1. delberry's Avatar
    Hi All,

    I just bought my playbook 32GB couple of weeks ago ! Last used was on Thursday 5th Jan 2012. When I returned from vacation next week, switched it on, on 11th Jan.

    It started showing 20% battery, so immediately put it on battery charging through wall charger provided with PB. After 3 hours or so, i checked it battery was showing about 80% charged,, so disconnected (If I remember correctly) and logged on to wifi and started using internet. After 15 min or so, left it as it is and went out.

    AFter I came in about 30 min later, nothing was there, tried moving fingers (thinking it may have went into standby) nothing came...tried hard reset..calling customer care repeating all steps like charge for 2 minutes an disconnect for 20 sec ...but so far nothing happened.All that happens is LED flashes red in sequence blink pause blinkblinkblink pause blink...evrytime I try powering it on or connecting it to Charger.

    Please help !

    Thanks & Regards
    01-16-12 05:02 AM
  2. aiharkness's Avatar
    I would try this.

    First, on the possibility it may be on but hanging or locked up, hold the power button down until the device shuts off, assuming it is on and shuts off. You may not be able to tell. But, under normal circumstances the PlayBook would shut off after 10 or 15 seconds, or something like that. Give it 30 seconds.

    Also, there is a hard reset procedure for the PlayBook. Look it up and check me on this, but I believe it is holding the power and the up and down volume buttons at the same time. Again, look this up and don't trust me.

    Finally, you could try forcing an OS reinstall using Desktop Manager. The general procedure under normal circumstances is to reboot the PlayBook while connected and after having selected check for update in Desktop Manager. When Desktop Manager cannot communicate with the PlayBook it will prompt to install the device software. In your case you probably are already in the situation where Desktop Manager detects a problem and will prompt you to do something. Just feel your way along and respond to the Desktop Manager prompts. Hopefully Desktop Manager will debrick the PlayBook.

    If none of the above work, I don't know. I would call customer service back at that point.
    01-16-12 05:42 AM
  3. axe50's Avatar
    I had the same problem but resolved it.

    Your playbook is very low on battery and needs to charge. Plug it in, and leave it plugged in for several hours.

    Remember that the playbook comes with a different wall charger than your phone; use that one (it takes in more juice which the playbook needs to get a decent charge). Make sure that its plugged in and firmly connected- that was my problem I had thought it was connected but not completely!

    Keep it plugged in and forget about it for a few hours. It will resolve itself!
    bbfan1040 likes this.
    01-16-12 06:15 AM
  4. delberry's Avatar
    @AIKHARNESS,

    I have already tried all steps that you have mentioned..but no success...! Customer care executives are clueless..they say that they have never came across such situation...!

    Desktop Manager doesn't detects it in current state..!

    @AXE50

    Yeah, now I have have connected to charger that came with playbook..I intend to leave it for about 7-8 hrs before trying to switch on..!

    one question was LED flashing sequence same in your case too?

    Thanks
    01-16-12 06:28 AM
  5. enzo07i's Avatar
    that is NANDflash problem [sandisk], it needs rework, change nandflash will solve the issue, but then since RIM system is secured you will be needing to change CPU and Nandflash at the same time, better buy new 1
    01-16-12 07:16 AM
  6. delberry's Avatar
    can you plz tell why this problem occured suddenly?
    01-16-12 07:26 AM
  7. Chaddface's Avatar
    While you have it plugged in now are you getting a green pulsing or steady light?
    01-16-12 07:33 AM
  8. delberry's Avatar
    when i started charging same red flash was there..I have switched it off ...plans to switch on after atleast 3-4 hours of continuous charging !
    01-16-12 07:45 AM
  9. aiharkness's Avatar
    Sounded from OP dead battery wasn't the issue. But maybe it is. The following article might be helpful.

    KB27705-PlayBook Power - Battery charge and discharge characteristics
    01-16-12 08:09 AM
  10. shakajam69's Avatar
    @delberry
    I had the same issue last week. battery was flat and it won't recharge. I had to do an OS reinstall. Basically plug it into ur pc or mac . Do a hard rest whilst plugged in. It will detect and ask if u want to repair. say yes. then it will also say it cant repair after several minutes and will give u an option of factory reset. choos that and it will re-install. Don't worry every thing u purchased on App world will be under "my world" under "uninstalled". u can then click on re-install. remember in general occasion all saved files, pics videos,music etc will be lost if u have not backed up. Hope ths helps..
    01-16-12 08:38 AM
  11. trevlan006's Avatar
    OK So I had this happen to me twice. the first time,. not sure what I did but it started to work after just leaving it alone for a few hours.
    second time i contacted BB support. here was the answer and fix....are you ready for this???
    this is a direct copy and paste from my email.. effin nuts..lol


    Thank you for contacting BlackBerry Customer Support. We are pleased to assist you.

    We can try a few things before a hardware repair to get it back up and running.

    First press and hold the power button for 30 seconds, then wait 15 seconds and press the power button for 3 seconds.
    This is similar to removing the battery for 60 seconds on the BlackBerry smartphone.

    You can also charge the BlackBerry PlayBook for 12 hours, then try to power on by power and Vol + at the same time for about 15 seconds you should see the red LED. If it powers on connect it to the charger.

    If the BlackBerry PlayBook does not power on at that time, then plug in the wall charger for 2 minutes, then unplug for 2 minutes. Repeat these steps 6 to 7 times. After plugging for the last 2 minutes, instead of unplugging the tablet press the power button.
    If at that time it powers on leave it charging for 6-10 hours.

    If the BlackBerry PlayBook still will not power on at that time we can look at possibly reloading the software.
    ------
    I hope one of these steps work for you.
    01-16-12 09:08 AM
  12. Chaddface's Avatar
    I wonder about the purpose of plugging and unplugging multuple times.
    I don't see any reason to leave the PB plugged in for 12 hours. When 3-4 hours charges the battery to full. Anyone know the reason behind it?
    This issue has popped up a few times recently and everyone claimed to have some charge in the battery when the PB flaked out. Most times it seems to be fixed by a OS reload.
    It seems they need a better reset system to keep users from having to wipe and reload.
    01-16-12 09:27 AM
  13. FF22's Avatar
    I have read a few threads where the "repeated" plugging/unplugging of the charger was recommended. Maybe there's some secret reboot associated with that sequence - like my Subaru where is you don't have the remote, you can use the ignition by doing a certain sequence!

    But if Rim service can't fix it with verbal instructions - then it should be replaced by them. RMA???
    01-16-12 10:15 AM
  14. BaconMunch's Avatar
    I think I had a similar issue where charging the PB would not allow me to turn it on...

    I was told about "stack" charging, 6 cycles of charge no charge, for 2 minutes each, chargining for never more than 2 minutes.

    What eventually worked was to turn on DM first and leaving it on (plugging the USB first and turning DM will not work), and then connect the 'dead' PB, there was a message about needing a software reload, 3 software download and re-installation attempts later it worked and I'm now on 1.8 on my 32 GB.
    01-16-12 11:27 AM
  15. Gooseberry Falls's Avatar
    Hello. Anyone have a moral to the story? I've heard not to let battery go <50% before charging. Is that good practice? I've been to 39% before but it charged up OK. Was I lucky? Also, in a pinch I used my Moto phone charger and it worked OK. I was thinking about only taking that when I travel so I don't have to bring another power adapter. Bad idea??? Sounds like something triggers the software if you have to reload the system.
    01-16-12 01:47 PM
  16. aiharkness's Avatar
    Hello. Anyone have a moral to the story? I've heard not to let battery go <50% before charging. Is that good practice? I've been to 39% before but it charged up OK. Was I lucky? Also, in a pinch I used my Moto phone charger and it worked OK. I was thinking about only taking that when I travel so I don't have to bring another power adapter. Bad idea??? Sounds like something triggers the software if you have to reload the system.
    I don't know exactly what you heard, or from where. I run my PlayBook battery down, but avoid going down to the warning. No problems.

    But as far as chargers, I stick with the BlackBerry chargers. There will be other chargers that are ok until there's one that isn't. I don't see the point in taking a chance.
    01-16-12 01:57 PM
  17. peter9477's Avatar
    Hello. Anyone have a moral to the story? I've heard not to let battery go <50% before charging. Is that good practice?
    It's only good practice in that it minimizes the chances you are "caught short" without enough capacity remaining when you discover you're stuck on a train and have nothing to occupy your time except playing Angry Birds.

    The PlayBook has a Lithium-Polymer battery, which is a relatively new technology that suffers from basically none of the past "memory" and other issues batteries have long had.

    It has only a couple of potential problems (all tech does), but the design of the PlayBook charging system is such that it avoids getting anywhere near the danger areas. You will not be able to undercharge it, since it shuts off long before reaching a level that would negatively affect the battery. It can't be overcharged, as the charger stops when it reaches peak capacity. It doesn't "remember" any high or low level the way some other battery types do.

    It's probable that some patterns of use (possibly such as only ever discharging it to, say 90%, then immediately recharging) will lead to an apparent loss of capacity. Ignoring the fact that you'd never realize it because you're using only 10% of the capacity in this scenario, my point is that it's only an apparent loss, because it's not giving the software enough data to keep itself well calibrated. A periodic discharge to "nearly empty" (or completely empty, where it shuts itself off) should help avoid that, but it's non-essential.

    PlayBook Battery Best Practice: charge when you need it, use it when you want, and don't worry about the battery. The PlayBook is already taking better care of it than you could yourself.
    01-16-12 02:31 PM
  18. aiharkness's Avatar
    A point on the above: Lithium Ion batteries will have a longer life before wearing out if they are topped off frequently as opposed to being run all the way down and then recharged each time.

    I still would agree with the advice to use the PlayBook the way you need to use it. But when you have the opportunity to top off, it's better for the battery in the long run to top off out of habit rather than make it a habit of charging only because you have to.
    Last edited by aiharkness; 01-16-12 at 02:42 PM.
    01-16-12 02:38 PM
  19. peter9477's Avatar
    A point on the above: Lithium Ion batteries will have a longer life before wearing out if they are topped off frequently as opposed to being run all the way down and then recharged each time.
    How much longer would you say a PlayBook battery would last if one used one third of the capacity each day and fully recharged, rather than draining it over the course of three days and only then recharging?

    (Fair warning: it's a trick question (obviously) because I strongly suspect nobody around here, you or me included, has the slightest idea how long a PlayBook battery will actually work effectively, or how much degradation one would see, if any, from doing the above. I'd be happy to see actual data on it though... you don't happen to have any, do you?)
    01-16-12 03:15 PM
  20. aiharkness's Avatar
    How much longer would you say a PlayBook battery would last if one used one third of the capacity each day and fully recharged, rather than draining it over the course of three days and only then recharging?

    (Fair warning: it's a trick question (obviously) because I strongly suspect nobody around here, you or me included, has the slightest idea how long a PlayBook battery will actually work effectively, or how much degradation one would see, if any, from doing the above. I'd be happy to see actual data on it though... you don't happen to have any, do you?)
    Of course no one can say exactly. And there are other variables as well. But we know from the battery chemistry why topping off is good versus not topping off. And experience with lithium batteries in hybrid cars compared to pluggin electric cars is a practical example. See

    Why lithium-ion batteries die so young &mdash; Cleantech News and Analysis).

    But then I never tried to quantify. I said topping off when you have the opportunity is better. And it is.
    01-16-12 03:39 PM
  21. delberry's Avatar
    Kept it on charge for 12 hours (in off mode), tried switching it on, but nothing happened. STill i see red flash only...!

    will try now with Desktop Manager today...!

    Thanks
    01-16-12 10:14 PM
  22. inkwire's Avatar
    I had the same problem, and tried all the usual tricks (hard reset, holding power + volume buttons...)

    the problem is that the the OS in your PB will not allow the battery to recharge once the batter is down near 0% power. (yes I know this sounds absurd, but it's true)

    I got mine going by USB connecting it to my PC, running BlackBerry Desktop, and letting it tell me that there was an update available for the OS, and installing it.

    After that I plugged it into the wall charger; it charged and now works.

    FWIW: I think this will happen A LOT with the super-discounted 64Gb-PBs on sale: they all have dead batteries because noone wanted to buy them at $600+, and so they've been sitting in stores with dying batteries and the crappy original OS.
    01-16-12 10:27 PM
  23. delberry's Avatar
    Even when I try connecting it to DM it shows only red flash...nothing more !
    01-16-12 11:41 PM
  24. inkwire's Avatar
    Even when I try connecting it to DM it shows only red flash...nothing more !
    the red light on the PB doesn't matter, since the first step is to update the OS, not to charge the battery.

    does DM recognize that the PB is connected? in my case it did, AFAIR, and it updated the OS without the PB being charged up enough to boot.
    01-17-12 02:17 AM
  25. delberry's Avatar
    Nope !

    I had tried this two days ago...DM didn't detect PB..will try again today !

    Thanks
    01-17-12 02:54 AM
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