Strange charging (not) behaviour
Hello everyone, I've come here on this forum seeking for some technical support with my 1 month old BB Playbook.
Basically my problem consists in my device not charging though the LED blinks softly with a yellow light as it is should while it's off and shows the lightning bolt when it's on.
Yesterday after shutting it down, I left it charging through the night like I always did, with the bundled wall charger. It began to slowly blink yellow as always indicating it started charging. This morning instead I found the battery in the same condition, almost drained.
I checked out charger looking for any problem but it looked alright, when out of curiosity I plugged it in my HTC Desire Z (which uses the same micro usb), it worked fine and charged the phone.
Thus I went checking the connectivity of the micro usb port of the Playbook itself by connecting it to the PC with the usb cable and this worked as well, nothing abnormal.
Now now, I don't get it. Charger works and socket does as well, LED/lightning bolt is shown when it's charging.. How could it be it doesn't actually charge?
My usage is quite basic, I mostly use it for presentations, reading, videos, checking mail, surfing and I sideloaded a couple of games and application, nothing too invasive or stressing for the tablet.
I apologize in case anybody else brought up the same issue before but I simply couldn't find the same exact situation elsewhere. Thank you in advance.
Last edited by Rorix; 03-26-2012 at 03:28 AM.
- CrackBerry Genius
03-26-2012, 03:47 AM #2
- 4,998 Posts
There is a known issue which is often resolved by repeatedly plugging the wall charger into the BlackBerry PlayBook, wait 2 minutes, unplug the wall charger from the BlackBerry PlayBook, and repeat multiple times, say 5. Before attempting you must shutdown the tablet completely using the Power button. If this does not work after trying the above sequence at least 3 times, contact Blackberry PlayBook technical support. Oh, the first successful recharge requires at least 20 minutes before booting up the BlackBerry PlayBook. It is normally a software issue causing the need for this workaround.
Thanks for the prompt answer, I did try that already but I haven't persevered too much.. I merely repeated plug-unplug process just 3 times and then gave up. I will try what you suggested as soon as I get home from work in a couple of hours and I will update on the situation.
Wait wait, how do I know when the test is successful in order to charge it for 20 mins before booting up? The LED shows it's charging though it doesn't, it's not that it's not working or blinks in a different way. Well I guess after the 5 attempts I will let it charge for 20 mins or so then turn it on and take a look..
Last edited by Rorix; 03-26-2012 at 04:25 AM.
- 03-26-2012, 06:31 AM #4
Did you unplug the charger and fold the blades before trying you desire? Some have needed a replacement charger and some have said folding the blades closed and open before it works again.
The charger is perfectly fine.. Works even right now on the Playbook which I'm using to write this message.. Looks like as long as it's connected electricity goes through infact battery is not going down, it simply stopped charging up. I tried the plug unplug thingy multiple times unsuccessfully btw. Any other idea anyone?
Edit: I installed battery guru and it confirmed my assumption.. Charger is recognized and such but it says Charge: 0.0W
Since as I said the charger works cuz it supplies power to the device in order to use it, what else could it be? Battery? Software perhaps?
Last edited by Rorix; 03-26-2012 at 07:32 AM.
Battery guru while it's on PC swings between low power usage (like 0.28w) and charge:0.0w again.
I dunno about the charger, I mean it's weird it charges my HTC at an incredible speed (due to the higher A/W) but does nothing on the Playbook. I just finished to talk to the customer support anyways, they want me to update the firmware through the Desktop Software, gonna give it a try after a backup I guess.
Last edited by Rorix; 03-26-2012 at 08:12 AM.
Yeah I've tried and the unrecognized charger message popped up on the PB. The output is much lower anyways thus it's not enough.
Oh well I just launched the OS update through Desktop Software.. I'll re-install battery guru right after the restore and check what's the outcome..
Last edited by Rorix; 03-26-2012 at 08:38 AM.
Lol this is getting on my nerves.. I had to wait more than 1 hour for the OS to download n right before the installation was completed, it failed.
The PB turned on by itself and asked me all the configs of a fresh installation and guess what? It needs to be updated! Thus it asks for 20% of battery in order to go on... I thought the Desktop Software would fetch the latest OS -_-
Anyways since it failed I'm giving the installation another try, if this won't work again I guess I got no choice but sending it back for the warranty.
- 03-26-2012, 10:03 AM #11
It has always said it fails when the PB reboots, guess what it's rebooting and therefore can't be seen by dm. Always will be country specific updates after doing so.
I see.. Sorry for my remarks then, I'm really new to BBs, I've been using Android till now.
I will be waiting for the installation to be done again then and uhm I think I will have to try to charge it until it hits 20% of battery then before trying to update it right? Thanks for the info anyways.
- 03-26-2012, 10:20 AM #13
Yes the PB has to have at least that much of a charge. Maybe it'll charge now since you've got that far?
03-26-2012, 10:25 AM #14
- 19,537 Posts
While this does not solve your present issue, you might also want to consider getting the separate rapid charger that connects to the magnetic connector on the extreme right of the ports. It removes the stress on the smaller usb port. In the US, at least, it can be found quite cheap.
Yeah I was thinking of the rapid charger as well.. Though it's quite expensive over here (I'm Italian but living in Malaysia). Moreover, you can purchase it EXCLUSIVELY on the BB official website which makes it even more pricey; anyways I don't really wanna purchase an accessory for a faulty product, I'd like to fix my issue first.
I'm trying to charge it right now since it's asking for 20% of battery for the update. It still asks me to plug it to the charger even if I can see the lightning symbol on the battery (which indicates 2% ._.) Let's wait n see..
Edit: Nothing, nothing at all after almost 1 hour, not even 1%.. I guess I'll leave it there until I got time to actually bring it to get it fixed. Thanks for the help anyways guys. Oh 1 last thing, the back it's really warm, I'd say hot. I start thinking it's actually a battery problem..
Last edited by Rorix; 03-26-2012 at 11:29 AM.
- CrackBerry Genius
03-26-2012, 12:59 PM #16
- 4,456 Posts
What recharge count and health is Battery Guru showing?
And voltage could be useful too. What does it show for voltage both when it's on and when it's off the charger?
(Also, feel free to do an Export of the data you've got and send it to me through my App World support email address. It's possible I'll see something helpful in that info. I'm the Battery Guru developer, in case you don't have "view signatures" enabled here. )
Last edited by peter9477; 03-26-2012 at 01:03 PM.
Hello Peter, I just can recall about the battery health which is 90% and charge count is 22. Not sure about the Voltage though. As of now I cannot open Battery Guru any longer since I cannot perform the update being my battery flat dead and no matter what, I cannot recharge it..
Thank you anyways for the support, I love your App though I've made use of it just for a couple of hours haha, money well spent indeed.
I guess in the next few days, when I got time, I'll drop by a couple of retailers and ask whether I can try out the rapid charger. If it works, I'll just get it. I don't really feel like sending it back to the dealer, they take forever to get things done here and I need it ASAP to work.
Last edited by Rorix; 03-26-2012 at 09:28 PM.
- CrackBerry Newbie
01-16-2013, 10:54 PM #18
- 2 Posts
do you have solve this problem rorix?
hi rorex may i know if you have solve this problem regarding updating your os on discharge battery. im having the same issue. my device keep on shutting down and cant continue the update because the battery is dead.
01-17-2013, 09:48 AM #19
- 19,537 Posts
The PB has a one year warranty to the original purchaser. It also has 90 free Tech support. I do not know how Rim deals with "quasi-tech support v. warranty"
Canada Toll Free: 1-877-644-8405
United States Toll Free: 1-877-644-8410
Puerto Rico Toll Free: 1-855-651-4936
Email: email@example.com (this route generally does not work and a call is necessary)
(UK Support) 0800 096 2805
Playbook French Support
Smartphones BlackBerry & Tablette Tactile - Modéles de BlackBerry FR - France
Phone : 0800 914 533 (within 90 days from activation)