Anyone else experiencing random locks/reboots? - Motorola Photon 4G

My Photon has been acting up today. It has frozen on a black screen four or five times, requiring a battery pull each time. Also a couple of random restarts. The same thing happened once yesterday, but it has come back with a vengeance today.
Anyone else experiencing this? Bad phone? Not rooted, updated prl/profile, etc. Been on the road, so no chance to try the MR, so I don't know if that would solve anything or not.

I'm a Sprint Launch Ambassador supporting the Photon. I have seen reboots on my own device but it was due to a 3rd party live wallpaper I had downloaded and was running. When I removed it, the device was stable again. Does your device do this in a factory reset state with nothing installed 3rd party app wise and no SD card?

never had that type of issue with mine

mattvalenz said:
I'm a Sprint Launch Ambassador supporting the Photon. I have seen reboots on my own device but it was due to a 3rd party live wallpaper I had downloaded and was running. When I removed it, the device was stable again. Does your device do this in a factory reset state with nothing installed 3rd party app wise and no SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Matt - thanks for your quick response.
I am not running third party or live wallpapers. Just a pretty static experience.
I have installed quite a few apps, of course, but I haven't had the time, at the moment, to do a factory reset (and frankly, doing a factory reset is a pain, and I'd rather not have to do it). My installed program list is also pretty standard (Google apps, Facebook, Pandora, Angry Birds).
I do, however, have a SD card mounted, which I actually considered might be the problem. Is there any clue about why this might be causing the problem?
Interestingly, it hasn't happened in the past few hours.
Are there any reports of specific applications that are causing issues, or reports that this is a widespread problem? I could forgive it a bit more if it restarted more than hard crashed, but the lockups with no warning on my primary business phone are rather problematic.
Also, any word you might be able to give on updates that might come out in the next week or two?
My main concern is just that I don't have a bad piece of hardware. I love the phone - as something to make phone calls, it's one of the best pieces of hardware I've ever had. If it's an issue where I need to switch the phone out for a different one, I'm fine with doing that, but I'd like to know before the warranty runs out.

Me too
I just want to chime in and report that I have seen some random black screen lockups on my new Photon. It usually requires battery removal to fix, but once while I was trying to pry the back cover off (it's a very stubborn cover), the phone came back to life.
No SD card, stock wallpaper.
Google voice
Skype
Twitter
Google +
Swiftkey X
Lastpass

Locked up after five minutes off the charger this morning. For what it's worth, the phone seems to get very warm when it is locked, possibly indicating a high power/processor usage.
I don't know if others have experienced this as well.

Random lock twice today when I went to answer the phone..and one time at 6 AM it was my 84 year old mother who had fallen.
I saw the #, grabbed my wife's EPIC and called my mom.
This is not a good thing on a 2 day old phone.

Apply the leaked Maintenance Release. There's a thread in the Dev sub-forum.

Beknatok said:
Apply the leaked Maintenance Release. There's a thread in the Dev sub-forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know if this actually solves the lockup issues?

Related

Random Rebooting

I know this is a common problem as I've seen it in other threads on other sites, but I haven't been able to find a cause/solution. My Evo 3D randomly reboots, frequently. It has happened with every firmware version since I got the phone, and with every rom/kernel I have installed. It doesn't seem to be an overheating issue. I've tried uninstalling a few apps to see if they might be the cause. Basically I'm ready to call it a hardware defect. Does anyone have any idea what causes this or how to fix it? I bought my phone unsubsidized online so it isn't easy to return, but I may have to try anyways. My 3D is useless as it is right now.
Return it.....
Sent from my EVO3D
I bought it from eBay so that's not an easy return. HTC wants me to pay to ship it to them and they want my credit card number, then if they decide it's not an issue covered by warranty then they will charge me both for looking at it and also to send it back. Basically they will hold my phone hostage if they decide they want money from me. I have filed a complaint against HTC with the Better Business Bureau over their warranty policy.
If on stock ROM, return it. Sometimes on custom roms it reboots like crazy for me when using browser.
It reboots on stock and custom roms.
Return it...
I've talked to three people at Sprint and they won't accept it as a return. They say I have to take it back to the store it was purchased at, and though I've talked to the person I bought it from, he's in another state, so Sprint says I'm SOL.
SeeNev said:
I've talked to three people at Sprint and they won't accept it as a return. They say I have to take it back to the store it was purchased at, and though I've talked to the person I bought it from, he's in another state, so Sprint says I'm SOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try different Roms. My buddies had the same problem. Flashed supra and flashed silver needle kernel. Flashing a custom kernel can easily fix it. The stock kernel argues with the stock OS and the phone is tricked into thinking there is harm. Therefore reboots to try and save your phone from any damage. For sure switch the rom and kernel.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
I reboot alot also and its been on all my roms and stock but better now on synergy rom
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
tnh196 said:
I reboot alot also and its been on all my roms and stock but better now on synergy rom
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most reboots are due to using unstable software or user error, if these aren't in question then your phone is a bad apple
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Have a look at the battery contacts. I have read of some people solving reboots by wedging in a piece of thin cardboard on the opposite end of the battery to give it more solid contact.
SeeNev said:
I know this is a common problem as I've seen it in other threads on other sites, but I haven't been able to find a cause/solution. My Evo 3D randomly reboots, frequently. It has happened with every firmware version since I got the phone, and with every rom/kernel I have installed. It doesn't seem to be an overheating issue. I've tried uninstalling a few apps to see if they might be the cause. Basically I'm ready to call it a hardware defect. Does anyone have any idea what causes this or how to fix it? I bought my phone unsubsidized online so it isn't easy to return, but I may have to try anyways. My 3D is useless as it is right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
replace your sd card.
*EDIT.... just for the sake of being a little more informational and contributing.... a bad sd card will cause this. your phone, like a computer, can detect a bad disk and will reboot itself to check it.
i had the same problem when i first got my phone... i had my old sd card in there... random reboots. replaced the sd card, problem went away immediately.
i KNEW it was the sd card, though, as soon as i powered up the phone with the new sd card installed because on my old phone whenever i would transfer apps to sd i would get this error pretty often "failed to move application" and i would do it again and it would work.
so after i put the old one in my new 3d i would get that same error... along with the reboots, and thats how i figured it was the card.
so when i powered the phone up with the new card, i went to move my apps from the internal disk to the card and EVERY single one of them moved over the first try. and the phone has not rebooted itself once since then.
also, i heard somewhere that HTC sent some phones out with bad sd cards.... so if you are using the one that came with the phone, that could still be your issue. replace the card.
I had a horrible time with my 3vo rebooting, then got a replacement through Sprint TEP (a new one, thank goodness; ##786# tells you refurbished status) but I had the new one do the same.
Once either of mine had a single reboot, it would then continue to a complete load (booting properly) but would then reboot again after 1-5 minutes. After pulling/reconnecting the battery, it is fine for a day.
The old one had the initial reboot WAY more often than the replacement (the old one had several in a day, this one has had only one per day for the past 2 days).
How to fix: You cannot fix it. You can, however, get a good day before it begins its rebooting sequence. To so this, you have to pull the battery. I have waited until it has rebooted, then I hit shutdown and disconnect-reconnect the battery before restarting.
I hope the issue is taken care of and the initial reboot is gotten rid of.
This has happened on bare stock unrooted and rooted cleanrom 2.1 and 2.2. Also, with 2 different SD cards and 2 different batteries and 2 different 3vos. I have HTC's fastboot off.
Cause: My best guess is that HTC fastboot is not completely off even when unchecked--something differentiates what is loaded during a random reboot from what is loaded after a battery pull, but I don't know what. That, or something differentiates a shutdown and the reboot that the phone does when it reboots randomly. I could be wrong. My sample size is only 2 corrections, but it literally rebooted 12 times then stopped completely after the battery pull and the same thing happened one additional time.
I appreciate the insights you guys have given. I have pulled the battery several times and I don't believe it has done any good, though I will test that further. I am using a 32gb sd card that I purchased when I had my evo 4g and it always worked before, but I will try using the 8gb that came with the phone. The battery is snug and I even 2 two spare battery that also don't fix the problem when being used. I had a lucky 2 days without any reboots, then back to about a dozen reboots a day. So far it's happened with every rom I've tried.
I have noticed that the problem seems to get worse in areas where there is no reception. I took it into the hoover dam and it rebooted like 20 times. Also at Disneyland in different ride buildings where there's no reception it would often reboot.
Yes, marginal reception areas are usually, but not exclusively, where mine starts its reboot routine. The other is during the airvana handoff.
Neither the battery or SD card made any difference. It seems to be getting worse now. All I have to do is run an application and half the time it will reboot. I've tried wiping the system and cache and reinstalling roms. Nothing works.
I was wrong before. It is the shutdown that makes the difference. Difference got home and it began to reset itself every 5 minutes or so. I pulled tjw battery during startup and it did not break the rebooting.
After it finished reboting, I selected shutdown then poweres it back on. After it came back up, it stayed up and has been stable since.
It looks like this might be something I have to get used to. If it begins to reboot, I have to give it a clean shutdown to relieve the issue (well, for 20 hours or so, at least). Again, HTC fastboot is always off.

A Few Thoughts As I Return The Photon

Had the Photon for 29 days, installed the Maintenance Release 5 and continued to have the no audio on calls and random reboot issues. Based on the actions of the phone the last few days that I had it I came to a few conclusions.
When the no audio happened if I hit the mute button the audio would be there and I could hear the call just fine. I noticed that after a no audio call if I attempted to go into call history and click the person who just called and attempted to call the phone would always reboot. This lead me to conclude ( and I would appreciate it if someone who post some thoughts ) that no audio indicates the software has encountered problems and is no longer stable. The actions of the buttons are reversed and the system is on the verge of crashing. Any further action after the call will result in a system reboot. This leads me to believe the OS is prone to not being stable for whatever reason. Why this occurs is unknown.
I noticed that when the phone was flat on my desk, sometimes hooked up to power source, sometimes not, the phone would reboot on it's own. This indicated that even without user intervention the phone OS would become unstable, crash and reboot. What causes this is unknown.
I have since returned the phone to Sprint for a full refund with no restocking fee ( I suspect their technician was able to duplicate the no audio).
While the phone was fast, had a lot of storage space, great reception and great clarity the unstable OS caused me to return it.
Sounds like a hardware problem. I have yet to have a reboot and after the update, I have yet to get a muted call.
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
LouieGrandie said:
Had the Photon for 29 days, installed the Maintenance Release 5 and continued to have the no audio on calls and random reboot issues. Based on the actions of the phone the last few days that I had it I came to a few conclusions.
When the no audio happened if I hit the mute button the audio would be there and I could hear the call just fine. I noticed that after a no audio call if I attempted to go into call history and click the person who just called and attempted to call the phone would always reboot. This lead me to conclude ( and I would appreciate it if someone who post some thoughts ) that no audio indicates the software has encountered problems and is no longer stable. The actions of the buttons are reversed and the system is on the verge of crashing. Any further action after the call will result in a system reboot. This leads me to believe the OS is prone to not being stable for whatever reason. Why this occurs is unknown.
I noticed that when the phone was flat on my desk, sometimes hooked up to power source, sometimes not, the phone would reboot on it's own. This indicated that even without user intervention the phone OS would become unstable, crash and reboot. What causes this is unknown.
I have since returned the phone to Sprint for a full refund with no restocking fee ( I suspect their technician was able to duplicate the no audio).
While the phone was fast, had a lot of storage space, great reception and great clarity the unstable OS caused me to return it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the reboot spam last night and the phone is completely face palmed.
Photon 4G, I really wanted to like you, instead you have given me the tross!
My Photon is perfect! No problems after OTA.
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
newalker91 said:
There are two problems at hand here, user error and malfunctioning hardware. You should know full well that if you are having issues such as rebooting upon laying the phone down with a charger that something isn't soldered properly in the phone. Swapping it would alleviate this issue. With the final build (CM5) being available in SBF form, along with two very stable and powerful roms, very few people are having any issues of updated properly. It's unfortunate to see another user put this phone down instead of working through the issues, but I guess android isn't for everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
User error? Really? Note I said I had the CM5 installed and still had the no audio issues. And since when does having the action of the mute button on a call being reversed happen as a result of something not being soldered properly? Note that the reboot happened when the phone was on the charger and when it was not. When it was laying flat and when I was holding it upright and looking through the contact list. I like Android just fine. Had an Evo for a year but upgraded because it lacked internal storage space. I plan on going to the Galaxy SII in a few weeks and last I read that's an Android phone.
LouieGrandie said:
User error? Really? Note I said I had the CM5 installed and still had the no audio issues. And since when does having the action of the mute button on a call being reversed happen as a result of something not being soldered properly? Note that the reboot happened when the phone was on the charger and when it was not. When it was laying flat and when I was holding it upright and looking through the contact list. I like Android just fine. Had an Evo for a year but upgraded because it lacked internal storage space. I plan on going to the Galaxy SII in a few weeks and last I read that's an Android phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he means is that you didn't even bother to have sprint replace this phone for you. You settled, thinking it was a software problem. Which any user here would most likely come to the conclusion after reading your post that it wasn't. Random reboots like that would have sent me back directly to the sprint store demanding another phone. Companies make bad batches, and stores get those bad batches. The fact is you just settled for a phone that was working sub par. I have gone through 3 phones, all with different problems, but I don't settle. They give you that 30 days for a reason.
Would you do the same thing had you went to best buy and bought a computer from them that did the same thing? Random reboots, no sound, etc etc....
Mine as well as most others phones on here work perfect, maybe the random force close from an app or something, but I don't get any muted calls, random reboots, and if I did you better bet I wouldn't settle for it.
Good luck to you in Samsung land.
-DJ
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
funny...Ive had no problems before or after the ota...the phone is stable as a rock...call quality is outstanding, no dropped calls like my old EVO..but im not sure the issues is random hardware problems per phone
This is killing me as I real think the photon hardware wise is one the all around best out...
Moto need to get off over their attuned about software... officially unlock the dam phone release the dam Kernel asap and let great independent software talent write and fix bugs for great hardware and so so code
Just do not think Moto puts the time in on thier code that then need too...
The only problem I've had with this phone was no audio a few times. After updating to 45.2.5, that problem has now been resolved. Photon is running like a champ.
Djspinister said:
What he means is that you didn't even bother to have sprint replace this phone for you. You settled, thinking it was a software problem. Which any user here would most likely come to the conclusion after reading your post that it wasn't. Random reboots like that would have sent me back directly to the sprint store demanding another phone. Companies make bad batches, and stores get those bad batches. The fact is you just settled for a phone that was working sub par. I have gone through 3 phones, all with different problems, but I don't settle. They give you that 30 days for a reason.
Would you do the same thing had you went to best buy and bought a computer from them that did the same thing? Random reboots, no sound, etc etc....
Mine as well as most others phones on here work perfect, maybe the random force close from an app or something, but I don't get any muted calls, random reboots, and if I did you better bet I wouldn't settle for it.
Good luck to you in Samsung land.
-DJ
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did get a replacement phone and I experienced the same symptoms on both of them.
I do have information that confirms that Motorola was aware of the reboots and that MR5 was supposed to fix this. I did have MR5 on here.
I had an atrix before having this and put Alien Build 4. I was floored by the battery life and the ROM and device was rock solid.
I have a brick at the moment. This became a brick after rebooting loop similar to not wiping the davlik cache before a boot. It was stock. I was going to unlock and root to see if it helped the battery life.
I had been more excited about this phone than almost any other one. I have been a beta tester of Motorola devices, but I believe this one may have been pushed out the door a little too early.
I am glad people have this working well and I am glad for them. I will still love this phone even though I have experienced issues. It easily could have been a bad batch that is triggered by certain circumstances.
After the update - my silent call issue was 100% fixed. Maybe you need to a do a factory reset? I do that after all major OS updates.
Jeff_in_LA said:
After the update - my silent call issue was 100% fixed. Maybe you need to a do a factory reset? I do that after all major OS updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be nice to be able to do that. I repeatedly flashed with RSLite/Fastboot more times than a single person on a drunken night in Vegas.
I will continue to apply forced love to my phone. When keeping it real goes wrong...
SnoopDawg said:
That would be nice to be able to do that. I repeatedly flashed with RSLite/Fastboot more times than a single person on a drunken night in Vegas.
I will continue to apply forced love to my phone. When keeping it real goes wrong...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, yea man that is great. Have you gotten your brick fixed? Let me know if you haven't, i'm sure there is a way to get it back. Have yet to brick a device. I would be amazed if you have, especially Android.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
SnoopDawg said:
That would be nice to be able to do that. I repeatedly flashed with RSLite/Fastboot more times than a single person on a drunken night in Vegas.
I will continue to apply forced love to my phone. When keeping it real goes wrong...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must have never flashed a galaxy s phone with odin....talk about frustrating lol
Sent from my Motorola Photon 4g
coldblooded79 said:
You must have never flashed a galaxy s phone with odin....talk about frustrating lol
Sent from my Motorola Photon 4g
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never had anything I couldn't recover from ODIN even a partial flash(or even if it reset before it could finish flashing). I rooted both Epic 4G and Droid Charge with Odin. Just flashed a couple of Samsung Moments last week but they didn't require ODIN.
My phone will boot sometimes so it won't even stay booted. Doesn't matter what I do to it.
Djspinister - It will boot but not stay booted, it just reboots. I haven't ever had a bad flash that I couldn't recover from. I have flashed Windows Mobile devices, iOS devices that were eventually jailbroken. I have flashed several times right before going out to eat dinner only to have it fully recovered before the food came out. This just has to be a bad phone. It is a brick phone.
SnoopDawg said:
I never had anything I couldn't recover from ODIN even a partial flash(or even if it reset before it could finish flashing). I rooted both Epic 4G and Droid Charge with Odin. Just flashed a couple of Samsung Moments last week but they didn't require ODIN.
My phone will boot sometimes so it won't even stay booted. Doesn't matter what I do to it.
Djspinister - It will boot but not stay booted, it just reboots. I haven't ever had a bad flash that I couldn't recover from. I have flashed Windows Mobile devices, iOS devices that were eventually jailbroken. I have flashed several times right before going out to eat dinner only to have it fully recovered before the food came out. This just has to be a bad phone. It is a brick phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't hold volume down and get to rsd? fastboot? anything? Even try holding down volume down while putting battery in, I heard someone got away from brick that way...
Djspinister said:
What he means is that you didn't even bother to have sprint replace this phone for you. You settled, thinking it was a software problem.
Good luck to you in Samsung land.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After reading on numerous other sites of people on their 3rd or 4th Photon and still suffering from the same problem I decided not to bother. As for Samsung, before the Evo I had two Samsung products that were absolute rocks for me. Solid with no issues and performed well. Using a Samsung Instinct right now.
My Photon is 100% trouble free. Calls are clear, battery lasts, etc.
Te only real issue is that I do not love the bluish tint on the LCD. Anyone know how to alter the gamma?
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
I upgraded from an EVO on Friday. My new Photon began crashing and doing the no audio on Saturday. I exchanged it at the Sprint store later that day and have had no issues with the second Photon. I really like the Photon much better than the EVO.
Has no one else been told in the Sprint store that you can only exchange once and then you're stuck with the device???? They told me they only allow future exchanges through warranty (i.e., Motorola will ship me a new one...no in-store exchanges).
Is this just wrong information?
Erislover said:
Has no one else been told in the Sprint store that you can only exchange once and then you're stuck with the device???? They told me they only allow future exchanges through warranty (i.e., Motorola will ship me a new one...no in-store exchanges).
Is this just wrong information?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats BS!!!! e-mail me at [email protected] and I will send YOU the e-mail I sent Sprint. Not only did I get my 3rd phone, my bill is cleared until October!!! The girls name and number will be in my e-mail!

[Q] Screen backlight flickering updates

Hello,
I'm looking to figure out if anybody has found a software fix for the issue of screen backlight flickering on our phones. I've hunted down some threads through Google, but found nothing except 'go replace your phone and hope for the best.'
As a reminder, when grays are displayed onscreen (as in Play store loading screen), it seems as though the screen refresh rate can't 'keep up' with those colors. To me, the problem is even more noticeable when viewing pictures in the Gallery - seriously, I feel like I'm watching one of those 3D movies, and my eyes and head start to hurt! It's just enough that it drives me crazy, but other people do also seem to notice it, so I'm not just ACTUALLY going nuts. This problem showed up on stock before I rooted and went MeanROM, so I know it's not my fault. The problem is worse at higher brightness levels, and persists even with manual brightness settings on.
So yeah, anyone else have this problem? Any stories of successfully resolving it? I'm still within my Sprint 30-day replacement period, but already got 3rd-party insurance on my phone, so it'll be interesting to try to get a replacement phone insured under the same policy...
Yep have had this problem for a while now and actually got tired of it this morning and will take my phone back for a replacement whenever I have time! Gets so annoying especially noticing it in the littlest of places.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Hmm.. I never really noticed it until you pointed it out..
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
drmclove69 said:
Yep have had this problem for a while now and actually got tired of it this morning and will take my phone back for a replacement whenever I have time! Gets so annoying especially noticing it in the littlest of places.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whoa, please let me know if your replacement is any better after a day or two of playing with it. I will probably do the same if there's an improvement.
Was on meanROM 4.2 until today, when I relocked and unrooted in preparation for getting a replacement at Sprint (I'm still within my 30 days). I was going to replace the phone because of this exact problem - a weird, barely-perceptible strobe effect when viewing grays and looking at certain photos in the gallery. And now - after all the hard work of finding an RUU for 2.13, figuring out the android SDK, learning how to use ADB (not to mention the whole initial unlock/twrp bootloader shebang) - I find that the screen flicker has dropped off. OK, sometimes there's an extremely brief (~150ms) hint of it all on a gray screen, but absolutely nothing compared to the headache that it was before. I'd recommend completely unrooting/relocking your phone and pushing the correct RUU. QBking77's the best for it - look up his youtube vids on android sdk intstallation/usage, then relocking your bootloader, then unrooting/installing an RUU. Remember to clear your Google Wallet first, and set your fastboot to off (under power settings). After relocking your bootloader, you might notice that you cannot boot past it. That's fine; just push your RUU with fastboot USB. You'll know what I mean after watching the vids.
After all that, if your results were like mine, you'll know it actually had something to do with your custom ROM. I have no idea how that is possible, as I seem to recall a flickering in my stock ROM, too, but I guess I was wrong. Perhaps it has something to do with my charge status, and I'll see the issue come back... who knows?
For relocking/unrooting
Step 1: Android SDK setup
Step 2: Relock the bootloader
Step 3: Unroot/Push RUU (for some reason, I had to go straight to pushing RUU from step 2 without booting into any ROM).
From all my scouring online, though, I've noticed that the people most consistently hammered with this problem (especially on screens other than photos in the Gallery or gray colors in the battery histogram of power settings) have build issues with their screens. These include light leak seeming to emanate in bands fanning up out of the home 'button' or graphical issues. These people usually report a fix to the problem once they receive a replacement; the ones with my problems typically complained of having received up to 3 (!) phones in a row with the maddening flicker, suggesting a software issue. It seems that the HTC One X itself was plagued with these problems, with graphical glitches also entering the mix, but an OTA fix a month ago or so minimized issues.
Lemme know how things go... I still have 4 days or so to return my phone if the flicker comes back, haha.
I had to get my phone replaced. sadly for me it was a hardware failture. check google maps and see if it the graphics flicker there, of if the background on minecraft main screne flickers in and out
Spyderekz said:
I had to get my phone replaced. sadly for me it was a hardware failture. check google maps and see if it the graphics flicker there, of if the background on minecraft main screne flickers in and out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, woke up this morning and problem was back in full force. I think it might be charge-dependent or temperature dependent (which makes sense if its an analog hardware component like a voltage regulator that's being futzy). I ended up replacing it, too, but Sprint charged me a bull**** $35 because I bought the phone at third-party reseller instead of a corporate store (god... damn... it). Anyway, my new (and refurb, btw) unit has absolutely no problems. Zero. Rooting and reinstalling meanROM now, haha. At least the store people acknowledged that they could also see the problem. Software scans turned up absolutely nothing, although Sprint says HTC does not allow them to open things up because it's a unibody phone, so it's still possible that my regulator was faulty.
Anyway, seems to me that it's a hardware problem having to do with a particular batch of phones. Strange, since my new phone is a 0003 hardware revision, just like my last...
Went today for my 3rd time trying to get a replacement because of this issue and not to mention I got denied a replacement when I was in my 14 grace day period I went in 2 times after that today being the 2nd and I asked for a replacement, I then have to wait for the "tech" to look at it...waited 1 hour to get told it phone has no problems we ran all the tests and passed, me really confused asked her do you even know what the problem is? She replies no....I then am like WTF. I tell her about my issue and try shwowing her and somehow doesn't notice it. Then asks 5 other people and they notice it and then they replace my screen? After I wait another hour (caused me to be late to work) then once done it actually fixed the problem completely, go home to find out she broke my speaker and my sd card won't mount! Drop it off and picked it up and all is fixed. I know want to terminate my contract cuz sprint has been giving me Shi**y customer service since day one! Someone who works at sprint plz help me!
Sent from my EVO using xda premium

Issues with Verizon V30 freezing

Past 3 or 4 months my VS996 has been freezing or locking up randomly.
When this happens, the phone is not in use . It's asleep in my pocket, or on my desk, or on my night stand. I have to hold volume button and power to restart it. When it comes back up, everything looks fine.
I have done a factory reset, tried uninstalling apps, and most recently got the phone replaced under LGs 2 year promise warranty. One week in and the replacement phone has started freezing just like the old phone.
My wife has the exact same phone and runs many of the same apps with no issues. My phone is stock android, not rooted and no mods. This is frustrating and I don't know what to try in order to troubleshoot.
Is there an app commonly known to have issues on the V30 (such as nova launcher)? Or is there a logging app i could install to capture info about why it crashed/locked up?
urushiol said:
Past 3 or 4 months my VS996 has been freezing or locking up randomly.
When this happens, the phone is not in use . It's asleep in my pocket, or on my desk, or on my night stand. I have to hold volume button and power to restart it. When it comes back up, everything looks fine.
I have done a factory reset, tried uninstalling apps, and most recently got the phone replaced under LGs 2 year promise warranty. One week in and the replacement phone has started freezing just like the old phone.
My wife has the exact same phone and runs many of the same apps with no issues. My phone is stock android, not rooted and no mods. This is frustrating and I don't know what to try in order to troubleshoot.
Is there an app commonly known to have issues on the V30 (such as nova launcher)? Or is there a logging app i could install to capture info about why it crashed/locked up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, Nova launcher works great.
The fact that your replacement phone is now acting the same way is a clue. The problem is probably going to be a "rouge" app that is receiving/sending ads in the background. Just the other day was another report of almost 250 apps found in Google Play store with ad malware, all from Cooltek. A few months ago similar situation with hundreds of other apps -- where in the background ads and videos were being played (user never saw them, but the process was running), so the companies would get advertising money.
It's going to be an app you have that your wife doesn't.
Had a friend who kept complaining to me her V30+ "Thumbnail Gallery" app (or some such silly name) kept closing and her phone was acting weird. I asked why she was even using that app. She said that's how viewed her pictures. I said no, a gallery app comes with the phone. She couldn't even remember where it came from. She said maybe a friend told her to install it. I told her to uninstall it NOW. I need to see what else crap she has installed... because she's always complaining about her phone. None of the other friends/family complain about their V30 and mine runs smooth as does my wife's. So, I know my friend's phone must have more ad malware apps on it.
ChazzMatt said:
No, Nova launcher works great.
The fact that your replacement phone is now acting the same way is a clue. The problem is probably going to be a "rouge" app that is receiving/sending ads in the background. Just the other day was another report of almost 250 apps found in Google Play store with ad malware, all from Cooltek. A few months ago similar situation with hundreds of other apps -- where in the background ads and videos were being played (user never saw them, but the process was running), so the companies would get advertising money.
It's going to be an app you have that your wife doesn't.
Had a friend who kept complaining to me her V30+ "Thumbnail Gallery" app (or some such silly name) kept closing and her phone was acting weird. I asked why she was even using that app. She said that's how viewed her pictures. I said no, a gallery app comes with the phone. She couldn't even remember where it came from. She said maybe a friend told her to install it. I told her to uninstall it NOW. I need to see what else crap she has installed... because she's always complaining about her phone. None of the other friends/family complain about their V30 and mine runs smooth as does my wife's. So, I know my friend's phone must have more ad malware apps on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I was pretty bummed when my replacement started because I knew it meant i was going to be sleuthing through apps trying to find the culprit.
I am usually pretty good about recognizing shady apps. That's why i was hoping maybe there was an app just known to have this kind of issue with the V30.
Also, I have been trusting google play protect to alert me of any suspicious apps. Is it safe to say there could be a malicious app installed, but that play protect might not find it?
urushiol said:
Yeah, I was pretty bummed when my replacement started because I knew it meant i was going to be sleuthing through apps trying to find the culprit.
I am usually pretty good about recognizing shady apps. That's why i was hoping maybe there was an app just known to have this kind of issue with the V30.
Also, I have been trusting google play protect to alert me of any suspicious apps. Is it safe to say there could be a malicious app installed, but that play protect might not find it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, google "cooltek ad malware" for most recent news.
There were many other apps discovered a few months ago, where the users never saw the millions of clicks on ads that were being generated. They were just running in the background.
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/13/new-android-adware-google-play/
I'd suggest starting with only the apps you and your wife both have. You could use Titanium Backup to freeze the others, for example, or just uninstall them. While you're there look for odd looking apps - some apps will install companion bits which is where the malware resides, for example. Then, stay that way for a while and see how it goes... if it solves the issue, you know it's one of those apps.
Depending on how many unique apps you have, you can add them one at a time or a few at a time, then let it run that way for a while, etc. Repeat until you find the app or apps that cause the issue.
In the first step, if you can't figure out which apps are good/bad, you could simply factory-reset the phone and then add ONLY the matching apps, then work forward from there...
Hello urushiol, I have the same problem as you
I've bought off ebay a LG V30+ H930DS 128go to replace my laggy LG G5 at a pretty good price (150€). The back cover was crack, so I replaced it with a 10€ one from aliexpress.
Unfortunately the phone randomly freeze, like once every day or two making it horrible to use it as an alarm for work, and using it. When it happens, power button doesn't do anything, I need to do the Volume - min + power button to restart the phone.
When my phone was in the pocket, the screen is black (I thought it was shutdown) but then it happens when my phone was on my desk, and saw that always on display was working but phone isn't waking up with power button (then I knew it just freezes).
Battery health is good according to battery apps, already tried factory reset, I use the same apps as on my G5.
I'm not sure if it's a hardware problem or software, if I have the same problem as you, it must be software then.
Weirdly enough, my phone hasn't freeze since four days, i don't know why. (I use device uptime to see).
But even it it looks like it doesn't freeze much right now, I totally do not trust this phone as an alarm for work so I think I'm going to change the phone for something else. I had the G3 and G5 and I never had issue with them freezing.
lgg3owner said:
Unfortunately the phone randomly freeze, like once every day or two making it horrible to use it as an alarm for work, and using it. When it happens, power button doesn't do anything, I need to do the Volume - min + power button to restart the phone.
When my phone was in the pocket, the screen is black (I thought it was shutdown) but then it happens when my phone was on my desk, and saw that always on display was working but phone isn't waking up with power button (then I knew it just freezes).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is extremely similar to my issues. I have started using a tablet instead for my alarm. I have nearly been late for work several times due to it locking up in the night.
I think i may have found the app that was causing my issue at least. 5 days without a lockup now. Carrier services. I had installed this app knowing that RCS roll out was on the horizon, and i wanted to be ready. If anyone else has this app installed on Verizon with no issue I think i just got lucky with not having a lockup and it might lockup any day now. We'll see. I'll keep testing.
urushiol said:
This is extremely similar to my issues. I have started using a tablet instead for my alarm. I have nearly been late for work several times due to it locking up in the night.
I think i may have found the app that was causing my issue at least. 5 days without a lockup now. Carrier services. I had installed this app knowing that RCS roll out was on the horizon, and i wanted to be ready. If anyone else has this app installed on Verizon with no issue I think i just got lucky with not having a lockup and it might lockup any day now. We'll see. I'll keep testing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has been 15 days without freezing for me.
I have a "no carrier" phone so no Verizon app or other carrier related things.
Do you have OnOff app ? (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onoffapp.app)
I've uninstalled this app (and maybe one or two others) and it seems like since then I don't have freeze anymore.
lgg3owner said:
It has been 15 days without freezing for me.
I have a "no carrier" phone so no Verizon app or other carrier related things.
Do you have OnOff app ? (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onoffapp.app)
I've uninstalled this app (and maybe one or two others) and it seems like since then I don't have freeze anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.ims&hl=en_US
Carrier services is mostly used by people who aren't on verizon, because unless you have a Pixel, verizon hasn't supported it. Hopefully this is changing soon so I installed it a bit early. Hoping this was my issue. I haven't heard of OnOff before.
All other apps i had were from major companies. Accept this one, a game:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.h8games.helixjump
I also removed it, but did have one lockup after removing it and before removing carrier services.
urushiol said:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.ims&hl=en_US
Carrier services is mostly used by people who aren't on verizon, because unless you have a Pixel, verizon hasn't supported it. Hopefully this is changing soon so I installed it a bit early. Hoping this was my issue. I haven't heard of OnOff before.
All other apps i had were from major companies. Accept this one, a game:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.h8games.helixjump
I also removed it, but did have one lockup after removing it and before removing carrier services.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I didn't know, I'm not from USA. I don't have RCS installed and don't have this game neither.
I have the LG-H930DS Rev.1.1 with Android 8.0 April 2019 security patch - V22j-HKG-XX. Everything is stock on mine, stock launcher, no root etc...
Now I just have a jack problem, where I hear only from one ear depending of how the jack cable is twisted, I will try to change it without breaking the back cover.

S21 crashing/rebooting 1-2 times/day. Any tips on troubleshooting?

I have as SM-G991U (256 GB S21 US version, stock everything but using Nova Launcher) that is randomly freezing/crashing then rebooting on me 1-2 times/day. Does android have any kind of crash log I could look at to try and figure out what's causing the problem? On the samsung forums, their support reps suggest running in Safe Mode, which I have, but it's not very useful because I can't reproduce the problem on demand and it usually happens 1-2/day, but sometimes less, so unless I just ran in safe mode all the time, that wouldn't tell me much. Plus, it would only tell me it's an issue caused by one of a hundred or so apps which, again, is not helpful.
So I'm hoping there is a crash log or something somewhere because I have no idea what triggers the crashes. The other night, it was sitting on a wireless charger, the screen wasn't on, then all the sudden it rebooted. It's not specific to any app or anything I'm doing. If there are no crash logs (which would be frustrating and disappointing), any other troubleshooting ideas are welcome!
Look for a memory leak. Typically a poorly written 3rd party apk.
Try clearing system cache.
Make sure auto restart isn't enabled...
dougleto said:
I have as SM-G991U (256 GB S21 US version, stock everything but using Nova Launcher) that is randomly freezing/crashing then rebooting on me 1-2 times/day. Does android have any kind of crash log I could look at to try and figure out what's causing the problem? On the samsung forums, their support reps suggest running in Safe Mode, which I have, but it's not very useful because I can't reproduce the problem on demand and it usually happens 1-2/day, but sometimes less, so unless I just ran in safe mode all the time, that wouldn't tell me much. Plus, it would only tell me it's an issue caused by one of a hundred or so apps which, again, is not helpful.
So I'm hoping there is a crash log or something somewhere because I have no idea what triggers the crashes. The other night, it was sitting on a wireless charger, the screen wasn't on, then all the sudden it rebooted. It's not specific to any app or anything I'm doing. If there are no crash logs (which would be frustrating and disappointing), any other troubleshooting ideas are welcome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mate
For logs info check here and here
You can always flash firmware , using home_csc , to avoid factory reset the phone , if the problem is system related it will help
If is app related
Try booting in safe mode to see if problem goes away...
MAX 404 said:
Hi mate
For logs info check here and here
You can always flash firmware , using home_csc , to avoid factory reset the phone , if the problem is system related it will help
If is app related
Try booting in safe mode to see if problem goes away...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I'll definitely try these out. I tried safe mode, the trouble is it's not really great as a diagnostic because the phone will go from 4-24 hrs between resets during normal operation, and since a phone in safe mode isn't terribly useful, it's hard to keep it in safe mode for long enough to see if that fixed the issue, if that makes sense. And then, if it did fix the issue, it just narrows it down to 1 out of a hundred apps! But maybe I'm missing something. Is there additional information I can find if I run in safe mode that would help suss out the problem?
blackhawk said:
Look for a memory leak. Typically a poorly written 3rd party apk.
Try clearing system cache.
Make sure auto restart isn't enabled...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I know how to clear cache but not how to check for memory leaks. Do you have a tool you'd recommend to do that? And I had never heard of auto restart before, so thanks for that. I confirmed that it is NOT enabled (that would have been a face palm moment!).
dougleto said:
Thanks! I'll definitely try these out. I tried safe mode, the trouble is it's not really great as a diagnostic because the phone will go from 4-24 hrs between resets during normal operation, and since a phone in safe mode isn't terribly useful, it's hard to keep it in safe mode for long enough to see if that fixed the issue, if that makes sense. And then, if it did fix the issue, it just narrows it down to 1 out of a hundred apps! But maybe I'm missing something. Is there additional information I can find if I run in safe mode that would help suss out the problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is not easy , you just need to be methodic
See if you can find anything useful in the logs first
Reflash firmware , use home-csc , see if it help
Have you notice if the phone fails under any specific circumstances?
If that does not help and if you can really relate the problem with any specific app you may try to freeze or uninstall suspicious app and let it run for a day , Package disabler app is a good option , it is easy to enable or disable app but is not free, you could try this one , is a debloater tool , it allow you to disable app... may be easy that having to uninstall / install by hand
I'm also having the same problem. Had the phone since June, it didn't start to occur until late August, which leads me to suspect it is an update related issue.
GillBates21 said:
I'm also having the same problem. Had the phone since June, it didn't start to occur until late August, which leads me to suspect it is an update related issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad you posted today, I've been meaning to post again here because I tried troubleshooting and am still having issues. In fact, it crashed twice today when I was trying to send a text message.
I installed one of the log applications (can't remember which one at the moment) but it wasn't really helpful. They didn't seem to catch any information related to a crash even though they were logging data at least twice when it crashed.
Then I tried reflashing using home-csc using ODIN and that ended up soft-bricking my phone (and yes, I followed all the instructions and used home-csc) so I had to reflash everything and do a full factory reset. That seemed to help, reducing the crashes from once/day to once/2-3 days for a few weeks, but now it's back to ~once a day (sometimes more, sometimes less).
So if anyone has any other idea, I'm all ears. When I was reflashing and stuff, I noticed in the recovery mode (or whatever it's called) options that you can look at logs. Does anyone know if one of those logs would have crash-related data or any other ideas of what to try? This is incredibly frustrating, especially that it's persisting after a factory reset. Argh!
dougleto said:
I'm glad you posted today, I've been meaning to post again here because I tried troubleshooting and am still having issues. In fact, it crashed twice today when I was trying to send a text message.
I installed one of the log applications (can't remember which one at the moment) but it wasn't really helpful. They didn't seem to catch any information related to a crash even though they were logging data at least twice when it crashed.
Then I tried reflashing using home-csc using ODIN and that ended up soft-bricking my phone (and yes, I followed all the instructions and used home-csc) so I had to reflash everything and do a full factory reset. That seemed to help, reducing the crashes from once/day to once/2-3 days for a few weeks, but now it's back to ~once a day (sometimes more, sometimes less).
So if anyone has any other idea, I'm all ears. When I was reflashing and stuff, I noticed in the recovery mode (or whatever it's called) options that you can look at logs. Does anyone know if one of those logs would have crash-related data or any other ideas of what to try? This is incredibly frustrating, especially that it's persisting after a factory reset. Argh!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what I tried to do is roll back all the default google app updates. Ex: Android system webview, Google app itself, etc etc. I factory reset it without backing up any apps (but pictures and messages etc), It was working for a few days and then it happened again. Which further reinforces my thinking that my problem is software based.
GillBates21 said:
So what I tried to do is roll back all the default google app updates. Ex: Android system webview, Google app itself, etc etc. I factory reset it without backing up any apps (but pictures and messages etc), It was working for a few days and then it happened again. Which further reinforces my thinking that my problem is software based.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I'm curious why you think that means it's a software issue. If this isn't a widespread issue with the S21 and after we've both done a factory reset and still have the issue, that makes me think it could be a hardware issue. Of course, there could be some software incompatibility with an app that most people don't have installed or a bluetooth connection or something, which is why I really want to find a useful crash log (and find it rather absurb how hard it is to find a useful crash log on android, come on guys, it's a mature OS, some kind of crash log seems pretty basic!), because otherwise, it could be a ton of issues and I can't reproduce it. Ugh.
The reason is that the "few days" after the reset and restoring pictures, messages (but not apps) from backup, where there were no crashes at all (where previously it would happen at least 2 times per day).
GillBates21 said:
The reason is that the "few days" after the reset and restoring pictures, messages (but not apps) from backup, where there were no crashes at all (where previously it would happen at least 2 times per day).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it, that makes sense. I'm on t-mobile and just got an update this morning. We'll see if that improves anything because my device restarted 4 times yesterday
I havent had a crash like this since i disabled chrome and other google stuff, and downgrading google apps lol.
GillBates21 said:
I havent had a crash like this since i disabled chrome and other google stuff, and downgrading google apps lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you disable chrome and what other google stuff did you disable? (There's obviously quite a lot of google services that can't be disabled)
After the most recent monthly update, my phone has gone from rebooting multiple times/day to once every 2-3 days, which is more manageable but still super annoying. It is incredibly frustrating to me that there are no good tools to troubleshoot a crash (at least that I've ben able to find). Honestly, it's driven me to consider an iPhone for the first time in my life .
My trouble is back... I will be scheduling a fix with samsung soon so I can RMA it
Check the below link. This seems to be a hardware problem which got solved after Samsung replaced the motherboard.
Samsung Restart problem
So I bought this phone for my wife. Since I received the phone, after a day the phone started crashing whatever app she was on and then take you back to lock screen without having to go through a full restart process but it was definitely a restart as you would need to enter your pin again as opposed to fingerprints.
Since it was within 15 days of purchase I returned and reordered another one from Samsung, and to my surprise exact same issue. What are the odds of having two brand new phones having exact same issues.
This leads me to believe it must be a software issue. I just received this 2nd new phone last Friday.
Yeah, I think what I was experiencing was a hardware issue (it definitely went through the full restart process, not what is described in the previous post). And from the link posted by sandystays above, it looks pretty common. I contacted Samsung support and was not impressed at all. They walked me through a number of troubleshooting steps that weren't helpful then had me take my phone to UBreakIFix. I did, they ran a diagnostic and their tools couldn't find anything wrong so they said Samsung should replace it.
Contacted Samsung, told them I had taken it in. They said I needed to take it to a technician (again, right after telling them I just had). They then said, oh, you'll have to mail it to us and you'll get your phone back in 7-10 business days. Their suggestion for what to do for a phone in the meantime? Buy a prepaid phone then return it when I get my phone back (which a) is unethical and b) wouldn't work anyways since they're locked). Ridiculous. They also admitted that this is a very common problem, so I asked why they just won't send me a replacement device if it's so common to which they had no real answer, just "that's our policy".
Eventually, I contacted T-mobile (my carrier) and was very pleasantly surprised. After me telling them the issue and the steps I'd taken to troubleshoot it, they sent me a replacement phone (recertified, but still) that arrived in 2 days. WAAAYYYY better than Samsung. The entire process made me a bit jealous of my wife's iPhone. If she had had a similar issue, we could have taken it to an apple store and not had the whole "our policy is that you have no phone for 7-10 business days" nonsense from Samsung AND the backup and restore process is still way better on iPhones than on any android I've ever owned. How there is no easy and reliable backup/restore mechanism on android after so long is beyond me.
Bottome line: if you have a similar issue, it's very likely a hardware problem (my replacement phone has been fine for 3 days now). And avoid Samsung support if you can!
dougleto said:
Yeah, I think what I was experiencing was a hardware issue (it definitely went through the full restart process, not what is described in the previous post). And from the link posted by sandystays above, it looks pretty common. I contacted Samsung support and was not impressed at all. They walked me through a number of troubleshooting steps that weren't helpful then had me take my phone to UBreakIFix. I did, they ran a diagnostic and their tools couldn't find anything wrong so they said Samsung should replace it.
Contacted Samsung, told them I had taken it in. They said I needed to take it to a technician (again, right after telling them I just had). They then said, oh, you'll have to mail it to us and you'll get your phone back in 7-10 business days. Their suggestion for what to do for a phone in the meantime? Buy a prepaid phone then return it when I get my phone back (which a) is unethical and b) wouldn't work anyways since they're locked). Ridiculous. They also admitted that this is a very common problem, so I asked why they just won't send me a replacement device if it's so common to which they had no real answer, just "that's our policy".
Eventually, I contacted T-mobile (my carrier) and was very pleasantly surprised. After me telling them the issue and the steps I'd taken to troubleshoot it, they sent me a replacement phone (recertified, but still) that arrived in 2 days. WAAAYYYY better than Samsung. The entire process made me a bit jealous of my wife's iPhone. If she had had a similar issue, we could have taken it to an apple store and not had the whole "our policy is that you have no phone for 7-10 business days" nonsense from Samsung AND the backup and restore process is still way better on iPhones than on any android I've ever owned. How there is no easy and reliable backup/restore mechanism on android after so long is beyond me.
Bottome line: if you have a similar issue, it's very likely a hardware problem (my replacement phone has been fine for 3 days now). And avoid Samsung support if you can!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the second phone I still have the 2wk window to return. I am contemplating if I should just return altogether. I had bought an s21 Ultra as well and that seem to be working OK.
Two s21+ phones with same issue, what are the odds of hardware problem? But what if it is the entire batch that is bad.
isiddiqi said:
On the second phone I still have the 2wk window to return. I am contemplating if I should just return altogether. I had bought an s21 Ultra as well and that seem to be working OK.
Two s21+ phones with same issue, what are the odds of hardware problem? But what if it is the entire batch that is bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your issue sounds different to me. Mine definitely fully rebooted, I have no idea what is going on with yours, it sounds like your crashes are locking the phone or something, that could definitely be software. Good luck!

Categories

Resources