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Ipad turns on and off in a loop during charging, and won't turn on at all off charge?

My Ipad has been in a constant loop of turning on and off on charge for the past few hours, I really don't know what to do. I've had a few charging problems before (taking forever to charge, the computer not recognising it, saying "Not charging" for numerous wall chargers and generally messing up.) But today it won't turn on at all. I've got through at least ten chargers over the months, and I've had this Ipad since Christmas, so not even a year.

Basically, when it's charging (I've tried wall and desktop computer.) it shows the Apple logo, then boots up, shows the lock screen for a second, then dies, then repeats this process over and over until I take it out, then it does the "No battery" sign.

I updated to IOS7 a while ago too, about a week after IOS7 came out. Please help?

Thanks,

Georgia.

iPad 2, iOS 7.0.2

Posted on Oct 15, 2013 12:42 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 12, 2014 4:47 AM

Ok, after having my ipad 2 3rd Generation for about a year, its bombed out on me, similar problem, playing on it until battery died. Didn’t think anything of it, plugged into charge thinking it would be charged by the morning. This didn’t happen.


It was stuck on the apple sign, booted to home screen and switched off again due to low battery. Continued on this loop for the whole day……


I searched the internet and it seemed all doom and gloom that I would need to by another one. Then I stumbled upon a forum where the advice so far has worked for me.


The reason why it gets stuck in a loop is because the IPad was not shut down so therefore keeps trying to boot up soon as it has some battery power. Problem is, its gone beyond a point and now there isn’t enough battery life to boot to main or home screen after apple logo.


The remedy is quiet simple, follow these steps to get the ipad to home screen to power it down so it has sufficient time to charge up and boot normally and get off the endless loop.


  1. Plug into wall socket to get it charging.
  2. Wait until the apple logo appears
  3. QUICKLY hold down home button and reset/ sleep button at the same time until it reboots.
  4. Release buttons now.
  5. Repeat step 3 for at least 30 to 40 times which is about 10 minutes in duration everytime you see the logo on the screen.
  6. Now Let IPad boot up fully, should see home screen with about 2% battery life
  7. QUICKLY hit the rest/ sleep button down for about 2 to 5 seconds.
  8. Swipe the screen to when slider appears to switch off the ipad.
  9. This will power down the IPad which now will not reboot by itself so it can now charge without any interruption’s.
  10. Allow battery to charge for a least an hour or two without trying to put it on.
  11. Switch the IPad on
  12. You should now have about 10 to 20% battery Life
  13. Power it down again by holding the reset/ Sleep button down again and swipe the screen to power down, let it charge fully to 100% now which will take few hours
  14. Enjoy your IPad again 🙂 🙂


Lesson learnt. When your battery power is low, dont wait for it drain completely, rather power the pad down and let it charge when there is only about 2 to 4% battery life left.


Hope this guide helps people with the same problem as I had. Took me about 2 days of research and searching until I found a solution that worked.


Cheers,

103 replies

Aug 29, 2015 7:18 AM in response to rodneypwns

worked thanks Rodneypwns . I just want to add however that I had to try a few times to get the timing right.

I started with the ipad plugged in.

when the it starts to come to life (apple sign) then I unplugged it and held it close to the charging port so as not to miss the timing when it circle thing starts to spin.

I had about 1 sec to insert the charger otherwise it would go back to same error.

when I did get the timing right the ipad made a singular click sound and went blank.

At this point don't touch it because if you depress the home button it will begin the error cycle again.

so leave it don't touch it, come back in few hours and voila, back to business.

thanks again

Sep 5, 2015 7:11 PM in response to Geesmine

Yes listen to wildchild. Nothing else was working for me until I let it charge in recovery mode for 2 hours . Then I restoured it and it is working!!! I am typing from my iPad as we speak. Also if it doesnt work the first time keep trying and if not let it charge for longer , I only got 2% battery but it was enough for it to turn on and fully restore!!!! Also it doesn't have to be a mac book computer because I used a windows 8

Oct 1, 2015 8:34 AM in response to Geesmine

Here's what I did to fix it. It was already plugged into the computer. As the ipad2 was cycling through the on and off apple logo I continuously held down the power switch - the home button on the front and the UP volume control - all three at the same time. I just held all three down and eventually (maybe 3-4 minutes) the ipad popped back on normally.

Oct 30, 2015 11:13 PM in response to Nailedit

Thank you! I had previously used wild child's instructions and in the past it worked. Today it also worked but I wasn't fast enough when the home screen came up to turn it off. Then I saw your post and decided to try your instructions and after putting it in DFU I waited 6 hours and couldn't stand not checking any longer and it worked! iPad was up to 17% and I was able to power it off!!! Both instory toons work but yours is less frustrating and keeps my finger from going numb clicking the rest/wake button and home button 50 plus times. Much appreciated!!!!!

Nov 7, 2015 7:23 PM in response to WildChild7778

This works thank you! problem is really have to do it a bit longer... half way though doing it i really have to go use bathroom.. and i had been doing it for 8 mins, so i was like well... lets see if it works.... well it turned on and showed 1%, and then turned right off so 8 mins def is not long enough so i went and use bathroom.. now i am ganna try to do it longer so it could stay on 😉

Nov 12, 2015 12:03 AM in response to WildChild7778

Follow the WildChild7778's instruction.

1. Connect the iPad to the charger.

2. Wait until Apple logo appears, press home and power button and hold them until the Apple logo turn off then release the buttons. Repeat steps 2 about 30-40 times.

4. After 40 times, Apple logo is still appear, continue without pressing home and power button, it's back to the home screen. My iPad is still 18% of battery and charging well without looping.


Thanks WildChild

Nov 19, 2015 10:39 PM in response to dzuidzui

I tried your method but no joy.

In step 2, you mentioned pressing the power and home button until the apple logo turn off then release the buttons.

However in WildChild7778 Step 5

"Repeat step 3 for at least 30 to 40 times which is about 10 minutes in duration everytime you see the logo on the screen"

I thought you have to hold power and home button for 10 min regardless whether the apple logo turn off or not.

Anyone can provide some clarification?

Thank you

Feb 7, 2016 1:18 AM in response to Geesmine

Hello everyone!!! I found out how to solve this problem without the usual hassle of the Hard Restart cycle.


All you need is a charger with a higher than 12W output. My iGo laptop charger puts out 90W and has a USB port. I plugged in to it and had enough juice between red battery/apple logo cycles to boot up super fast.


I hope this saves everyone as much frustration as it does me!!!

Mar 13, 2016 11:40 AM in response to WildChild7778

Thank you so much for posting this! It was still helpful to me, almost 2 years later.


My son has an iPad Air 2 & it started doing this exact thing, so of course, I hit up the Internet to find a solution & found your post. Solved my problem then & a few times since. Not sure why this happens, but at least I have a solution now. It's not a quick fix, but at least I know I can get his iPad charging after he has let it die. Which he does often, even with more than one charger to use, even with a portable battery back up, at least once a month, his iPad will die & I use your method to reboot it and within a few hours it's charged back up.


I will say that I've never done the 3rd step 30-40 times, normally I do it 4-5 times & after the final reboot I let it go to the home screen, where it will tell me that I have 1% battery life left, then I hold down the power button & swipe the bar to power down the iPad correctly. Then it's good to go & will charge. This has happened 2-3 times, but with your instructions I can always get it rebooted and charging again. Ideally, my son knows not to let his iPad die, but he's only 10, so bad habits are not easily broken at that age.


Anyone else having this issue, the solution wildchild posted will work, it just takes time & you MUST power off the iPad while it charges after the fact, no playing with it while plugged in & charging which a lot of us do. It also takes your complete attention, you can't do this & let your mind wander, for it to work, you must devote 5-10 minutes to the task. You don't have a lot of time after the iPad starts up & then proceeds to reboot, so you HAVE to pay attention. As soon as you see the apple screen come up you have to be ready to hold the power button & home button to reboot the iPad & you need to do this several times, after which you let it start up & if you're lucky, you'll see you have 1-2% battery life. At this point, you hold the power button, swipe to power down the ipad normally & let it charge.


This does work & quite well actually, it just requires some time, effort & attention. Thanks Wildchild!

Mar 13, 2016 12:23 PM in response to wonghy

WHen you plug in the iPad it will go to the white screen with the apple on it before it reboots in a loop, as soon as you see the white screen with the apple pop up, IMMEDIATELY hold down the power button & home button to do a hard reboot. Once the hard boot starts, the screen goes black, at that point, LET GO of the home & power button. Within seconds, the white screen with the apple will pop up again, again, hold down the power & home screen buttons to do a hard reboot, when the screen goes to black, let go, white screen pops up again with the apple, hold the power button & home button to reboot again, let go once the black screen comes up. When the white screen with the apple logo comes up, repeat the process again. Hold down the power & home buttons, let it go once the black screen pops up & hard reboot again when the white screen comes up. Do it about 5-10 times. The main thing, is catching the iPad while on the white screen with the apple logo before it reboots on its own & repeating that process several times.


YOu do not need to hold down the power button for 10 minutes. Just hard reboot the iPad yourself, anywhere from 5-30 times. Yes, it's time consuming, it will take your full attention, but it's easier & cheaper than buying a new iPad. If your confused as to the hard reboot, especially when it's caught in a loop, just follow the instructions above. Or this:


1) plug in the iPad.

2) when the white screen w/ the apple logo appears, hold down the home & power buttons immediately, let them go when the screen goes to black.

3) after the screen goes black, it will within 2-3 seconds start to reboot itself again & the white screen w/ apple logo comes up. hold down the home & power buttons again, until the screen goes black. Let go. Once the white screen & logo appear, you'll do the same procedure all over again anywhere from 10-30 times. Exactly the same thing, over & over again, a hard reboot once the start up screen appears, then holding down the home & power buttons, forcing a reboot, then letting go when the screen goes dark & immediately doing a hard reboot when the white start up screen w/ the apple logo pops up again.

(**It only takes seconds from start up to reboot to start up again, so pay attention.**)

4) you'll repeat the process above many times. After about the 8-9th time, let the ipad start up & see how much battery life you have. Odds are it will be around 1%. As soon as it boots up & you see that you have 1-2% or so battery life, immediately hold down the power button, JUST the POWER BUTTON. Don't unlock your device, either with Touch ID or your passcode. Just hold down the power button. When the bar comes up across the top of the screen that says, "swipe to power off", swipe that & power down your device.

5) After that, leaving your device OFF & plugged in for a few hours is ideal, but after 20-30 minutes it's usually safe for you to turn your iPad on while it's plugged in & leave it charging. Usually, you have 12-15% at that point. Just leave it plugged in until 100%. I've noticed this glitch tends to occur more frequently if after you've gone through all the steps & finally gotten your device to charge, rather than letting your device charge to 100% you take it off before its done & use it. Doing so increases the frequency with which your device gets caught in the constant reboot cycle, causing it to occur several times a month as opposed every few months if it ever dies while you're using it.


Hope this helps!

Jun 15, 2016 6:23 PM in response to Geesmine

I've been dealing with this same problem for atleast 10 hrs now and I've been following everyone's exact steps but they didn't seem to work. After all this stressing and growing of a beard I've found the solution to my problem.

BEFORE YOU START make sure you've BACKED UP YOUR DEVICE RECENTLY otherwise you're screwed.

STEP 1: When your idevice goes back to apple logo hold power button and home button simultaneously.

STEP 2: When the screen goes black let go of the power button, BUT continue holding the home button. a screen that says connect to itunes should now pop up.

STEP 3: Open iTunes on your computer and plug your device into it. A sign should pop up telling you that there's a problem with your Idevice that can only be solved by updating it.

STEP 4: It should give you the option to update your device. click the update button.

STEP 5: Another box should come up saying something on the lines of if the device is not able to be updated you may need to restore it. Then a button that says update and restore should come up. click that button.

STEP 6: Wait for itunes to extract all the software needed and soon your idevice screen should show that its updating.

STEP 7: If/when your device disconnects and goes back to the low battery sign then unplug it from the computer and leave it unplugged from any charger for the course of 5 hours (i did 8 because i fell asleep lol) but keep it off the charger to allow the ipad to refresh and not over work itself with the looping.
STEP 8: After the hours have passed plug it into a wall charger and the looping should've stopped.
STEP 9: It should turn on after minutes and you should get a hello screen follow everything on the hello screen until you get to the restore backup data screen and click whichever place you'd like to restore your last back up from (i use itunes not icloud)
STEP 10: A connect to itunes screen should pop up on your device. connect to itunes and you should be able to restore your last back up (if you're lucky because i wasn't so i had to set it up as a new ipad but atleast it works. I will try to restore my backup in the near future whenever i have time lol.)
GOOD LUCK AND I HOPE THIS WORKS FOR YOU.

Jul 20, 2016 11:06 AM in response to Geesmine

Oh my word, thank you so much! I just found out my apple care expired so I would have had to pay for this fix out of pocket at the genius bar. I only had to cycle 1-3 about 3x before it flicked to the plug into itunes screen. Apparently it wanted to be updated. It is requiring a factory wipe and reinstall then it will supposedly update. I didn't think apple products could get viruses but this sure looks like one to me!

Oct 2, 2016 1:57 PM in response to WildChild7778

OMG WildChild7778 u are truly a genius!!!!! Thank u soooo much, thought I'd broken my iPad (was about to cry!) However, I fortunately found your advice straight away and followed your instructions to the letter. Can't actually believe it, but it's working again! Exactly as you said It would. Have slightly sore fingers from button pressing for 15 mins, but it is well worth it!!!! Thank u again xxxx

Ipad turns on and off in a loop during charging, and won't turn on at all off charge?

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