One of my S4's suffered the grey battery bug today, so the symptoms were:
Device would not switch on (Samsung logo appeared, but switched off within a second)
Device would not charge (grey battery with a circle, but no actual charging seemingly took place)
Device would switch on with a different battery.
I could not get the device to charge or switch on, but through a strange set of steps, I was able to make it charge and it eventually started working. These may work for you, or they may not, so just bear that in mind.
1. Plug phone into charger, leave on the grey battery for a few seconds.
2. Pull the cable and hold the power button.
3. When the Samsung logo appears, immediately plug the cable back in.
When I did this, the phone seemed to get stuck at the Samsung logo. So it did not boot, and it did not go off either. I left it for about 2 or 3 minutes.
4. Pull the cable and the battery after 2 or 3 minutes. Put the battery back in.
5. Plug the USB connector.
After doing this, my grey battery (which seemed completely unable to charge before) went to a green (almost entirely depleted) and slowly started to charge. I left it for half an hour before switching on the phone. Voila, it's now working and up to 58%.
I can't say what causes this issue, I've heard that it can be caused by defective USB charge boards, but I'm not convinced because unless the socket itself is damaged the board itself really shouldn't fail. It's possibly being caused by low powered chargers (like my USB cable which I used). I observed a similar issue on the N4 (red light of death), after using a similar low power charger.
Anyway, this might be useful, or might be useless, but if it saves you a few quid then it's worth it
you save my life thanks
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Here's my little story. I dropped my N5 and cracked the screen. It worked, but I wanted it to be pretty again. So I bought a screen/case and proceeded to do the swap. I watched several videos, read guides, etc and followed them step-by-step. After it was done, I was surprised how smoothly everything went. I then went to power it up and got nothing. I checked all the cable connections, reseated them, and still got nothing. I put everything back with the cracked screen. Still nothing. I check the cables carefully, there are no cracks or breaks in them. I left it on the charger all night and the next day, checking periodically, still nothing. I checked the battery connector with a multimeter, and it was getting a reading off it, so the thing must be receiving power, right? Anyway, I gave up for a few days, busy with the rest of life.
I came back to it one day, plugged it into the charger and this time I got the red blinking light. I searched around, and that seems to indicate the battery had lost it's charge completely. Again I charged it overnight, still nothing. I got adventurous and removed the battery and tried powering it with just the power cable plugged in. This time it displayed the charge full battery/lightning icon. Success! I hit power and it starts to boot, displays the Google logo, then shut down after maybe five seconds. So, it must be getting power through the system from the USB port. The mainboard/cpu/screen works, it's able to start booting. It even boots to the bootloader, keys work there.
Again I turned to the problem being the battery. I picked up another, thinking perhaps mine had gone bad somehow even though I never had a bit of trouble out of it (about 1.5 years old). I played with it some more, with either battery inside, it doesn't do anything. Without a battery, it starts to boot but gives up. Hoping I could get something from the bootloader, I plugged it into my PC, but the USB port doesn't seem to provide enough juice to get it back to the bootloader with no battery.
Finally, during one of my tests, I plugged in the battery while it had the charging cable in. Then it popped up the battery charging animation. Exciting! It must be successfully charging, now. Previously, it didn't display anything when I charged it for many hours. Now it's been charging about six hours. The battery animation still shows it filling from the bottom, usually it would blink the animation from like halfway to the top, right? I hold the power button, and the battery animation disappears and it goes dead yet again. I run the same tests, battery in, battery out and get the same results. It boots when there's no battery and the charging cable in, nothing when the battery is in with or without the charging cable.
So, here I am stuck again. Any other ideas? Thanks.
Welcome, i've readed alot of topics on the internet about problems similar to this, but nothing fixed my problem. I've tried connecting to wall/pc charger, power button + volume down/up combinations, really all the thing.
Couple days ago after my phone fully discharged ( I rarely had situation like this, I usually charge when my phone have 10-15%, but this day I couldn't. ) I came back home and tried to charge my phone, red light was ON but it still didn't charge after alot of hours. I then tried to fix it, turning on phone etc. but screen was always black and phone didn't want to charge. At first when I tried to boot the Z3 red light was blinking, but after some time it stopped. I ordered new battery, replaced it carefully (though it's battery problem) - then when I connected the new battery for the first time I though I have fixed the problem, battery charging icon showed up for a moment on screen, I was very happy. Then I disconnected charger so I could assemble my phone. Now when I try to charge my phone problem is this same.. like with old battery - Just red light, not turning ON, not blinking. Powering up Key combinations with volume don't fix it. My PC Companion don't see phone. I disassembled my phone again, disconnected battery and connected it - It didn't showed any battery icon again, so why it did when I connected it for the first time? and why when my phone died for the first time red light was blinking, now it doesn't? I want to add that I never dropped my phone or used it in water - never, thats why I was almost sure maybe just battery died after it discharged.
Btw. Important thing is that USB port isn't broken, red light is always ON when I plug USB charger, but when I try to use my magnetic charger, phone never respond - no light. I also tried different cables, chargers etc. Could it really be something with the mainboard?
What could've happen? Why my phone went dead after fully discharged it ? Why battery replacement doesn't fix the problem? I don't get it, is mainboard damaged or something? Can I still try something? Maybe anyone can help me.
Please :/ I cannot afford a new phone right now, really want to try fix it, maybe somehow connecting USB cable straight without usb port can fix it? I heared people do something like this.
Recently got a Pixel 2 and it sometimes has this problem:
* Battery icon indicates that it is charging, even when it is not plugged into anything.
* When it's doing this, if I plug it in, it will not charge (but still indicates that it is charging)
* If I notice this and restart the phone, it resumes working normally.
Anyone else experience this?
Any ideas on a fix?
My Pixel 2 will get stuck at 100% after being charged overnight, under the battery settings it states that the battery information is not available. So far a reboot will fix the problem, I haven't allowed the phone to stay in the 100% state for long without a reboot. Today I'm going to leave it at 100% to see if the phone corrects the issue eventually during the day...report pending.
same. i noticed it today for the first time today. plugged it in (not the charger that came with the phone, one used for my s7 with a usb-c cord) 20 minutes later noticed it hadn't charged any even though it said it was charging, and the level had actually went down. power cycled it, now it's charging again.
I just had that same problem on my pixel 2. A single reboot didn't help, but a second reboot fixed it. Weird....
Same issue. Plugged into car, says charging, levels dropping, even after reboot. Tried different cables and charger, no difference. Wife just walked in and said her Nexus 5 is doing the same thing! HEY GOOGLE, what did you send out to cause this?
This happened to me today too, right before I was going to update to 8.1. Phone said it was charging all day, even though it wasn't plugged in. A reboot didn't fix it. Then tried Turn Off, and it rebooted and now seems fine.
Having this right now. A few reboots and even shutting the phone down hasn't helped so far. Will run the phone empty to see what happens.
Ves said:
Having this right now. A few reboots and even shutting the phone down hasn't helped so far. Will run the phone empty to see what happens.
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Happens occasionally to me as well. I often disconnect charger from the power rather than pull the charging cable out of the phone first. I wonder if the relatively slow fall in charging voltage when I remove power from the charger makes the problem more likely.
For those who have this problem:
Are you using original charger and cable?
Are you terminating charging by disconnecting power from the charger first, or pulling the cable out the phone whilst power is still on?
Is the phone screen on when you do it?
Anyway, I find a "hold the power key on the phone down for many seconds until it turns off" reboot fixes it until the next time...
1. I was actually using the portable charger that came with my 6P. The Pixel 2 isn't available in the Netherlands as it came with a UK plug.
2. Both methods had the same behaviour. Normally I pull the plug from the socket first before going unplugging it from the phone.
3. 20% of the time the screen is on and the phone unlocked. Most of the times it's just active display.
The phone eventually died despite being plugged in. I started charging again when I used one of the regular chargers (cord not separable). And not it works normally again with the portable charger.
Ves said:
started charging again when I used one of the regular chargers (cord not separable). And not it works normally again with the portable charger.
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Was this without rebooting the phone? I.e. you fixed the problem just by temporarily plugging in a 'regular' charger?
The phone was dead so I'd consider it a reboot. I left it on the charger to get a full battery again. The problem was gone as I did a check 45 Mon after plugging it in.
Hey guys,
I've got a Google Pixel phone today and it's having a major problem. Battery won't charge, at all. Here's what I did:
1. Checked and cleaned the USB-C port
2. Checked with 2 chargers (A normal USB 2.0 type charger and a LG G6 fast charger)
3. Tested it with 2 USB-C cables. One is from the LG G6, the other one is the original that came with the phone.
4. Tried charging it using the laptop USB ports (3.0)
5. Ran a battery tester which said the battery was alright (an apk)
Android version running: 8.1.0 with Feb. security patch
The seller also said that the microphone and possibly the loudspeaker don't work. I would love to charge the phone and try the Android P BETA program on it, see if it solves anything.
I've ordered a new battery from Sweden (possibly not original, but I've read that it's alright)
Any tips?
Thanks!
Edit: The phone indicates that the battery is charging (both when it's shutdown and plugged in). The battery is at 1% now and the phone shuts down immediately - won't power-up at all.
I have a similar issue with a Pixel I bought refurbished (might just return it) - but the battery won't charge past 75%; got up to 84% one time, though. Even plugged in, once the battery gets to its 'max', the percentage will actually go down a little, to around 70% (if it stays plugged in at >70% then it usually goes down, with screen off). I also noticed mine doesn't seem to charge at all when powered off (probably a big warning sign) and also sometimes won't charge until booted up and unlocked (sucks to pick up your phone that's been plugged in a couple hours to see 4% battery with the charging indicator on the status bar says the phone is charging....).
It WILL charge if it gets booted into (TWRP) recovery - so, if your phone stays on while connected to laptop, try booting into bootloader and fastboot boot twrp-latest.img (easy to find thread for that, or just go TWRP.me website and find it there).
If that doesn't work (locked bootloader, etc.), try charging it while in the stock recovery, but I don't think it'll give you an indicator. If all those fail to give it a charge try charging inside bootloader, plug and unplug a few times, make sure USB connectors are clean. Good luck with the replacement battery, screen/digitizer can easily get messed up during dissasembly...
Edit: noticed you said won't power on at all, if you can't even get to bootloader (vol down+power with phone off) then battery or USB assembly is probably no good. Does LED flash red on the top of phone?
dacdoug said:
I have a similar issue with a Pixel I bought refurbished (might just return it) - but the battery won't charge past 75%; got up to 84% one time, though. Even plugged in, once the battery gets to its 'max', the percentage will actually go down a little, to around 70% (if it stays plugged in at >70% then it usually goes down, with screen off). I also noticed mine doesn't seem to charge at all when powered off (probably a big warning sign) and also sometimes won't charge until booted up and unlocked (sucks to pick up your phone that's been plugged in a couple hours to see 4% battery with the charging indicator on the status bar says the phone is charging....).
It WILL charge if it gets booted into (TWRP) recovery - so, if your phone stays on while connected to laptop, try booting into bootloader and fastboot boot twrp-latest.img (easy to find thread for that, or just go TWRP.me website and find it there).
If that doesn't work (locked bootloader, etc.), try charging it while in the stock recovery, but I don't think it'll give you an indicator. If all those fail to give it a charge try charging inside bootloader, plug and unplug a few times, make sure USB connectors are clean. Good luck with the replacement battery, screen/digitizer can easily get messed up during dissasembly...
Edit: noticed you said won't power on at all, if you can't even get to bootloader (vol down+power with phone off) then battery or USB assembly is probably no good. Does LED flash red on the top of phone?
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Hey, thanks for the tips.
I unfortunately tried all of that before it wouldn't boot up anymore, so no luck there. Also, no indicator at the top, battery is probably alright, might be a software issue or something, but can't tell since I can't update it to Android P or atleast downgrade it. I guess I'll have to wait for the battery to arrive and then try it like that. Hopefully that works.
I have never had any problem with my Nexus 5. It is now my standby device. Accordingly it doesn't get used much. One day I left it ON and didn't use it for 2 weeks. When I picked it up again it was OFF and didn't want to turn on. Naturally I thought the battery had drained and put it to charge.
Instead of the battery symbol on the screen (indicating it is being charged), I get a sequence of 8 red blinks on the bottom notification light (which is just above the charging port), each blink lasting 0.5 seconds, then 0.5 seconds off (so total duration of blinking sequence is 8 seconds), then 1.5 seconds off, then blinking sequence starts again.
I left it connected to the charger for 2 weeks. Nothing changed.
I then replaced the battery with a brand new OEM battery, same thing again.
I cannot get into recovery mode nor is the phone recognised when I connect it to the PC.
Any ideas? Anyone knows the meaning of this blinking sequence?
nitonreu said:
I have never had any problem with my Nexus 5. It is now my standby device. Accordingly it doesn't get used much. One day I left it ON and didn't use it for 2 weeks. When I picked it up again it was OFF and didn't want to turn on. Naturally I thought the battery had drained and put it to charge.
Instead of the battery symbol on the screen (indicating it is being charged), I get a sequence of 8 red blinks on the bottom notification light (which is just above the charging port), each blink lasting 0.5 seconds, then 0.5 seconds off (so total duration of blinking sequence is 8 seconds), then 1.5 seconds off, then blinking sequence starts again.
I left it connected to the charger for 2 weeks. Nothing changed.
I then replaced the battery with a brand new OEM battery, same thing again.
I cannot get into recovery mode nor is the phone recognised when I connect it to the PC.
Any ideas? Anyone knows the meaning of this blinking sequence?
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what is the current state of the phone? do you just get the blinking when charge cable connected? no boot loop ?
So currently the phone doesn't switch on and cannot be charged it would seem.
There is no bootloop.
And yes, the blinking only goes on whilst a charging lead is connected or whilst it's on a wireless charging cradle. No blinking when removed from the charger.
nitonreu said:
So currently the phone doesn't switch on and cannot be charged it would seem.
There is no bootloop.
And yes, the blinking only goes on whilst a charging lead is connected or whilst it's on a wireless charging cradle. No blinking when removed from the charger.
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you said you replaced the battery , I would check that connection , try removing the battery if possible and reconnecting it. Try the old battery too if you still have .
In my experience i'v seen that blinking light in other devices when they overheat.
I only replaced the battery because of the blinking problem as I suspected a deep discharged battery. Anyway the connections are good. 100%.
I never had overheat issues on my N5 as it was just used for basic functions, no gaming etc. I wouldn't imagine the device had overheated while it was left unattended on my desk, and there definitely is no overheating happening now as it doesn't even switch on...
nitonreu said:
I only replaced the battery because of the blinking problem as I suspected a deep discharged battery. Anyway the connections are good. 100%.
I never had overheat issues on my N5 as it was just used for basic functions, no gaming etc. I wouldn't imagine the device had overheated while it was left unattended on my desk, and there definitely is no overheating happening now as it doesn't even switch on...
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sounds like your hammerhead finally checked out ... the old saying goes " if you don't use it, you lose it " .... try all combinations like hold power and volume down at the same time for 10 seconds , power and volume up ..etc
other than that i'd take a multi meter and make absolute sure you have power to the motherboard , then if you still do, it could be a short ..
if you want to go even further, a complete tear down of the phone, check for corrosion ( whitish residue on terminals and motherboard ) clean off with toothbrush only ( no water or liquid of any kind ) be careful removing ribbon cables and re-inserting them ... you can find lots of stuff on youtube for that.
good luck