[shariqq]

I've been searching through various threads here over the past three days, but haven't found the same issue as I am facing with my phone. Any help will be highly appreciated!

1) Issue: Phone doesn't charge, neither does it switch on.
2) Device: Blackberry Pearl 3G 9105
3) Age: Bought Feb 2011, so makes it 1 year, 7 months old.
4) Past issues: None. Haven't needed to do anything on it. The only "work" I've done on it is upgrade OS to 6.0 some 5 or so months ago. Otherwise, just regular application upgrades.
5) Prior to issue: The phone's battery was almost out (in red). I connected it to my desktop's USB cable to charge it. A few minutes later - it is switched off.
6) Symptoms: The phone stays off. When I try to switch it on, no response. When I connect it to a charging cable (PC or wall-socket charger), the LED goes a steady red for a few seconds, then goes off. Screen shows and empty battery symbol with a bolt in the center. No matter how long I charge it, the battery symbol stays empty.
7) Attempts:
--a) Brand new battery. Didn't work.
--b) Connected to desktop - the PC recognizes I have connected a Blackberry device.
--c) Tried the method on "How to reload OS on a nuked BB". Application Loader Wizard works until "Wait for Device Initialization", then it says "Application Loader was unable to connect with your device". I am guessing this fails since the phone does not restart or initialize...?

With all the abundance of experience among the users here, any help on how I could fix this?