[Q] NC Screen Problems (Intermittently Won't Turn On)

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I've got a NC rooted using a 16GB SanDisk mSD card with CM7 on it (not sure precisely the version but don't think it matters). I set this up with help from the xda-developers site in December 2011 and have only used the NC in this mode ever since. I bought the NC as a refurb from the B&N eBay sale in late November 2011 and the unit has a one-year warranty.

Two days ago I was using the NC looking at photos and I let the screen time out and turn off. After this the NC wouldn't turn on; didn't matter what I did. I tried holding the power button down for 10-seconds, I pulled the mSD card and tried a hard reset (power, n, vol- for 5-seconds), tried charging the battery until the stock charging cable light went from orange to green. Did everything I could think of without any signs of life in the NC.

So I brought the NC to a B&N store (without the mSD card or mentioning that I'd been running it rooted) and the moment the guy in the store hit the power button the damned thing booted to the stock OS. The guy told me that this type of thing happens frequently and he thinks there's something about the WiFi in the store "waking up" the NC's (seemed like bull-bleep to me, but the NC was running). The guy told me he'd update the OS from the 1.2v it was at to the current 1.4v and this too could help. I let him do it figuring it probably didn't matter because I should be able to reset it to the factory config if there was something about the 1.4v that screwed up the root.

The guy gave me my NC back after updating it, told me if the problem persisted he'd do an exchange, and I went into my car in the parking lot. There I put in my mSD card into the NC after doing a full shutdown and it booted into CM7 with no problems. Today, however, same problem occurred, couldn't get the screen to turn on. So I pulled the mSD card, tried all the buttons, hard reset, etc. Then I shook the unit and was then able to get it to boot to the stock OS. Did a power down, installed the mSD card, and it booted to CM7 again no problem. That was ten-minutes ago, now the screen is again dead.

Even though the NC has lived a pretty easy life inside an Otterbox case, never been dropped or exposed to water or high humidity, I'm thinking this is a hardware problem and that I should just do an exchange. I've not found any similar posts or information about this type of thing, so I'd appreciate anybody's thoughts about the matter. Specifically:
1 - If I get an exchanged unit, should I be able to boot from my mSD card or will I have to format it and re-install CM7 like I did initially?
2 - If I'm offered a Nook Tablet in place of a NC, should I take the Tablet? I know it's got more power but I understand that rooting it even via mSD card is a PIA and not as straight forward as doing so on the NC.
3 - Is there anything obvious that I'm missing here?

Thanks for the help and apologies if I missed that this is a common problem the fix for which is commonly known.

Originally Posted by Turgidson

I've got a NC rooted using a 16GB SanDisk mSD card with CM7 on it (not sure precisely the version but don't think it matters). I set this up with help from the xda-developers site in December 2011 and have only used the NC in this mode ever since. I bought the NC as a refurb from the B&N eBay sale in late November 2011 and the unit has a one-year warranty.

Two days ago I was using the NC looking at photos and I let the screen time out and turn off. After this the NC wouldn't turn on; didn't matter what I did. I tried holding the power button down for 10-seconds, I pulled the mSD card and tried a hard reset (power, n, vol- for 5-seconds), tried charging the battery until the stock charging cable light went from orange to green. Did everything I could think of without any signs of life in the NC.

So I brought the NC to a B&N store (without the mSD card or mentioning that I'd been running it rooted) and the moment the guy in the store hit the power button the damned thing booted to the stock OS. The guy told me that this type of thing happens frequently and he thinks there's something about the WiFi in the store "waking up" the NC's (seemed like bull-bleep to me, but the NC was running). The guy told me he'd update the OS from the 1.2v it was at to the current 1.4v and this too could help. I let him do it figuring it probably didn't matter because I should be able to reset it to the factory config if there was something about the 1.4v that screwed up the root.

The guy gave me my NC back after updating it, told me if the problem persisted he'd do an exchange, and I went into my car in the parking lot. There I put in my mSD card into the NC after doing a full shutdown and it booted into CM7 with no problems. Today, however, same problem occurred, couldn't get the screen to turn on. So I pulled the mSD card, tried all the buttons, hard reset, etc. Then I shook the unit and was then able to get it to boot to the stock OS. Did a power down, installed the mSD card, and it booted to CM7 again no problem. That was ten-minutes ago, now the screen is again dead.

Even though the NC has lived a pretty easy life inside an Otterbox case, never been dropped or exposed to water or high humidity, I'm thinking this is a hardware problem and that I should just do an exchange. I've not found any similar posts or information about this type of thing, so I'd appreciate anybody's thoughts about the matter. Specifically:
1 - If I get an exchanged unit, should I be able to boot from my mSD card or will I have to format it and re-install CM7 like I did initially?
2 - If I'm offered a Nook Tablet in place of a NC, should I take the Tablet? I know it's got more power but I understand that rooting it even via mSD card is a PIA and not as straight forward as doing so on the NC.
3 - Is there anything obvious that I'm missing here?

Thanks for the help and apologies if I missed that this is a common problem the fix for which is commonly known.

Could be you are experiencing the Sleep of Death (SOD) problem. The unit is still on but can't wake up. The only thing you can do to get out of it is to hard power it off and back on. Hold the power button for a long time. Release and push again until it turns back on.

SOD happens when you leave wifi on all the time and the unit goes into deep sleep. Sometimes you can't wake it back up.

If you have this happening a lot, there is a modded wifi kernel module that helps. If you need it, PM me and I will send you a link.

If you get an exchange it should work just like yours with the SD install. Just put the same card in and should run OK.

You won't get a nook tablet without paying more. If you are happy with the color, I would stay with it. The tablet is still iffy about running other ROMs yet.

Thanks for the info. Does the SOD affect the unrooted NC? If it doesn't then I should be able to trouble shoot the problem by running the NC with the stock OS for several days and see if the problem continues. Does this sound reasonable?

Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA

Originally Posted by Turgidson

Thanks for the info. Does the SOD affect the unrooted NC? If it doesn't then I should be able to trouble shoot the problem by running the NC with the stock OS for several days and see if the problem continues. Does this sound reasonable?

Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA

It does not affect the stock. That should be a good test.