Empty battery, unbootable Neo

Sören Apel abraxa at dar-clan.de
Fri Aug 29 21:27:42 CEST 2008


Hey folks,

I've run into a really nasty problem and I can't figure out what to do.
Yesterday I was working with the Neo and at one point noticed that the
Neo visually indicated that it was discharging. I thought it was a
software bug and didn't think much of it - until the Neo crashed.

Now I know that I must've hit bug #1158, but my problems don't stop
here. With the battery empty, the Neo won't boot, so much is clear.
However, it doesn't even charge, it seems. Before I went to bed last
night I unplugged USB, removed the battery for 10 seconds and
reconnected USB. The Neo attempted to boot as it always does upon USB
connection and subsequently crashed before u-boot even loaded.
I figured it would be charging and left it like that, only to find out
in the morning that the battery only lasted long enough to let the
kernel load for about 20 seconds. Then the Neo died again.

Since then I've tried to let the Neo sit and charge (slow charge?) to at
least be able to get into u-boot and enable fast charge. However, even
after two hours of charging, u-boot crashes 5 seconds after it loaded,
disconnecting my u-boot tty almost immediately after I connected.

I can't help but think that some component is still sucking power while
slow charging is going on, causing the effective current flowing into
the battery almost zero. Thus I wish the Neo would stay off when I plug
in USB so that I can be sure that nothing is powered, but it seems that
bug #891 is completely covered in dust.

Any ideas on what I can do? 

Regards,
 -Soeren

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