So, my second hand N900 has been sitting idly for a few weeks. Needless to say the battery was dead. But no matter how I try to charge it, the device won't show any signs of life. I've tried detaching the battery etc, but nothing seems to work. When I try to start the device it stays completely black, with no life signs. When charging, the indicator light will stay yellowish for about an hour and then turns off.

As the previous owner really didn't use the device, I doubt that any updates have been done to this phone. So, it should not be a software issue (of an update gone bad).

Any ideas? I'm completely clueless now.

I think its just the battery issue let it charge for some time cause battery is sure totally empty. Mi wifes nokia 9300 used to do the same after like 2-3 days of not being used. It had to be connected for ~2 hours justy to start charging.

I think it is an issue with some Li-on batteries that when they are totally dead they need a bit of a charge to get them to wake up.

One way, (and I'm in no way saying you should do this!!) is to try and put a surge of juice through the battery. This can be achieved by plugging the nokia charger into a wall socket with an on-off switch, and rapidly turning it on and off, while the device is connected obviously.

Iv managed to wake up a few batteries this way, but not ever tried it on the N900.

Please bear in mind that there is always a risk of frying your device, the charger and yourself. Please be careful playing around with electricity!

Unfortunately I've done that. Yesterday it was connected for 3-4 hours, and overnight I left it connected to the computer USB cable. Doesn't seem to work... But I'll give it another try - leave it charging for the duration of this day. Not too optimistic of getting it to work this way.

Can you try another battery. I bought two spare ones simliar to this listing here. Ebay Battery for N900

I went to a Nokia Care Center and got them to charge my battery. It took them 2 hours.

So I'm guessing you weren't able to charge it yourself? Ah well... Time to head to the electronic shop to buy another battery and if this is the case, then find a Nokia care somewhere.

Yeah! It was the battery. Works like a charm now with a new one. I guess the only way to revive the old one is to go to a Nokia Care Center. It was completely dead - no tricks nor 24h charging worked.

Some N900s have a problem with becoming dead if you try to power on with a charger plugged in, no matter if the battery is full or not. You have to remove and reinsert the battery to be able to turn it on when this happens. Maybe this happened? If you didn't already, try to put the "dead" battery back (or into the other N900) and see what comes of it.

I recommend a faith-healer. Jesus can save it!