EDIT 3: (June 20, 2020) My SoundLink seemed to stop charging. The orange light would pulse, then it flashed red, then it went solid red.
SOLUTION: A new USB cable! The included Bose dock didn’t charge it, nor did my regular cable that has always charged it over the years. A NEW cable did it!
EDIT 2: Another thing to try is to let the battery run out completely. Then it seems it’ll recharge properly. You can drain the battery a lot faster by turning the volume up. It’ll show the red charging light for a while until it turns itself off, then put it on the charger.
EDIT: BOSE has removed the previous version of the software from their page.
There’s still a way to downgrade it by following these instructions!
To reset it, which seems to work in some cases;
- Plug the speaker into power.
- Hold the mute/multi-function button down for 10 seconds (lights will flash).
- Unplug the power cord, then let go of the button.
- Give it a second, then plug it back in to power.
- If that fixed it, good.
- If not, go to the updater site and apply the same version of the update as you already have – or use the hacked updater to downgrade-then-upgrade yours.
The Bose Soundlink Mini II, one of the best bang-for-the-buck purchases I’ve ever made (along with the Dyson V8 Absolute) finally started to show its age.
I got the dreaded charging warning!
The battery should last far longer than a year, so my issue was likely with the firmware. It was the latest version, so I had to experiment.
What ultimately seemed to fix the charging issue was to downgrade the firmware, reset and reboot the Mini, then upgrade the firmware again!
Here’s how;
1, Connect to http://btu.bose.com
You might have to download the little updater software which will then prompt you to connect the speaker.
2, Once your speaker is connected and it shows you what firmware you have installed, and eventual updates, press the following keys in sequence on the keyboard
[a] , [d] , [v] , [up arrow] , [down arrow].
This will unlock the “advanced menu” which allows you to downgrade your firmware.
At this point, try to charge the speaker fully overnight and see if that worked.
This worked for me. Once the speaker was charged, I updated to the latest firmware again and it’s been good ever since.
If it does NOT work, then update the firmware to the latest version and try again and that should do the trick.
now I downgraded and tried to re set and re boot but I did not see ant light on it , also now I,m charging the mini , still do not see any light on it. Is it normal or not?
Hello i’d like to request for an assistance on fixing my SLM 2. I had executed the above mentioned steps but i got stuck during pressing a,d,v, arrow up and down. After pressing, it seems like there is no drop down menu for me to select the firmware version. It just shows off the advance menu and system info.
Got my bose approximately 4 months wen it enters in this state.
Thank you.
What software version does it show? It should give you an option to update yours if it’s not already updated. It’s been a while since I did this so I don’t remember – did you have to click on the “Advanced” button for it to give you the update/downgrade options?
I did this and got the issue resolved for a week. But now I have to do this every now and then to keep the speaker working. Is there any permanent fix for this?
Mine hasn’t done it since. Do you keep your speaker fully charged or run it really low all the time? What if you try to charge it every night or so and see if it stays alive longer?
Brilliant Advice,Wors like a charm! Many thanks.
Totally works…woke up this morning and speaker was dead. Reverted back to older firmware took five mins once connected. At this stage it seemed to reboot and started charging with usual beeps. I then waited til 20% and reverted back to latest. Once complete I switched to charging via usb cable plug via docking station. Works a treat.
Thanks for robdiesel…. my bose start to turning on…. thx again….
Fixed! thanks for this post! Yes the old firmware wasn’t there but I just hit install on the current firmware and after a few minutes the speaker rebooted and is now charging. 🙏
Yep – same to me!!!! Thanks so much!!
there’s no downgrade option in the advance option sir. I can see only the 1.4 version. when I click the down arrow for that menu it doesn’t show the 1.3 version. why? please help me.
See the first link in the post. It seems Bose was afraid off issues that would arise from people downgrading the software so they removed the downgrade option.
You should be able to reapply the most recent update, or do the reset procedure, or just let the battery drain until it shuts off and then recharge it.
Hi, I must be having a dumb moment, but can someone please explain what the A,D,V keys are? Are you referring to keys on my PC keyboard, or are the keys on the Bose unit?
I have been trying to open the advanced features menu on the updater, but I’m stuck at this point.
Thanks for any help.
Hi there. Yes, it’s the keys on your keyboard on the computer. Bose did remove the downgrade firmware option (see the first link in the post) so you can either try a reset or let the battery drain to where it shuts itself off and then stick it on the charger.
Hello, is the version 1.1.3 still available? I can’t see it and can’t fix the red light issue blinking on my bose.
Hi Roberto. No, Bose removed that (see the first link in the post) due to their fear or issues arising from people downgrading.
You can try either the reset process or let the battery die completely and then charge it. That seems to work for me.
Hi,
is there a way to solve the red blinking light.
please help
That typically means your battery is critically low. Plug the speaker into the charger and let it sit overnight and it should be good. If it still blinks after an hour or so, unplug the charger for a minute, then plug it back in.
Followed your advice and drained the battery, now stuck with a situation where the light is a steady red, but unable to reinstall latest system software because not enough power to run the install. Battery refuses to recharge . Reboot gives a yellow light after about 10 seconds but then simply reverts to the steady red. This situation is driving me insane! Any further advice?
If you plug the charger in to the side of the speaker and let it sit overnight (and all day while you go to work), knock on wood, it will have charged. That has worked for me the last couple of times it’s done the “pretend I don’t want to charge” thing.
Depending on how long you’ve had it, there’s the odd chance that the battery actually IS completely done for.
Stuck in the same situation.
Power’s completely drained, won’t turn on, connecting to AC gives a solid red light, connecting to PC says it doesn’t have enough power to update the firmware.
Been charging for a day, and still solid red.
How long in general does it take to come back? Or is it a brick now.
Charging overnight seems to work in most cases. Try using the included cradle to charge, or plug a 2.1 amp tablet/phone charger into the MicroUSB port on the side to charge it and see what happens. Try disconnecting the charger for 30 seconds every few hours and plug it back in.
Same here. I believe the firmware kills it.
I am having the SAME problem stated above by Johndraz… Speaker will not turn on, battery is completely dead, red charging light remains on steady (NOT blinking) when plugged in with original Bose charger plugged into side port for several hours. WTF? Help please!!!
My power light , Bluetooth light and aux light is blinking not coming on. Why it causing trouble , Bose is not durable died in 1 year 4 months .
Bose has been entirely unhelpful. I patiently provided the details of my troubleshooting, repeated all steps with Bose tech support on the phone, and was ultimately told Bose required a credit card in order to cover the $53 shipping for tech repair service. I view this as asking the consumer to pay for a fix to manufacturer/tech issues. Very poor stance from Bose. I purchased JBL Bluetooth speakers for my children, which deliver good quality sound and simply work as a consumer should expect, without issue for more than 3 years. I declined the Bose service and will vote with my wallet by purchasing quality products elsewhere.
Reflashing 1.1.4 on top of my 1.1.4 fixed me right up!!!
What a strange issue to have and why bose hides their advanced features behind a hidden key combo is crazy. And why don’t they tell us? So that we have to go to Rob to tell us.
Rob, you are way better than bose!
Thank you so much!!!
Wonderfull!!! After nothing worked, installing the current firmware version again solved the ´red light problem´. Thank you so much!!!
Same problem constant red light will not charge. I always thought BOSE was the elite in speakers and this thing is a piece of junk. My JBL Flip speaker blows this thing out of the water. I will never buy a BOSE again because they are so unwilling to fix a problem that obviously several people are having with their product.
Unfortunately I am also facing the same problem.
Battery is completely dead.
Connecting it to AC shows a still red light (used the original charger+cable, also changed the charger and cable and even the AC socket). I left it to charge overnight but no luck. The still red light was present even after 24 hours. Press and held the multi-function button for 10 seconds and only the charging light flashes temporarily (no flashing of aux and bluetooth symbol).
When I plugged it into my PC, the device is not being detected at all ergo I cannot try my luck by upgrading/downgrading the firmware.
Any assistance would be very much appreciated.
My problem is the same as many here. No power in my mini 2. No lights are on when it is not plugged in the bose charger. When it is plugged in there is a beep and a steady red light. But it does not charge at all. It has the current firmware. I would like to re-install the firmware but it does not have any charge so it can’t download it. I’ve done all the resets. I have a feeling if I could re-install the latest firmware that what do it. But can’t. Any ideas? Also why should the speaker have no charge even when it’s plugged in?
I have solid red light, won’t charge and can’t install any software upgrades because the battery is too low! I’ve tried the previous reset too. Does anyone know what else I can try before this speaker gets binned?
Hey,
I recently had the same issue. In order to get it charged, you need to open the battery case and find the charging terminals of li-ion batteries. It has two 3.7li-ion batteries in series. You need a benchtop power supply to charge them to above 7.4V. The solid red light will become blinking red. Now you can connect to computer and flash the firmware update to it. If everything was done correctly, the red blinking light should be amber now. Leave it to power supply for a while until fully charged. If you are not confident doing teardown and soldering yourself, find a friend who is an electrical engineer or electromechanical engineer to help you.
You will find this service manual to be useful. Good luck.
https://manualzz.com/doc/9364327/bose-soundlink-mini-ii-service-manual
My speaker just did the same thing. I have the red light and it won’t charge. My next step is just what you said, I will hook up an external charger to the two pins (without actually removing the battery from the speaker) and see if that gets them above the protection circuit threshold where it will charge normally again.
If it doesn’t, my next plan is to pick up a couple of Panasonic 18650s and a dual-battery cradle and see if I can cut the battery case open and wire in the new batteries from the cradle to where they connect in their case and NOT have to buy a new $40 battery. If I do that, I plan to cut the battery cable in half and solder the new battery to the wires I cut so I don’t have to fight to disassemble or desolder the wires from the PCB.
I added a couple of things to the post.
One was that my original docking cradle AND the separate micro-USB cable I’ve used for years to charge my Soundlink Mini 2 with apparently aren’t charging it anymore. I used a NEW cable and the speaker charges again!
Also, there is a hacked updater that points to a github site where a guy saved all the old updates from Bose (for other products too!). This allows you to DOWNGRADE the firmware version (and re-upgrade it) to see if that helps your charging issue.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bose/comments/cw47fx/githubcombosefirmware/
This worked! Thank you so much! After trying the “hold the multifunction button for 10 seconds” fix that didn’t fix anything, I was about to give up, when I found this solution (the advanced mode of the updater, which Bose should really make available! instead of hiding), and it fixed the “red light flashing while not charging” problem!
If all else fail then just download the Bose updater app and then force your mini soundlink to update the firmware again. Btw my firmware version was latest at the time 1.14 when it was flashing red as i left the battery ran out and locked in battery shipping mode.
Sometime the app doesnot allow you to update if it detects your soundlink already has the latest but trust me still force it to update then the status led will go into solid red instead of flashing red as it did before.
You are all set just have to leave it to charge for a few hours.
Thanks to Rob who showed us the combination of letters to force the app into update menu.
So happy after many many attempts google and trials to get it reset!
Cheers.
Thanks so much RobDiesel! Brilliant fix! I was having the same problem, i.e., a solid red light, unresponsive speaker and not enough battery charge to reload the firmware. First, I followed instructions found elsewhere to leave the speaker unplugged for 2+ days, then plug it in. That solved the first problem, which was to force some sort of reset that allowed the speaker to recharge the battery enough for the computer see it. Then I followed your instructions to find the advanced menu, re-loaded software version 1.1.4 and now all is well! So happy to have my beloved SoundLink Mini II back again. 🙂
Thanks Rob, your fix worked exactly as specified. Great to have it working again and saved my Bose from being trashed!!
I used “EDIT 2”, kinda. I drained the battery totally, then left it off for 3 days, then plugged it in, and it charged up 100%, all working now.
This is what I followed: https://community.bose.com/t5/Portable/SoundLink-Mini-II-will-not-charge-Solid-Red-Light/td-p/294288/page/2
Such a strange bug.
Hey Bob, I have the same flashing red light and tried the reset and update but no luck, i’m just wondering how did you drained you battery?
Lakan,
If I remember it right, I kept turning the speaker on and tried to connect bluetooth to it. It might turn itself off after a minute or two, and then I turned it back on. Keep doing that until several times. If it plays music, turn up the volume. That drains the battery faster.
OMG! I am tech savvy and this totally done my head in! Literally stumbled across tapping A D V then UP and DOWN arrows (one by one at the Bose update page), screen changed and allowed me to install 1.4.1 which it already had installed, at 55% the speaker made a noise and went off and on, 100% speaker back on and working fine! I almost posted this back to Bose at a cost of £50! I can’t be sure but surly Bose know about this and are just charging £50 to plug it in and push a button in their services centres, I wonder how many people paid the £50! My guess is an issue in the battery controller that they programmed to make sure people couldn’t reset and had to be done at their centres however the reinstallation of the firmware clearly resets the controller at about 55% hence the speakers springing back into life!
I had also the red flashing light when I tried to charge my BOSE Mini II. None of the official tricks was helpful. Update with the same current version in the advanced mode helps. Thank you very much.
I updated with the same latest current version in the advanced mode, which worked.
Thank you very much!
Well ….. there are some interesting things here. The first is …. that the “hacked” Updater, download and overwrite the original, does not allow the drop-down menu to show the previous version. I tried several ways, it didn’t work. The fact that pressing the “a — d — v – Up — Down” keys in sequence brought up the drop-down menu refresh option, but that’s it; it only allowed the LATEST VERSION, which it had already installed above, to install.
With that, the “red LED flashes quickly and the product is absolutely not working” status persisted, despite the UPDATE going down correctly.
I did something worth trying: when the installation gets to the point where it disconnects the SM II from the USB and then comes the yellow slow FLASH first and then the Green, I simply DOWNLOAD the SM II from the USB, and I transferred it to a wall charger. In this state, it flashes yellow slowly, that is … I think it has started to charge !. According to the announcement of the terns, it was 19% in it, so now I am confident that it will start after a few hours of charging. If you go, … I’ll write it for you too, but it’s WORTH TRYING IT !! 🙂
Lev from Hungary.
CORRECTING:
Well ….. there are some interesting things here. The first is …. that the “hacked” Updater, download and overwrite the original, does not allow the drop-down menu to show the previous version. I tried several ways, it didn’t work. The fact that pressing the “a — d — v – Up — Down” keys in sequence brought up the drop-down menu refresh option, but that’s it; it only allowed the LATEST VERSION, which it had already installed above, to install.
With that, the “red LED flashes quickly and the product is absolutely not working” status persisted, despite the UPDATE going down correctly.
I did something worth trying: when the installation gets to the point where it disconnects the SM II from the USB and then comes the yellow slow FLASH first and then the Green, I simply unplug the SM II from the USB, and I transferred it to a wall charger. In this state, it flashes yellow slowly, that is … I think it has started to charge !. Based on the product announcement, it was 19% in it, so now I’m confident it will start after a few hours of charging. If you go, … I’ll write it for you too, but it’s WORTH TRYING IT !! 🙂
Lev from Hungary.
I have the same problem and barely used my speaker bose please help us down grade