Any idea what is wrong with this iPhone 3G stuck on red battery?

[Granitel]

For days, on various chargers, my kid's iPhone 3G has been stuck on this low-battery indication:

We let the battery sit for days, so as to die, but upon plugging it back in, it still just sits there at this low-battery mark.

Unfortunately, the only working button on the phone is the home button as the top and left buttons fell off long ago.

The reason I post this is to ask if you guys with iPhone experience recognize what kind of state the iPhone 3G is in - and perhaps - you have the experience to suggest ways to get it out of whatever mode it's stuck in?

Thanks.

 

[dictoresno]

judging from the screen distortion above the battery icon, it looks like its been damaged.

 

[MrMacMack]

Physical damage and I would stretch to assume liquid damage as well. Lack of sleep / wake button will prevent from doing a reset as well. It's not looking too good unfortunately.

 

[Granitel]

judging from the screen distortion above the battery icon, it looks like its been damaged.

I just asked my kid about that screen distortion and he said it's been there forever (which I believe since I seem to remember seeing that prior). But that has absolutely nothing to do with the question - although you wouldn't have known that ahead of time, so I apologize for not having mentioned that prior.

Physical damage and I would stretch to assume liquid damage as well.

Yea. I know. My kid said that it was dropped very many times during it's lifetime. I'm not trying to argue for a warranty repair. So, having been dropped a thousand times is a given. The question is what can be the problem. With most other phones, I'd just pull the battery to reset. Is that possible or feasible with this old iPhone 3G?

Lack of sleep / wake button will prevent from doing a reset as well. It's not looking too good unfortunately.

Hmmm... Is my next option pulling the battery and rebooting that way?

 

[dictoresno]

I just asked my kid about that screen distortion and he said it's been there forever (which I believe since I seem to remember seeing that prior). But that has absolutely nothing to do with the question - although you wouldn't have known that ahead of time, so I apologize for not having mentioned that prior.

it could indeed have something to do with it. it shows the phone was dropped and probably sustained physical hardware damage. as a result, the battery or phone internals could have been effected and now refusing to charge.

 

[Granitel]

it could indeed have something to do with it. it shows the phone was dropped and probably sustained physical hardware damage. as a result, the battery or phone internals could have been effected and now refusing to charge.

Well, that's always going to be the case, whether or not a phone shows any damage.
But, from your response, I'm gathering that it probably isn't a common error condition; otherwise someone would have suggested a likely cause.

One thing I did try just now was blow the charging port clean:

Another thing I'm trying is yet another wall charger & cable:

And, lastly, I'm trying to figure out how to reboot the darn thing.

On most phones, rebooting solves a plethora of hung conditions.
If it were any other phone, I'd simply remove the battery; but, that's apparently not so easy to do on this phone.

Is there any way to reboot it without having a top button?

 

[MrMacMack]

The only way to reboot it without the button is to let the battery drain or open it up and disconnect the battery.

Reading back on everything here, in my opinion, I think you should call it on this phone. The sleep / wake button and volume buttons are missing, it's been dropped multiple times, etc.

Which I can't help but wonder, how did those buttons fall off? The only thing I can think of is they were pried off or someone opened the phone up and removed them. Those buttons don't simply disappear.

 

[Granitel]

The only way to reboot it without the button is to let the battery drain or open it up and disconnect the battery.

I was afraid of that.
I'll google how to disconnect the battery.

how did those buttons fall off?

I just asked my kid. He said the buttons fell off over time, one by one. It took about two or three years for that to happen - but they've been off for more than a year.

Have you ever seen this symptom before? Or am I the first to ever have it?

 

[MrMacMack]

What symptoms?

 

[BelindaP]

re-boot it!

Hold the Home button for 10 seconds followed by the Power button for 10 seconds and then let go of the home button after 10 seconds, your phone should reboot

 

[janitor3]

Think it's time to bite the bullet and get a new phone.