Matan, on your first point its really a matter of interpretation, from wiki:
"When used in reference to consumer electronics, "brick" describes a device that cannot function in any capacity (such as a device with damaged firmware). This usage derives from the fact that some electronic devices (and their detachable power supplies) are vaguely brick-shaped, and so those which do not function are useful only as actual bricks. The term can also be used as a verb. For example, "I bricked my MP3 player when I tried to modify its firmware."[1]

In the strictest sense of the term, bricking must imply that software error has rendered the device completely unrecoverable without some hardware replacement. However, it is common to use the term for a problem which can be rectified but only by a complex and difficult procedure, often requiring additional software."


I wasn't aware that it was a conflict of the HW revision and V44 , it was an assuption that I had made regarding multi-boot.

Anyway - on the battery issue, I can confirm you are right. I am running V45 and have just left my device at the U-boot screen when plugged into the wall for the last few minutes (I have had to cancel loading by pressing a keyboard key periodically as it will only sit at the Tux screen for a little while before reloading). I then booted and opened BatteryGraph - it now has more capacity than when I first turned it off, so hardware is charging the battery.

However it don't understand why some people were claiming to have left their device plugged in for some time and were unable to flash, I doubt that they are lying. Perhaps the error, or reboot loop was in some way draining more power than was being supplied, the only way to check for sure would be to revert to V44 for testing.