First, I hadn’t gotten around to using the Freewrite in many months, so the battery was dead. It gave a “critical” notice on the screen. It wouldn’t charge or start up, until it did. Long story short, the recommendation is if it’s in this state, charge the device at least 24 hours before trying to power up again. Preferably, you’ll use the original USB-C to USB-A cable and a USB power supply that’s 5V/1A.

Second, my screen appeared frozen. It remained at the power down screensaver, which in my case is Ernest Hemingway’s mug shot. Another long story short, after trying all of the reset and factory reset recommendations, it came down to a broken plastic stand on a board underneath the power switch. I was clued into this by being able to power the unit on and off only when I tilted it upside down (the main rule of troubleshooting is to try EVERYTHING).

Anyway, for those who don’t know, you typically hold the power button down for at least 15 seconds to reboot the unit. Some also say pressing New and power works. To factory reset, you need to hold down E + X + L + Power for 15 – 30 seconds. Fortunately, I didn’t have to resort to that, although it really wouldn’t have mattered if I did.

As for the cracked post, I used some glue and then secured the assembly with electrical tape. Hopefully, that will hold. If not, I’ll have to do more extensive plastic repair. Getting at the insides is relatively easy. You remove the six rubber feet and screws. For the screws, I needed two different sizes of security screwdrivers (the type with a star-like pattern).

Finally, I was told that there are no longer any parts available for my iteration of the device (second gen instead of the current third gen), so it was either self-repair or have a non-functioning display piece. I chose the former (they did offer a 10% discount on a regular unit, but I wasn’t interested).

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