I just did another experiment where I charged the phone to full (where bq27200.sh said "time to full 0" and where the status LED was glowing steady green) then disconnected the charger then powered off the phone and back on again and it failed in the same way (starts up, nokia logo for ~5s, status LED come on full bright and fades out).

So that (and the fact that I got more than a full days regular use including 3G data etc out of the battery yesterday) once and for all rules out the possibility that the battery I am using is somehow broken, failing or flat.

I did see one symptom earlier where it displayed a "I did try inserting something very small and thin into the USB port" notification though.

I suspect the USB port ia on the way out and the symptoms are manifesting as both pins not making contact properly some of the time AND pins shorting out (causing my "device thinks the data pins indicate charger is connected when its not but since power pins aren't providing juice, nolo wont boot phone" issue). Seems like I need to investigate finding someone here in Brisbane that can do that kind of soldering and fiddly electronic work (for what it would cost to buy soldiering gear and screwdrivers and stuff and try it myself, I could almost buy a new (used) N900 (ignoring the fact that the only real way to do that is to buy from overseas via eBay and PayPal and using eBay and PayPal is something I refuse to do)

I am even more convinced of a USB port failure now, I had the phone connected to wall charger, it made the "charge" sound (ui-charging_started.wav). I then unplugged the phone from the wall charger and its now displaying the "select USB mode" dialog (Mass Storage vs PC Suite) which again suggests the USB port is failing somehow. Clicking out of the dialog leaves the status bar still saying "USB connected, charging only" and the status LED remains steady green.

Oh and I used the very thin sharp end of a nail to get rid of any gunk and no it didn't solve the problem.

please you get hold of a multimeter its really needed
and of using a multimeter you should be fine with that
at the least you need to check the battrey terminals as its one of the fine ways of detcting irregularites in electronics

what i fear hear is your usb connector getting loose then going out of hand and the most imp part is i beliveve you will find it difficult to find a place who will fix it for you feisabley as judging by your posts you can do a lot on software ie basicly your posts give a good clue about what might be happening and yes all that without any tools so end this for good


and i opend mine and yes i didnt use a multi as i could see the uprooted usb connecter when applied force decided to replace it but the technician said there are better ways available i.e he said he can refix the loose port and reniforce it with solder alloy ? so i left it with the technician who does thease on a regular basis.

i decided to proceed immediately as twmorrow i was copying photos and windows threw an 0x0000000 kindof error after each copy sometimes it just got struck forever formatting didnt help either not even the camera app not saving images was solved i did try diffrent computers too linux would mount fine then vanish out of nowhere and that was it at least with linux i was little sure its not some filesystem issue rather a physical connectivty issue and dont even mention windows i was never sure what was wrong as with all that not responding and 0x00000 errors was just hampering my little brain to get on a conclusion

as of now myusb port is repaired i will post pictures as i recive it in evening

for now the camera app image saving remains an issue as i need to uninstall fcamdrivers and associated stuff

I will be going to an "open evening" at a local hackerspace this Tuesday and there is someone there who said they can hopefully help me out assuming its not broken-beyond-the-point-of-repair.

good luck jonwil

Went to the HSBNE open evening and I dont know exactly what they did to my phone but it seems to be working now. YAY