My tablet won't respond

[Kel1677]

I have had my tablet for a week or so and just now the screen went dark and it will not respond. It was just sitting there and went dark the screen is still lit it is just black. It will not turn off or respond to anything. Please help

[Kel1677]

I held the power button for 20 seconds and it turned off and is now working fine. Thanks

[Caesius · Accepted solution]

The same thing happened to me tonight (on exactly the 14th, and final, day allowed by the return policy). Another thread had the same issues noted and it was suggested that one should press the Power Button and the n button at the same time for 20 seconds. It did not work the first time I tried it, but it DID work the second time I tried it. It started to boot up, but then was interrupted with a message that said (I'm paraphrasing here), "Do not turn off your nook, Installing New Software."

In the time it took to write this, the update was complete and the Nook Tablet was on and ready for use. Nothing was reset. My files are still there. There was then a smal green 'n' in the left corner (where the download, SD Card and email notification is seen). I touched that and a pop-up indicated the update was complete. Best of luck.

Addendum|Correction: I re-read the exact phrasing of your issue (which I came upon when searching for a solution to my problem). I only just noticed that you mention that your screen is still lit, but black. I did not notice if mine was still lit (I had it on, then put it to sleep, then it would not respond at all 90 minutes later). That was my exact issue. The other issue, where I got the 20 second Power Button+N Button solution, came from a thread where others stated they could not get theirs to turn on. I still suggest attempting the above solution as it helped me and others. I hope the fact that your yours is "still lit" will not be an issue.

[CraftyBookColl…]

Yep, we're having the same problem. While browsing the B&N website for books the screen just went black and ours is making a horrendous buzzing noise that won't stop (still going after 2 hours). The screen is still lit but dark/blank. Pressing the power button will not work, not even holding it down. What in the world is going on here? I'm not happy about owning a $249 piece of junk.

[CraftyBookColl…]

ok we just tried the "hold the power button down AND the "n" button down for 20 seconds and that worked to finally turn it off. I don't understand what that did but at least it's finally shut up! Hopefully there isn't a serious problem that makes the nook tablet freeze up like that and hopefully it doesn't happen again. That isn't normal and I'm affraid this is just a temporary fix and that we will experience related problems later down the road that will no longer be covered after the warranties end. This is really rediculous.

[laurieb52]

It may have been trying to download and install th automatic update and was telling you to not do anything until it was done. They have added a lot of extra notification sounds to the tablet that were not present with the NC. (Email notification sounds, etc.).

[Inquisitive30]

Happened to me as well, I found it was trying to connect to a wireless network that was redirecting it elsewhere,  I am guessing that it was being redirected to a proxy server of some sort and would say connected but as you watched the wireless settings, it would change to connecting.  I suspect that the problem I had was because of the wireless network (at Work) I was trying to connect to.  I had clicked on download on a book that sent me to the wireless network settings.  When I selected the guest network at my work, I was notified that I was being redirected and was given the choice to continue or forget network.  If I continued I would find my nook color frozen and not responding, if I chose forget network it would drop the connection and allow me to do something else.  Might have been due to my trying to download something that it wouldn't give up.

[Pencilor]

YOU ROCK!!!!  Tried the power button and the "n" simutaneously and it finally shut off.  Turned it back on and it seems to be normal.  I'm still going in tomorrow with it to see why it happened but in the meantime...thank you!

[ladysaotome]

Mine just suddenly did the same thing - went black but still lit. Holding power for 20 seconds turned it off. Thanks! (I know it wasn't the update, I've had that for a while.) What's interesting is when I turned it back on, it said my wifi password was incorrect. But I was able to go to options and hit "connect" and it connected right away. I've had a lot of wifi error messages lately even though it stays connected.

[ConstayntReader]

I'm glad for these posts. My NT just did the same thing. Screen was blue/blackish. Just stopped working. I held the power button down for a while, as you did, and it came back. Weird. But I was glad to read these posts and know there was a solution!

[katari]

The pressing the n button and the power button at the same time definitely works! the first time i tried it it wouldn't start up, but the second time it rebooted after 10 seconds of holding the two buttons down.

[lauretta6]

Thank you all for the info. My nook came back on after I pressed both buttons twice for 20 seconds. It appeared to need a reboot for some reason.

Does it look like we will have to take our tablets back to the store and hope they figure it out.

I did not do anything to cause it to not work. I was reading a book, stopped and put it down. When I picked it up again it would not respond. I guess I will go to my local store and ask questions.

$250.00 is a lot of money for something that will not work after the first two months. I got it as a gift for Christmas and do not have a receipt but I registered it.

[Janak]

The same thing has happened to me multiple times. We have not had the tablet very long, but I think it has frozen like this about 4 or 5 times. What a pain in the butt.

[Jess0317]

THANK YOU! My NT just suddenly went dark yesterday. It was fine in the morning and then I went to use it yesterday afternoon and NOTHING! I thought maybe I had run the battery down, but when I went to charge it- nothing happened. The light on the USB cable stayed green. I was so FRUSTRATED and was going to take it in this morning but (keeping fingers crossed) this takes care of it. When I held the power and n buttons down, nothing happened the first time but the second time it came on and said that the battery was too low to turn on so I put it back on the charger and WOO HOO it turned orange! Does anyone know WHY this happens?

[Ropebender]

I have had this happen with 4 Nook Tablets, B&N replaced them all, and I am getting a new replacement now for the fifth one that has had this issue.  Let me tell you what I have learned from experience, plus over 20 years in Electronics servicing.  After watching carefully, most of the time, but not all, the Nook is in use for long periods of time.  One time the Nook was not in use for a long time, but was fully charged and not used all day, but when I turned it on the battery was almost completely discharged.  There is a dark purplish glow to the screen and the nook is warm.  Power cord plugged in turns orange, and you can leave it plugged in for hours but it never turns green.

I have not had the "20 second power/U button fix" work on any of the nooks, so if this works for you, it may be something different.  I would bet my bottom teeth (they are my own) that this is a Processor Lock-Up issue.  All the buttons on the Nook work through processor inputs, so if the processor is locked up, none of the buttons are recognized.  The dark blue cast to the screen means the unit is not dead or off, just not responsive to the buttons.  Normally what you would do in a situation like this is to remove all power (like you would do to your Desktop if it locks up.)

The trouble is, this is a soldered-in Lithium-Ion battery that you can't unplug (and opening the case to unsolder the battery would void your waranty.)  so the temporary solutionj is to letthe batery completely discharge (overnight will do it.) In the morning, plug in your charger and the nook will charge up normally and in about half an hour you can press the On button, or the U button and it will work great again, until the next time.

I think it is a heat issue.  Long use, or apps that use lots of computing power cause heat, and the heat is not properly dissapated.  When the processor gets too hot, it locks up, and once it locks up you can't turn it off or reset it, it has to shut itself down.  The people who designed the Nook Tablet might have underestimated the length of continuous useage some of us would be subjecting them to, and did not provide sufficient heat-sinking on one or more of the components.  When they test the returned units, they cannot test them as hard as they are used in the field, so the units are put back into the Refurbished pile.  Folks who don't use their Nooks for continuous hours will probably never seea problem.  Power users will continue to be frustrated.

I am hanging in there, trusting that they will eventually resolve this issue.  I love my tablet, even though everytime it is replaced I have to re-enter all my passwords, and start over on all my games.  In spite of the troubles, I am a happy user, and a Nook Supporter.

Van!!

[YellowPineapple]

Thank you!  Just happened to me and I am so thankful for your posts!  Held the power button down and then I was able to restart it

[Narey]

Thanks folks.... I'm thanking you all ahead of time, because I just  know that's going to work. My screen went blank, but on (bluish cast/lit) when I left it on an email in progress just for a few minutes. I still love my nook tablet!

[alwissell]

Thank you!  Same thing happened to me and by holding down the power button and N for 20 seconds it turned off.  I have the security password screen and could see if very faintly when it was stuck.  I held down the power and N button until that went away then powered it up fine.

[kninelvr]

The same thing happened to me too. So glad I found out how to fix this. I love the B&N Community!

[dolly_kings]

Same thing happened to me. Thank you!