Received It! Can't Get It To Work....

[Murff]

Hi everyone!
I'm one of the very lucky first batchers and I received my long-awaited pandora today. I switched it on and just after typing my name when I was asked for it, the pandora switched off. I removed the battery, put it back in, plugged the adapter, nothing happens, even the light stays off... I thought it might be the adapter so I tried another one and still nothing. Am I just no so lucky after all or did I miss something obvious?
Aside from that "slight" problem, I love the look of it, it feels nice. Should I just contact the sales people directly?
Thanks!

 

[Mithrildor]

the battery is probably flat. Let it charge for several hours. I just hope you dont have the same problem as pawprints

 

[Murff]

the battery is probably flat. Let it charge for several hours. I just hope you dont have the same problem as pawprints

Oh, what was pawprints' problem? The thing is, the led don't even turn on to tell me the battery is charging.... I'll wait a couple of hours.....
Oh, and I tried with another adapter and without the battery, same.... doesn't look good!

 

[EvilDragon]

the battery is probably flat. Let it charge for several hours. I just hope you dont have the same problem as pawprints

Oh, what was pawprints' problem? The thing is, the led don't even turn on to tell me the battery is charging.... I'll wait a couple of hours.....
Oh, and I tried with another adapter and without the battery, same.... doesn't look good!

If the battery is really empty, it can take up to 10 minutes until the Pandora lights up and boots.
Should only happen if you don't use the Pandora for a long time or when you receive it first.

 

[pawprints]

Yeah you have to give it a little bit of time although I do. Greenlight comes on. Red one is constant for a bit then flashes red and then both lights go out and it starts over again. It's really weird it's as though the battery isn't holding power or it's not getting enough power to charge.

I just flattened the battery and the red and green lights are back on with the left light flashing green twice. The red light will start blinking at me any second.. or ok just turn off.

I'm sure I'm just the unlucky one here and if you give it a bit of time to itself it'll wake up.

 

[Arkay Firestar]

I really can't fathom how people buying so enthusiast/niche a product (which would suggest they have SOME electronics expertise) would turn the device on without plugging it into the wall first. This is exactly the kind of scenario you would be trying to avoid.

I just hope it is indeed as ED says and not some more serious issue.

I also hope your Pandora eventually turns on.

 

[Sphinxter]

Unplug power source, turn device off, plug in power source and wait.

 

[paulguy]

So, even if it's plugged in, it won't turn on with a dead battery? If I used it plugged in, will it still draw from the battery? It seems such a design would quickly kill the battery... and the eventual lack of replacement batteries would leave useless pandoras.

 

[moxie]

If it is plugged in with a flat battery, the power circuits will prioritize charging the battery, and so if it is really flat, it wont start until the battery has recovered somewhat. If it is plugged in and somewhat charged, it will not usually draw from the battery (the power from the PSU would be enough to trickle charge and keep the panda running). If you have no battery in there, it will not try to charge the non-existing battery, so if you really have a dead battery (as in "sucks all the juice yet never gets charged"), you ought to be able to run it from the PSU by removing the battery first.

EDIT: Unless I misunderstood something.

 

[EvilDragon]

That's correct.
Just did a quick battery test: So far, all batteries did switch the units on correctly - only 3 didn't work.
Left them for 10 minutes in the Pandora and all three started to charge.

Some batteries might be faulty (well, there are ALWAYS faulty things out there when it comes to mass production), but most non-working-looking batteries should simply need a good charge.

 

[moxie]

You know, our avatar are really similar when put right after each other like that! I had a little "What? I didn't write that?!?" moment before I scrolled up a bit

 

[Wolfsclaw]

Actually I confused you two guys several times before, because of your Avatar. I always thought "GODDAMNIT NOT THIS AGAIN" when i found out.

 

[wermy]

Haha, I've confused you guys on several occasions because of the avatars. :lol:

 

[SiegfriedCroes]

Though I'll still have to way a while I want to know, what is the first thing to do when you receive the Pandora? Plug it in to charge?

 

[EvilDragon]

Though I'll still have to way a while I want to know, what is the first thing to do when you receive the Pandora? Plug it in to charge?

That's good idea
Well, you can set it up and use it while plugged in, so no big deal

 

[wermy]

Though I'll still have to way a while I want to know, what is the first thing to do when you receive the Pandora? Plug it in to charge?

I suspect I will weep uncontrollably with joy for several minutes, then wave it in the air in front of my wife yelling "I TOLD YOU SO!" :lol:

More on-topic: That'll sure take some restraint to plug it in for a while before using it...

 

[Murff]

me again
so i got it to kind of work. After many attempts I finally got the red light. Turned it on and after a couple of minutes, it froze and I couldn't do anything. Restarted and same thing.
so I tried without the battery, only plugged in, and it did pretty much the same, also crashing a few times during boot. I decided to forget about it and let it charge with the battery in but after an hour when I came back there was no red light anymore, I unplugged, replugged, remove the battery, put it back, plugged back in, then the red light was back, I turned it on, it booted and froze after a couple of minutes.
I'm wondering if I should reset the whole thing, like reflash it the way it's supposed to be when it's brand new. Is there a way to do so?
thanks for your help!

 

[EvilDragon]

me again
so i got it to kind of work. After many attempts I finally got the red light. Turned it on and after a couple of minutes, it froze and I couldn't do anything. Restarted and same thing.
so I tried without the battery, only plugged in, and it did pretty much the same, also crashing a few times during boot. I decided to forget about it and let it charge with the battery in but after an hour when I came back there was no red light anymore, I unplugged, replugged, remove the battery, put it back, plugged back in, then the red light was back, I turned it on, it booted and froze after a couple of minutes.
I'm wondering if I should reset the whole thing, like reflash it the way it's supposed to be when it's brand new. Is there a way to do so?
thanks for your help!

Well, the first units we delivered didn't have the first boot process done here - and if it crashes while doing that, it might not work.
There is another thread here at the boards in the I need help sections which tells you how to reflash it.

One thing about the battery: I had it crash once while charging, and that was when it was not properly inserted.
Try the following one:

1. Remove battery, unplug power.
2. Wait for at least one minute.
3. Put the battery in properly (follow the guide in the manual).
4. Plugin power.

It should then charge properly. If you want, you can then do the reflash.

 

[Murff]

cool, I've found the thread http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/53637-first-boot-its-asking-for-a-login-and-password/page__view__findpost__p__858053
I'll try that now, fingers crossed.
Thanks EvilDragon!

 

[b1llygo4t]

evildragon your so cool for participating on the forum! cudos!