From: Michael Blazer (m.blazer_at_utoronto.ca)
Date: Fri Oct 07 2005 - 08:51:46 PDT
Quoting John Hay <OceanCity_at_mac.com>:
> Yes, but even if I leave the external power plugged in for an entire
> day, the moment I unplug the power and then press the power button to
> boot up the eMate it's dead, won't boot, nothing.
John, I don't know if this is the same problem you're having, but often when one of my
eMates has been left uncharged for a long time, the next time I try to charge it up I get
an error message after a few minutes saying "this battery is no good" or words to that
effect. When this happens, I unplug the power adapter from the eMate, then immediately
re-plug it in. I might then get the same error message again, but always after 2, 3, or 4
repetitions the eMate finally decides that the battery can be charged after all, and
proceeds to charge the battery.
My eMate batteries actually hold a decent charge (i.e. they are far from defective), so my
guess is that when they get discharged past a certain point and you try to charge them,
the voltage curve is too slow to respond, which the eMate is too quick to interpret as
"can't be charged". The eMate then gives up and so leaving it plugged in past that point
is useless. But by repeatedly plugging and unplugging it for short periods, you gradually
coax the voltage up past the minimum threshold that the eMate is looking for. Or
something like that.
Anyway, if you are not getting the defective battery message on the eMate screen, your
issue might be different. In that case, let us know how the microwave idea works out ;^)
An interesting side observation is that I've never seen that happen with an MP2x00.
Sometimes they will play dead for a while if the battery is really run down, but just
leaving it plugged in eventually brings it back to life. It's only the eMate that seems
to need the power cycling trick.
Michael
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