Think I semi bricked my Playbook (edit: now it really is bricked)

[Red Squirrel]

So an update came through, I decided to say yes. It just errored out 5 minutes into it saying it was interrupted.

Tried it a bunch of times with same result. Now the wifi is completely dead. It's been turned off countless time, I confirmed my wifi works with another PC.

Any chance in getting this thing to work, or is it game over? I think the update partially installed so it probably screwed everything up when it just randomly decided to conk out.

No matter what I do, wifi wont work on it anymore. It says it's connected, but does not actually connect to anything.

 

[Imp]

Huh... I'm updating mine now. Just realized I'm suppose to plug it in while I do this... Charger is at work, so...

I don't know of a hard reset/set to factory. Best advice is to get it serviced. Look for a factory reset first; there's one in the menu, but that would mean you can get it turned on.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'll try that. it does turn on, it's just the wifi portion is pooched. It says it's connected yet there's no network connectivity. Guessing I'll loose my apps and stuff? Not a big deal I guess.

And also did not realize it had to be plugged in to do an update. Now I know.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Mine acted crazy too, WiFi wouldn't connect, thought I bricked it, pressed these buttons, & it came back, had to do it repeatedly though. I lost my WiFi, and the PlayBook wouldn't accept the manual SSID/password combo, had to activate WiFi with the router using the "connect button" on the router.

http://www.berryreview.com/2011/04/21/how-to-perform-a-hard-reset-on-the-blackberry-playbook/

Sorry, that diagram is wrong, just power and volume down will do it.

 

[Ig]

You should be able to install the os from your pc via usb. When I rooted a family member's playbook I read up on some of the different methods; like using the Desktop Manager software to install the os or using Dingleberry to upgrade/downgrade. So one of those methods may work.

 

[Kenmitch]

Maybe try the guide in this link if all else fails.

http://yuwienetwork.blogspot.com/2012/01/fix-bricked-playbook-factory-reset.html

 

[Red Squirrel]

Updating via USB now. I'll see what happens.

 

[Red Squirrel]

No go. Damn, looks like this is really going to have to get complicated now. Time to try to do a factory reset.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Can't you go into recovery and download from SD card or something.....

Show of hacked it

 

[Red Squirrel]

Whatever I do, it just fails half way through. I tried doing what was in the link ken posted, it almost finished, then crapped out. Yeah think this thing is toast. Good thing I got it on sale for $200 and not at the full price. I just regret not getting the extended plan now. :/ Damnit, all this because of a stupid update I did not need. I know to say no next time.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Return it and get a new one?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Did not take the extended plan :/ Never realized how easily something like this could happen, and I just took the chance that I'd be careful with it and never drop it or anything. So the 30 days or whatever Staple's return policy is has most likely elapsed. I'll give it a try though, but don't think I'll be able to return it.

I was reading online and apparently brute force works. Basically just keep trying to update and eventually it does go through fully. So guess I'll try that at least till I can get to the store.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Scratch that. It's totally bricked now. The backlight is on, and it's not responding to anything. What a POS.

 

[Pliablemoose]

It has a 1 year manufacturer's warranty, try calling them, worst case scenario, you're out shipping to have a replacement issued.

http://ca.blackberry.com/support/playbook-support/contact.jsp

 

[Imp]

It doesn't "have" to be plugged in to update, but I remember reading that you should in case of power interruption/failure since updating uses quite a bit of juice.

Sucks. Get it warranty repaired, even if you're out of warranty, since their update bricked it. And it's not like they're low on stock and these things are selling like hot cakes; they may even thank you for reducing their inventory...

 

[Red Squirrel]

No go, it looks like it's actually 90 days and I'm passed that (I put in my serial). They do have a paid per incident support. If I can't do anything through Staples, that will be my next try. I wont be able to go till Monday so for now I'll just wait till the battery dies and see what happens from there. I can't even turn it off or anything, it's just at a faint backlight screen.

 

[Imp]

This is all I found for factory reset:

http://www.berryreview.com/2012/01/05/how-to-factory-resetunbrick-a-blackberry-playbook/

http://forums.techarena.in/portable-devices/1405836.htm

Sounds like you need to plug it into a PC, then turn it off, or something? Sounds like you already did that?

 

[Red Squirrel]

yep did that already, even that said it was interrupted. Now it wont even turn off. After it failed it looked like it had worked, except when I got to the country selection, there was nothing in the list. I was then stuck because I could not accept the license agreement. Turned it off, now it's just stuck at a "black/blank" screen but the backlight is still on.

I was also reading that what causes the update to fail is when the screen goes off, you have to keep playing with it with your finger. What a stupid design. You'd think it would still keep doing it in the background.

 

[Pliablemoose]

No go, it looks like it's actually 90 days and I'm passed that (I put in my serial). They do have a paid per incident support. If I can't do anything through Staples, that will be my next try. I wont be able to go till Monday so for now I'll just wait till the battery dies and see what happens from there. I can't even turn it off or anything, it's just at a faint backlight screen.

It has 90 days tech support, 1 year manufacturer's warranty. Call them, they'll replace it, trust me.

Or sell it to me, I'll give you $100 for it

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah I'll still try and see what happens. I work 12 hour shifts so I'll only be able to call Monday anyway. According to the forums it seems this update has tons of issues, so pretty sure they'll fix it for free now that I think about it.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Yeah I'll still try and see what happens. I work 12 hour shifts so I'll only be able to call Monday anyway. According to the forums it seems this update has tons of issues, so pretty sure they'll fix it for free now that I think about it.

If an update jacked up the device. Then they replace for free. Like with my OGDroid. Happened twice

 

[Red Squirrel]

Battery died by the time I got home from work, so trying an update again through USB with it turned off. I'll see how that goes. According to what I've been reading it can take like tons of tries and then it eventually works. I'll at least do that till Monday when I can call. Though at this point I'm probably better off to just leave it be and call it in as even if I do get it to work, I wont be able to trust it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

ok yeah it's officially bricked. Think it's the wifi portion. It appears that the whole issue with the country selection thing is that it has to download the info via wifi. So that's why I get stuck there. The wifi simply stopped working. So yeah I'll call monday.

This is going to be a tricky one as they'll probably keep insisting it's my router. I know, because I've worked tech support, and 99% of the time it IS the router, but not in this case, I can connect fine with other devices.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

ok yeah it's officially bricked. Think it's the wifi portion. It appears that the whole issue with the country selection thing is that it has to download the info via wifi. So that's why I get stuck there. The wifi simply stopped working. So yeah I'll call monday.

This is going to be a tricky one as they'll probably keep insisting it's my router. I know, because I've worked tech support, and 99% of the time it IS the router, but not in this case, I can connect fine with other devices.

Convince them

 

[Pliablemoose]

I find the simplest way is to give the simplest answer.

"i tried to update my PlayBook and now it doesn't work."