Playbook wont let me delete photos or videos. Not able to connect to Wifi or connect to laptop

My husbands Playbook looks to be full? Not sure, its giving a strange reading under the about section. Readings are 0 total bytes and 0 total memory BUT the free storage is 3.5 GB and the free memory is 641 MB and the boot time is blank. It has never been synced....go figure.....and almost all the pics and videos havent been saved either so I dont want to lose everything on it but just wiping it and starting over. I when connected to the laptops it recognizes the PIN in the desktop software but wont let you sync it. I have tried manually network mapping it but it cant find it. I cant connect it to the Wifi either. I have tried everything and mine is connected to the same laptops and wifi and work perfectly fine so its not the setting on those. I have made sure all the settings match on both of ours and cant figure this one out? HELP!!

Originally Posted by ryavery

My husbands Playbook looks to be full? Not sure, its giving a strange reading under the about section. Readings are 0 total bytes and 0 total memory BUT the free storage is 3.5 GB and the free memory is 641 MB and the boot time is blank. It has never been synced....go figure.....and almost all the pics and videos havent been saved either so I dont want to lose everything on it but just wiping it and starting over. I when connected to the laptops it recognizes the PIN in the desktop software but wont let you sync it. I have tried manually network mapping it but it cant find it. I cant connect it to the Wifi either. I have tried everything and mine is connected to the same laptops and wifi and work perfectly fine so its not the setting on those. I have made sure all the settings match on both of ours and cant figure this one out? HELP!!

Assume that in the About/ general it shows numbers for the pictures, documents etc on it? Since you are looking under gear can you run any apps? When you go to gear/wifi do you see the network but just can't connect? Also assume you have tried simple turn off and rebooting which should not disturb files. Full wiping is probably the last thing to do.

Yes I have tried everything! I cant get on Wifi or internet tethering, or bluetooth. Figured if I could at least delete some videos thinking it was too full to process any data and that was why its not connecting but I cant even delete anything. I dont understand why I cant manually network map it to my computer either.

Originally Posted by ryavery

Yes I have tried everything! I cant get on Wifi or internet tethering, or bluetooth. Figured if I could at least delete some videos thinking it was too full to process any data and that was why its not connecting but I cant even delete anything. I dont understand why I cant manually network map it to my computer either.

This came through while I was correcting my previous post. Since you have tried everything assume that means you can run no apps including a file manager, you have tried several reboots, you have shut down your modem and router and the erring Playbook. and restarted in the sequence modem, router and playbook with a little time between each step. Do you even show the apps on the home screen? What happens if you put it on the charger? Maybe the above are crazy ideas.

Nope cant open any apps either besides the calcualtor but is that really an app? Opening the file manager was giving me an error 13 message and now it gives me nothing. I have tried shutting everything down, rebooting several times and nothing works. It cant be settings on my computers or anything because my Playbook works just fine. If I could find a way to transfer the data then I wouldnt care about wiping it but thats just it....it has never been synced...hate to say I told him so but...I told him so and there are some videos I would hate to lose on it.

Is there a way I can link the 2 Playbooks and transfer the files from his to mine then wipe his? When it is connected to the desktop software, after it tries to connect and fails, a message pops up about retry and maybe update? If I click that it then asks if I want to do something...cant remember right now....but it warns that I might lose data files. Any idea of what the chance I wont lose the files if I carry on with this?

So you have Restarted from the Battery icon? What other methods have you tried?

I post the boilerplate but have you tried PRESS and HOLDING the PowerOn button for 20 or so seconds until it goes black (do not release it when you get the Reboot/Restart dialog, keep pressing. It should remain black (screen off) for another 15 or so seconds and then the Red LED should come on an reboot. See if that helps. The other day I accidently tried putting a 6gig video on it and it bollixed up and I could not run any apps even though I had cancelled the copy file process.

To fix an issue, try these in order:

Restart using the Battery Icon and press Restart

Press and hold the Power button for 10-15 seconds. Then leave it for 20-30 seconds and see if it restarts.

To REBOOT:
Press and HOLD all three keys for about 10 - 20 seconds: PowerOn, VolUp and VolDown. Start with the PowerButton. Keep holding past the 3-choice options screen. If you hear a shutter type sound, you've taken a Screen Shot and probably missed the PowerButton.

Good luck.

Sorry about your experience. You can use the desktop manager software to backup, and reload OS by having the Device Manager open, make sure your PB is turned "OFF ", then plug PB in with USB. This should cause the DM to prompt you to do some steps- backup and/or reinstall OS. I used this to revive my PB after I tried to sideload. The DM should allow you to backup first, and let you save media only if you want before wiping, and reinstalling. The hard reset is the best first option though. I was told to hold all 3 buttons down simultaneously to force reset, use power button to power on. There are threds written by more knowledgeable folks than myself, that will explain the process well.