Droid not charging

[Marksman11]

I just bought the Droid today and am having problems with the charger/battery? I used it all today after purchasing it until the battery ran down. The entire time the battery icon had a question mark instead of the actual status (which I thought was odd at the time). I plugged in my Droid after it died and it turned on, but it doesn't seem to recognize the charger.

I've had it charging for the past few hours, but I still cannot unplug it without it immediately turning off and the battery level is stuck at 5% (the battery and question mark is still in the corner too).

Short of having to return it tomorrow to Verizon, do you guys know of any solutions to my problem?

Edit: For clarification, when its plugged in to the charger, the phone will turn on and function. As soon as I unplug it, the phone turns off.

 

[teschoen]

I would try other Micro-USB cables to see if you have a defective one. There is a little white LED on the left side of the microUSB port on the Droid, does it light up at all?

 

[TheBandit181]

Check that the battery terminals on the battery and on the phone are making contact, especially be sure that none of the terminals on the back of the phone are stuck in a position that would inhibit contact. If they are stuck you should see that they are uneven.

 

[Marksman11]

I tried hooking up via USB to my computer. Here the white light shows up, but the phone won't turn on in this stage. Conversely, when I plug it into the wall, there is no white light, but the phone will at least stay on. Battery level still maintains a 5% level and my battery status under phone info says "Unknown"

I left it plugged into my USB throughout the night. I was woken up periodically as the phone sort of cycled in and out of charge and turned on and off.

I've done several battery pulls trying to fix it to no avail.

 

[FrayAdjacent]

Sounds like the solution is

You + your droid -> Verizon = exchange.

Sounds like you either got a bum battery or a bum phone.

 

[Marksman11]

That's what I was thinking. I had talked to a Verizon customer rep this morning to make sure I could swap it out at any Verizon store, so I plan on making a trip after class here in a bit.

Thanks for the help and the replies.

 

[FrayAdjacent]

Sounds like the best plan. Remember, you have a 30 day return policy. The store should have no issues swapping you a new one since you just got it yesterday (or the day before?).

You'll love the Droid. Keep in mind, though, the first few days, battery life will be noticeably lower than average. It'll come up after a week or so. Charge it up fully, then drain it to the warning and charge it up again. Then you should be golden!

Let us know how the exchange goes.

 

[Marksman11]

I was initially worried because I had talked to a Verizon customer service rep this morning and she told me I have to return it to the same store I bought it from. Given that I had bought it over the weekend at a distant store this really wasn't possible, so I called back again a few hours later and another rep told me any store would do the exchange.

In the limited time I've been able to use the Droid, I have really enjoyed it (great interface, apps, easy to use and customize, etc). Overall, I'm very happy with the purchase, despite the current hiccup.

Thanks for the battery tips as well. Hopefully I'm home with a fully functioning Droid in a few hours!

 

[Marksman11]

Turns out it was a bad battery after all. Got a new battery and am now a happy Droid owner!

 

[KAL-EL]

You'll love the Droid. Keep in mind, though, the first few days, battery life will be noticeably lower than average. It'll come up after a week or so. Charge it up fully, then drain it to the warning and charge it up again. Then you should be golden!

So you recommend this action the first time one uses a droid? I ask because mine arrives tomorrow from amazon.

 

[starnesc]

So you recommend this action the first time one uses a droid? I ask because mine arrives tomorrow from amazon.

Yes that is a good starting point and you will notice more life out of the battery after you use it for a couple of weeks.

 

[KAL-EL]

Yes that is a good starting point and you will notice more life out of the battery after you use it for a couple of weeks.

Thanks! it arrived a few hours back and I immediately put it on the charger. Wow, this phone is nothing short of incredible!

 

[redstevie]

Turns out it was a bad battery after all. Got a new battery and am now a happy Droid owner!

really?
just bad battery?
i hope it'll cure my startup screen logo freeze

EDIT:
never mind. found the solution for the freeze.

 

[Wazootyman]

All right, here's my situation.

My first droid took a water bath, I tried saving it, but that didn't work.

So I bought a different one off of Craigslist. There are two problems with it that I didn't notice when I picked it up, both are similar to this situation. The phone is a bitch to get charging. I need to wiggle the connection like crazy before the phone recognizes the charger is connected.

Then that leads to the second problem--it doesn't actually charge. It won't go down, just stays at the same percent.

I hadn't realized the second problem when I took it into Verizon today. I did tell her how I had bought it used off Craigslist. She then goes into the back for about 5 minutes and comes out saying "Since you didn't get this new, I opened it up to fiddle with the screw on the plugin spot. This voids your warranty."

My first thought is "Okay, well, maybe it'll at least connect." When I did get home and plugged it in, I needed to wiggle the charger, just like usual. When I got it to recognize the charger, it still wouldn't charge.

I'm kind of stuck on what I should do now. They told me the warranty is voided, because of something they did that I didn't authorize them to do.

 

[covelloj]

hi, i had the same problem, droid turning off, battery icon had a question mark. i powered the droid all the way off and then back on again and the question mark went away. i'll post if the problem re occurs.

 

[Edmondsc]

We have two Droid in the house. One is the Global D2. All of a sudden, it started not charging. Wife brought it to Verizon. They told her she broke the MiUSB. Maybe they will swap it.

I'm an electrical engineer. The MiUSB is not broken. The software is frozen and does not manage the charging correctly. How do I know?

I took a 60% charged battery from our other Droid. Put it into the D2. Software showed 5% and would not charge. Ergo--it is not the battery (since it charges fine in the old Droid), and not the MiUSB (since I can connect and transfer data to my PC).

Now I am trying to figure out how to reload the Verizon OS. If the numnutz at Verizon ever tried to really ask questions and troubleshoot the hundreds of Droid they are getting in returns (their words at the store), maybe they wouldn't need to charge us an arm-and-a-leg rates.

 

[AngryHatter]

Reload the OS? What do you mean?A factory reset?

You have obviously pulled the battery. (A soft boot).
Are you using an OEM charger and not the USB port on a computer?