iPad Won't Shut Off, spinning for hours now

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Level 1

4 points

iPad Won't Shut Off, spinning for hours now

Yesterday my iPad would not get mail from my Gmail account. It would just spin and spin. (It had no problem with other web-based functions.) I went to Settings to see if I could perhaps re-enter the Gmail information, and when I selected "Email, etc", Settings locked up.

I used the button to exit out of Settings and tried again. This time Settings locked up completely, so I tried to shut down. I held down the power button, got the slider, and slid it to off.

Screen went black and the little spinning wheel showed up as usual. However, it didn't go away and the iPad didn't power down. The wheel stayed spinning. And stayed. This was at 10:30 last night. It's now 8:00 am and the wheel is STILL spinning (it was not plugged in overnight).

Neither button does anything. Plugging it in doesn't do anything. I'm leaving it unplugged in the hopes the battery will eventually run out and maybe that will finally clear whatever is locking the thing up.

Any clue as to what might be going on here? Is my battery run-down idea foolish?

iPad, iOS 4

Posted on Jan 15, 2011 4:55 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Carolyn Samit

Level 10

165,615 points

Jan 15, 2011 5:04 AM in response to DLartigue

Hi and welcome...

I'm leaving it unplugged in the hopes the battery will eventually run out and maybe that will finally clear whatever is locking the thing up.

Probably not a good idea. It sounds like it was trying to finish a process. Unless the iPad is connected to your computer or a wall outlet and the battery completely discharges, then it can't complete that process.

When your iPad freezes when using a certain app, try Force Quitting. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button on top of iPad for a few seconds until a red slider appears, then press and hold the Home button until the application quits.

If that doesn't help, try resetting your iPad. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.

If you still have problems, connect your iPad to your computer. Launch iTunes. Make sure the iPad is recognized under Devices on the left side of the iTunes window. Now select the Summary tab then click Restore and follow the instructions.

Carolyn 🙂

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Answer 2

DLartigue Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 15, 2011 5:06 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

That's the problem, I can't do anything with it. None of the buttons respond. I just get the spinner.

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Answer 3

DLartigue Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 15, 2011 5:21 AM in response to DLartigue

Okay, just after I posted that the battery finally ran down. I now have it plugged in and got it to turn on, no problem. Gmail is acting fine and it's now charging. I just successfully turned it off again.

Not sure what that was all about, but it seems to be okay now.

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Answer 4

DLartigue Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 15, 2011 5:22 AM in response to DLartigue

I'm marking this as answered because it looks like the battery running down was what it needed to kill whatever the process was that was hanging up the whole thing.

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Answer 5

Jan 15, 2011 9:39 AM in response to DLartigue

DLartigue wrote:
I'm marking this as answered because it looks like the battery running down was what it needed to kill whatever the process was that was hanging up the whole thing.

Yes it probably was, thanks form posting your solution, and welcome to Apple Discussions!

The next time this sort of thing happens, the proper first step would be to force quit the app. Following bp example is for Mail, but applies to all ...

Force quit Mail — there are 2 ways to do this

1. Double tap Home to open the Recents tray, press & hold any visible icon until they "wiggle" and show the red deletion buttons, then tap that button on the Mail icon, or

2. Press & hold both the Home and the Sleep/Wake buttons until the red slider appears, then release Sleep/Wake. Continue to hold the Home button until the Mail page is replaced by a home screen.

Other steps to take, if needed, are in the Tips & Troubleshooting section of your manual.

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Answer 6

Jay324

Level 1

0 points

Jan 15, 2011 12:24 PM in response to Michael Morgan1

That's weird, I just got the same problem today, although it happened differently:
- I plugged in my iPad to sync it with iTunes
- It wouldn't complete step 1 of 6 so I cancelled sync by swiping my finger on the screen
- I replugged it and any time I tried to sync it again, I got a message saying that a sessions couldn't be started on the iPad
- I chose to shut it down and that's when it wouldn't shut down and keeps spinning
I guess that's the downside of unremovable battery.
Isn't there any way to do a manual reset instead of waiting days until the battery drains?

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Answer 7

Jan 15, 2011 12:33 PM in response to Jay324

Yes. Press & Hold both Home and Sleep/Wake buttons for 10 seconds, until white Apple logo appears, then let the rest of the boot process complete.

These and others described in the Guide's Tips & Troubleshooting section.

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Answer 8

Jay324

Level 1

0 points

Jan 15, 2011 12:45 PM in response to Michael Morgan1

Thanks a bunch, I'll read that section first next time. 🙂

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Answer 9

Apr 14, 2011 7:38 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Wonderful feedback. I was nervous when my iPad2 could not be recognized and this fix worked and erased nothing. Thank you.

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Answer 10

dbayb13

Level 1

0 points

Apr 23, 2011 5:51 PM in response to DLartigue

The same thing just happened to me as I was trying to switch between folders in my gmail account--my ipad always freezes when I move too quickly in the gmail account. I tried shutting my ipad down and it got stuck spinning. That's how I ended-up on this blog. I pressed the sleep/wake and home button together, as the other posts instructed, and then hooked it up to my computer. t's fine now, but I defnitely think it has something to do with gmail. I have always just powered my ipad down, but this time it got stuck.

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Answer 11

Jun 6, 2011 3:04 PM in response to Jay324

Jay, same exact issue here. Michael Morgan1's recommendation:

Michael Morgan1 wrote:

Press & Hold both Home and Sleep/Wake buttons for 10 seconds, until white Apple logo appears, then let the rest of the boot process complete.

Did the trick.

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Answer 12

haneensa

Level 1

0 points

Jun 15, 2011 2:59 PM in response to DLartigue

me too i just had the same problem today and it also started with my email

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Answer 13

Dimbit

Level 1

8 points

Jul 28, 2011 6:52 AM in response to DLartigue

I have the same problem but not using Gmail when trying to upgrade to the latest iPAD software release it would not finish backing up. I disconnected and tried reconnecting and it wouldn't. When I tried to power down the iPad it just kept spinning. So I did hard reset above and it comes on. Hopefully I can sync now. I also rebooted the computer.

Worried something is corupt in the storage on my iPAD.

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Answer 14

Alfonso

Level 2

417 points

Jul 28, 2011 9:57 AM in response to DLartigue

Was your IPad jailbroken?

Regardless, have you tried to put it in Recovery mode and restore it?

Hold the Home and the Power button together and after 3-5 seconds let go of the home button.

The iPad should then ask you to connect it to iTunes, where you can restore it.

Hope it works

Regards

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Answer 15

Aug 21, 2011 11:33 PM in response to DLartigue

I had the same issue and the solution of pressing both buttons for 10 seconds worked for me

but for the record it also started with the email client

the email client on my device refused to work, i tried to close and reopen the app several times but nothing changed . Also when i selected the email setting from the settings interface it caused the settings interface to hang too. So i figured out that a system reboot would fix this issue and i got stuck with the spining wheel for 2 hours till i found this page.

Apple should investigate about this issue since i freaked out and thought my device crashed

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