Ok, so let me start by saying I've read every thread I could find on this issue. Hopefully, with a good description of how things unfolded, someone will have a knowledgeable solution for me, and others to follow. So.... it's November, and since the weather has turned cold, I've noticed a hesitation in the starting of my LR2 in the mornings. Not a long hesitation, more like 1 second of a slight struggle for the starter to turn over, then bam, instant fire. In my mind, I thought that I needed to put on a new battery or possibly a new starter before winter set in. Fast forward to today. The LR2 has sat undisturbed for 3 days while I was out of town. I go to fire it up and nothing. No crank. No start. It worked perfectly when I parked it. I got an "HDC Fault System Unavailable" message, and then a "Transmission Failure" message, and another one that I can't recall. I tried to jump it with my girlfriend's car with the same results. After she left for work, I had AAA come out with a new free battery, and my battery tested above 90%, but still no crank even with the battery he brought me. I discovered that the alarm was set (not going off, but the dash light was blinking once per second) I tried unlocking it and locking manually with the key. nothing. I tried leaving the battery unhooked for a period of time to clear codes. nothing. Eventually it got to where there was no sign of power from the battery whatsoever, even when hooking up an OBD 2, no juice. Tried to jump it, and back to full instruments and error codes on the dash, but still no crank. Also, the steering wheel and brakes are both locked as well. I've read about crash mode, steering column modules, brake switches, rear differential sensors or something like that, and computer software upgrades. Those seem to be the most discussed solutions. My question is, has anyone really figured it out? I've got another car to drive to work, but it's not my Rover. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Update: BossBob said on Landroversonly.com "One of the recommended fixes for various electrical faults on the FL2 is to disconnect the battery completely and then connect the red and black wires together and go and have a cup of tea or coffee, (in other words wait for 30 minutes). Disconnect the wires and reconnect them to the correct poles of the battery.
Connecting the wires together without the battery allows various capacitors to discharge. I've had the battery out of my FL2 to charge it and had no problems at all afterwards."

I did this reset trick and it worked. Afterward, I reconnected the battery, inserted the fob, and the interior light came on very dimly. Dead battery. (The same one that tested above 90% by AAA yesterday) I jumped the Rover, and everything came back to life, but with no more codes. Everything acted fine, but no crank. It's looking like the starter is completely locked up. Tomorrow I'm gonna jack it up and give the starter a couple of whacks, and see if it loosens up any.

 

Update: It runs! Thank you to everyone who helped and offered suggestions! For anyone who stumbles upon this thread when trying to diagnose a similar problem, I believe the answer was 2 parts. 1. The battery was not fully charged, which means that the battery AAA brought me must not have been fully charged either. And 2. There was not enough fuel in the tank to actuate the fuel pump. Here's the rest of the story. I was parked facing forward down my driveway (e-brake on), which has a relatively steep downhill grade. I took the battery to Autozone for a proper charge (my original one - I told AAA to take the one they brought me back with them, because mine tested above 90%. Now I don't know if testing above 90% means it was over 90% charged, or that over 90% of the battery's capacity was available.) . I also took the starter to Autozone when I picked up the battery and had the starter tested. It passed 5 times in a row. I came back home, put the starter back on, and put the battery back on. My dad ran diagnostics with his OBD reader, and only found one code that remained after doing what I believe is called a hard reset. (while the battery was disconnected, I hooked the + and - cables together for 5-10 minutes.) It was a P0442, nothing that would prevent it from starting. I pressed the start button, and it fired right up. The front end was jacked up at the time, from removing and reinstalling the starter, which made the vehicle a lot closer to level. With it running, I lowered the vehicle back down, and the gas gauge read empty. Range: 7 miles. I quickly turned it around 180 and the gauge said 22 miles. Shut it down. Hit the start button again and it fired right back up. Went and put gas in it, no problems. It's acting completely normal now. If it acts up again I will update this thread, but I had the same exact dash codes (HDC Fault, Transmission Failure, etc.) as so many other people, and it was either a battery that needed a proper charge, or maybe I just didn't have enough gas in it to park it at a downward forward angle for 3 days. (on level ground, at the gas station, there was almost an eighth of tank. Range: 25 miles) I don't know if I got lucky, or if the gremlin just went to sleep for now. If it acts up again, I'll update.

 

I had similar issues a couple of times with my 2008 LR2. Basically if you can't start the car you can't shift the transmission – I used a battery tender to get the car started long enough to get it onto a tow truck but I've noticed in some of my other cars there's a little panel you can remove to insert the emergency key to unlock the shifter without power, not sure if the 2008 LR2 had that but might be worth a look at the manual to see.

My guess would be dead alternator and/or starter. I think I replaced the alternator on my 08 twice (once under warranty) before I traded it in when the starter died and have already replaced the alternator on my 2015 (thankfully still under warranty).
I also had an issue on my 08 where some oil or water or something ate through a wire that shorted the battery and killed everything, not sure how common that is though.