Undocumented failure mode

argology · 05-25-2007, 06:00 PM

I haven't found a post that describes what my Reader is doing, so I thought I'd post about it, in the hopes that someone has a solution.

My Reader was working fine previously, and then I didn't use it for several weeks. When I went to use it again, the batteries were completely dead. It took approximately 48 hours of charging before it would do anything but blink the power light.

When it finally did respond, it went to the start-up screen that features the swashy logo in the middle, the Acrobat logo in the bottom left-hand corner and the model (PRS-500) in the bottom right-hand corner. It stayed there for several minutes, so I tried depressing the reset button on the back.

When I turned it back over, it had moved to the infamous loading screen with the message "Loading..." in the bottom bar, a full battery icon, a greyed-out menu interface and an unmoving progress circle. After several minutes of this, I tried depressing the reset button in the back again; the screen did not change. I tried sliding the power switch; the screen did not change. I tried the formula for total reset, resetting 10 times (with the loading screen never disappearing) and then holding Mark and Volume +, but the blue page LED did not light and the screen was still stuck on loading.

The only response I get is from the power light. When I slide down the power switch, it blinks when the slider gets to the bottom. After I depress the reset button, it's behavior will change slightly: the light won't blink until I slide the power switch back up again. That happens once, and then it's back to blinking when the slider is at the bottom.

I tried Sony's support line. They walked me through the same steps and then told me that while the parts were still under warranty, it would cost me almost $90 in labor to get it repaired. I'm thinking of contacting the BBB, as a 90-day labor warranty for electronics seems to me like it fails the implied warranty of merchantability.

Any suggestions on either fixing the brick I used to love, or getting Sony to fix it without extracting their due in blood?

Bob Russell · 05-25-2007, 08:41 PM

Do you have a storage card inserted? If there are a lot of files on a card, it could just be very very slowly trying to process all those files...

argology · 05-26-2007, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

Do you have a storage card inserted? If there are a lot of files on a card, it could just be very very slowly trying to process all those files...

Thanks for the reply, Bob. I took the storage card out while my Reader was still charging, so I don't think that's the problem.

Any other suggestions?

Bob Russell · 05-26-2007, 12:06 PM

Here are two more things to try... a hard reset and if that doesn't work, then try what has been called an unbricking reset. Please remember that you may lose whatever is on your Reader at the time.

Hard Reset (Revert to factory settings)
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Sony...ctory_settings

Edit: Also I see that the wiki has hard reset instructions here. I don't know if this is identical or yet another option for doing a reset. And, of course if you haven't tried it before, you will want to try a soft reset before any of the others.

Unbricking Reset
(This one seems to require a reflashing, so I probably wouldn't try this unless reflashing got you in the mess in the first place, or unless you really know what you are doing.)
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Sony...8Unbricking.29

I hope one of these works for you.

westsan · 05-31-2007, 09:40 PM

My input would be that your not getting the hard reset right in the first place.
Also, you have to be a little more patient with the device. I find it is extremely low spec and doesnt move the way you may want it to. Its kinda like an old grandma or grandpa. It will get there... just not so fast.
I have used this method a couple times; try these... they worked for me:

SOFT RESET
I thought you hit the reset button first... then the power button (w/in a few secs). That's what works for me.

HARD RESET
It starts the same as above...
Hit the reset button first... then the power button (w/in a few secs).
Then right about at the 30 second mark you have to be pushing the Volume + and the Mark button at the same time.
Then you will see the screen that asks you if you want to reset or something like that.
"If yes hit 5" "If no hit [something else]"
Hit #5
** Then let it sit for about 10 min and do its thing. It takes time.

There is lots of trouble due to Sony's firmware, I too am a little shocked to see that such a good product as the PRS-500 has such poor software support and features.
The hardware is great (a little too low spec) but the software/firmware doesnt get much worse.

HarryT · 06-01-2007, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by westsan

There is lots of trouble due to Sony's firmware, I too am a little shocked to see that such a good product as the PRS-500 has such poor software support and features.

With respect, I disagree with you entirely. There have been remarkably few reports here of people having problems with the Reader. Those which there have been have mainly been due to people messing around with re-flashing the Reader with modified versions of the firmware.

diabloNL · 06-01-2007, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

With respect, I disagree with you entirely. There have been remarkably few reports here of people having problems with the Reader. Those which there have been have mainly been due to people messing around with re-flashing the Reader with modified versions of the firmware.

Like me.

I bricked mine 20+ times and counting.

flom7 · 06-02-2007, 07:01 PM

It's been about a month since I've used my ebook. I've just today went to upload a new book and it's been frozen as described argology for about 30 mins now. i've tried all manners of reset and nothing seems to be working. I can't even get it to power off.
Any other suggestions?

mogui · 06-03-2007, 03:48 PM

See this thread.

NatCh · 06-03-2007, 11:10 PM

Or it may be an extremely drained battery. The battery will drain itself in a month or so even when the Reader not being used during the time.

Try putting it on the wall charger and leaving it overnight. If that doesn't bring it out, try a soft reset.

If that still doesn't do it, then it may be time to call Sony about it.

westsan · 06-04-2007, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

...it may be an extremely drained battery...try a soft reset.

But make sure its plugged in. The battery charge is not instantaneous in my experience.

When I'm bringing it back or it seems unresponsive, plugging it in makes a world of difference.

Harry>>>

Actually those are not my words. I copied them from another community where a user was talking about PRS because I empathized with him.
I either see lots of performance complaints from users or lots of enthusiasm about the functionality. Love is always frustrating.
I think the complaints here are only 1 percent of what are actually out there.

HarryT · 06-09-2007, 03:12 AM

People are always a lot more willing to come to a forum like this to have a "moan" than they are to praise a product. Believe me, if there were lots of problems with the Reader's firmware, we'd be the first to know about it

.

NatCh · 06-09-2007, 09:21 AM

Love the new Avatar, HarryT!

HarryT · 06-09-2007, 09:32 AM

Thank you - I thought I'd better "reveal myself", so to speak. You know what it is?

NatCh · 06-09-2007, 10:29 AM

Duh. (lek) If you'll pardon the pun, and the misspelling, too. If not, then you'll just have to exterminate! me, I suppose.

05-25-2007, 06:00 PM	#1
argology Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: PRS-500	Undocumented failure mode I haven't found a post that describes what my Reader is doing, so I thought I'd post about it, in the hopes that someone has a solution. My Reader was working fine previously, and then I didn't use it for several weeks. When I went to use it again, the batteries were completely dead. It took approximately 48 hours of charging before it would do anything but blink the power light. When it finally did respond, it went to the start-up screen that features the swashy logo in the middle, the Acrobat logo in the bottom left-hand corner and the model (PRS-500) in the bottom right-hand corner. It stayed there for several minutes, so I tried depressing the reset button on the back. When I turned it back over, it had moved to the infamous loading screen with the message "Loading..." in the bottom bar, a full battery icon, a greyed-out menu interface and an unmoving progress circle. After several minutes of this, I tried depressing the reset button in the back again; the screen did not change. I tried sliding the power switch; the screen did not change. I tried the formula for total reset, resetting 10 times (with the loading screen never disappearing) and then holding Mark and Volume +, but the blue page LED did not light and the screen was still stuck on loading. The only response I get is from the power light. When I slide down the power switch, it blinks when the slider gets to the bottom. After I depress the reset button, it's behavior will change slightly: the light won't blink until I slide the power switch back up again. That happens once, and then it's back to blinking when the slider is at the bottom. I tried Sony's support line. They walked me through the same steps and then told me that while the parts were still under warranty, it would cost me almost $90 in labor to get it repaired. I'm thinking of contacting the BBB, as a 90-day labor warranty for electronics seems to me like it fails the implied warranty of merchantability. Any suggestions on either fixing the brick I used to love, or getting Sony to fix it without extracting their due in blood?

06-03-2007, 03:48 PM	#9
mogui eNigma Posts: 503 Karma: 1335 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: The Philippines Device: HTC G1 Android FBReader	Maybe it is a display failure See this thread.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
iLiad Undocumented Reflash Functionality (restore registry)	Adam B.	iRex Developer's Corner	3	09-12-2010 11:07 AM
iLiad Web2iDS for undocumented communication with the iRex Delivery Server	Alexander Turcic	iRex Developer's Corner	22	11-24-2008 09:20 AM
2.9.5 update failure	ElaHuguet	iRex	34	06-07-2007 11:53 AM
iLiad Undocumented WPA support with iLiad 2.9 firmware - how to enable it	Alexander Turcic	iRex Developer's Corner	7	03-08-2007 07:02 PM

05-25-2007, 08:41 PM	#2
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Do you have a storage card inserted? If there are a lot of files on a card, it could just be very very slowly trying to process all those files...

05-26-2007, 12:06 PM	#4
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Here are two more things to try... a hard reset and if that doesn't work, then try what has been called an unbricking reset. Please remember that you may lose whatever is on your Reader at the time. Hard Reset (Revert to factory settings) https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Sony...ctory_settings Edit: Also I see that the wiki has hard reset instructions here. I don't know if this is identical or yet another option for doing a reset. And, of course if you haven't tried it before, you will want to try a soft reset before any of the others. Unbricking Reset (This one seems to require a reflashing, so I probably wouldn't try this unless reflashing got you in the mess in the first place, or unless you really know what you are doing.) https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Sony...8Unbricking.29 I hope one of these works for you.

05-31-2007, 09:40 PM	#5
westsan Enthusiast Posts: 32 Karma: 72 Join Date: Nov 2006 Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	My input would be that your not getting the hard reset right in the first place. Also, you have to be a little more patient with the device. I find it is extremely low spec and doesnt move the way you may want it to. Its kinda like an old grandma or grandpa. It will get there... just not so fast. I have used this method a couple times; try these... they worked for me: SOFT RESET I thought you hit the reset button first... then the power button (w/in a few secs). That's what works for me. HARD RESET It starts the same as above... Hit the reset button first... then the power button (w/in a few secs). Then right about at the 30 second mark you have to be pushing the Volume + and the Mark button at the same time. Then you will see the screen that asks you if you want to reset or something like that. "If yes hit 5" "If no hit [something else]" Hit #5 ** Then let it sit for about 10 min and do its thing. It takes time. There is lots of trouble due to Sony's firmware, I too am a little shocked to see that such a good product as the PRS-500 has such poor software support and features. The hardware is great (a little too low spec) but the software/firmware doesnt get much worse. Last edited by westsan; 06-01-2007 at 12:20 AM.

06-02-2007, 07:01 PM	#8
flom7 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 18 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Oahu, Hawaii Device: Sony PRS-500	It's been about a month since I've used my ebook. I've just today went to upload a new book and it's been frozen as described argology for about 30 mins now. i've tried all manners of reset and nothing seems to be working. I can't even get it to power off. Any other suggestions?

06-03-2007, 11:10 PM	#10
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Or it may be an extremely drained battery. The battery will drain itself in a month or so even when the Reader not being used during the time. Try putting it on the wall charger and leaving it overnight. If that doesn't bring it out, try a soft reset. If that still doesn't do it, then it may be time to call Sony about it.

06-09-2007, 03:12 AM	#12
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	People are always a lot more willing to come to a forum like this to have a "moan" than they are to praise a product. Believe me, if there were lots of problems with the Reader's firmware, we'd be the first to know about it .

06-09-2007, 09:21 AM	#13
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Love the new Avatar, HarryT!

06-09-2007, 09:32 AM	#14
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Thank you - I thought I'd better "reveal myself", so to speak. You know what it is?

06-09-2007, 10:29 AM	#15
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Duh. (lek) If you'll pardon the pun, and the misspelling, too. If not, then you'll just have to exterminate! me, I suppose.

Advert

Advert