Sorry for the new thread but i think this could be important to alot of new users with non working N800's. The other threads seem to be getting swamped with off topic posts, So.....


Right here goes, i can now power on my N800 every time 100% repeatable every time.

What did i do, i started the tablet last night and had a good play around trying to get the battery as flat as i could, then locked the screen and keys and went to bed without putting the device on the charger.

In the morning i played around some more till i got the N800 to less than 1hr battery remaining.

Then i turned off the N800, usual it wont go back on, so i get a stopwatch (find one here http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ ) and try turning on at 1 min intervals after 10 mins nothing.

Next i try a 5 min interval without touching the power button this is where the Tablet suddenly turned on, great! So i turned it back off and hey presto wont go back on, dont touch any button this time for 4 mins N800 start again.

So i switch it off again this time i wait 3 mins before i press the power button N800 starts again.

Then i try 2min 30sec and it wont start so i try again at 3 min wont start.

I touch NO buttons for EXACTLY 3 mins (remember this is without removing the battery) and hey presto it starts again.

Next i remove the battery wait 1 min then put it back in, wont start,wont charge either.

So again you guessed it wait exactly 3 mins put the charger in and yup it charges

One important reminder, if you touch the power button before the 3 mins it resets back to a full 3 min wait before you try again!!

So could anyone with a iffy N800 N810 please try this and let me know what happens after exactly 3 mins.

Get the stopwatch here http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ ..

OMFG!!!! I pressed the power button and started the stop watch at the same time. I missed the first 3 minutes so I waited until it was exactly 6 minutes and it turned on. How the hell did you know that it would only turn on exactly every 3 minutes?!

When I try to turn it on any other time it doesn't! What is the logic behind this?........

Thank you since it actually worked! Now I don't have to return it. But still, having to time exactly 3 minutes any time I want to turn it on is a pain in the butt.

3 minute wait to turn on.... I can bootup my Samsung Q1P faster than that. I'm also having trouble turning on my N800, I was going to reflash back to OS 2007 but seems that it might be the unit. I ordered from CC the 26th and got it the 27th.

I may not be a linux master but iam pretty good with most things and i was not going to let this beat me ..... :-)

Its not every 3mins, as long as you wait the first 3 before touching it it will turn on anytime after that...

I've added a reference to this thread to bug #2673 which is tracking this problem.

Aha, so you're Neil. Good connection to make.

(shirt buddies )

Have you tried a complete reflash? Have you removed your SD cards (both of them?)

Sounds like something in your initfs is b0rked and/or [without knowing anything about the boot process] perhaps a fsck is being run and breaking on corrupt SD cards.

After reflashing and starting for the first time - does it continue the 3 minute power cycles?

I certainly wouldn't keep any hardware that only let me power on every 3 minutes [i.e. get it replaced!]

'Tis me, Ryan - and I'm looking forward to receiving my t-shirt*!

*If anyone is wondering, one of the guys at Maemo has offered to send General Antilles and myself a Maemo t-shirt as a "thank you" for the "work" we've done filing and cleaning up bugs in maemo bugzilla, which I thought was quite a nice gesture!

How long are you holding down the power button? It won't turn on with just a quick press, you have to hold it for a few seconds, until the LED is on steady. I've never had a single problem turning mine on, perhaps a hundred times, by this method.

Simply removing and replacing the back seems to work for me.