My Reader is jacked up...

gio1050 · 01-25-2007, 08:29 PM

I've had my Reader for just over 2 months now, and I've loved it.

I had a 15,000 mile tune-up on my car today, so I was all set with my reader to do some reading while I waited. I turned it on and got a "starting up" screen I'd never seen before. I expected it to go right back to the page I last stopped at. After 3-4 minutes I realized it wasn't "starting up". I tried to turn it off and back on again, but it wouldn't turn off. I tried playing with a few buttons to jar it back to reality and what I got was a mix of several screens including the rotating data transfer symbol, the main index showing author, title, continue reading, etc., and the lower half of the screen has horizontal interlaced black lines. I tried a soft reset. Nothing. I tried a hard reset...nothing. Now it won't respond to anything at all! Has anyone seen or heard of this before?

Mark

RWood · 01-25-2007, 09:39 PM

I wish I could help. I've never heard of that before.

TadW · 01-26-2007, 03:32 AM

That sounds bad. My initial response was "do a soft reset" - but of course you did that already. I guess you really have to call Sony support ;(

memobug · 01-29-2007, 02:35 AM

If you have a media card in it, try taking that out and then charge it for an hour before you try again.

Regards,

Matt

-=AlexXF=- · 02-10-2007, 07:19 PM

I have a similar problem. Charging does not help

Meanballer · 02-15-2007, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -=AlexXF=-

I have a similar problem. Charging does not help

Me too! What did you do?????????

scotty1024 · 02-15-2007, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gio1050

I've had my Reader for just over 2 months now, and I've loved it.

I had a 15,000 mile tune-up on my car today, so I was all set with my reader to do some reading while I waited. I turned it on and got a "starting up" screen I'd never seen before. I expected it to go right back to the page I last stopped at. After 3-4 minutes I realized it wasn't "starting up". I tried to turn it off and back on again, but it wouldn't turn off. I tried playing with a few buttons to jar it back to reality and what I got was a mix of several screens including the rotating data transfer symbol, the main index showing author, title, continue reading, etc., and the lower half of the screen has horizontal interlaced black lines. I tried a soft reset. Nothing. I tried a hard reset...nothing. Now it won't respond to anything at all! Has anyone seen or heard of this before?

Mark

What you describe is exactly what happened to the first Reader I bought. Except it happened after 2 hours not 2 months.

Sony was incapable of trouble shooting it over the phone, we wound up returning it (and I discovered the wonders of buying Sony Readers at Borders!)

Hopefully they're better at figuring this stuff out now.

Meanballer · 02-16-2007, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scotty1024

What you describe is exactly what happened to the first Reader I bought. Except it happened after 2 hours not 2 months.

Sony was incapable of trouble shooting it over the phone, we wound up returning it (and I discovered the wonders of buying Sony Readers at Borders!)

Hopefully they're better at figuring this stuff out now.

Okay..........

I just spoke to a Level 2 Tech Support person. The issue did NOT surprise him. He explained that the reader is prone to hangs when the battery is low. It can manifest itself in a variety of ways, including what happened to me - which was an attempt to use the reader after a couple/few weeks of inactivity. Even though the inactivity had been preceded by a full charge, there is battery drain even when the reader isn't powered on. So with a low battery, the system tried to reboot but couldn't finish.

As soon as I had gotten into the office where my charger was, by the way, I plugged in the AC and did a soft re-set with NO problem.

So it appears that this is a power management issue and Sony needs to post some Troubleshooting advice on their site, as three different techs advised me to send my unit into for repair, when a simple solution to a known engineering issue existed.

Azayzel · 02-16-2007, 12:32 PM

Excellent post Meanballer, while I personally haven't had this problem, I'll keep your solution/report in mind if something like this happens to me. Hopefully Sony will address the "power drain" issue for when the unit is turned off; realistically, it shouldn't draw any power while switched off; i.e., should just write the state data to non-volatile RAM and drop out. It would be nice if there was some type of switch they could implement that could break the contacts on the battery for long storage periods (not that mine will ever see this type of inactivity, I hope).

Thanks again, good to see you here (I'm still a quite the n00b myself)!

NatCh · 02-16-2007, 12:35 PM

I believe that at least part of the problem stems from the LiOn battery itself -- I think they have power loss just over time, even if there's nothing at all connected to them.

But I guess pretty much every battery (certainly every rechargeable battery) has that to some extent or another.

Snappy! · 02-16-2007, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

I believe that at least part of the problem stems from the LiOn battery itself -- I think they have power loss just over time, even if there's nothing at all connected to them.

But I guess pretty much every battery (certainly every rechargeable battery) has that to some extent or another.

Yeah ... but li-ion's power decay is normally rated at 10%/yr.

NatCh · 02-16-2007, 11:45 PM

Oh, well then. Iwas under the (apparently mistaken) impression that it was greater than that.

scotty1024 · 02-17-2007, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snappy!

Yeah ... but li-ion's power decay is normally rated at 10%/yr.

The decay rate is dependent upon the chemistry used and ambient storage temperature.

The Li ion batteries in cell phones have more cobalt in them and have a near 100% discharge in 30 days. Li Polymer batteries tend to self discharge completely in 30 to 60 days.

A Li ion battery at 40C self discharges faster than when its at 25C.

NatCh · 02-17-2007, 12:14 PM

D'oh! Stupid cobalt!

gio1050 · 04-15-2007, 09:36 PM

Meanballer, you saved me a load of grief. I was ready to ship the reader off the same day that I saw your response to this post. It didn't occur to me that the battery might simply be dead. I charged it using the AC adapter and, sure enough, it came back to life.

Now here's the surprising part...the li'on battery discharge rate is extremely fast when not being used. I hadn't used it in a month and then left for vacation at the end of March. Again, the thing was dead. When I got back, I plugged it in and it came back up. It's possible that when I had it charging via USB it wasn't really charging, but right now I don't know what's going on.

Anyway, thanks for the tip!

01-25-2007, 08:29 PM	#1
gio1050 Casual Reader Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Los Angeles, Ca. Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	My Reader is jacked up... I've had my Reader for just over 2 months now, and I've loved it. I had a 15,000 mile tune-up on my car today, so I was all set with my reader to do some reading while I waited. I turned it on and got a "starting up" screen I'd never seen before. I expected it to go right back to the page I last stopped at. After 3-4 minutes I realized it wasn't "starting up". I tried to turn it off and back on again, but it wouldn't turn off. I tried playing with a few buttons to jar it back to reality and what I got was a mix of several screens including the rotating data transfer symbol, the main index showing author, title, continue reading, etc., and the lower half of the screen has horizontal interlaced black lines. I tried a soft reset. Nothing. I tried a hard reset...nothing. Now it won't respond to anything at all! Has anyone seen or heard of this before? Mark

04-15-2007, 09:36 PM	#15
gio1050 Casual Reader Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Los Angeles, Ca. Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	It WAS the battery Meanballer, you saved me a load of grief. I was ready to ship the reader off the same day that I saw your response to this post. It didn't occur to me that the battery might simply be dead. I charged it using the AC adapter and, sure enough, it came back to life. Now here's the surprising part...the li'on battery discharge rate is extremely fast when not being used. I hadn't used it in a month and then left for vacation at the end of March. Again, the thing was dead. When I got back, I plugged it in and it came back up. It's possible that when I had it charging via USB it wasn't really charging, but right now I don't know what's going on. Anyway, thanks for the tip!

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01-25-2007, 09:39 PM	#2
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	I wish I could help. I've never heard of that before.

01-26-2007, 03:32 AM	#3
TadW Uebermensch Posts: 2,583 Karma: 1094606 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Italy Device: Kindle	That sounds bad. My initial response was "do a soft reset" - but of course you did that already. I guess you really have to call Sony support ;(

01-29-2007, 02:35 AM	#4
memobug Connoisseur Posts: 51 Karma: 46 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Silicon Valley Device: PRS-500/PRS-505/Kindle DX/iPhone 3G	If you have a media card in it, try taking that out and then charge it for an hour before you try again. Regards, Matt

02-10-2007, 07:19 PM	#5
-=AlexXF=- Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Sony Reader RS500	I have a similar problem. Charging does not help

02-16-2007, 12:32 PM	#9
Azayzel Cache Ninja! Posts: 643 Karma: 1002300 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: PRS-500, HTC Shift, iPod Touch, iPaq 4150, TC1100, Panasonic WordsGear	Excellent post Meanballer, while I personally haven't had this problem, I'll keep your solution/report in mind if something like this happens to me. Hopefully Sony will address the "power drain" issue for when the unit is turned off; realistically, it shouldn't draw any power while switched off; i.e., should just write the state data to non-volatile RAM and drop out. It would be nice if there was some type of switch they could implement that could break the contacts on the battery for long storage periods (not that mine will ever see this type of inactivity, I hope). Thanks again, good to see you here (I'm still a quite the n00b myself)!

02-16-2007, 12:35 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	I believe that at least part of the problem stems from the LiOn battery itself -- I think they have power loss just over time, even if there's nothing at all connected to them. But I guess pretty much every battery (certainly every rechargeable battery) has that to some extent or another.

02-16-2007, 11:45 PM	#12
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Oh, well then. Iwas under the (apparently mistaken) impression that it was greater than that.

02-17-2007, 12:14 PM	#14
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	D'oh! Stupid cobalt!

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