hey guys,
i just bought the N900 4 days ago, regardless the reboot issue.
i woke up yesterday it rebooted and it was it, it stuck and don't want to continue loading.
even when using the closing button its not working.
i removed the battery and reinstalled it again and tried to open the N900, but the same thing happened, loading ........... then stuck.
Please help me what to do.
is that a hardware or a software problem, and how to slove it, or do i return the phone?

https://wiki.maemo.org/Updating_the_firmware

follow the instructions

I wonder how many people who claim this actually installed a ton of software that filled up the root partition? Though granted, its poor design on Nokia's part to allow the root partition to fill up so easily.

Does that mean this a software problem not a hardware?
and if i reinstalled the firmware it will solve the problem?

Yeah, I think the same...

3 guys I know that work with me, besides myself, that have a N900.

Mine phone works flawlessly and I even used some soft from repos that could brick it but thank god everything is going okay..

On the other hand, one of my friends, installed everything plus the kitchen sink on it and is now with a bricked device... I wonder how is this actually happening.

I am too afraid of freezing my device since I need the phone to work, skype rulez... Seems that some Macgyvers are not that chicken as me.

it did the same with you and it didn't want to restart?
so, i go with reinstalling the firmware?
and how to avoid that to happen again?
i don't install software? or what?

i tried flashing the N900, a message of USB device is not detected.

what exactly is the root partition of maemo/linux that it can be filled up so much that it breaks the system?

is it something like the system (c:/)-partition of windows?

do programs install to te root partition by standard? cant you choose where you want them to be installed? (or rather, cant you create a custom partition that you can use exclusively for your own need, like programs, so it doesnt interfere with the root partition?)

The root partition is essentially where the system binaries/configs go. In the bad old days every piece of software used to get dumped out to /usr or /usr/local. Sysadmins being who they are hated this because it meant that a bunch of crap was installed into the root partition that wasnt part of the base OS or required for the base OS. This is a pain in the *** for several reasons.

1) Restoring the OS became a royal hassle
2) Backing up the root partition became a royal hassle.

So the /opt partition was born and all third party software was meant to be installed to it. Good in theory, not so great in practice - a lot of the old legacy code etc still wanted to install on /usr. Optifying - which you may have heard of - is the process of changing where the software is installed to the /opt partition. Its not a large task but its one devs usually leave until last when porting software.
Now we get to the part about repositories. extras-devel and extras-testing come with these warnings every time you install a piece of software which basically says "Hey this could ruin your N900". The choice of listening to that warning is yours. If you choose not to and brick your device that leads devs etc to point and laugh - Nelson from the Simpsons style. Its not Nokias fault - nor theirs. The testing and dev repositories are for ..... testers and developers - people who as a rule know what they are doing.
You should never just shotgun a bunch of software onto your N900. The best rule of thumb is - install one piece, use your machine for a while and make sure its not broken (I suggest at least a day). Then and only then install another. This of course applies even to the extras repository as well, but to a lesser degree as software there should be at least optified.

ok, this was a detail i didnt know.
so if i got this correctly, programs from testing/devel are installed to /usr, while programs from those "open" and secure repositories are installed to /opt?