Pinephone not charging and not powering up

[gab]

Hello,

My problem is similar to thread https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=8993 but I create this thread to add details specific to my case:

I was able to power up the phone when it arrived and I tested Ubuntu touch and postmarketOS which both are looking promising.
The battery indicator was showing around 20% I think.
I used a raspberry pi to connect to the UART using the headphone jack and I was able to communicate with postmarketOS.
While doing this the phone was plugged in (2A charger)  to let it charge but it did not seem to charge (I do not remember seeing a red light or a charging indicators in the OSes). I though maybe this as a OS bug and maybe it was actually charging.
Then I switched the phone off by typing "sudo poweroff" in the serial terminal, and let off to  charge for a while (still no red light though).

A few hours later the phone does not power up and does not seem to charge (led not turning on).
I also tried to power up without the battery but that does not work either. I know a 3A charger is advised but someone in the chat said 1A is sufficient to boot without the battery, so my 2A charger should work  ?


I will not be able to get a multimeter until a few days, but then I will look at the battery voltage and the power drawn from the usb cable. In the meantime any idea is welcome

Could it be a PMIC problem similar to what can happen on the pinebook when the battery is totally drained ? (https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=4632)

[gab]

Update:

I also tried a different, known to work, USB-C cable with the same results.

The battery was totally discharged: 0 V between the poles according to my multi-meter.

I tried to plug a lab DC power supply at 3.8 V to the PinePhone battery connector (without the battery plugged in): the phone tries to boot (0.25 A drawn, led turns on green for 1 s.) then it immediately stops (when the LCD tries to turn on it seems), the led switches off and the power drawn falls to 0 A. So the phone is not dead ! Perhaps a capacitor would make it work, I had not one available .

Then I tried to charge the battery by plugging it at 4.0 V (internet says 4.2 V is the maximum tension to charge a 3.8V lithium battery).

After 1 hour the battery was a bit charged, and the phone booted normally Still not charging though, but when the USB is plugged to the computer, it is seen as a "PinePhone" so my theory that the USB connector is not correctly connected does not hold.

Any ideas ? If you want me to measure tensions inside the phone, I would be happy to do it (if I still keep my 1 month warranty).

[blicken]

Hi Gab, I wonder if by tension you mean voltage?
In any event, you might try putting the leads of your volt meter on the pogo pins near the kill switches.
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/PINE6...nsion_port
I would try it, measuring between 5volts and gnd, with the charged battery installed, then with the battery removed, and the USB cord powering the device. I doubt this would viod your warranty, as proving that you even did it would be impossible.

I have not tore down the pine phone yet, but i saw some pictures of the internals. the main circuit board is in the same area of the kill switches,
and a flex cable extends below the battery to the other end of the phone where the usb c connector is. Im not sure if the flex cable is directly soldered on to the usb connector, and or the circuit board on the opposite end, or if the flex cable is linked with connectors.

My recommendation is that if you have a warranty, use it.

[bcnaz]

Hello,

My problem is similar to thread https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=8993 but I create this thread to add details specific to my case:

I was able to power up the phone when it arrived and I tested Ubuntu touch and postmarketOS which both are looking promising.
The battery indicator was showing around 20% I think.
I used a raspberry pi to connect to the UART using the headphone jack and I was able to communicate with postmarketOS.
While doing this the phone was plugged in (2A charger)  to let it charge but it did not seem to charge (I do not remember seeing a red light or a charging indicators in the OSes). I though maybe this as a OS bug and maybe it was actually charging.
Then I switched the phone off by typing "sudo poweroff" in the serial terminal, and let off to  charge for a while (still no red light though).

A few hours later the phone does not power up and does not seem to charge (led not turning on).
I also tried to power up without the battery but that does not work either. I know a 3A charger is advised but someone in the chat said 1A is sufficient to boot without the battery, so my 2A charger should work  ?


I will not be able to get a multimeter until a few days, but then I will look at the battery voltage and the power drawn from the usb cable. In the meantime any idea is welcome

Could it be a PMIC problem similar to what can happen on the pinebook when the battery is totally drained ? (https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=4632)

@gab 
 
  I believe the wiki states the wifi and the modem will not operate if the battery is removed, 

so it is not a matter of your adapter just having enough power.

[gab]

@blicken  @kxpunisher  @rk7  @Luke 
 
I made progress in debugging this HW issue and my phone is "fixed". See https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PinePh...sue_.3F.29 for the hacky fix. Please do not attempt this if you measure VBUS to be good (around 5V) on flex cable. Also this may break your warranty (ask Pine staff before).

[bridadan]

I've just received my Pinephone Braveheart. I could not get it to charge with a standard USB charger (5V 1A, which was expected) or various USB ports on my USB 3.0 Hub (some with greater current limits) or directly attached to my desktop. I also couldn't get it to charge with my Google Pixel XL charger (Model Number: TC G1000-US). This surprised me since I was under the impression this charger was USB PD compliant. I turned the phone off (and removed the battery briefly to ensure it was off) and left it plugged into this charger overnight to see if it would charge at all but it did not.

Luckily I also have access to a Apple MacBook Pro charger and this is able to charge the phone. I'm currently running @a-wai's  "Debian + Phosh" image: https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=9016. This image shows if the phone is charging or not.

[aleadom]

@blicken  @kxpunisher  @rk7  @Luke 
 
I made progress in debugging this HW issue and my phone is "fixed". See https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PinePh...sue_.3F.29 for the hacky fix. Please do not attempt this if you measure VBUS to be good (around 5V) on flex cable. Also this may break your warranty (ask Pine staff before).

I think my telephone has same issue, I´m gonna ask staff.

I begin with same problems than you now, it does not star, poweroff again quickly.

[rk7]

@blicken  @kxpunisher  @rk7  @Luke 
 
I made progress in debugging this HW issue and my phone is "fixed". See https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PinePh...sue_.3F.29 for the hacky fix. Please do not attempt this if you measure VBUS to be good (around 5V) on flex cable. Also this may break your warranty (ask Pine staff before).

Thanks for your great instructions, gab!

In your instructions, you write: The phone is seen has a "PinePhone" when connected with USB to a Linux computer.

That is already not true for my phone, I just get:
Mar 26 11:55:45 kernel: usb 1-1.2: new full-speed USB device number 5 using ehci-pci
Mar 26 11:55:45 kernel: usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=1f3a, idProduct=efe8, bcdDevice= 2.b3
Mar 26 11:55:45 kernel: usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0

But thanks again!

[severson]

I've just received my Pinephone Braveheart. I could not get it to charge with a standard USB charger (5V 1A, which was expected) or various USB ports on my USB 3.0 Hub (some with greater current limits) or directly attached to my desktop. I also couldn't get it to charge with my Google Pixel XL charger (Model Number: TC G1000-US). This surprised me since I was under the impression this charger was USB PD compliant. I turned the phone off (and removed the battery briefly to ensure it was off) and left it plugged into this charger overnight to see if it would charge at all but it did not.

Luckily I also have access to a Apple MacBook Pro charger and this is able to charge the phone. I'm currently running @a-wai's  "Debian + Phosh" image: https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=9016. This image shows if the phone is charging or not.

Thanks for the MBP suggestion.

[Goddard]

Same problem here.

Phone won't charge with different chargers.