Meshpocket Qi2 10000mAh stuck in boot loop

#1

I received my meshpocket device today, and when I removed it from the box it had the finish setup screen on the display. To ensure that is was properly charged, I connected it to my laptop via a USB A - C cable, and the green light came on solid, which the manual says means it is fully charged.

I pushed the usr button to wake it up, and the screen kind of half refreshed to the meshtastic logo (the right side of the screen showed the logo, the left side still showed the finish setup screen, and the middle was a mix of the two), and then did nothing, didn’t show up in my phone as an available device. After waiting a couple of minutes I pushed the rst button and it got to the full meshtastic logo screen, but got no further.

I connected the firmware flashing cable and heard the sound of a usb device being connected and then disconnected over and over. After a few tries I managed to get it into dfu mode between boots, so I downloaded the firmware (6.2.11) and copied the file onto the device. No change. I downloaded the previous version (6.2.10), now the version under the meshtastic logo shows 2.6.10, but otherwise everything is the same. I wiped the flash using the wipe file, and reinstalled the original firmware, but still nothing.

Thinking it might be a power issue, I found a USB C power adapter and connected it with the included cable. I discovered that without external power the serial device disappears altogether as if it is not getting power from the battery at all. With the device powered from the wall with a 20W USB C charger the behavior was the same. So I plugged it into my laptop’s 65W PD certified USB C adapter, and now it sometimes gets past the meshtastic logo to the finish setup screen, and will sometimes even show up as an available device on my phone before it reboots back to the meshtastic logo.

Is there anything else I can do to rescue this radio?

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#2

I am a new Meshtastic user who just got their MeshPocket today. After successfully connecting once and fully draining the battery the device is now stuck in a bootloop.

My next steps are to try connecting the USB cable to see if can get any logs or info off the device. I have also already sent an email to support@heltec.cn

#3

I received mine today, experiencing the same sypmtoms. Also mine appeared to be used with light scratches and no plastic screen protector. appears ive been sent a return!

#4

Add me to the list… I just received 2… 1 works fine and the 2nd one is stuck in the boot loop. Also it does not appear that the battery is charging and when connected to the computer it keeps dropping the connection.

#5

I contacted Heltec using their Contact Us page. They asked me to do some troubleshooting and send them a video demonstrating the device’s behavior, and they are sending a replacement.

#6

Same for me also. I contacted Heltec using their Contact Us page. They asked me to do some troubleshooting and send them a video demonstrating the device’s behavior. They want me to ship my unit back to them for replacement… I might have a workable unit in 2 months of shipping and after paying all the fees. I should have purchased all my stuff on Amazon or gone with RAK. I have another order that has been pending for over a month with Heltec. It now shows that it has shipped (for the last week) but the shipper has no info on it.

#7

After reaching out to Heltech support they took care of me and got a replacement unit shipped out. They work in a very different time zone but were fast to resolve my issue.

Now that i have a working device and understand what the flashing process is like i can confirm that my first unit has the following problems

  1. The device no longer charges when connected to power. Wireless charging will still work but after i remove the power source its all dead.
  2. When connected to power the device will boot and then randomly crash. Sometimes it will boot up for seconds and every once in a while, it will boot up for 30 sec but crash quickly after.

I have tried to flash and erase the device. I can successfully flash it but the device keeps boot looping. Bummer because i would REALLY like to get this 2nd device working. I feel like something just got disconnected on the inside or a memory sector is bad

#8

That describes my problems exactly.

#9

After receiving confirmation that they had shipped the replacement, and never asked for the broken one back, I decided to dig into the issue a little further.

DISCLAIMER
I do not recommend this, perform at your own risk! Accidental shorting of the lipo battery could result in fire!

I used a plastic guitar pick to separate the glass front from the rest of the case. It is just held in with glue, so once I got some separation I was able to just run it around the edge and the glass came away.

Inside I found the battery tabs are soldered to a power distribution board (contains no electronics, just traces and solder pads) which was soldered to two metal spacers, which in turn made contact with the main board. When I pressed down on the power distribution board the main board lit up, and as long as I maintained pressure, the meshtastic portion worked as expected. I was able to pair it to my phone and send messages, but as soon as I released the pressure it went dark, and the phone lost bt connection. Problem discovered.

I gently cut the blob of white glue holding the battery in place, and lifted up the battery, screen, and power board carefully (the screen is glued to the battery, and I did not want to risk cracking it, so I left it in place). With the power board out of the way, I could see the remnants of solder where the metal spacers made contact with the main board. Clearly the solder joints had broken in shipping. I laid the battery/screen assembly flat, and propped the rest of the device upright so as not to stress the ribbon cable going to the screen. I confirmed with a multi-meter which solder pads were electrically connected to which metal spacer, and I soldered some 20 gauge wires between the power board and the pads on the main board where the spacers had been connected. It was a little tricky to do this in such a way that the wires didn’t get in the way of the spacers, but I managed.

I verified that everything was working. Meshtastic works, charging the bank works, charging from the bank works from USB and Qi2.

I put the battery and screen back into place, folding the wires into the empty space, and placed the glass front to verify everything still fit and worked. Then I lifted it back off and ran a bead of e6000 glue around the entire opening and replaced the glass with about 1 pound of weight on top. I left it like that for a few hours to cure, and now I have a working device.

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#10

Not from their perspective - I guess you are somewhere between 65º & 130º - but your avatar is of Clarus so that’s OK!

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#11

Thank you for the fantastic instructions. When I went to ship my unit back, they told me it would cost $45.00 so I decided to just accept it as a loss. I ordered a new unit on Amazon and received it the next day. Everything worked as it should and now I have 2 functioning units.

I did follow your instructions, figured out that if nothing else I could use the parts from the radio.

As you indicated, I found that the spacer on the left was broken off the board. After numerous failures at attempting to reattach the spacer, I took you suggestion and soldered wire from the board to what I believe is the BMS.

Everything started working appropriately. I will have to obtain the glue to put it back together. It may not look as pretty as it once did, but it works.

Thank you for the time you put into it and sharing your results.

#13

This might be a misunderstanding. Once the device damage is confirmed, even if you don’t return it, it won’t prevent us from sending you a replacement. The return request is solely to help us understand the issue, and Heltec will cover all associated costs.