Droid (A855) won't power up - at all. Interesting case..

[Paintba11er89]

Hey all,

I'm trying to fix my friend's phone for them (Motorola Droid (w/ slide out keyboard)). I looked around the forum, and while there are threads similar to mine, it doesn't seem like I can find anyone with the same exact problem - so I made my own thread. This is how they described their problem to me:

I plugged the phone in one night, and when I woke up, it just wouldn't turn on.

I figured it had to be something simple (i.e. she didn't have the charger plugged completely in, and the phone died while she was sleeping, and then she just wasn't able to get it to charge again). But this issue is proving to be a tad more complicated.

She doesn't have a warranty on the phone, and I don't think she wants to buy a new battery (although, that may in fact solve her problems). This is kind of like a puzzle for me, so I'd like to figure it out.

When I first got her phone, I re-sat the battery and plugged it into the wall. I noticed that the little charge light next to the plug was blinking (not solid, but blinking), so I knew that her phone wasn't completely shot (there isn't any water damage, all indicators are dry). After a few minutes, the light would stop blinking. I left the phone on the charger for a few hours just to be thorough, but as I had suspected, the phone did not turn on at any time during the "charging", nor would it turn on after. After that didn't work, I decided to plug it into the computer, to see if I'd get different results. When I plugged the phone into the computer, the charging light was solid instead of blinking. I left the phone on the computer to charge for over 12 hours, but unfortunately, it still does not turn on (nor has turned on) either during or after charging.

Here are a few facts:
-Only light that comes on is the charging light, no keyboard lights come on at all.
-When I take the battery out, but have the phone still plugged in, the charging light blinks. I'm assuming that means it isn't charging.
-Phone will not power on either into normal operation, or into recovery mode.
-Unable to do a hard reset.
-When the phone is plugged into the computer with a solid light, and I press or tap the power button, the computer makes a sound that it recognizes a new device is plugged in, but cannot install the necessary drivers, and I don't see the device under "Computer".
-Re-sat the battery multiple times, is not helping.

Suggestions on where to go from here? I don't like not being able to fix things, there has to be a way to get this thing working, or at least in bootable stage.

 

[guidot]

Not much you can do without a known good battery.

 

[Paintba11er89]

Not much you can do without a known good battery.

Yeah, I was kind of hoping that somebody had experienced this problem before, and could enlighten me as to what the problem was..

 

[illmatic636]

when you plug the phone into a computer you should get a message stating that it's in bootloader mode. If you computer doesn't recognize the droid, download "Motorola driver installer" That should get you the right drivers for your computer to recognize the device. You should get that battery charged. Whether by other droid or buy a stand alone charger for that battery. But, plugging the phone into the computer while the phone is off should get you right into bootloader mode. Then you can rsdlite to flash the appropriate SBF file to get her a stock image. "Froyo 2.2.2"

give it a shot

 

[jmlaser]

Interesting Indeed, Especially since I am having a VERY similar if not the EXACT same problem....

Plugged phone in the other night for its "nightly" charge cycle and woke up the next day with 15% Bat remaining. Thought I was half asleep when I plugged it in and perhaps it didnt make good contact or charge. Hit the car charger on the way to work and noticed it wasnt charging there either. The charger was changing the state becuase the phone would light up the LED on the charging port but still displayed the "connect your charger" on the homescreen. Later that day the battery died on me in the middle of a call and now the phone is DOA. I also get the flashing charge LED when you plug it in. Wont respond any charger or computer.
I am not new to the OG droid. I have had it for 20 months and am a heavy user of its features. Its pretty beat from factory work, and has seen the bottom of the bathtub twice. Both times I was able to bring it back to life with disassembly and cleaning of components. I have replaced BOTH speakers. I think I have had it apart at least 10 times. Most recently when this happened I tore it open to check the usb jack. I cleaned the jack with contact cleaner and cleaned the pins with a plastic pin. I also cleaned the battery contact point on the phone and the battery. I still have the same results with no charge or turn on when in an outlet.
Have been rooted for ever and run Sourcery which is ultra stable and fast (for and OG droid anyhow).
My guess is that the droid has developed a loose connection in the hardware at the point where the usb jack contacts the board. I have had a similar problem with 2 Laptops and the symptoms are the same. Seems more logical to me than a battery that just magically quits. Also it should power with the battery there even if its junk. I will however be trying a battery soon though.
If that doesnt work RIP OG Droid. Too bad, it ALMOST made it til the 8th.
Gonna be a long week with no phone!