Nokia N97 Bricked - What to do?

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Woolly

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#82508 30-Apr-2011 12:33

Hi All,

I recently bought a Nokia N97 off Trademe auction.

Phone arrived a week later because of Easter.

It worked for a few hours until I was using the USB cable to transfer music to the phone. It would transfer a few songs and then windows explorer would freeze.
I then decided then to use the latest Ovi Suite to upgrade the phone. It started ok and then a message came up like "Unplug USB, remove battery and then turn on phone". I did this and then plugged the USB back in. Windows would keep repeating found new hardware lost new hardware repeatly.

Then the USB hub it was connected to froze. So I pulled out the Nokia USB cable. Reset the USB hub and then my keyboard and mouse started working again. Now when I turn on the phone it vibrates and then does nothing else. Removed battery and sim card many times same result.

I believe the Nokia USB cable has an intermittent short and has broken the phone.

The reason for this is the trouble copying files to the phone and because the USB hub froze with Nokia USB cable connected, it's ok when it's disconnected.

I also had problems yesterday where the GPS wasn't working.

I've emailed the seller with pretty much the same as above, waiting to hear back.

It came in a Nokia box with a Nokia USB cable that has a Nokia holographic sticker on it.

Has anyone had similar problems with USB cables?

In the Trademe listing it was listed as being 2 years old.

What to do? (send back to the seller and ask them to get it repaired/send it to Nokia and ask them to look ati?)

Any other thoughts welcome.

Cheers.

PS I've checked the cable and it looks fine. No crimps or cuts, looks brand new.

Technofreak

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#463938 30-Apr-2011 14:33

I'd try a hard reset. Here's a link that explains how to do it. http://mynokiablog.com/2009/07/18/how-to-hard-reset-your-nokia-n97/

I haven't used these particular instructions as I have a 5800 XM. I've successfully done a hard reset on it using similar instructions though. The 5800 uses virtually the same OS as the N97.

Just be sure to keep all the buttons pressed until you see the initial start up screen.

I cannot explain why you've had this issue with the phone and Ovi, make sure you do have the correct/latest USB drivers for the phone and Ovi. I would uninstall Ovi and any other Nokia software/drivers using the add/removes progammmes section in control panel then go on line and download the latest versions.

As well as Ovi suite there will be other software like Nokia PC connectivity cable driver, Nokia PC suite, and Nokia software updater. Remove them all and start again as reinstalling or updating Ovi or more particularly the drivers is not all that successfull with the old versions still installed.

You will probably find that just installing Ovi will reinstall any other stuff you need like drivers etc.

If you have any more issues try some google searches as you will usually find tid bits of information to help you.

Once you get it sorted it should work well. There are some good apps for the phone, the Ovi maps is particularly good, as is Sports tracker.

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Woolly

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#463944 30-Apr-2011 15:01

Thanks for the reply.

I've tried the hard reset and alot of different combinations as well, the screen stays blank.

I just went and bought a micro usb cable, all that happen is the sound of a device being connected in windows and then immediately after the sound of device being disconnected.

The Ovi software is the latest from yesterday, and the first time installed. The USB connection doesn't stay on long enough to do anything with it.

I've been googling away and there are a few with the same problem most are fixed with a Hard Reset.

Yes I hope to get alot of out of this phone. I really liked the idea of having everything in one device. Phone, Video, Camera, Maps, Speedometer, FM Transmitter, eMail and more.

Cheers.

Technofreak

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#463946 30-Apr-2011 15:10

I had to have several goes to get the hard reset to work. I didn't realise that I had to keep all the buttons pressed until the screen that asked for your country was displayed.

Just a random thought. Have you tried charging the battery? Is it possible it has gone flat while you have been playing around?

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Woolly

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#463964 30-Apr-2011 16:44

Well I've held the power button, shift, space and backspace keys for a minute, no go.

I've tried holding the shift, space and backspace keys for a minute after pressing the power button until it vibrates.

Since the Nokia USB cable froze the USB hub I'm inclined to think it caused a short circuit. Saying that, you'd think diodes would protect from that?

Technofreak

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#463973 30-Apr-2011 17:15

You mentioned that the cable appeared to be like new. Unless you can see any obvious damage or an area that looks like it's been pinched I think it very unlikely that the cable is your problem, unless there is a metal foreign object in the socket area of the cable.

Some of the instructions that I found when I was looking for hard reset instructions were a little confusing and didn't explain the exact process very well.

You might have already tried this, but this is what worked for me.

Hold down the three buttons (in my case the red and green keys on the front and the camera button) then press the On/Off button as you normally would to start the phone. Release the On/Off button but keep the other keys pressed until the start up screen requesting your country (or perhaps date and time) appears. The hard reset is complete. In your case you would hold down the Space, Delete (Backspace) and Caps/Shift keys.

One site mentioned that it may not work first time. Good luck

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Woolly

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#463979 30-Apr-2011 17:32

I've tried the reset buttons many times, also tried camera button with phone, hangup buttons (probably a waste of time as they'd only come alive once the phone was booted.)

Any other ideas welcome.

Also when plugging the phone into the mains charger no light comes on(not sure if it's suppose too, but I figured it should).

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Technofreak

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#463981 30-Apr-2011 17:41

I'm fresh out of ideas right now. Have you done exactly as I described for the hard reset?

No lights come on during charging, though phone does beep shortly after charger is turned on.

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Technofreak

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#464010 30-Apr-2011 20:04

It might be worth posting on the Symbian area of this section of Geekzone, you might get a few more replies there.

Does the phone vibrate when you press the On/Off button? Is there any sign of battery life?

I'm wondering if you have a battery problem.

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#465370 4-May-2011 18:38

Just curious. Have you got your problems sorted?

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Woolly

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#470065 17-May-2011 12:34

Yes problems sorted.

Fantastic response from Nokia I sent away on a Monday, they received and fixed it on a Thursday. Reflashed it, they must have special software for this?

It was back in my hands by Friday lunchtime.

Big thumbs up for Nokia Support Center Auckland.

Technofreak

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#470210 17-May-2011 18:58

Pleased to hear that. Hope you're enjoying the N97. I really like my 5800 which is basically the N97 without the the pop out keyboard.

One setting worth checking is the Wifi settings and turn off the auto search function. With this switched on the phone is always searching for available WiFi networks, which most of the time you don't need. All the while this is hogging up battery life.

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Woolly

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#470218 17-May-2011 19:21

Thanks for that.

Downloading the QT SDK now. It'll be interesting to see the difference between MS offering and Nokia's. Though it looks like this will be converging at some stage.

Technofreak

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#470253 17-May-2011 20:37

Yes very interesting times ahead. Though right now I think Nokia (Symbian) is streets ahead of Microsoft (Windows). This may change by year end though I think it will take longer than this for Windows to reach the functionality levels of Symbian.

So far as I'm concerned Symbian is a good OS with the apps I need and then some. While some commentators are writing Symbian off, Windows is yet to prove itself and with some of the make overs that are reportedly coming there's plenty life left in Symbian.

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