a77 issues, please help

mfriesenm · Dec 14, 2015

hello,

I have a one year old a77 in what I believe to be a good condition. While I was watching pictures I took, I noticed the battery was running low (3%). I plugged it in so that I could continue viewing my pictures. The moment I did so the lcd turned dark and I was unable to turn the camera back on again.

Anyone has had this happen before? any ideas of how to fix this?

Thanks in advance!

sybersitizen · Dec 14, 2015

mfriesenm said:
... While I was watching pictures I took, I noticed the battery was running low (3%). I plugged it in so that I could continue viewing my pictures.

What do you mean, you plugged it in? You plugged what exactly into what exactly?

The A77 is not supplied with a charging cable. If you plugged a cable from some other device into one of the ports on your camera, that was probably not a good idea.

mfriesenm · Dec 14, 2015

I plugged it into a cellphone charger plugged into an outlet using the usb. I thought that would make sense to charge it

ewraven · Dec 14, 2015

That sucks. You probably just fried it. That port is for data only and only using the Sony supplied cable to plug into a computer.

mfriesenm · Dec 14, 2015

i guess that means you don't think I can redeem myself

ewraven · Dec 14, 2015

Redeem yourself?

I sort of almost fried NEX3 during a firmware update. I used a usb cable that I just had lying around. I plugged it into the computer. Turned out that the cable was a charge and data cable. I guess the charge part means it has extra pins in it or something. The plastic around the usb port on the Nex 3 melted a little bit.

But somehow, it still works. Once i got the Sony cable out, i was able to complete the firmware update.

Maybe you should pull the battery out of your A77 and let it sit overnight. Try it with the battery tomorrow and hopefully it will work.

thebustos · Dec 14, 2015

There's a separate AC adapter you have to buy to be able to charge the camera from the wall. It also has a special port on the camera to plug it in.

It does sound like you might have fried it by plugging the usb into a charger as that is strictly for data transfer.
--
Good luck and happy shooting!

LesR55 · Dec 14, 2015

Seems you asked the same question a day ago in Open Talk. You said you tried another battery, and charged the original battery, and no response from your camera. Seems like it is fried and needs looking at by a repair shop. Did you use the wall mount charger to charge your battery?

ILCA77M2user · Dec 14, 2015

I plug my A77ii into my laptop using the USB cable from an Amazon kindle paperwhite (because it's much longer).

I've never used the Sony supplied USB cable.

Chris Malcolm · Dec 15, 2015

mfriesenm said:
I plugged it into a cellphone charger plugged into an outlet using the usb. I thought that would make sense to charge it

The USB connection to the A77 doesn't charge it, just allows the transfer of data.

Chris Malcolm · Dec 15, 2015

ewraven said:
That sucks. You probably just fried it. That port is for data only and only using the Sony supplied cable to plug into a computer.

Only the Sony supplied cable? I've used any old USB cable probably a hundred times with no problems.

It's possible it's not fried, just been knocked into a comatose state. Try leaving the battery out for a few hours to see if that allows it to recover.

IanML · Dec 15, 2015

thebustos said:
...It does sound like you might have fried it by plugging the usb into a charger as that is strictly for data transfer.

Surely the USB standard assigns pins for power supply. If the camera does not use those pins because it does not accept power at that socket, they should not be connected internally.

mfriesenm · Dec 15, 2015

Yes I did post it yesterday, but I noticed it probably wasn't in the right section.

I did try some other batteries to try to make it work and yes I charged them with the wall charger.

Ed at Ridersite · Dec 15, 2015

mfriesenm said:
Yes I did post it yesterday, but I noticed it probably wasn't in the right section.
I did try some other batteries to try to make it work and yes I charged them with the wall charger.

At this point, you don't seem to have much to loose. I'd go here:

https://esupport.sony.com/US/p/swu-download.pl?upd_id=8440&os_id=99&mdl=SLTA77V

and try updating the firmware with the correct cable and latest firmware version. Be sure the battery is fully charged.

mfriesenm · Dec 15, 2015

I looked this up. apparantly there is no physical outside difference between a power cable with data and a simple data cable.

The power goes through pin 1 and pin 5 is a ground. I looked at the the a77 and it does posses 5 pins.

But you do bring up a good point. If trying to charge the device using a wall charger can fry the camera, why not cut the link (even internally). or why not use a different connector that is always data only? (Such as the cable connection used for printers.

JusLookN · Dec 15, 2015

Your're not going to be able to do any firmware updates with that camera like it is. I think you fried something in it also by hooking that cable to a wall charger

--
Glenn
I'm kinda partial to video, but I'm hangin!

tbcass · Dec 15, 2015

mfriesenm said:
I plugged it into a cellphone charger plugged into an outlet using the usb. I thought that would make sense to charge it

And there was your mistake. The A77 has a proprietary power port which requires a special chord. If you plugged a charger into the USB port you may very well have fried the electronics because it was not designed for that.

thebustos · Dec 15, 2015

Well i guess since there is a separate port for charging, they figured it wouldn't be an issue.
--
Good luck and happy shooting!

Yemble · Dec 15, 2015

mfriesenm said:
hello,
I have a one year old a77 in what I believe to be a good condition. While I was watching pictures I took, I noticed the battery was running low (3%). I plugged it in so that I could continue viewing my pictures. The moment I did so the lcd turned dark and I was unable to turn the camera back on again.
Anyone has had this happen before? any ideas of how to fix this?
Thanks in advance!

Try this: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/53647459

tqlla · Dec 15, 2015

mfriesenm said:
hello,
I have a one year old a77 in what I believe to be a good condition. While I was watching pictures I took, I noticed the battery was running low (3%). I plugged it in so that I could continue viewing my pictures. The moment I did so the lcd turned dark and I was unable to turn the camera back on again.
Anyone has had this happen before? any ideas of how to fix this?
Thanks in advance!

Bummer. The A77 came out before Sony started using USB to charge the E-mount camera's.

I am surprised that there wasnt a safeguard as well. But I guess at the time, people weren't using USB to charge many camera's.

Hopefully the hard reset posted above me work. Or you can try just leaving the battery out for a day and crossing your fingers. Good luck.

a77 issues, please help

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