I know that This thread was already started, by someone asking if it happened. However I thought a new thread would be a good idea.

The CompUSA by my work has an N800 on display. It suffered the white screen of death. I noticed it last week, but wanted to wait until I could get pics.

This is the Unit:


This is my finger on the powerbutton (for about 30 seconds):


Pictures were taken from MY N800 tonight.

Looks like it's just crashed/hung on a white screen to me.

Despite the name, WSOD actually refers to a hardware failure - the screen isn't necessarily white, but mostly is white as it occurs during boot and is also associated with streaks, vertical lines and/or other display artefacts due to a failure of the LCD controller. The D in WSOD means Death, as in very final/can't be fixed, and requires a repair by Nokia - if you'd popped the battery on the display model I imagine it would have come up right as rain.

So far there have been no reports of the WSOD problem affecting N800s which is no surprise as the design fault has been fixed on the 770 already and Nokia would be nuts to have repeated it on the N800.

I know the white screen well, my 770 suffered from it and had to be replaced in July last year. It didn't just hang on boot, and I had a guy there play with the battery. However this is a display model in the picture and there is no telling the type of abuse it's been put through.

In that case maybe you should change the thread title - it's misleading.

Funny enough, my N800 stopped having boot problems. It was like this:
a) Day 1: Booted several times , no problems.
b) Day 2: Would not boot. Tried again and again, white screen only. Once it helped to remove the battery for a minute, but not the next time. Removed the internal card, it booted.
c) Day 3-> Day N-1: It _always_, without exception, helped to remove the internal SD card (I just re-inserted it after it had booted). Removing the external card made no difference. And it _never_ booted with the internal card in.
d) Day N ->.. It boots every time without having to remove the internal card.

So, what changed? Well, it could just be coincidence, but between a) and b) I made a backup on the internal card (from the n800 backup menu).
Between c) and d) I made _another_ backup, so that there were now 2 backups on the card. (Since then I've made a third one.)
Between b) and c) I also stored other stuff on the card (pdf files etc.) which made no difference.

I think I saw someone from Nokia claim that the N800 doesn't do anything with the card during bootup, and if so the whole thing is totally bewildering, in fact much more worrying. If the boot problem _is_ related to the card then it all makes more sense and the way to fix it should be easier.

I agree, it's a white screen that probably just means the unit needs to be reset. Sounds like you're trying to stir the pot when it doesn't need to be stirred.

if I knew how I would. I think it would be better to say: "An N800 suffering from WSOD."

No, because pulling both the power, and the battery had no effect on the white screen.

My point in the thread was that it was possible. What was done to cause it, who knows it's a display model, so who knows what kind of abuse it's been put through. Note this compusa is right next to the University of Michigan.

As for stirring the pot no. That's not my intent, nor what I was going for. My intent was to show a WSOD N800, with photo proof.

The WSOD is a failure of the LCD controller - there is no evidence that the N800 suffers from such a hardware fault, so you really should stop using the term WSOD in relation to the N800 until there is evidence to the contrary.

For all we know, someone could have punched or otherwise abused the device on display and damaged the screen or the motherboard circuitry.

You're just causing FUD at this point.

Most screen shots of 770 devices with true WSOD show artefacting such as vertical lines or smearing of the displayed image. Despite the name WSOD, I've seen no example screenshots of devices with failed LCD controllers that are actually entirely white screens. I'm not saying it isn't possible, just that it isn't usually the way it manifests itself.

Also, from what I understand of devices with WSOD they *DO* boot - it's only the LCD controller that has failed, the devices continue to work and would have responded to the power off button depressed for 30 seconds (ie. it would have shut down).