I have bought a used photon in an online auction house: it arrived today and does not start (no control LED). Do you still see a technical option to breathe life or did I buy garbage?
Is Particle showing off his generous side and exchanging it for me (will praise the lord)?
Have you tried taking it out of the breadboard, using a different Cable and/or power supply?
Does it do anything when trying any of the button combinations?
Is there any voltage on the Vin and/or 3.3V pin you can measure?
Though that would be awesome, it'd also be kinda weird. If you buy a second-hand phone off of ebay, and it doesn't work, the manufacturer won't replace that either, would it? You should take that up with the auction house or seller.
and if the 3v3 pin doesn’t have an output you could try powering it from the 3V3 pins using a suitable supply…
Thanks for the help: I’ve tried several USB cables, as well as a USB power bank and now with a 3.3 / 5V breadboard adapter: as a result, the photon became very hot and the smell of it is in Smoky Heavens arrived.
