Why can't I power up my Nexus 7?

[AC Question]

My battery was fully charged. During operation, an app failed (happening with alarming frequency recently) and then instead of restarting on its own, as had been happening after many app crashes, the tablet simply powered off. Nothing brought it back up. I've attempted all the various button combinations without success. I removed the back and found the battery fully connected. I unplugged it and left it disconnected for about 15 minutes, but still had no success powering up afterward. I can't even reach the reboot/restore screen I keep reading about.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! 2012 or 2013 N7? Have you already tried pressing and holding Power for about 15-20 seconds?

 

[Ben Wyles]

Yes

 

[Ben Wyles]

I attempted to restart with all the different button combinations listed on the site, all without success. The tablet was fully charged when this happened, and I was using the Bing at the time, which failed immediately prior to the failure. Most of my apps have been failing lately, causing an immediate self-restart. This is the first time failure has resulted in complete shutdown. I did try connecting to my laptop, thinking that maybe the display may have failed, and that the tablet was actually restarting. Upon connecting, I heard the notification sound of connection, followed in a few seconds by another notification sound, and a message on the screen of the laptop that said the attached device had malfunctioned and was not recognized by the laptop.

 

[B. Diddy]

Ugh. It might be a motherboard failure. If you're unable to boot up at all, manually reflashing the firmware won't be an option. Battery failure is a consideration, but you'd have to bring it to a repair shop or try replacing it yourself to see if that solves it--and if it doesn't, then you're back to the motherboard possibility.

 

[Ben Wyles]

There have been two or three times in the past couple of years when I couldn't power up for a day or two. It hasn't been a full day yet. I'll try once again to disconnect/reconnect the battery. I've seen motherboard failure in the past with desktops and for some reason this just doesn't feel like that. I guess I'll know pretty soon.