Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Hi!
I was liking my N900, but when I connected it to my computer, it wasn't recognized, so I thought rebooting it would help. However, the phone would not reboot, it would show the Nokia logo with the backlight for a few seconds then shut off. I figured it didn't have enough juice to start up, so I plugged it into the computer. What would happen then is that the phone would turn on and show the Nokia logo (without the backlight) and then turn off and back on. Sometimes the orange charging indicator light would be on, and others time it wouldn't be on. I thought that maybe the computer wasn't supplying enough power, so I several different chargers (one included, generic USB power adapter) and they all had the same problem. I then tried it with another computer, and had the same problem except that ocassionally the orange light would be on (always solid and not flashing) without showing the Nokia logo.

Has anyone else had this issue? :confused:
Any help would be appreciated!

-Kevin

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

I would call the manufacturer if I were you, since not a lot of people have
the device yet.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Ok, I'll see what I can find out. I asked on IRC, but no one else seemed to have this problem. Can anyone else confirm having this issue? I wonder if I might have gotten a pre-production unit (I won it from a contest) becuase the box has a big "NOT FOR SALE" sticker on it that I just discovered.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

As your next step, try charging from the wall, not from the computer.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

MountainX:
I tried that, and still had the same issue

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

well i think you can know from the manufacture location under the battery i heard that pre production units were made in finland ...

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

check out this thread and see if it is related:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=34983

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Ok,
I checked under the battery and it says "Made in Korea" so perhaps I was wrong? It also says "Type:RX-51" I know that was the original code name, but I'm not sure if that's normal or not.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

mm maybe its a special unit for the people who one it :) anyway glad u are not facing problems with it hope i dont face them when i receive mine i pre ordered like 2 months ago :(

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

@MountainX
We do appear to have similar problems, that guy even won his like I did! Creepy! Anyway, let me see if I can reflash it and see if that helps.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Here is a picture of the preproduction units they were giving away at the Maemo Summit.

Does your unit say N900 on the face or RX-51 on the package?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3498/...a57178bb_d.jpg

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

The box has that exact same NOT FOR SALE sign on it. As far as I can tell, RX-51 isn't written anywhere on it except on the sticker below the battery

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Is the computer not recognising the device at all? Are you selecting which mode you wish to be connected it? Your phone won't start charging until you do.

My experience is that if you choose 'mass storage mode' from the phone, it will install generic drivers and you'll be good. If you want pc suite mode, you need the very latestest version of pc suite for the drivers.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

To find out whether it's a pre-production unit, simply check the firmware: menu > settings . about device: If you have version 1.2009.42.somemorenumbers then it's a production unit. The '42' guarantess it's the production firmware, not an early one.

The 'Not for sale' is probably because they have a bunch of them in various Nokia locations and it's to stop satff sneaking then out and putting them on ebay. Same as kellogs variety packs say 'not for individual sale'. ;)

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Hey Kevin any luck m8 i got my brand new phone 1 hr ago and have exactly the same problem?

Tried phoning the helpline but its mega busy it never rains on me i get hurricane's lol

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Hey guys, I had the exact same problem yesterday, if you let the battery completely die before your charged it, you will have this issue. The N900 needs the os or sub-os running in order to charge. Yesterday my phone simply wouldn't charge. I left it on the charger overnight and this morning I unplugged it and plugged it back in I got a consistently glowing yellow led. I powered on the device and had the same nokia logo as the op. I held down the power button a few times and it booted up. Once it did this I noticed that even though it was on the charger all night it didn't pickup any of a charge, just enough to boot up I suppose. So try leaving it on the wall charger for a while, several hours, and hopefully it will catch enough to boot up and fully charge from there. Lesson to be learned never let this thing die without an external battery charger.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Did you get it running again tho m8? I'm rite f##ked off atm

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Have you tried charging it from a mains charger? I find that my n900 doesn't begin to charge from the pc via usb until I choose 'pc suite' and 'mass storage'. If you aren't being able to make that connection, it may not be charging. Try plugging it into the mains.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Try sliding the keyboard out and charging it.

Seriously.

I noticed one time trying to charge that it didnt start until I opened the keyboard. Its only happened once.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

LOL wot difference will that make?

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Who knows. I thought it was odd too, but I think it has something to do with the screen being active when you plug it in. Sliding out the keyboard riht before you plug it in causes that. So would pushing the little switch on the side too, so that'd probably work.

In the end, make sure the screen is on when you plug it in.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

LOL ok m8 owts worth a try ;)

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Yep, everything is back up and running again, when the battery is that low keep it on the charge for a while, and plug back in and out until you get the yellow charging led. Then boot it up. Also invest in an external battery charger, to avoid this problem for now. They're only a few bucks.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=180430675893

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

It's been on charge most of the afternoon but its still the same i'll try it again tomorrow when i get up at lunch time as i'm on nights that should be plenty of time:mad:

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Still not working boohoo:mad:

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

I don't know why mine started working, but I did plug the usb charger that connects into the device in and out a few times and the led came on, then I was able to boot it up, and then it started charging.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

I have similar issues with USB, except that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Unplugging it (on the N900-side) and plugging it in again usually helps.

Funny I never have this when I use the adapter that came with it so that it can be charged with my old N810-charger.

If it helps anybody: When The device doesn't react to the USB-connection, here's what I see on my PC:

usb 7-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2
usb 7-2: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 7-2: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 7-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 3
usb 7-2: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 7-2: device descriptor read/64, error -71
usb 7-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 4
usb 7-2: device not accepting address 4, error -71
hub 7-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 2

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

This bug is ridiculous... like catastrophic bad. Is there a bug we can vote for on this? I can't get it to work even plugged in with the AC adapter. Pissed.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

My N900 doesn't recognize connecting to my computer via USB unless the device is active (screen on, etc.). If this happens I have to slide it open the screen and reconnect the USB cable. I haven't had a chance to test it thoroughly but it seems to happen 100% of the time.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Sometimes I have to plug the charger cable into mine twice to get it to start charging. I have not run the battery down. It certainly seems like the phones software has to make a decision to start charging which would be a bad thing if it did not have enough of a charge to boot up.

I have also discovered that the FM transmitter does not operate while charging. So you can not drive around listening to music while charging the N900. No good for long trips.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Hi,

One thing which can be tried:
Open the case, remove the battery, and place it back. Charge with dedicated charger for few (5 to 10) minutes. Then try switch on. In most of the cases it comes back on.

Sajeev

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Hi,

One thing which can be tried:
Open the case, remove the battery, and place it back. Charge with dedicated charger for few (5 to 10) minutes. Then try switch on. In most of the cases it comes back on .

Sajeev

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Just to let you know mine has been supposedly charging for 18 hrs now with no luck so looks like i've got the hastle of returning it ffs:mad:

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

between the otg removal and this charging fiasco, it really seems like it would be hard to do a worse job with the usb connection. the big question is... what can be fixed with firmware, and what is just really bad hardware design?

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

The usb charging method is rubbish, but it's not Nokia's fault. The USB consortium set it up that way: If you have a micro-USB which can charge the device you can't have OTG. And if you have OTG you're not allowed to have a second USB. Talk about silly..
Using micro-USB as a common charger (http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/123296) was a HUGE mistake. Apparently this is an EU norm now, so we'll blame EU. And the USB consortium.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

I got a USB Car Adapter and when I plugged a Micro USB Cable in it it wouldn't charge the N900. :-(

When I use the PowerGuy Solar-Power Pack and connect it also with a Micro USB Cable the N900 won't charge. :-(

If I connect to the PowerGuy the old Nokia Connector then the Adapter for the Smaller Nokia Connector and THEN the Nokia Charging Adapter from the old Connector to Micro USB and THEN the whole thing in the N900... THEN it would sometimes charge. Sometimes not. After a couple of times plugging in and out it charges mostly for quite a while. (about 20 or 40 minutes, then it stops charging) :mad:
But the Nokia Charging Adapter (delivered with the N900) gets a little bit hot. Is this normal?

Not very nice the charging problem. In the best case the N900 should accept any kind of power (fron 1 to 40 Volt, AC or DC) on the Micro USB Port to charge the Battery. Only the natural instinct to keep alive! :D

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

Apparently the USB charging standard has defined that the data pins should be shorted out for dedicated chargers. This is pretty new, so a lot of old chargers won't be doing this, and the N900 will fail to charge.

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

I noticed that my new production N900 has a problem starting to charge when plugging in the charger, too. I tried it several times and sometimes it started charging, sometimes it didn't.

Then I tried the charger from my preproduction N900 and it doesn't make any problems at all. The N900 always immediately started to charge after plugging it in.

Hmm, I'm gonna try if the production charger causes the problems with the preproduction N900, too. Then it would definitely be the charger to blame.


EDIT: Now both chargers seem to work on both devices. Maybe the charger just had to get capacitors fully loaded for functioning reliably first?

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

I had exact similar problem...i've send it to exchange it on last tuesday..waiting eagerly..

Re: Help: N900 Won't Charge
 

amazing. you're spot on. twice during the day has my pre-production n900 run out of batteries, and both times the procedure went like this:

1. plug in power adaptor
2. see the orange light pulse, wait a few minutes
3. press and hold the power button: goes white and then no light, nothing happens
4. remove battery for a minute, insert and repeat steps 1-3 once
5. after charging for the third time, slide the keyboard
6. press and hold power button and the n900 starts again

this seems to apply to bug 6806.