Razr XT912 Will NOT power up/Charge

[farmall.dude]

I've read several threads on several sites on this topic (one would think Motorola would take a hint and fix this). I have a Moto Razr XT912, have had it for well over a year now so warranty is out of the question. Over the last several months, it's been acting very badly. It wouldn't start even after leaving it on the charger (yes the factory supplied one) for several days. I tried all the button sequences I've seen; hold volume down and power on for 10+ seconds... hold all three for 10+ seconds... Hold the power button while standing on my head humming the national anthem, still nothing . Not even a flicker. I noticed that if I plug it in the white light flashes, then flashes again after a couple seconds. I discovered that if I plug it in, sometimes and after several (20-50+) tries at plug and unplugging, about the time the light should flash the second time it will power on or go to the charge screen. Then after a bit and I can power it on. That worked for a while. I even attempted to do the "battery calibration" but once it got down to 15%, powered off, it took FOREVER to get it to charge and restart. Most recently, I got it to go to the charging screen, it said it was charged up to 100%. I tried to power in on and... nothing. Now, I still notice when I plug it in, the white light flashes, twice, but now I can't get it to do anything. I even bought Team Black Hat's little Factory Cable adaptor thingy (Motorola Factory Adapters) and connected that, nothing. By the way, when I connect that the light only flashes once, or not at all. The battery should be good. The phone said it was charged, how can I force it to start? Heck, I even popped the back off and tried to "jump start" it with a spare USB cable I had! By the way, I'd done that before, when it first quit working, and it seemed to help then. I won't be out anything if it's toast, but if I could get it powered up again, at least I could get my info off it so I can sell it for parts or something!!

Any help is appreciated. I'm willing to try anything at this point!

Regards,
Farmall.Dude

Additional information: I put my multi-meter on the battery and it's charged to 2.75 volts. It SHOULD start, what can I do??

 

[farmall.dude]

Really? No One has any suggestions? Gee... Thanks.:frown:

 

[sunny757]

anything?

was curious if you had any luck, i am trying to help a friend who has a razr, and all he gets is a white light when plugged in.

 

[TheMiracleMan]

I had the same problem with my droid razr. I plug it into the computer and get a white light. I kept repeatedly unplugging and plugging the adapter into the wall while simultaneously mashing the power and volume buttons.I did this for about 5 minutes until the red M came up. Then I solved this issue. If you plug it into the computer and hold power+down (let me finish!) as soon as the white light turns off, quickly plug it into the wall. It booted up completely normally. I hope I was some sort of help, as im new to the forums!

 

[sunny757]

Thanks will give that a go

 

[farmall.dude]

I had the same problem with my droid razr. I plug it into the computer and get a white light. I kept repeatedly unplugging and plugging the adapter into the wall while simultaneously mashing the power and volume buttons.I did this for about 5 minutes until the red M came up. Then I solved this issue. If you plug it into the computer and hold power+down (let me finish!) as soon as the white light turns off, hurry the fxck up and plug it into the wall. It booted up completely normally. I hope I was some sort of help, as im new to the forums!

Didn't work for me... Know anyone who want's a Razr, in really good condition that won't turn on?

 

[sunny757]

Didn't work for me either, ordered team black hat programming adapter for $10, last ditch effort

 

[eddie7]

I had this problem with a BB tablet. Not sure if it will work but worth a try. Using a regular wall charger. Plug in the USB then once the light comes on unplug it. Do this over and over again and hopefully it will start to take a charge. Seems like once a battery fully discharges it needs a jump start for the charging process to work again. Good luck.

 

[FoxKat]

Didn't work for me... Know anyone who want's a Razr, in really good condition that won't turn on?

So sorry I am just seeing this thread right now. I read your OP and there is clearly a problem with the battery's voltage level. The open circuit voltage is not supposed to fall below a nominal 3.0V under normal use, and these batteries are designed to go into "protection mode" (to prevent potential internal shunts being formed causing internal short circuiting - a potentially dangerous condition), when the voltage dips below about 2.9V to 2.2V. Fully charged should read about 4.0V to 4.2V With yours floating at 2.75V "Fully charged", I'd call it a lost cause and replace the battery. I certainly wouldn't risk a thermal runaway by trying repeatedly to force-charge it.

See How to Awaken Sleeping Li-ion - Battery University

The common cause of batteries deep-discharging is typically as a result of the metering and charging system becoming out of sync with the actual State of Charge (SOC), of the battery and to its minimum "empty" and maximum "full" capacity levels. This falling out of sync happens over time and with repeated partial charging cycles that may not often reach both the "low battery" and "full" - or 100% charge levels. It's at these two levels where moving "flags" are set, which the metering circuitry uses to base its calculations for charge level indication throughout the charge and discharge cycle.

To prevent this problem from occurring, you can either regularly discharge to below the "low battery" warning level (10%-15% with ICS and Jelly Bean, and 15%-20% with Gingerbread), and also regularly charge to 100% with power off, or perform the "Meter Training" procedure after each 40 or so full charge/discharge cycles (100% consumed and replenished * 40 cycles). For example, a 50% charge level raised to 100%, and discharged back to 50% would constitute 1/2 of a 100% charge cycle, so in that case it would take 80 partial cycles to equal 40 100% equivalent cycles.

To perform the training, first power off, then plug into the stock charger and allow to charge to 100% with power off. Then power up and use normally until the "low battery" warning window pops up. Then just as before power off again and charge to 100%. If you do that 3-step process after about every 40 charge cycles, the meter and battery will remain in sync. Following the full charge to 100% with power off and discharge to "low battery" routine frequently however will shorten the overall lifespan of the battery due to "stressing" the battery while in the 80% to 100% and 0 to 20% ranges. So I recommend using and charging it as you normally do, but also performing the "training" at regular intervals to reset the "flags" instead.

Indicating battery charge levels "accurately" across the discharge cycle on devices which use wildly fluctuating amounts of current over their usage pattern is extremely difficult since low current draws allow the battery to maintain high voltage levels, whereas in contrast high current draws cause depressed voltage levels as the battery fights to keep up with the current demand. Since voltage levels are the common method used to indicate SOC on most other batteries, with LIPO batteries this can result in batteries that may appear to have high levels of charge (i.e. 80%), at one point during low current draws, then low levels (i.e. 50%), at another point during or after high current draws, only to appear to have seemingly magically self-recharged again (to perhaps 70% as an example), once current draws relax. This can be very confusing for phone owners and highly undesirable and inaccurate indications.

This is NOT a Motorola-only or specific problem, it surfaces as a problem across most LIPO powered phones and other devices and comes from the need to provide a relatively accurate representation of SOC during typical usage times and also over the gradually diminishing ability of these batteries to hold as much current over time as they did when first manufactured. This is a Lithium Ion-Polymer battery characteristic problem.

Still NO battery using either known past or present rechargeable battery technologies will last forever, and ALL rechargeable batteries will have reduced capacities as they age. Typically, a rechargeable battery is considered at "end of useable life" when after charged it no longer holds more than 80% of its original capacity. In other words, for the RAZR the battery is designed to have a capacity of 1,780 mAh at point of manufacture, and the RAZR MAXX's battery is designed with a 3,300 mAh capacity at point of manufacture.

You (and your battery), are best served using and charging the phone in a range of between 20% and 80% of charge, and then performing the "training" every 40 cycles as described above. By doing so, you'll extend the usable lifespan of the battery and minimize or eliminate battery charging issues as you've experienced.

 

[shadubie]

I had the same problem with my droid razr. I plug it into the computer and get a white light. I kept repeatedly unplugging and plugging the adapter into the wall while simultaneously mashing the power and volume buttons.I did this for about 5 minutes until the red M came up. Then I solved this issue. If you plug it into the computer and hold power+down (let me finish!) as soon as the white light turns off, quickly plug it into the wall. It booted up completely normally. I hope I was some sort of help, as im new to the forums!

This absolutely worked for me. Thank you!!! You just saved me $60 on a new battery and opening tools. Hope this works for others as well.

 

[farmall.dude]

was curious if you had any luck, i am trying to help a friend who has a razr, and all he gets is a white light when plugged in.

Nope. I ended up selling it on ebay for parts.
I hope you have more luck than me. I did find, early on, that if I held the Up and Down buttons, and plugged it into the wall charger, Sometimes it would power up. It took many, many, many attempts. IF you do get it powered up, try following the instructions for 'resetting the battery'. I don't remember verbatim, but it's something like charge it to 100%, then let it drain down to 15%. Power off and fully charge. Do this twice (I think) and it should be good. Again, I don't remember the exact procedure, but there's 2 or 3 posts on this site with it. I wish I'd have found them before mine was totally beyond hope.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[shadubie]

I was mistaken....

This absolutely worked for me. Thank you!!! You just saved me $60 on a new battery and opening tools. Hope this works for others as well.

I was successful in getting the phone to boot back up, but it didn't last, or correct the underlying problem.

It seemed to get the battery to charge a bit, but it would then shut off (even if plugged in), when the battery ran out.

Good for if your trying to get something off the phone.

I've ordered a new battery.

 

[ThatDriodGuy34]

I had the same problem with my droid razr. I plug it into the computer and get a white light. I kept repeatedly unplugging and plugging the adapter into the wall while simultaneously mashing the power and volume buttons.I did this for about 5 minutes until the red M came up. Then I solved this issue. If you plug it into the computer and hold power+down (let me finish!) as soon as the white light turns off, quickly plug it into the wall. It booted up completely normally. I hope I was some sort of help, as im new to the forums!

I have the same phone, but it doesnt turn on at all (unlessed it's plugged in) and when It is on it loads the M logo, then it just says 5% battery. Then about 20 seconds later its at 100. I tried everything, nothing has worked.

 

[Sajo]

I have the same phone, but it doesnt turn on at all (unlessed it's plugged in) and when It is on it loads the M logo, then it just says 5% battery. Then about 20 seconds later its at 100. I tried everything, nothing has worked.

Sounds like the battery has finally failed. It's amazing it has lasted that long, as old as that phone is.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[ThatDriodGuy34]

Is it replaceable?