Nook Simple Touch -- Touchscreen unresponsive

[frewsxcv]

Been loving my Nook so far (take that Kindle!). Anyways, it's been working great so far. I hadn't used it for a few days, but when I went to unlock the touchscreen today (by sliding the lock), it appears the touchscreen doesn't do anything. The operating system is not frozen per se, because the images of the authors is cycling, and I can get the lock to appear when I press the 'n' button. I tried a hard restart by holding down the power button for >30 seconds, and after it booted up, same result. I'm not really sure what to do at this point...

[TNS]

Possibly low battery?

[pitbull42]

What you may want to try is charging the Nook.  This may not be of any help, but it is something to try.  Remember e-ink does not need power to display an image so your battery could have drop below useable levels.  I had this problem with N1E and charging always fixed the problem.

If charging works, then keep an eye on battery life.  You may have gotten a defective battery and may need to exchange the Nook.

[frewsxcv]

The battery is completely charged, so that shouldn't be an issue

[keriflur]

Take it in to a store and have them look at it.

[SLevine]

Yes, you should either take your device into a B&N store or call 1800THEBOOK to work with our digital tech specialists to troubleshoot this.

[MrTwyst]

You may want to plug it into a wall outlet anyway, then try unlocking it.

[Opa-MN]

I am having a similar issue, but in my case the touch screen becomes unresponsive while I am reading.  I can still read as long as I advance the pages with the side buttons.  If I put the nook to sleep it will correct the problem when I reopen.  So far I have not had the problem where I could not unlock the nook.  Bummer!  I will probably take mine back before the two weeks are up.  Good luck.

[edu500acEC]

I bought a touch pen, and mine works great with the tap stylus. It does not work so well with my own fingers. The problem is that the tap stylus is quite expensive (50 dollars)... :-). So, I would not recommend this solution, considering the price of the Nook (139 dollars).

[ChipPM]

Try cotton swabs. I'm not kidding. I bought a box of 100 of the kind with long wooden sticks and a cotton tip only on one end that they use in doctor's offices.

They work great. The long stick comes in handy if I put the Nook in a stand and want to sit back a bit.

When the cotton 'wears' out I just get a new one. They last a pretty long time.

PS The cotton swabs work only on the N2E not the Nook Color but a capacitive stylus works on both.

[Rose_Bee]

A nook touch doesn't need an expensive capacitive styles (like those made for ipads).

Its touch screen works by a grid of infrared sensors, so it will sense any physical object that blocks those sensors.

Also, this isn't a matter of a finger vs stylus - the touch screen 'freezing' is a known issue. Usually a hard reset will fix the problem.  As that did not fix things for this individual, that's why folks recommended that the nook be taken into a store (or Customer Service be called).

[Naphoon]

Good day all

Same problem over here.

And no, no modifycation or nothing, no rooting or extras.

Only used B&N books and Calibre for free books management.

The Nook had been working brilliantly for about a month. Then when it was time to recharge (15% left of battery) it shut down. Ok I think, it just needs a recharge.

After a full recharge (green light with then some) the screen is completely unresponsive. I cant even unlock or do a soft shutdown.

With multible hard resets I was able to get the screen working about 3 times. Then when I put the nook away for a while. The next time i picked it up (30 mins or so) it was unresponsive again.

This does not include the n button, it works.

Technical support gave nothing, only that they could not recomend anything but this reboot. And that they at B&N would propably fix this soon if this was such a big problem. And that they did not know of any updates.

That means the technical support is not someone from B&N which mean they probably dont care, I mean this error (critical fault in a major consumer product) is pretty widespread it seems in such a new device then why no update or information?

Starting to look like this is quite a shoddy job from B&N side, either a firmware or hardware problem in a branded flagship product, and nothing seems to be happening.

How about throwing us a bone and giving us some info? Or even better a fix your product!

Shame actually, I liked this device very much before this happened.

[gothtink]

So this happened to mine today.  I called tech support who suggested that I hold the power button down for 25 seconds.  I did this both before I called tech support and while on the phone with her.  Four different times she had me do this until I finally asked her if she knew what the definition of insanity was.  She responded with no.  I told her that the defition was performing the same action over and over expecting a different result.  She didn't get it.  I finally asked her how many more times were we going to attempt to power down the nook before she realized that it wasn't solving the problem.  Then she suggested that I charge the nook, which at that point in time, I wasn't able to do.  I told her I would call back after I had gotten home and tried that and hopefully I would get someone different.  So then I call back after charging it doesn't work, and of course, get the same lady.  I immediately ask to speak with a supervisor.   She tells me she has to get the information on the problem before she can transfer me to a supervisor.  So then she tells me to take the back off the Nook with a phillips head screwdriver.  I tell her that there is no place to put said screwdriver, at which point she responds with place your hand on the back of the nook and pry the cover up.  My thoughts on this are, if it was meant to be removed by consumers, it would have been made much easier.  Now we cannot get the back cover to fit back on properly and we NEVER did manage to get the cover off.  Finally she agrees to send a replacement in 3-4 business days.  I told her that was not acceptable, I wanted it sent overnight since I am leaving on a trip in 3 days.  That's not possible.  I told her it was indeed possible and if they wanted to keep my business, they would do what I am asking.  She keeps on with it's not possible until I tell her I was now seriously considering a Kindle.  Then all of a sudden she was able to send me a new Nook out overnight.  But then she asked for the serial number and I lost it.  I explained at the top of my lungs, that since the damn touchscreen wasn't responding, I could not get any information off it.  It was non responsive.  That means all the information on it I can't access.  At that point, I hung up on her.  She did calll back to get credit card number to ship the new Nook out with.

[Nallia Distinguished Bibliophile]

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gothtink wrote:

So this happened to mine today.  I called tech support who suggested that I hold the power button down for 25 seconds.  I did this both before I called tech support and while on the phone with her.  Four different times she had me do this until I finally asked her if she knew what the definition of insanity was.  She responded with no.  I told her that the defition was performing the same action over and over expecting a different result.  She didn't get it.  I finally asked her how many more times were we going to attempt to power down the nook before she realized that it wasn't solving the problem.  Then she suggested that I charge the nook, which at that point in time, I wasn't able to do.  I told her I would call back after I had gotten home and tried that and hopefully I would get someone different.  So then I call back after charging it doesn't work, and of course, get the same lady.  I immediately ask to speak with a supervisor.   She tells me she has to get the information on the problem before she can transfer me to a supervisor.  So then she tells me to take the back off the Nook with a phillips head screwdriver.  I tell her that there is no place to put said screwdriver, at which point she responds with place your hand on the back of the nook and pry the cover up.  My thoughts on this are, if it was meant to be removed by consumers, it would have been made much easier.  Now we cannot get the back cover to fit back on properly and we NEVER did manage to get the cover off.  Finally she agrees to send a replacement in 3-4 business days.  I told her that was not acceptable, I wanted it sent overnight since I am leaving on a trip in 3 days.  That's not possible.  I told her it was indeed possible and if they wanted to keep my business, they would do what I am asking.  She keeps on with it's not possible until I tell her I was now seriously considering a Kindle.  Then all of a sudden she was able to send me a new Nook out overnight.  But then she asked for the serial number and I lost it.  I explained at the top of my lungs, that since the damn touchscreen wasn't responding, I could not get any information off it.  It was non responsive.  That means all the information on it I can't access.  At that point, I hung up on her.  She did calll back to get credit card number to ship the new Nook out with.

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I'm sorry you went through that frustration.  For future reference, your serial number can also be found on your B&N account online.  Asking for it wasn't unreasonable, as it is needed to prove that you have a real NOOK with a valid warranty, but it should have been asked for immediately and you should have been instructed how to find it.

[MichWriter]

I received my Nook Simple on the 21st of July and that same day, after letting it fully charge I was reading and it froze on me. I did manage to get it to reboot. After I was able to get my books downloaded, I tried again and the same thing happened. Last week I called "tech support" and they told me to do a factory reset; which didn't solve a thing, and the other day while reading it froze on me again. This time when I called I demanded a replacement and it is currently in transit, but here are my complaints and suggestions for Barnes and Noble: 1. If this is a known issue publish an update. 2. This is your third Nook device and it would seem to me that by now you should know what you're doing which means that this shouldn't be a problem in this Nook because you have had the first gen and the color to figure it out. 3. BETA test before releasing to the public! Personally, I'm a voracious reader and would love to test out your new products and before anyone comments on leaks and the like, I and I'm sure many others would be happy to sign confidentiality agreements to minimize that possibility. Barnes and Noble truly needs to do something as I'm at about the point where I'm ready to shift my business to Amazon.

[Jadjuka]

Touchscreen, not touching correctly. Just kidding. This is the first time I've been hearing about it. Could be a small batch of nooks and not really a wide/common issue. Such as the lasers that can identify where your fingers are on the device might not be working properly. So even if BN has had time to perfect their nooks, this touch screen is something new altogether.

Remember to have a little patience and whenever Customer Support isn't supporing you. Just hang up and make the drive to the brick and mortar store. I do agree though with doing a beta test before launch but I bet BN already does that. Just a private beta test which does suck. >.< 

[CeCeSG]

I too have started having this problem.  I power cycled my device and it cleared up.  I'm just adding my 2 cents for B&N's benefit.

Another problem I have had with the touch screen is my finger hovering over the screen, anticipating turning the page in a few words, when a word highlights on the screen, however, I don't get the menu at the bottome of the scrren to highlight or look up a word.  So basically my screen has a word highlighted it shows the word highlighted at the top of the page, and  there is no menu for options or to exit out of.  My screen is frozen.  I can use the button to put the nook to sleep but when I try to wake it up it does not respond when I swipe the bottom of the screen.   I then I have completely power down the Nook and reboot it.   Anyone else have this problem with the touch screen?

[EdieMI]

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CeCeSG wrote:

I too have started having this problem.  I power cycled my device and it cleared up.  I'm just adding my 2 cents for B&N's benefit.

Another problem I have had with the touch screen is my finger hovering over the screen, anticipating turning the page in a few words, when a word highlights on the screen, however, I don't get the menu at the bottome of the scrren to highlight or look up a word.  So basically my screen has a word highlighted it shows the word highlighted at the top of the page, and  there is no menu for options or to exit out of.  My screen is frozen.  I can use the button to put the nook to sleep but when I try to wake it up it does not respond when I swipe the bottom of the screen.   I then I have completely power down the Nook and reboot it.   Anyone else have this problem with the touch screen?

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I have had the "accidental" highlight happen also, but I have just tapped the center of the screen and the highlight has turned off and I have been able to go on reading with no problem.

[Poshie54]

I am experimenting the same problem the next day.My finger highlighted a word and lock the Nook up.I called the store they couldn't help me over the phone.I drove 50 miles to the store .The lady tried several times to turn the Nook off and if wouldn't turn off.Finally it turned off and when she turned it back on it had unlock the screen.I tried deleting books from the Nook they only way to do this is to delete password and e mail address and redo and that should not be that way.There has to be an easier way to delete books.I always have found if I wave over the screen not  touching it the pages will start flipping so this is not good.This Nook has alot of issues that need to be address before they sell this product,Don't you test this products first.I love my Nook the size is perfect and it is not heavy to hold.But this freezing and locking screen needs to be Fixed.

[glaeken]

I too have had this issue (both a random failure and one caused after an "accidental word highlight".

I just had a frustrating, unproductive exchange with a chat agent that has to be read to be believed. 

Extra bonus points for trying to terminate the chat after ~10 second delay, during which I was struggling to quickly type a reply to her question. So sorry that I cannot type as quickly as you cut-n-paste from your prefab chat template, Marie.

Can't post the entire conversation due to limits, but it can be read here in its entireity:

http://shorttext.com/sNwB7B