dead Pinebook - help please

[RicTor]

My PBP broke due to stiff hinges. I have replaced the Palm case, released the stiff hinge and transplanted all contents.

But the PBP now will not switch on. I have checked all connections, ribbons etc. All look OK.

Can anyone help me with tests to find the problem? Email would be very useful.

[wdt]

You could have given more info.....
Do you get a red charge light?
Do you get a boot led?
Did you try something (that works) in the uSD socket?
Have you tried a "long press"? (20+s)
Did you gently press eMMC (into socket)?
I am assuming that you had a working OS on eMMC

[RicTor]

You could have given more info.....
Do you get a red charge light?
Do you get a boot led?
Did you try something (that works) in the uSD socket?
Have you tried a "long press"? (20+s)
Did you gently press eMMC (into socket)?
I am assuming that you had a working OS on eMMC

Thanks for that - but it's fixed. It seems if the battery is too low charging will not  even switch on? I suspect around 3.5v? I charged the battery from a lab power supply at 4.0 v which has done the trick.

But now a problem -  cannot connect to the network. I don't use Manjaro normally, I use RiscOS - both bootable from separate sd cards.

I had stiff hinge (now fixed) - broken case, so was sent ANSI keyboard to replace ISP one...

If possible can we switch to email? richard@torrens.org

[williamcorlin]

My PBP broke due to stiff hinges. I have replaced the Palm case, released the stiff hinge and transplanted all contents.

But the PBP now will not switch on. I have checked all connections, ribbons etc. All look OK.                                                                     free online games

Can anyone help me with tests to find the problem? Email would be very useful.

Hey, I had a somewhat similar issue after opening mine up. These Pinebooks can be a bit picky after reassembly.
A few things you can try:

• Battery connection first: even if it looks fine, unplug it and reconnect it firmly. Sometimes it doesn’t seat properly and the board won’t power at all.
  
• Try booting without battery (just with charger connected) to rule out a battery or protection circuit issue.
  
• Check the power button ribbon — this one is easy to misalign slightly and then nothing happens when you press it.
  
• Look for tiny damage near the hinge area: since your issue started with stiff hinges, it’s possible a cable or even a trace got stressed or cracked. Pay close attention to display and power-related ribbons running through that area.
  
• Charger/LED behavior: do you see any LED when plugging in power? If not, it could point to a power input or board-level issue.
  

If you have a multimeter, you could also check if the battery is outputting voltage (~3.7–4.2V) and if that voltage reaches the board.
Honestly, in many cases after hinge repairs, it ends up being a slightly loose ribbon or damaged cable rather than a dead board. Worth double-checking those again slowly.