Help, my MDA Vario is playing dead

[Guest slagertje]

I am visiting Japan, and as my MDA Vario got no reception here I have been using my old phone.

Just now when I went to put the SIM-card back my Vario won't turn on!

Assuming it was out of battery (although it should have had enough) I tried plugging it in, but it won't respond.

If someone could help me switch it back on, then my next question would be how do I get it to work in Japan?

Thanks!

[Guest xeno1]

The first thing to try is to remove the sim and see if your MDA boots. You don't need the sim in it for that, only for using any over the air functions, everything else should still work. If it still doesn't boot then it's more likely that it's a problem with the MDA itself. It's possible that you may have drained the battery entirely and with a lot of phones if that happens it won't matter if you plug it in or not, you won't get anything out of it until you either get the battery to hold a charge again or replace the battery entirely. There is a post on here somewhere that explains how to revive your battery using a 9v battery if that happens to be the case. Sorry, I can't help you with the Japan thing though but maybe someone else on here can. Probably the easiest way to solve that one though is to call your service provider and see what they have to say. I'm sure they would probably have some idea about how to get it to work there,

[Guest slagertje]

Removed sim, no booting.

Bought a USB-miniUSB to try to charge from my computer, again no reaction (therefore I know that it's my MDA and not the charger that's not working, right?)

Tried to find post with info about reviving battery, no luck.

One post suggested taking battery out for two hours, then plugging in for two hours but not with the miniUSB then trying to turn it on...how else would I charge if not with the miniUSB???

Any advice on how to get my phone to hold a charge again?

And do I dare hope that all my info is still intact? (My computer crashed with the back-up); it just hasn't been my week...

[Guest xeno1]

I think when they say not to charge it with the miniUSB they're reffering to the sync cable. They mean that you should use a wall charger instead. Your data should still be intact because it doesn't need the battery to stay there. Just like your hard drive in your computer, the data is magnetic and doesn't require any voltage whatsoever once it's been written.

I'll do some looking and find you that post about using a 9v battery to revive your MDA's battery. It's a pretty simple process though.

[Guest xeno1]

Here you go, here's the post I mentioned about how to revive your battery.

http://www.modaco.com/index.php?showtopic=...hl=dead+battery.

[Guest PayableOnDeath]

Hi

when you are charging from USB where are you charging from? pc, laptop?, if its a pc its the ports that are on the motherboard at the back or from a front usb port?

just asking as i had a issue with my front usb ports that, even though the charge light was on, it actualy discarged the battery!

for a flat battery i would recomend using a mains charger as usb might not have enough power to charge from usb, also i have just had a play with my vario and if you dont have Active sync installed and you get a installing new hardware message pop up then it wont charge untill its fully installed (not sure if AS has to be installed but with out it, it doesnt pick up as a PDA just an unknown usb device)

i will flaten my battery and try from usb see if it start charging a flat battery from usb and let you know

if possable i would get a mains charger and try from that first

hope this helps

Regards

David

[Guest xeno1]

I think his confusion was with the end of the cable that plugs in to the phone itself. When they said not to charge it with the miniUSB I think he thought it meant that there was some other charging port on the phone itself that he should be using.

[Guest slagertje]

Thanks for help and the tips!

I was charging from the wall. Tried also charging via laptop but neither worked (or gave any indication of working from the "charging" light)

For the 9V: would I need wires connecting the 9V and the battery?

I'll try charging for a couple hours first, even w/o the indictor light goin on.

I'll let you know!

Edited May 16, 2007 by slagertje

[Guest xeno1]

Yes, with the (v battery fix you would need one wire to connect from the negative of the 9v to the negative of the phones battery and one wire to connect from the positive to the positive of the phone battery. I've heard of this long before I read about it on here so I'm sure it probably works although I've never tried it myself.

Just to let you know though, I had a laptop battery that was completely dead before like this and I had to leave it on the charger for 2 days before it even started to take a charge. I didn't know about 9v battery fix at that time or else I would have tried. Don't give up though if it doesn't start charging right away if you're going to try to bring it back with a charger, let it go for a good 24 hours or more and see what happens.

[Guest slagertje]

So far no sign of life...it's been plugged in for over 24 hours but no indicator light.

I head home tomorrow so I will try the 9v idea and let you know.

[Guest slagertje]

Back in Amsterdam plugged my MDA and it immediately started charging.

Unfortunately didn't need to try the 9v trick (sounded fun!)

I had used the same charger in the USA the week before where it did work, and it worked with a different tip (for a different cellphone) in Japan, so it's still a mystery to me why it didn't work with the MDA in Japan.

Any tips would be appreciated (T-mobile was no help, already asked) as I travel to Japan often.

Thanks!

[Guest slagertje]

Left MDA plugged in for 48 hours in Japan but still no reaction.

Back in Amsterdam plugged it in and it immediately started charging.

Unfortunately didn't need to try the 9v trick (sounded fun!)

I had just used the same charger in the USA the week before where it did work, and it worked with a different tip (for a different cellphone) in Japan, so it's still a mystery to me why it didn't work with the MDA in Japan.

Any tips would be appreciated (T-mobile was no help, already asked) as I travel to Japan often.

Thanks!

[Guest xeno1]

You really have me on that one. I'm glad it's working again though.