Dreaded M96 Plus spontaneous "SE Blank Megrez" bricking

[Boreras]

My Boox 96 Plus bricked yesterday, worked fine the day before but will no longer boot. No response to anything, not even boot or charging light. Hooked it up to a power source with no effect. Only thing to elicit a response is hooking it up to a pc to get the "SE Blank Megrez" device. It seems to indicate the device doesn't even boot up anymore but you just get the basic unflashed chipset, u-boot. Some other (very dated) threads suggests maybe the battery has shorted?

What are my possible avenues to try to fix it? getting a replacement battery seems possible online, should I take it apart to look inside? Try to use https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=242726 even though the files are missing?

Help would be appreciated, yours sincerely

[deleted]

Sorry to hear that.
There's a few reports of that message for Kindle devices. You probably saw them.

Here is one that recommends freezing the device : (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=326181) which didn't end in success.
(I've frozen dead laptop batteries in the past)
Is it a battery issue? I have no way of knowing - so proceed with caution. But if replacement battery isn't expensive I'd order one now in any case.

I wonder if someone like Booxtor with experience with Onyx repairs could help.



By the way, where are you? I cracked the screen of my M96, which was otherwise fine, and am looking to get rid of it (but I'm in China).

How old is your device?

Best of luck.

[Dr. Drib]

If you wish to get rid of any ebook readers - whether they are defective or not - a proper place to promote is in the Flea Market Forum, where your thread will reach a large audience.

Many members have had great success posting there.

On that forum, I actually picked up a free ebook reader from someone who simply gave it to me. She even paid for the shipping! It was working perfectly.

[Boreras]

Originally Posted by deleted

Sorry to hear that.
There's a few reports of that message for Kindle devices. You probably saw them.

Here is one that recommends freezing the device : (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=326181) which didn't end in success.
(I've frozen dead laptop batteries in the past)
Is it a battery issue? I have no way of knowing - so proceed with caution. But if replacement battery isn't expensive I'd order one now in any case.

I wonder if someone like Booxtor with experience with Onyx repairs could help.



By the way, where are you? I cracked the screen of my M96, which was otherwise fine, and am looking to get rid of it (but I'm in China).

How old is your device?

Best of luck.

I'm really sorry I didn't get back earlier, thought I would get auto-mailed if there was a reply.

When I saw that thread before I auto skipped because my light didn't come on at all, was still searching for people with the exact same problems. It was purchased as a refurbished model at the end of 2017, so the components will be older. So it will go in the freezer for now. Thank you, we'll see if it works.

I'm in the Netherlands, and while Aliexpress can get free shipping halfway across the world I don't think we citizens can. It'll probably be 40 € shipping + hassle. So that will be very expensive. Have you considered replacing your screen? I imagine you could get better prices, I can see ~50 euros options. If you're interested in making money you can resell it after replacing the screen.

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

If you wish to get rid of any ebook readers - whether they are defective or not - a proper place to promote is in the Flea Market Forum, where your thread will reach a large audience.

I assume this was more directed at user deleted but I'll keep an eye out for replacements, gracias.

[deleted]

If you do want to try replacing the battery this page should be a big help for disassembly instructions:
http://www.mobileread.mobi/forums/sh...0&postcount=31

Looks like all you need to do is remove the back cover - much easier than pulling the whole thing apart to get to the screen (it's kinda glued together with double-sided sticky which makes disassembly of the innards risky).

But, can we be sure the battery is the problem? Well, if it's cheap enough I'd say give it a go!

Best of luck.

As to my rationale for not replacing the screen.
My M96 was purchased in 2016.

1) I already did it once (it was tricky to do the first time, and I'm afraid trying a second time might be asking too much);
2) It's 4 years old, probably I will need to replace the battery (and other components) too.
3) It will cost me $100 to replace the screen myself; I'd be lucky to resell it for that much after the repair.


I've replaced it with a 2nd hand Onyx Note as of last week.

[Boreras]

Originally Posted by deleted

If you do want to try replacing the battery this page should be a big help for disassembly instructions:
http://www.mobileread.mobi/forums/sh...0&postcount=31

Looks like all you need to do is remove the back cover - much easier than pulling the whole thing apart to get to the screen (it's kinda glued together with double-sided sticky which makes disassembly of the innards risky).

But, can we be sure the battery is the problem? Well, if it's cheap enough I'd say give it a go!

Best of luck.

As to my rationale for not replacing the screen.
My M96 was purchased in 2016.

1) I already did it once (it was tricky to do the first time, and I'm afraid trying a second time might be asking too much);
2) It's 4 years old, probably I will need to replace the battery (and other components) too.
3) It will cost me $100 to replace the screen myself; I'd be lucky to resell it for that much after the repair.


I've replaced it with a 2nd hand Onyx Note as of last week.

Yeah I'm thinking of just buying a second hand device myself.

The battery inside looks dinked, it's probably done.

What's wild is that there is no reset button on the device at all, the hole on the back goes straight to the pcb. Your m92 pics show a prominent button there, it's missing completely here.