[Ishan singh]

My playbook battery was flat out.
I tried all the methods available on several forums.
Tried the stack charging method, i was able to get to the charging battery icon on screen.
After 40 seconds or so playbook boots up but after few minutes of booting process it dies out without reaching the mainscreen.
I have tries to hard reset and stack charge but everytime red led i followed by yellow led and then charging icon and then boot process and then nothing no charging.

Kindly help.

[FF22]

See if first turning it OFF may help. Go into a dark room or closet and make sure that the pb screen is black and there is no sign of a back light making the screen gray. Then try the stack charging. If that does not work, maybe it needs the OS reloaded so you can try the further instructions.

...................

Locked, bricked Stack Charge Charging

More Mapsonburt:

Don't keep trying if you get the Red light/5 Yellows... you'll soon drag the battery down past where you can start it again. Leave it off, plug it in and let it charge (with at least a 1.8A charger). Once you get the flashing (once every few seconds) green light, you can power it up - on the charger. If you do drag it down below the red flash/5 yellows, plug it in for 1 minute, unplug (at the wall) for a second or so, plug it back in and repeat for 20-30 minutes. You'll eventually get the red/yellows and then leave it plugged in (and off) until you get the flashing green. It's a PITA but the PlayBook has a very conservative charging algorithm when the battery is below 2.67 Volts to prevent explosions (I'm guessing). I've never been unable to start one with that method.

Mapsonburt:


The PlayBook OS currently shuts down at 3.5 volts. When the battery gets below 2.67V it won't show power lights or even try to start because there isn't enough juice to even power the processor to run the code on the BIOS. The BIOS is software hard coded on a chip within the PlayBook that tells it how to load the PlayBook OS and is coded such that it only recognizes signed PlayBook boot images (which is why it is so hard to root and that nobody has been able to get one to boot Android or WebOS. The BIOS software also contains some charging algorithms for when the OS is not running - ie device is powered off but plugged into a charging source. This code ONLY runs when the battery is above 2.67 volts because the processor can't run below that.

The root of the problem is that this design issue prevents the device from accepting any charge longer than 60 seconds when the battery is too low to run the charging algorithms on the BIOS or on the OS (one runs before the device is powered on and one runs afterwards). RIM did this because Lithium Ion batteries have a nasty habit of catching fire if not charged properly so they wanted to ensure that the processor could be in control of the charging. Makes perfect sense and they probably thought they were avoiding situations like where early Li Ion batteries on laptops were catching on fire. The problem is they were a bit too aggressive in dealing with the problem at design stage. If the battery is below 2.67Volts their protective algorithms can't run but you also can't put enough charge into the battery to charge it! Hence all the reports of people having success with stack charging.

Unfortunately there are a lot of wrong ways to do this floating around out there and getting repeated everyone someone posts a new thread on the issue. It really should be made a sticky. What is the right way?

1) ONLY use a source that provides 1.7Amps or more of charge. The original charger provides this. The rapid chargers provide a lot more. Your phone charger only provides a fraction of this. Anything less is going to take forever to charge the battery above 2.67 volts and may not have enough juice to charge the battery AT ALL once the processor starts to run above 2.67Volts or even worse once the OS starts to run above 3.5Volts. Forget about using your computer to charge it when the OS isn't running as the computer looks for the hardware to identify itself and won't put out a full charge current unless the device indicates it can accept. Once the OS is running, you'd often CAN get enough power from the USB on the computer but that is because the OS has signaled it is OK for the computer to send it. When the OS/BIOS isn't running, the PlayBook won't take much/any charge from a computer. The rapid chargers are best as they quickly charge but more importantly do not use the (too) flimsy USB port. A lot of problems are caused by this port getting wobbly over time and the device not getting a charge at all. Everyone should have a rapid charger.

2) Until you get your device WELL above the 3.5Volts that let's the PlayBook boot, do NOT try to start it. Every attempt drags the battery down some more and that attempt sucks much more charge from the battery than you can put in in those 60 seconds before the hardware shuts down the charging. How can you tell where your battery is? Well if you are getting no lights on the playbook on your first charging attempt you are below 2.67volts. If lights go on and then it doesn't start the OS it is below 3.5Volts. If it loads the OS and then dies it is just above 3.5Volts. If the device loads the OS it is somewhere below 5.0Volts. Depending upon where you start (how low the battery is) various techniques work best. They are: REAL stack charging (plug in for 60 seconds, unplug, plug in for 60 seconds, repeat until the processor starts accepting charging (the big battery symbol on the screen). Again, DO NOT try to turn the device on until then. You are just working against yourself and it will take much longer. You should get the charging symbol within 20-45 minutes of repeated REAL stack charging. Forget you ever heard of plugging in for 2 mins and then off for 2 mins and similar as those 2 mins of off time are COMPLETELY worthless. I have put a multimeter on the PlayBook in this state and it NEVER takes more than a minute of charge when under 2.67volts but will accept another minute of charge after a short (1-2 second) disconnection. Just do it right.

3) Once you see that charging screen leave it plugged in to the charger (stop stack charging) for at least an hour before you try to start the PlayBook. If you don't you may end up in a situation where the attempt to start drags that battery back down below 2.67V and you have start stack charging again. Be patient, you are almost there!

4) Fully charge your Playbook after this to ensure your PlayBook gets back to 100%.

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot RIM can do about this now. It's a hardware design issue. I'd be interested in knowing if the fixed it with the 4G versions. I don't think I've ever seen that complaint with one of those but I've "fixed" both of mine a few times (the kids keep trying to power them on after letting them shut down on low battery despite me saying time RUN not walk and put it on a rapid charger when ever it hits the flashing red battery signal (9%). I've also helped many friends and people on the web and NOBODY who has followed the instructions has failed to get their PlayBook to charge.

I'm convinced this fault is the reason so many PlayBooks are returned to the stores and through RMA. RIM has been very good about this but it should never have happened. Happy Charging!


........................
The battery is likely below 2.65 volts. That happens if the PlayBook has sat for a while. Plug your charger into the playbook (make sure it's the stock charger and not a computer or other charger as you need to pump in lots of amps - more than 1.7amps - the more the better). The rapid charger is even better as it can go to 5 amps.

LEAVE the charger plugged into your PlayBook. Unplug it from the wall (to save the fragile micro-USB port) every minute for a few seconds and plug back in. You'll see lots of references on the web to plug in for 2 minutes and unplug for 2 minutes. Ignore those. I took the PlayBook apart and put a multimeter on mine when it was doing this. If the battery is below 2.65 volts, the PlayBook charging circuit charges for about 1 minute and then shuts down. NO AMOUNT of continued charging makes any difference. As soon as you unplug it (at the wall) and power it back up, it will take charge again for another 45-60 seconds. Repeat.

Keep doing that for as long as it takes to get the screen to show the charging display. If it is just below 2.65volts, it will take somewhere between 20-45 minutes as the battery only takes a little bit of charge each cycle and you need to get that voltage up over 2.65 volts (at which point it will show the charging display and take a full charge). It may take more... but keep at it. Every time you plug it in for 60 seconds, you are adding a bit more power to the battery.

DO NOT try to power the device on until the device has a full charge. You will just risk getting it into a situation where it can't fully boot before it drags the charge down below 2.65 volts again and you'll have to start all over.

This works... and saves you from having to jump start it like I did the first time I got mine into this situation.

----------------------

KB27705-BlackBerry PlayBook battery power charge, discharge characteristics, and guidance on extending battery life

........................

Try the Debrick method....

Perform a backup of your pb if you can using Desktop Manager or, at least, manually coping any unique data, photos, voice recordings, documents, etc.

1) Turn your playbook OFF by holding down the power button
2) Let your playbook sit for about 10 minutes as earlier suggested.
3) After letting the PB sit (and still powered off) open up the Blackberry Desktop Software (the latest version)
4) Once the Blackberry Desktop Software is opened, use the USB Cable and hook the PB to the PC.. THEN power on the Playbook
5) A screen will show on your computer showing that the device cannot be found
6) Click on Update. It will take awhile

[Ishan singh]

As i understand from the instructions.. the purpose of stack charging is to reach a state where playbook starts accepting the charge and hence shows the battery with bolt icon and stays there until it gains enough charge to boot up.

I am able to reach that battery with bolt icon every time i plugin the wall charger after red led glows off.
The problem is that battery bolt icon goes away and yellow led goes once and it starts booting up. If I force shutdown by pressing power button for 10 seconds there is no sign whether playbook is charging or not.
No led nothing.

If plugin the charger again, the same events happen.

If i let it boot, in middle of boot process screen goes dark but the backlight is on as in dark its visibly grey.

If i try connecting to laptop red led followed by 5 yellow led glow signifying not enough charge to boot up.

I am at loss of my wits.
Any help..??

[lnichols]

BlackBerry is issuing its command from the Mothership: If(activation date) = Warranty expired: Then(Brick Playbook).

Will end the Bring BB10 or updates debate.

JK but wouldn't put it past them.

[FF22]

As i understand from the instructions.. the purpose of stack charging is to reach a state where playbook starts accepting the charge and hence shows the battery with bolt icon and stays there until it gains enough charge to boot up.

I am able to reach that battery with bolt icon every time i plugin the wall charger after red led glows off.
The problem is that battery bolt icon goes away and yellow led goes once and it starts booting up. If I force shutdown by pressing power button for 10 seconds there is no sign whether playbook is charging or not.
No led nothing.

If plugin the charger again, the same events happen.

If i let it boot, in middle of boot process screen goes dark but the backlight is on as in dark its visibly grey.

If i try connecting to laptop red led followed by 5 yellow led glow signifying not enough charge to boot up.

I am at loss of my wits.
Any help..??

There may be something wrong with your pb beyond just the low battery issue but I'm not technical enough to know.

If you PHYSICALLY OFF (not gray screen but OFF) make sure it is off and plug it in overnight does that do anything?

If you have not - Have you tried the Debrick or is there not enough power for that. Try the stack charging again, when it starts the boot but stops, make sure to turn it OFF (not gray back light). Then run the Desktop Software. Once it is running, leave the pb OFF. Plug in the usb cable. See if you get the prompt to UPDATE or REload or whatever. Now it might not have enough power for that either.

And I wish you good luck.

[jpash549]

My playbook battery was flat out.
I tried all the methods available on several forums.
Tried the stack charging method, i was able to get to the charging battery icon on screen.
After 40 seconds or so playbook boots up but after few minutes of booting process it dies out without reaching the mainscreen.
I have tries to hard reset and stack charge but everytime red led i followed by yellow led and then charging icon and then boot process and then nothing no charging.

Kindly help.

A little more info might help.

How long have you had the PB and has the charger you are now trying to use been successful in charging the PB in the past in three or four hours? Which charger is it? If it uses the microusb port check that port and be sure it is in good condition.

How did the PB get flat out and how long has it been that way?

Another reference is the Troubleshooting Toolkit. This has a section on the PB.

http://www.troubleshootingtoolkit.co...?lang=1&id=223

Even if the charger has worked in the past it may have gone bad and needs to be checked.

[Ishan singh]

I have had this playbook since december 2012.
The charges has been working fine in the past..
I forgot to charge it and gradually it battery died off.

it has been over a week since i last switched on my playbook.

I have checked the charger, its fine.

After the yellow led goes off and it starts to boot i forced switched it off using power button for 20 seconds.
connected to desktop, it prompted me to update my software which i did and after completing the installation desktop manager could not restart my playbook because of loss of connection.
Again i got red led followed by 5 yellow leds.

[jpash549]

Red followed by 5 yellows should indicate voltage between 2.7 and 3.5 volts. Keep trying stack charging and leave it plug into charger. And good luck.

[jonny12345]

Swell I think apps like tvcatchup and others should make there apps for blackberry even if they put a small price tag on it a not mind paying that in the long run the app developer Is going to make money still to develop there and the time they sent doing it for bb 10 there just Turing money Down as I see it

[afzzainizzam]

Ishan, any progress? Mine still dead

Posted via CB10

[Maslowest]

Hi there,

I am really going crazy as well. Tried the stack charging and after getting a red light and an ongoing yellow/green light the PB boots up.
Does not get very far though. Booting continues for around 4min and then screen goes black again w/o any LED signal.

What should I do?

BTW: After the red light, when I get the first yellow light and before it boots up, if I disconnect the charging pod I get the screen signal with the battery and the lightning which should indicate it wants charge, right? So I plug the charger in again and after a couple of seconds without pressing any power button it tries to boot up...

Should I avoid this booting by powering it off?

Thanks so much for your help. Really hope to revive my PB, got used to it and even without BB10 its a pretty nice gimmick.

[FF22]

Hi there,

I am really going crazy as well. Tried the stack charging and after getting a red light and an ongoing yellow/green light the PB boots up.
Does not get very far though. Booting continues for around 4min and then screen goes black again w/o any LED signal.

What should I do?

BTW: After the red light, when I get the first yellow light and before it boots up, if I disconnect the charging pod I get the screen signal with the battery and the lightning which should indicate it wants charge, right? So I plug the charger in again and after a couple of seconds without pressing any power button it tries to boot up...

Should I avoid this booting by powering it off?

Thanks so much for your help. Really hope to revive my PB, got used to it and even without BB10 its a pretty nice gimmick.

I guess I would try powering if off. See how that goes after 4 or 5 hours of charging.

Then you can try the debrick if it has not worked

Try the Debrick method....

Perform a backup of your pb if you can using Desktop Manager or, at leasT< MANUALLY COPING ANY UNIQUE DATA< PHOTOS< VOICE RECORDINGS< DOCUMENTS< ETC>

!) Turn your playbook OFF by holding down the power button
2) Let your playbook sit for about 10 minutes as earlier suggested.
3) After letting the PB sit (and still powered off) open up the Blackberry Desktop Software (the latest version)
4) Once the Blackberry Desktop Software is opened, use the USB Cable and hook the PB to the PC.. THEN power on the Playbook
5) A screen will show on your computer showing that the device cannot be found
6) Click on Update. It will take awhile

[Maslowest]

I guess I would try powering if off. See how that goes after 4 or 5 hours of charging.

Then you can try the debrick if it has not worked

Try the Debrick method....

Perform a backup of your pb if you can using Desktop Manager or, at leasT< MANUALLY COPING ANY UNIQUE DATA< PHOTOS< VOICE RECORDINGS< DOCUMENTS< ETC>

!) Turn your playbook OFF by holding down the power button
2) Let your playbook sit for about 10 minutes as earlier suggested.
3) After letting the PB sit (and still powered off) open up the Blackberry Desktop Software (the latest version)
4) Once the Blackberry Desktop Software is opened, use the USB Cable and hook the PB to the PC.. THEN power on the Playbook
5) A screen will show on your computer showing that the device cannot be found
6) Click on Update. It will take awhile

Thanks so much. What I am trying at the moment is stack charging a different way than before. If I only let it on the docking station for up to 1:30min it does not start the booting as before. Hope I can get the voltage up like that.

BTW: One more thing changed - after the red LED light I get the red battery symbol on the screen for around 20-30 secs
Does this mean it is charging properly?

If I try to let it charge after I see this red battery symbol on screen after around 2 minutes it will charge the booting, but I mostly power it off in order not to lose any charge.
Should I try some more or do the DEBRICK rightaway?
Thx in advance

[FF22]

I'd suggest reading the Knowledge Base article at the end of my long post above. There are so many variations that folks have tried and different signs and symptoms. The REBOOT/Restart you mention seems to be something new that does not help the recharge process from what I've read.

How old is the PB? Warranty?

[afzzainizzam]

Thanks so much. What I am trying at the moment is stack charging a different way than before. If I only let it on the docking station for up to 1:30min it does not start the booting as before. Hope I can get the voltage up like that.

BTW: One more thing changed - after the red LED light I get the red battery symbol on the screen for around 20-30 secs
Does this mean it is charging properly?

If I try to let it charge after I see this red battery symbol on screen after around 2 minutes it will charge the booting, but I mostly power it off in order not to lose any charge.
Should I try some more or do the DEBRICK rightaway?
Thx in advance

Hi, I have done the stack charging as you did (1:30min) for almost 2 hours without success to bring the PB to live. After 2 hours the the boot still went black halfway. Tried the debrick with no success as well. When the software repair complete and asked to disconnect the usb cable and complete the pb start up like the first time we received the pb, it went dead as well obviously because no batery juice to power it up. Let them on rapid charger for 2 days, still the same. Booting halfway. I read somewhere that by disconnecting the battery socket at the circuit board (you have to open up the pb back cover) will reset the bloody battery setting and let the battery take charging. Now trying that method. I dont dare to "jump start" yet cause I dont have much equipment to monitor the battery voltage.

Very dissapointed with this PB baterry charging design. Best thing is BlackBerry support over the phone as well dont have any clue to solve this problem.

Posted via CB10

[Maslowest]

Hi, I have done the stack charging as you did (1:30min) for almost 2 hours without success to bring the PB to live. After 2 hours the the boot still went black halfway. Tried the debrick with no success as well. When the software repair complete and asked to disconnect the usb cable and complete the pb start up like the first time we received the pb, it went dead as well obviously because no batery juice to power it up. Let them on rapid charger for 2 days, still the same. Booting halfway. I read somewhere that by disconnecting the battery socket at the circuit board (you have to open up the pb back cover) will reset the bloody battery setting and let the battery take charging. Now trying that method. I dont dare to "jump start" yet cause I dont have much equipment to monitor the battery voltage.

Very dissapointed with this PB baterry charging design. Best thing is BlackBerry support over the phone as well dont have any clue to solve this problem.

Posted via CB10

****, I really do not want to open it up. Trying different chargers with different outputs now for the stack charging. Sad, sad story, that three days ago it worked still so nicely on the train....

Debrick is next, I�ll keep you posted.

[cbvinh]

I've had multiple experiences where the Rapid Charger, with the magnetic connector, would show that it's charging the PB (lighting bolt on the battery indicator), but the PB did not charge. I'd be wary of using it if your PB completely died.

If the PB goes into a continuous booting cycle, where it cycles through the colored circles, and gets through red circles without finishing its boot, you might want to shield or keep the PB away from the last wifi it connected with. For some odd reason, it will hang on boot if it sees the wifi hotspot but can't connect (like a login is required). If it can't see the wifi hotspot, it will boot normally. After that, you can reintroduce the wifi hotspot.

[afzzainizzam]

I've had multiple experiences where the Rapid Charger, with the magnetic connector, would show that it's charging the PB (lighting bolt on the battery indicator), but the PB did not charge. I'd be wary of using it if your PB completely died.

If the PB goes into a continuous booting cycle, where it cycles through the colored circles, and gets through red circles without finishing it's boot, you might want to shield or keep the PB away from the last wifi it connected with. For some odd reason, it will hang on boot if it sees the wifi hotspot but can't to connect (like a login is required). If it can't see the wifi hotspot, it will boot normally. After that, you can reintroduce the wifi hotspot.

cbvinh,
This is new. Will try that out.

Posted via CB10

[Maslowest]

I've had multiple experiences where the Rapid Charger, with the magnetic connector, would show that it's charging the PB (lighting bolt on the battery indicator), but the PB did not charge. I'd be wary of using it if your PB completely died.

If the PB goes into a continuous booting cycle, where it cycles through the colored circles, and gets through red circles without finishing it's boot, you might want to shield or keep the PB away from the last wifi it connected with. For some odd reason, it will hang on boot if it sees the wifi hotspot but can't to connect (like a login is required). If it can't see the wifi hotspot, it will boot normally. After that, you can reintroduce the wifi hotspot.

Thanks for the hint. This is not the reason for my playbook not starting up properly as I tried out to switch the WIFI off.

Even Debricking did not work for me as the charge is not sufficient even after long stack charging and the playbook connection is lost just when BB Desktop wanted to update.

Just want to throw this piece of Scheisse away, but I still hope one day I will make it work again.

[afzzainizzam]

Update:
Disconnecting wifi also gives no success.

Posted via CB10

[afzzainizzam]

Tried my luck with uploading new os leak. Still without success

Posted via CB10

[Spencerdl]

I've had my PlayBook almost since release (approx 25 days after original release day) and according to battery guru my battery is at 84% battery health. I use my PlayBook everyday for this, that and the other. Does anyone have any idea how long the battery is supposed to last.

[jpash549]

I've had my PlayBook almost since release (approx 25 days after original release day) and according to battery guru my battery is at 84% battery health. I use my PlayBook everyday for this, that and the other. Does anyone have any idea how long the battery is supposed to last.

How many recharges have you had and what was the battery health in the early days. The answer as to how long the battery is "supposed" to last is very inexact except that it should last for the warranty period. How long it will last depends on it's treatment and quality of construction. Hopefully at least 500 recharges and maybe dreaming 1000 before it quits or gets so weak that you do.

[Maslowest]

Tried my luck with uploading new os leak. Still without success

Posted via CB10

Hey afzza,

any news? any hints or sucess with something?

[afzzainizzam]

Hey afzza,

any news? any hints or sucess with something?

Sadly, no.
I really dont understand the behaviour of my pb.
1. If the battery dont have enough juice, why the pb going to boot up halfway whenever I connect it to rapid charger.
2. If theres a software, where it is still the same after several time software repair via BlackBerry dekstop manager and now new os update?

Posted via CB10