Battery won't charge.

[wibble]

I think the operating system controls the charging,  so that could explain what you are seeing when you try to 'power on' your phone.

Not, it does not: https://xnux.eu/howtos/pine64-pinephone-...arted.html

It's a bit more nuanced than that depending on what sort of charger you're using - see https://xnux.eu/devices/feature/anx7688.html for details. In summary if you're using a basic charger that follows the Battery Charging specs it should work well without OS support. If you're using a nice Power Delivery charger it'll need OS support to get past its lowest charge rate.