Dead, but lit, infinity :(

[Stace]

After a few months of non use I charged my Infinity last night and tried to turn it on this morning.

I get a backlit screen, but nothing else - no loading screen, no text

I have read reports of a similar problem where the ribbon cable has disconnected internally, but I don't think that is the case here.

The tablet also refuses to turn off - and it doesn't go to sleep after any amount of time (it was in this state from 6:30 until 18:00 today). Doing a soft reset with the off button simple causes it to vibrate once, the screen turns off and then it immediately comes back again.

If I do a hard reset using the volume down button and power button the same thing happens

If I use the reset button, with a paper clip in the hole between the HDMI and SD slot then it turns off, whilst the switch is pressed and turns on once it's released.

I have a feeling that it is going to have to go back to Asus, but would like to ask if anyone has any idea's first...

Thanks,
Stace

[Frederuco]

Welcome to the forum!

The only other 2 options I can think of:

Try a microHDMI to HDMI cable and see if it is indeed a dead TFT (with backlight still working)

Also, try holding the power button for 30 seconds. Release. Press for 3 seconds.

[Stace]

Thank you!

I think I may have the answer though

I don't have a MicroHDMI cable unfortunately so I can't try that... But... I tried the other option you mentioned - no good. After about 10 seconds it buzzes and then comes back on. With what sounded like a click from the speaker (it has done that once or twice, but not consistently). Anyway, I kept the power held, just in case - not no doing

What really scares me is that I just smelt something like burnt electrics through the speaker hole... I think something died inside - now I'm just scared that I have a machine with a smell of burning, that I can't turn off and don't really want to burn my house down overnight...

Ug!

[Stace]

Hmmm... Too quick maybe, it could be the dead screen. If you leave it for 5 minutes it turns on and off as you would expect. So something is working. The smell still concerns me, but it's not getting warm to the touch.

[MikeM]

The smell still concerns me, but it's not getting warm to the touch.

It's probably just the smell of something warming up after not being used for awhile.

[frenziedfemale]

I have no help to offer but wanted to give you a big WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!
I do have to ask though, how did you go months without using your tablet ?
Were you incarcerated, in a coma, on an expedition to Antarctica? I once went a couple of days, but there was some serious separation anxiety.

Any chance that you had USB debugging enabled prior to this? You may be able to connect it to a PC and get something going with ABD.

[Stace]

Thanks both! I'm certainly less worried about it catching fire tonight - hopefully that'll help me sleep

As to the why I stopped using it...

I mainly used it for taking notes in meetings, and for use whilst watching TV. Then my laptop died, and was replaced with an ultra portable laptop that is about the same size, and it was used more (I miss the tough screen though!) at the same time the number of meetings dropped so I stopped taking it to work. Now the meetings are increasing and I'm taking reams of notes that I have to retype... So I need to start typing the notes directly again, and the Asus is great for that

No USB debugging unfortunately, though when I get it back from Asus (I'm assuming this will be fixed under warranty!) I think that I'll turn it on in case the same happens again...

[frenziedfemale]

Let us know how the RMA with ASUS goes. In the meantime, throw on some comfy pants, grab your favourite beverage, and settle in here on the forums. There are always some great discussions to partake in.

[Stace]

Will do, and will do!

I'm sure there is more than Evernote and RDP'ing to my desktop that I can do with the machine (though the RDP is something I love about it! Being able to manage servers, almost as easily as I can from a normal laptop, on a tablet is just superb)

[Stace]

A quick update - Asus support have told me there is nothing I can do except for send it to them... They expect the repair to take 10 days... Once I send it off (I have to find the receipt...) and get it back I'll post an update