Vox dead but three lights are on

[Senior]

My Vox has worked faultlessly since Christmas and without warning it has gone into a sleep mode where the three lights HOME,MENU,RETURN stay on at all times. When I plug into computer via USB port the computer shows no indication of any USB activity. Any attempt to wake Vox up via 10 second etc hold on the on button does nothing. I know there is a small button under back cover but have not been that brave to try touching it. The green light is on if I plug in charger, other than that there is nothing, dead. Anyone have a idea of how to restore it to life?

[LauraPony]

I would try that little button on the back. Although I personally have never done it, I know that it shouldn't do anything like a factory reset or anything. It is just another way to reboot the Vox.

[hpulley]

This is a variant of SOD.

Hold the power button solidly until it turns off. Hold power on for 3s to boot. Then change the wifi sleep policy to never.

[Senior]

Originally Posted by LauraPony

I would try that little button on the back. Although I personally have never done it, I know that it shouldn't do anything like a factory reset or anything. It is just another way to reboot the Vox.

The difference between what I am experiencing and the normal sleep is the device is completely dead, even to the usb through computer. The only sign of life is the green light is on when on charge, and the three lights for HOME, MENU and RETURN are always lite??? The long or short holding of the power on/off switch does nothing.

My only recourse seems to be in taking off back and pressing the reboot button. Has anyone done this? What happens? How does the back cover come off?

[Anneincanada]

Could it be the battery is dead?? It will not charge through the USB and Computer....try plugging it in to the mains to charge it, and do as hpulley suggests.

[Senior]

Originally Posted by Anneincanada

Could it be the battery is dead?? It will not charge through the USB and Computer....try plugging it in to the mains to charge it, and do as hpulley suggests.

The green charge light is on when plugged in,so it indicates a full charge. I did try as you say but still nothing.

[LauraPony]

Originally Posted by Senior

The difference between what I am experiencing and the normal sleep is the device is completely dead, even to the usb through computer. The only sign of life is the green light is on when on charge, and the three lights for HOME, MENU and RETURN are always lite??? The long or short holding of the power on/off switch does nothing.

My only recourse seems to be in taking off back and pressing the reboot button. Has anyone done this? What happens? How does the back cover come off?

Like hpulley said, this is a variant of both the sleep-of-death and the wake-from-sleep problem. Essentially when your device was asleep, it woke itself up enough to turn on the HOME, MENU, and RETURN lights and then froze. This has happened to me before (but never happens when I switch my Wifi to never sleep). If it gets stuck like this while not plugged in, it will completely drain the battery.

I believe the purpose of the reboot button by the battery is to reset the battery. Like I said previously, it doesn't do a factory reset. You always want to try rebooting in this order: 10ish second hold (like hpulley said) - if that doesn't work then try the back button. If that doesn't work then factory reset is the third recourse.

Check around this forum, people have described how to take off the back panel. It sounds like people almost peel it off though. Also sounds like people have no complaints about getting the back cover back on, so I wouldn't hesitate trying assuming it definitely won't wake up after a 10ish second press of the power button and then a 3ish second press to turn back on.

Remember, this will reset your battery, so you might have to plug it back in after you've hit your button. Perhaps (this would be a guess), while your Vox froze, so too did the battery indicator, so your machine thinks it has power when it really doesn't.

[Senior]

Originally Posted by LauraPony

Like hpulley said, this is a variant of both the sleep-of-death and the wake-from-sleep problem. Essentially when your device was asleep, it woke itself up enough to turn on the HOME, MENU, and RETURN lights and then froze. This has happened to me before (but never happens when I switch my Wifi to never sleep). If it gets stuck like this while not plugged in, it will completely drain the battery.

I believe the purpose of the reboot button by the battery is to reset the battery. Like I said previously, it doesn't do a factory reset. You always want to try rebooting in this order: 10ish second hold (like hpulley said) - if that doesn't work then try the back button. If that doesn't work then factory reset is the third recourse.

Check around this forum, people have described how to take off the back panel. It sounds like people almost peel it off though. Also sounds like people have no complaints about getting the back cover back on, so I wouldn't hesitate trying assuming it definitely won't wake up after a 10ish second press of the power button and then a 3ish second press to turn back on.

Remember, this will reset your battery, so you might have to plug it back in after you've hit your button. Perhaps (this would be a guess), while your Vox froze, so too did the battery indicator, so your machine thinks it has power when it really doesn't.

OH my, I will contact Kobo help line and see if anyone is at home there. I hate the idea of taking back off. Many thanks for help to date - Happy New Year

[mr_nobody]

I'd be very surprised if they told you anything useful which has not already been said in this thread...

[Senior]

Originally Posted by mr_nobody

I'd be very surprised if they told you anything useful which has not already been said in this thread...

What are my options then? So far all I have been told is how to attempt to arouse it from sleep. But none of these ideas work. It is essentially dead except for the lights that are on below the screen. The charger indicates it has a full charge but I still plugged it in to see if this might help, but no. So it seems Kobo help is my only remaining option.

[LauraPony]

Originally Posted by Senior

What are my options then? So far all I have been told is how to attempt to arouse it from sleep. But none of these ideas work. It is essentially dead except for the lights that are on below the screen. The charger indicates it has a full charge but I still plugged it in to see if this might help, but no. So it seems Kobo help is my only remaining option.

Or you could peel off the back cover and hit the button like people are suggesting. Lots of people have done so. I feel like doing it myself on my Vox just to prove there is no problems with doing so.

Likely Kobo support will just tell you to factory reset, which seems like a lot more work than its worth, but whatever.

[mr_nobody]

Exactly what Laura said...peel off the back cover. If you don't want to try that, the more extreme factory reset is in your future.

[hpulley]

Just use the long press until it turn off. It will turn on again after that.

[LauraPony]

Originally Posted by hpulley

Just use the long press until it turn off. It will turn on again after that.

Senior has mentioned that that didn't work.

[hpulley]

Hold for 20, 30 seconds or as long as it takes until it turns off. Failing that, unplug it and leave it and it will probably drain the battery in a matter of hours. Then plug it in and turn it on. And make the wifi sleep policy NEVER.