... (Mine was on a pod, but still on the charger)

[altrax]

my 9900 was sitting on a charger as well and .440 I have 3 more business days until my replacement arrives... so i will continue to try and force the JVM finish.

Is it bad that at this point I am kind of shrugging and hoping the QNX phone magically drops before the end of the year?

[jammanxc]

OMGGG.... this happened to me too last month!... charged my phone overnight.. i wake up the next morning and find my blackberry DEAD! The red LED light just blinks in and out.. no way of recovering any data or even turn on. Took it to a sprint store the next day and got a replacement (after a lot of hoopla / red tape). I am so afraid that it might happen again.. but i love my bb bold 9930 from sprint so much!

[EvilSmoothie]

Seems like 440 might be suspect if that's what we were all running and they all died at a particular time. Odd part is that I DID get the radio / kernel file to load back onto the phone fine. I tried 250, 353, and 440 and they all did exactly the same boot loop.

In app loader I could verify that it did have the particular SFI file loaded, so that part worked okay. I even went so far as to intentionally brick it completely (pull usb with no battery in it while it's doing the initial load of the OS) and it still did the reboot loop upon starting the de-brick process.

I've got a loaner for 30 days and my replacement shows up tomorrow, that was my fix.

This already happened to me once on stock OS so I don't think the OS is the culprit.

[wetsqueegee]

same thing happened to my 9900 and i'm also using stock OS, so the .440 theory may not be the case. Virgin mobile is repairing (what a massive headache)

[roundersfan]

I called Blackberry support, and they basically said I'm screwed b/c I bought my 9900 off eBay and warranty is non-transferrable...



Definitely a far departure from Apple's flawless Genius Bar service. RIM IS GOING DOWN!!!!!!!!

[roundersfan]

Here is the RIMM support info:

BlackBerry Customer Support Center
1-877-255-2377 (North America Toll Free)
0808 100 7466 (Toll Free UK Only)
+44 1753 558400 (Outside UK)
1-519-888-6181 (Worldwide)
[email protected]

BOMBARD them will calls and emails so they will get off their fat lazy asses and fix this problem!!!!!!

[antony99]

My "new" 2nd 9900 has arrived, and I have been able to try the new phones battery in the older 9900... and it does not make any difference.

The bricked phone still does not start-up, so we can rule out the battery being the issue.

The new phone is working fine, data being restored now... but how long until it bricks itself and which software should I load?!

[HaTaX]

Got all my cr@p moved from my loaner 9900 over to the new 9900 and life seems to be good so far. One thing I did notice is that the 9900 I had and my loaner had PINs that started with 27F, and my replacement phone has a pin starting with 283. Makes me think my replacement is much newer and hopefully doesn't have the same issue my original one did. :\

So we've gone from a bad batch of batteries to a batch of 9900s that like to commit suicide when charging overnight? NG. Owners, check your 9900 for signs of depression before plugging in at night...

I actually didn't use the charging pod very often at all and rarely charge with the phone, I've been using the JM-1 side charger and rotating through one of the 3 batteries I have. Just happened that night I had two batteries to charge and I'm glad it happened on a Saturday AM instead of a Monday.