Help: Broken, Bricked or what PRS 900?

robertpolson · 02-06-2010, 11:30 AM

Here is the situation - I bought PRS 900 on February 2, 2010, charged it fully and turned it on. I have never used it daily for about 20 minutes or so. However, I think that I have not been shutting it down properly. I only slided the power switch gently and quickly and was amazed on how fast it turns on and off. I think that all that I have been doing was putting the screen to sleep and not shutting it off. Still I have used it very little.

On Feb 4th, I flashed it with the Russian firmware 1.03b for PRS 900. All worked fine.

Today Feb 6th in the morning when I picked up my device, I could not turn it on. I had to press the reset button and then it turned on with BATTERY LOW message. The battery was almost fully dead.

Is the battery dead because:

1) I have not been shutting PRS 900 properly until I realized it this morning? But if I only used it for 20 minutes daily, shouldn't it last much longer than 4 days ? Stand by or something?

2) Russian firmware has something to do with the battery ?

3) I have a defective PRS 900 or the battery >

4) Something else ?

Please help while I still have 10 days to return or exchange it.

SCION · 02-06-2010, 11:40 AM

Hopefully someone will chime in. I don't know if anyone has flashed their 900.

NSqirrel · 02-06-2010, 11:46 AM

I have a PRS 600 and with that you need to discharge and charge a few times to get a decent battery life. To discharge, I set the audio player on to play some music and left it as that drains the battery pretty quickly. Once fully discharged, recharge and repeat operation a few times.

I hope that this helps resolve your issue.

Penforhire · 02-06-2010, 11:50 AM

I think NSquirrel's suggestion is worth trying. I know nothing about the Russian firmware but it could easily have reset stored voltage indicators for full and discharged battery levels.

robertpolson · 02-06-2010, 11:53 AM

So you think that this is more of a software issue rather than hardware issue ? Right now I left it at home charing and will come back in about 4 hours to see how it is.

Also, what do you people do with your Sony readers ? Allow them to go to sleep and standby or shut them down every time ?

What effect does this have on the battery?

NSqirrel · 02-06-2010, 11:57 AM

From the PRS600 point of view, it does sound more like s/w. There have been a lot of comments about initial battery use in the Sony forum, so you are not alone! (BTW, I left mine playing music over night.)

dmapr · 02-06-2010, 12:06 PM

Mine is flashed with 1.02e and the battery life seems adequate so far. The only thing I can think of is the clock setting I don't know if having one of the -tick options has the same detrimental effect on the battery in the sleep mode as it does when it's on.

porkupan · 02-06-2010, 12:15 PM

If you switched the to the "ticking clock" (via Options button at the "About" screen) expect the battery life to be very short. Switch to 24 or am/pm clock. Otherwise you should get decent time out of your battery.

You should try switching your device off (with the on/off switch) when you are not reading for a prolonged period of time. You shouldn't need to power off completely.

BeccaAnn · 02-06-2010, 12:26 PM

How are you charging your Reader? If you haven't already, get a wall charger because going through the USB on the computer sometimes doesn't work that well. The official Sony charger can be pricey but any PSP charger will work. This is the round yellow barrel and should be 5.0 - 5.2 volts (at least for the USA).

dmapr · 02-06-2010, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeccaAnn

How are you charging your Reader? If you haven't already, get a wall charger because going through the USB on the computer sometimes doesn't work that well. The official Sony charger can be pricey but any PSP charger will work. This is the round yellow barrel and should be 5.0 - 5.2 volts (at least for the USA).

PRS-900 includes the wall charger — at least mine did.

robertpolson · 02-06-2010, 09:07 PM

I fully charged my PRS 900 and made proper adjustment for the clock.

Lets see how it will work. I really hope that nothing is wrong with my hardware.

Thank you everyone for your support and advices.

rmm200 · 02-06-2010, 09:28 PM

I hope yours works OK now. I for one would never flash a third party firmware until my unit was out of warranty. I think Sony would consider this voiding the warranty, or at the very least cause them to decline support. Flash it back as original before you take it back - and maybe see if you still have problems when using the factory image.

Robert

Bremen Cole · 02-06-2010, 10:13 PM

Sounds like you got it sorted out.... the wall charger is the key to most battery problems, USB for these Sony's is just too dodgy.

porkupan · 02-06-2010, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robertpolson

I really hope that nothing is wrong with my hardware.

Why would there be anything wrong with your hardware? If you had the clock set to the "-tick" option, that would have eaten up your battery real fast - that's the deal. The CPU doesn't go into sleep mode with the running clock, so the battery goes out in a matter of a couple of hours.

Penforhire · 02-07-2010, 05:59 PM

Robert, I use it several times every day so I leave my reader on standby for faster turn-on. For my new 900, after two charge cycles, I notice I lose one battery segment on the display after about three days and 400 page turns (3G always off).

Something curious -- after one day and 100-odd pages it actually refuses to charge (no LED, not even a blink). My 505 never refused to start charging, lol.

02-06-2010, 11:30 AM	#1
robertpolson Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 28496 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: none	Help: Broken, Bricked or what PRS 900? Here is the situation - I bought PRS 900 on February 2, 2010, charged it fully and turned it on. I have never used it daily for about 20 minutes or so. However, I think that I have not been shutting it down properly. I only slided the power switch gently and quickly and was amazed on how fast it turns on and off. I think that all that I have been doing was putting the screen to sleep and not shutting it off. Still I have used it very little. On Feb 4th, I flashed it with the Russian firmware 1.03b for PRS 900. All worked fine. Today Feb 6th in the morning when I picked up my device, I could not turn it on. I had to press the reset button and then it turned on with BATTERY LOW message. The battery was almost fully dead. Is the battery dead because: 1) I have not been shutting PRS 900 properly until I realized it this morning? But if I only used it for 20 minutes daily, shouldn't it last much longer than 4 days ? Stand by or something? 2) Russian firmware has something to do with the battery ? 3) I have a defective PRS 900 or the battery > 4) Something else ? Please help while I still have 10 days to return or exchange it. Last edited by robertpolson; 02-06-2010 at 11:54 AM. Reason: spelling

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02-06-2010, 11:40 AM	#2
SCION Séduisant Posts: 4,706 Karma: 2107018 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Texas, USA Device: Boox Note Air2+; Kobo Libra2; Kindle Scribe, Oasis3; iPad Mini6	Hopefully someone will chime in. I don't know if anyone has flashed their 900.

02-06-2010, 11:46 AM	#3
NSqirrel Enthusiast Posts: 43 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: South Bucks, UK Device: PRS-600	I have a PRS 600 and with that you need to discharge and charge a few times to get a decent battery life. To discharge, I set the audio player on to play some music and left it as that drains the battery pretty quickly. Once fully discharged, recharge and repeat operation a few times. I hope that this helps resolve your issue.

02-06-2010, 11:50 AM	#4
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	I think NSquirrel's suggestion is worth trying. I know nothing about the Russian firmware but it could easily have reset stored voltage indicators for full and discharged battery levels.

02-06-2010, 11:53 AM	#5
robertpolson Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 28496 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: none	So you think that this is more of a software issue rather than hardware issue ? Right now I left it at home charing and will come back in about 4 hours to see how it is. Also, what do you people do with your Sony readers ? Allow them to go to sleep and standby or shut them down every time ? What effect does this have on the battery?

02-06-2010, 11:57 AM	#6
NSqirrel Enthusiast Posts: 43 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: South Bucks, UK Device: PRS-600	From the PRS600 point of view, it does sound more like s/w. There have been a lot of comments about initial battery use in the Sony forum, so you are not alone! (BTW, I left mine playing music over night.)

02-06-2010, 12:06 PM	#7
dmapr Evangelist Posts: 469 Karma: 600816 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kobo Aura One	Mine is flashed with 1.02e and the battery life seems adequate so far. The only thing I can think of is the clock setting I don't know if having one of the -tick options has the same detrimental effect on the battery in the sleep mode as it does when it's on.

02-06-2010, 12:15 PM	#8
porkupan Fanatic Posts: 556 Karma: 1057213 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Eastern U.S. Device: Sony Reader	If you switched the to the "ticking clock" (via Options button at the "About" screen) expect the battery life to be very short. Switch to 24 or am/pm clock. Otherwise you should get decent time out of your battery. You should try switching your device off (with the on/off switch) when you are not reading for a prolonged period of time. You shouldn't need to power off completely.

02-06-2010, 12:26 PM	#9
BeccaAnn Groupie Posts: 188 Karma: 660 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Spearfish, SD, USA Device: Sony PRS-505	How are you charging your Reader? If you haven't already, get a wall charger because going through the USB on the computer sometimes doesn't work that well. The official Sony charger can be pricey but any PSP charger will work. This is the round yellow barrel and should be 5.0 - 5.2 volts (at least for the USA).

02-06-2010, 09:07 PM	#11
robertpolson Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 28496 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: none	I fully charged my PRS 900 and made proper adjustment for the clock. Lets see how it will work. I really hope that nothing is wrong with my hardware. Thank you everyone for your support and advices.

02-06-2010, 09:28 PM	#12
rmm200 Groupie Posts: 195 Karma: 414 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bend, OR Device: Sony PRS-600	I hope yours works OK now. I for one would never flash a third party firmware until my unit was out of warranty. I think Sony would consider this voiding the warranty, or at the very least cause them to decline support. Flash it back as original before you take it back - and maybe see if you still have problems when using the factory image. Robert

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02-06-2010, 10:13 PM	#13
Bremen Cole Wizard Posts: 1,115 Karma: 2718 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Texas Device: iPad	Sounds like you got it sorted out.... the wall charger is the key to most battery problems, USB for these Sony's is just too dodgy.

02-07-2010, 05:59 PM	#15
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	Robert, I use it several times every day so I leave my reader on standby for faster turn-on. For my new 900, after two charge cycles, I notice I lose one battery segment on the display after about three days and 400 page turns (3G always off). Something curious -- after one day and 100-odd pages it actually refuses to charge (no LED, not even a blink). My 505 never refused to start charging, lol.