Won't switch on....

[palitsyn]

So, my phone ran out for battery and died. Plugged it in over an hour ago, but the phone will not switch on. Anything I can do?

 

[yfan]

Hmm, are you sure the phone is charging? I don't think the Nexus 4 charges without turning itself on. Is it possible you have it plugged into an outlet without electricity? Try a different outlet - one that you know is live.

 

[palitsyn]

I am not sure if it's charging. Something similar happened a couple of days ago. Held the power button for around 10 seconds and a red notification light came on. I think it was flashing as well. About 10 or so minutes later the screen came on.

This time it's been "charging" for about 2 hours now and it just won't turn on. Getting a little worried now.

 

[palitsyn]

It's back on. It doesn't look like it was charging before. I tried pluggin it into my laptop, but that wouldn't do anything. I then held the power button for 10 seconds, whilst the phone was unplugged and then plugged it into the mains again. The red notification light started flashing and the screen came to life after a minute. I was then able to torn the phone on. The wallpaper got changed to the stock one, but everything else seems to be normal.

 

[N4Newbie]

It's back on. It doesn't look like it was charging before. I tried pluggin it into my laptop, but that wouldn't do anything. I then held the power button for 10 seconds, whilst the phone was unplugged and then plugged it into the mains again. The red notification light started flashing and the screen came to life after a minute. I was then able to torn the phone on. The wallpaper got changed to the stock one, but everything else seems to be normal.

When the phone goes totally dead, it drops into " power off" mode. To turn back on,need to hold the power button for about 5 seconds until you feel the phone vibrate one time. Let go the button and the phone will restart.

To initiate power off mode without first draining the battery, turn the phone on then hold the power button for several seconds until the pop up menu displays and tap "Power Off"

 

[palitsyn]

Yeah, none of that would work. Held the power button for longer than 10 seconds quite a few times and nothing would work. I am thinking the charger is faulty, as when it finally came on, it had 2% charge even though it was plugged into the mains for 2+ hours.

 

[N4Newbie]

Sounds mighty suspicious. Is this the stock charger with 5V, 1.2A output which came with your N4, or another charger?

 

[palitsyn]

I left my stock charger in a hotel just a day ago, so I was actually using my Nexus 7 charger, which is 5V, 2.0A and therefore should be fine. I was also in a restaurant last night and they plugged it into USB for an hour, and that didn't seem to charge the phone at all.

 

[N4Newbie]

Just a couple more random thoughts...

1) I have never fully drained my battery; when the N4 arrived it already had more than 50% charge and I have never let it go below around 15%.

2) The first time I plugged the charger in immediately after unpacking the phone and prior to turning it on, a black & white charging symbol appeared in the middle of the otherwise blank screen - maybe about 1-1/2" tall.

3) Testing something else recently, I put the N4 into "power off" mode and connected the charger. Same symbol as above; stays on the screen for several seconds and then (if I recall correctly) pops up again every minute or so while the charger is connected.

Q) Did you see this charging symbol while your phone was charging (and in "power off" mode)?

4) I have a simple iBlason case on my phone (this one Amazon.com: i-Blason Slim Fit S Line Flexible TPU Case for Google Nexus 4 Smart Phone E960 LG 8gb 16gb (Black): Cell Phones & Accessories ) which has a small cutout in the bottom to permit plugging in the USB cable. Many of my cables fit just fine, but one in particular has a somewhat bloated end and does not fit well within the cutout. Although the connector part appears to be plugged in, it actually is barely making electrical contact and I have to manually hold it in place to actually activate the charging circuit. Obviously, I don't do this...

Q) Is your N4 in a case? If so, are you sure the USB cable is making a good connection when it is plugged in?

 

[palitsyn]

This was the first time I have completely drained the battery. No, I wasn't getting anything on the scree. It was completely dead for over three hours. I really thought that was it. No case either, so the connect is good .

 

[tlc000]

Hi, i think i have a similar problem, i just wanted to double check how you got it get it back on?

did you leave it unplugged for a few hours before pressing the power button?

my notification light is a solid red and pretty much nothing else happens, i haven't even ha da chance to turn it on at all because i just received it this morning and plugged it into the charger and it never turned on.

thanks.

 

[paulinepdm]

This has happened to me twice, both time after charging. Seems like when device is fully charged and connected to charger, it shuts itself down completely. Tried several times to turn it on, 10 seconds, etc.--both when connected to charger, then again several times unconnected-----, finally on 3rd or 4th try it turned on. As stated above, vibrates once, let go then it reboots up.

 

[kai10]

Same problem happened to me today. My phone was pretty much dead, but right before it died, GPS and wireless signal went out and I noticed that the led was flashing red, and then when I unplugged and plugged the phone charger back in, the led light was flashing between a dim and bright red. Then the phone just stopped responding and I tried to reset it only to find out that the phone wouldn't turn on anymore. It sat on the car charger for about an hour and wouldn't turn on. Put it on the wall charger and wouldn't charge. Hooked it up to my desktop, and wouldn't charge. Tried all sorts of button combinations to try to power it on, wouldn't work. I could tell that the phone wasn't charging at all because the battery area was completely cold. What did work after 8 hours of messing around with it... holding the power button while plugging the phone (3rd party micro usb cord with the travel charger) into the wall.

 

[ermitico]

I've had the same problem last two nights in a row. Plugged in at night to charge only to find put that the phone had completely shut off at some point. When I tried to turn it on in the morning it wouldn't turn on for a half hour no matter how long I held the power button for. Other thing that was weird was that the upper back of the phone was very warm, I tried cooling it down by putting it on a cold window sill and then finally it turned back on. Getting concerned that next time it won't turn on at all. Any thoughts on what to do?

 

[N4Newbie]

I've had the same problem last two nights in a row. Plugged in at night to charge only to find put that the phone had completely shut off at some point. When I tried to turn it on in the morning it wouldn't turn on for a half hour no matter how long I held the power button for. Other thing that was weird was that the upper back of the phone was very warm, I tried cooling it down by putting it on a cold window sill and then finally it turned back on. Getting concerned that next time it won't turn on at all. Any thoughts on what to do?

Just so we know, are you using the charger AND cable which came with your Nexus 4? If not, what are you using?

 

[jeffepops]

Add me to the list of those whose N4 has been shutting down overnight while charging. This happens with the factory charger as well as another one I tried just to see if it would make a difference. It takes a few efforts to turn the phone on before it boots up, and shows that the battery has completely charged. I posted a separate thread about this matter, under the subject of the phone's alarm not working (presumably due to the phone shutting off). Got no answers, only questions about what type of charger I'm using.

I called Google Play tech support 6 days ago. I was told they would look into the issue and get back to me withing about two days. I have not heard back from Google, yet.

 

[Bernardo Gontijo]

The same happened to me. I left it plugged in for 1 night and by the morning the phone was in the same way. So I tried to connect and disconnect the power supply several times and on one time a battery logo appears on the screen.

 

[Rizy7]

Can I just ask if you guys have received your phones fairly recently? And what hw rev have you guys got?

 

[Nuno Luis]

I received my Nexus 4 yesterday, got it out of the box and plugged it in with the charger and USB cable that came with it. A red light showed up on the bottom (which made me think the phone was charging). 5 hours later couldn't turn it on.

Next day, same situation, leave it plugged either to the wall socket or to the computer, via USB, and only the red light shows and it doesn't turn on - tried all combinations of both and single buttons plus lots of time.

By the amount of complaints I see here, this seems to be a fairly common problem which should be address quickly.

Thanks.

 

[N4Newbie]

When the phone is in "power off" state (which it is when shipped), you need to hold the power button for about five seconds until you feel the haptic feedback (the phone goes bump in your hand) then let go.

The phone should now boot up.