Pandora won't boot

[devnull]

Boy did I get a lemon...


I ordered when the Pandora first became available (was it late '08?), I guess I got bumped down the list when the whole reorder fiasco, because I just got mine. As a reward for my patience I get a unit with a broken right button on the back, a case that is not snapped together as tightly as one would hope, and a right SD slot that won't lock the card.


I just sent an email to the distributor to see what my options are. I figure while I wait I would build the SD card applications on the working slot. Wrong. Now the Pandora will not boot. I have the GUI defaulting to the full desktop interface. It boots, brings up the screen, and just as the desktop loads, it crashes.


Is there something I can do about this? Heck, I'm not even sure if this is a software problem, as I don't know if it is charging to begin with. When I hook up to the charger no light comes up (I'm assuming a charging light should come on?). With the attention to detail that went into putting this together I guess it is equally possible that it is not charging, or that the light doesn't work.

 

[gruso]

Sounds like a bad flash if it's not booting. I haven't heard of LEDs not working before, that could be related too. Grab the latest firmware image from here: http://www.openpandora.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=199&Itemid=40&lang=en


Sadly it sounds like you'll have to RMA it either way with that SD slot. (If it was just an issue of case screws and shoulder button, we could probably walk you through a fix. But you're better off not touching it now.)


At least you can have a play in the meantime if the firmware flash does the job.

 

[devnull]

Downloading now. With a bit of luck it will work so I can build the SD card before I send it back for repair/replace.


Now, besides the flash, is there a way to boot to the command prompt, or to the other GUI? The fact that it crashes after the full GUI comes up seems to indicate that there is something wrong with the GUI itself. I would like to see if it does the same with the other GUI.

 

[gruso]

There is some advice here on booting to console (post #2) although I have not tried it:


http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/55502-boot-txt-question

 

[devnull]

There is some advice here on booting to console (post #2) although I have not tried it:


http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/55502-boot-txt-question

Never mind, it is not even charging. Left it connected for a few hours, tried to boot it, and as the GUI flashed on its way out, I saw 2% left on the battery.

 

[gruso]

Damn. Ok, long shot, but one more thing to try. Some batteries have wrinkles in the wrapping that prevent proper contact with the pins on the PCB. This can cause random shutdowns, incorrect battery life reporting, or prevent charging. Take your battery out and see if there are any bumps or wrinkles on the underside, where the copper bits are. If there are, try to flatten them out. A folded piece of paper between the battery & lid can help push it down too.

 

[WizardStan]

Now the Pandora will not boot. I have the GUI defaulting to the full desktop interface. It boots, brings up the screen, and just as the desktop loads, it crashes.

It's not crashing, that's what it does when the battery is below 5% by default (can be toggled off).

With the attention to detail that went into putting this together I guess it is equally possible that it is not charging, or that the light doesn't work.

If you plug it in, it should immediately start booting up. The "charge while off" hasn't been implemented yet (though it should be eventually) so the only way to charge is to power the thing on, which it should be doing. Obviously this is not the case.

Never mind, it is not even charging. Left it connected for a few hours, tried to boot it, and as the GUI flashed on its way out, I saw 2% left on the battery.

Yeah, either the charger itself is bad, or the charging circuit is bad. If you have a PSP charger, or can borrow one from a friend, give that a try. You can also try by using a USB cable and plugging it into your computer, see if that starts the charge.


In any event, I'm really sorry about the problems you've had. It's really strange, the one I got was perfect, and several other people say the same thing; occasionally someone will have just one problem, like the SD card or the charger failing; rarely someone comes along and has so many problems it makes some wonder if QC is being done at all.

 

[Prometheus]

I have a quick thought to add on the "crashing" front - it can do that if the battery is not seated properly, even if the battery is fully-charged. I know this from experience, as I took the battery out of mine a couple of days ago to see what the serial number is on my new unit, and when I tried to boot it again, it kept shutting down as soon as Xfce loaded up. I re-seated the battery and this stopped.


It may be a long-shot, but please try to re-seat the battery as is described in the Quick Start guide that was included with the Pandora, just to rule this out.