Pandora cannot start

[Rahi374]

Naturally, before posting this, I searched the forums for the same issue... none of them had the same symptoms.

Events leading up to problem:

1 - Pandora just came back from RMA (after 6 months!)

1.5 - Test turn on and turn off Pandora. No problem.

2 - Plugged in old Pandora SD cards and played a few games on GBA emulator

3 - Shutdown Pandora (from the XFCE menu)

4 - Swap the two SD cards

5 - Turn on Pandora

6 - Turn off Pandora

7 - Swap the two SD cards

8 - Problem started here

Problem:

- Upon turning on Pandora (moving the power switch to the right), literally nothing happens. No lights, nothing on the screen, no screen flickering, etc

- Upon plugging in the Pandora (with the PSP charger) the Pandora logo shows up along with the green power LED lighting up, then a second later the screen fades to a powerless black and the green power LED turns off. Nothing happens afterwards (no LED, no screen, etc)

The battery was in the whole time. The same things occured with or without the SD cards, with or without the battery, and with the SD cards in the opposite positions.

One theory with the other issues that I found on the forums said that the battery might be loose, but since mine just came back from RMA, I found cushions in the battery compartment preventing any motion of the battery.

 

[Wally]

I'd still say it's loose and is losing it's connection. Can you please confirm your battery is aligned with the pins?

It's also possible that the battery has become discharged while not in use and may require some charging time first.

 

[EvilDragon]

Really sounds like a discharged battery.

Just wondering about the RMA time... was the shipping time that long?

Usually, all repairs here in Germany happen within 5 days, unless something more complicated is broken and it's out of warranty (within warranty, we usually swap the PCB).

 

[Rahi374]

I theorized a discharged battery too, but wouldn't the red/orange charging LED be lit while the battery is charging? (It wasn't. After the Pandora logo and the green power LED go off no other LED is lit.)

Also I thought that while the Pandora was plugged into DC it would always be on/booted?

I'll keep it plugged in regardless for a while and see if that remedies anything.

Well I mailed it around July 7th, and I was out of Japan since December 13th, so the earliest it could have arrived was December 14th.

 

[EvilDragon]

When the battery is fully discharged, no single LED goes on until it has a specific charge. It also doesn't even boot, it behaves as it would be completely dead.

 

[juliano]

I had exact the same problem this week. Here is what I did to fix it:


1-Removed and inserted the battery and connect the DC charger (didn't fix it)


2-Pluged ad removed the DC charger a few times (here the screen turned completely off and the screen showing the logo eas gone)


3-With the charger plugged in, I slightly pull it (like 1mm) and the unit suddenly turned on.


After that I saw that the battery was at 1%


Not sure what fixed the problem, but that worked for me.

 

[Rahi374]

When the battery is fully discharged, no single LED goes on until it has a specific charge. It also doesn't even boot, it behaves as it would be completely dead.

Oh, I didn't know that.

Anyway, I left it plugged in overnight, and still no LEDs are on, and the screen isn't on either.

The power switch doesn't do anything either (plugged in or unplugged), and when I plus in the DC again it's the same thing: logo comes out with green LED, then everything goes out.

I had exact the same problem this week. Here is what I did to fix it:


1-Removed and inserted the battery and connect the DC charger (didn't fix it)


2-Pluged ad removed the DC charger a few times (here the screen turned completely off and the screen showing the logo eas gone)


3-With the charger plugged in, I slightly pull it (like 1mm) and the unit suddenly turned on.


After that I saw that the battery was at 1%


Not sure what fixed the problem, but that worked for me.

Mmm... yeah, pulling out the charger 1mm didn't do anything...

I'll try charging the unit with my other battery to see if that changes anything.

Hey guess what I didn't even need to charge the other battery: I stuck it in and it booted.

Conclusion: The first battery was bad (?)

 

[EvilDragon]

That can very well be the case. We're using our own batteries when testing units, so we didn't use yours.

 

[levi]

Try removing your SD cards, in case one has an OS image on it, and that's been corrupted stopping uboot from starting. It's still probably a duff battery, but we can at least rule out a duff OS install by booting from the internal NAND.

 

[Rahi374]

The first SD card does have an OS image on it (Angstrom), and I've been booting from that.