Help! N900 won't boot! :(
 

Short version: Battery fully charged, won't boot. I see Nokia logo but no hands animation, then the dots animation ... that's as far as it gets. PR1.2, tried reflashing it, doesn't help.

In a severe state of panic at the moment, any suggestions would be welcome.

Long version:

Two possible causes, either could be a coincidence.

(1) I had turned it off in order to change the SIM card. It never came back on. It is unlocked -- that is, the guy I took it to said it already was, and we tried another SIM he had to prove it; it worked.

(2) About 20 minutes before that a guy in a shop had it to fit a screen protector. He only took it in the back room for a second (I know, I know) and I have to say that I don't remember my battery looking like someone had been digging holes in it with a screwdriver... It's a second hand unit, so I suppose I could have missed seeing that. And in any case the (new?) battery holds a charge.

Anyone wants any more information, just say.

Re: Help! N900 won't boot! :(
 

something similar happening to me, check http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...927#post721927

Re: Help! N900 won't boot! :(
 

Hi, yes, I've been reading that. But I can't boot even when plugged into USB. I have no idea what is wrong, and I don't know how to find out...!

Re: Help! N900 won't boot! :(
 

I have the same problem.

Suddenly phone didnt boot.

Flashing pr2 into the n900 works fine, but when I try to flashing newest vanilla, phone tries to get into the "flashing mode" -> it stucks every time into the dots animation.

I cant live without my N900!

I think I dont have anything else choice than taking my N900 to Nokia Care.

Re: Help! N900 won't boot! :(
 

did you try to flash mmc?

Re: Help! N900 won't boot! :(
 

No, I've not tried that, but since I'm not backed up I'm leaving it as a last resort. Not sure why it would help -- isn't that just replacing MyDocs?

Re: Help! N900 won't boot! :(
 

Here's a weird thing I've not mentioned. When the N900 is just sitting there in the dots animation, it's not hung or anything. The dots are moving, and I can shut it down by holding the power button.

And when I reflashed it, it responded completely by the book. It just doesn't boot. Something wrong with init? But if that were so, surely reflashing would have fixed it...

Re: Help! N900 won't boot! :(
 

Is there any change to flash without booting it to flash mode? Because everytime I'm trying to flash my phone, it stucks to the dots animation.

Re: Help! N900 won't boot! :(
 

did you try red pile mode?
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=37420

Re: Help! N900 won't boot! :(
 

Ooh! Diagnostics! Brilliant.

"No initfs \0/" not so brilliant. I hate it when I'm right.

Of course it still doesn't boot -- how could it without an init FS? I'm guessing the \O/ is the smily version of Munch's "The Scream"...

Should flashing to PR1.2 reset the init fs? This article suggests that it should, but...

Anyone got back from this before?