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HI all,
I have made a short how-to video on how to flash one of the many awesome roms (made by our awesome rom-makers) onto a device that doesn't have a power button. I have done it several times and as the question keeps getting raised, I thought I would show some proof.
Some advice before the video.
DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGED OR FRIED PDAs
I have done this myself on an I-mate (Himalaya). It took some trial and error but I am now running WM6.1. In my case though, I had to completely remove the power button from the device. The previous owner dropped it on its head, and I got it for free, unfortunately most of the top is missing, including the power button.
SO, on to how I did it. I took a paper clip (metal) and put it about 1cm down, slightly to the right of where the power button used to connect to the motherboard (in line with the text section of the Contact button on the top left of your XDA). Make sure you have turned your XDA/IMATE on before doing this. You'll find that when you find the right area, your device will turn off, or the screen will go dark (like holding the power button for a second or giving it a quick tap) or it will flash on and off.
If you manage to hold it there for the right period of time, while pressing the other bootloader buttons, then you will be able to enter bootloader.
This took me close to an hour to get just right, on both occasions I have done it, but it eventually worked and you eventually get quicker (5 minutes for me now).
My IMATE was useless without me updating the rom, so I had no worry about frying it if I did something wrong, that is why I was OK with playing around with its insides. BEWARE that you MAY DO DAMAGE to the device.
Good luck.
Here is the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWfcpC1VM5g
Cheers! Hope this helps some people out there get the most out of their Himalayas again.
JADEL
Wow!
I have seen the video but somhow I felt that whatever you wanted to show is not getting properly visible. Perhaps the illumination is not that much.
But, I ould very well see the c_shekhar's bootsplash screen. hehe
Thanks for the Video. Worked a treat! Now I can flash my XDA again. Yeah the video was a little dark but I got the jist of it anyway.
Glad it has helped someone other than me. Someone also left a comment on the YouTube page that it worked for them as well, which is also good. Our Himalaya's will live on for many years to come!!!
I agree with my video being too dark (Environmentally friendly fluorescent lights are good for environment, bad for how-to videos). I will try and make a new, lighter video next time C_Shekhar ports a new rom!
Power button
I'm from the philippines. I was able to have my XDAII power button repaired it didn't cost that much. If there are repair shops in your area, maybe you can ask about it.
chinister said:
I'm from the philippines. I was able to have my XDAII power button repaired it didn't cost that much. If there are repair shops in your area, maybe you can ask about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are only two companies in Australia I know of that can officially fix our XDAs. They are bot hin Rockhampton (about 20 hours from where I live in Sydney).
They are both owned by the same company.
As you can imagine, I would predict that the repair cost would be very high, considering they essentially have a monopoly on the situation, and postage costs, insurance etc
I have a qtek 2020 with the key broken (it misses completely) power. can I perform your procedure?
Thanks
Catalogna
Hi there,
It is hard to say for sure. The only way to know for sure is to actually try it. This procedure has worked repeatedly (at least nine times now for me) on my Himalaya, and several other peoples. It really is a last resort though, so you may want to trry everything else you possibly can first.
Cheers.
good good good
I have put the qtek in bootloader and I now have the new rom. Thanks.
I have solo another problem: after few second what I don't use it the display goes to standby and I must press strong to reactivate it. is it a problem software or hardware?
Glad to hear you were able to flash the new rom.
As for the restarting, I have not seen that before under this ROM, and I have used it on several devices and tested it fairly thoroughly. Are you sure nothing is still stuck in the top of your phone where the power button was (IE you didn't leave the metal device in the top?) Perhaps something in there keeps shorting it out?
Maybe it is just on a short timeout. Check under Start>Settings>System>Power>Advanced
See what time the settings are set to under here for "Turn off device if not used for..." both on battery and external power.
Also, then click on the "backlight" button at the bottom, and check those settings.
Under "Backlight" click on "Battery power" and change the settings to what you want, then click on "External Power" and do the same again.
Then just hit the OK button (top right corner) twice, and you should be done.
Hope this helps.
Thanks!
Hi Jadel. I just want to say thanks! Your video help me deal with a broken power button when upgrading rom for the first time. Without your help, I would never feel like having a brand new phone for free
I also found a way to hard reset a phone without camera button (or record).
Just connect mtty via usb into bootloader, type:
password BOOTLOADER
task 28 0 0
and reset your device as normal.
In my try it corrupted my splash screen but anything other is okay
ROMS
Why on the HD2 do they make roms for SPL 1.4 when every FREAKIN PERSON on the PLANET has version 2.08 I have NO IDEA! STUPID!
Flashing rom
hi im from india and im using an imate ultimate 8502 mobile and unfortunately when i was soft resetting ma phone my phone was corrupt and it mholds in the boot screen itself whenever i restart my phone it stays in the blue sreen stating i mate it doesnt moves from it and boot loader cant be opened ive tried both the ways like holding power button & volume - key as well as holding fn and red button and reset key even both doesnt respond ive given my ,mobile to service to all of the servise centers in chennai but none of them cant service it can anyone help me out plzzzzzzzzzzzz...........
THANKS!
I know there are hundreds of threads and articles posted about HD2s freezing with the lock screen but this issue seems different to me. My problem is that whenever I lock the phone the touch screen will freeze entirely. I thought a work around may be to install a different lock screen. After installing that I can get past the lock screen but the touch screen still is not responsive. I have no idea what to do. I already did a hard reset and it still does it. I would like to add that it is completely consistent. It happens every time without fail. In order to even use the phone I have to pull the battery and I get one use out of it before it locks and I have to pull the battery again. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would really appreciate it..
Update: I flashed the original ROM to my phone and the freezing problem still exists.. I have no idea what to do at this point.
Update 2: Narrowed down the problem to being the physical "power/end/lock" button. If I slightly press it but not fully it will go to the honeycomb style menu with all the apps. If I press it fully the screen will go out like normal but then if I restore it, the entire screen is locked up. Nothing will work after that until I pull the battery.
I've directly linked the issue with the power button. I dont know why all of a sudden the power button would have a different function. The work around I found is while the phone is locked and the screen is off I can press the green button to unlock the phone and the touch screen will then function. If I use the power button it will remain frozen. Any ideas what happened?
Hello,
I got some bad news for you, this issue is actually related to the digitizer (hardware) not software. What i would recommend is called HTC for a repair and send it in, it is covered by warranty, hopefully you have warranty.
A lot of people are having this issue, no-one yet has been able to pinpoint the cause, but here is the link a thread with similar problem:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=854165
Luckych
Thanks for the reply. I do not think I have a warranty on this phone considering I bought it privately. Ill talk to Tmo and HTC and see what I can do. Just a theory, I may be wrong. But I live in PA and its been getting below 20 here lately. I noticed today that my work around didnt work when I was outside working on my car. Then I went inside and used a blow dryer to heat up the phone and it started working again. The end button didn't function properly but I could unlock the phone with the green send button. Perhaps the cold weather is shorting out people's digitizers? I don't really know how they work so that's why i said its only a theory. I bought this phone in the spring and didnt have an issue until now when it started getting really cold.
I'm not sure if this is a common issue, but I couldn't find anything via search. Recently my power button no longer "clicks" when pressed. There is virtually no feedback at all anymore. This has made it a bit more difficult to lock and unlock. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm thinking about trying to get an RMA since I've only had the table for a few months.
Wow! Mine has never clicked. I am running TNTL 4.4.0.
It would be nice to have that feature.
I meant physically there is no click, the button is just kind of mushy. Has anyone had good experience with Viewsonic's support when it comes to these sort of things?
For about a week now, I've been having problems with the bottom 4 buttons not working. They seem to only work sometimes, if I turn off the screen and turn it back on they respond once or twice and then stop responding again. Is it hardware related, or some software setting that got screwed up. I've got the warranty, but really dont want to be without my phone for 2-3 days while BBY fixes it? Any thoughts guys? Thanks.
I had the same issue and it turned out to be the digitizer. Hopefully your issue is software related and can be fixed. Have you tried clearing data and the usual?
Yep, I've done everything short of a factory reset. Even tried a new rom. Nothing.
I'm trying to hold off until the One X or similar phone in June, and just upgrade, but its really pissing me off, and i might just have to succumb and take it to be repaired.
Everytime I go to use the on/of button for anything, I barely press it and sometimes it doesn't work, other times I quickly press it and it thinks I held it for the menu to come up to reboot or power down. But most of the time... It just reboots on its own if I use the switch. Any way to by pass it? The switch itself I think is just super sensitive, I barely have to even touch it. I've taken phone apart and cleaned around the switch. I'm trying to hold out till the Galaxy S 4 comes out... Hopefully soon!!
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
Although I can't offer a fix... The galaxy s4 goes for preorder for at&t on the 16th of this month for $250 I believe. And T-Mobile is releasing it for $99 on may 1. I think that is all that is currently known about any galaxy s4 release dates. Hope I kinda helped in any roundabout way.
Galaxy S3 T999 rooted and flashed more than daily.
Brand new off contract nexus 4. 250 dollars. If you can deal with the limited internal sd card space and don't have to have your entire music collection with you at all times like some people here lol.
Free Apps to Help
I have the same issue, can't touch the power button. I smack the button a few times to get it to behave. I have installed the following two free apps so I do not have to touch the power button again.
Auto Screen On.
Button Savior(Root)
I am not allowed to post links to the apps, but they can both be found on Google Play.
You have to have root and you have to read the instructions for each app.:good:
Thanks to everyone, I am rooted and running CM9, so that shouldn't be an issue and I'll check into those apps. Just need to make til I can upgrade to the GS4. Thanks for the dates cuz now I have an idea of how long and I'll go order it that day. If that's the preorder, then when is the release date I wonder?
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
I tried and am using "auto screen on" works prefect!! Using the proximity sensor instead of on off button. Thanks again guys, always seem to find help on XDA!
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
I think it's absolutely fascinating how we both seemed to develop the problem at the same time. Could be that many others will soon suffer the same problem. Although I'm definitely going to look into those apps now, I found a temporary fix myself (and it could just be coincidental anyway). I pulled the battery out, pressed my power button repeatedly about 100 times, and now I'm able to use the power button again without it sticking and causing this problem.
The weird part is, that physically, the external button wasn't stuck at all. I could still click the button as many times as I wanted even while "stuck" symptoms appeared on my phone, like the power menu coming up, or a reboot. My guess is that the hardware problem lies somewhere between the physical button and the electronic circuitry within, but I haven't actually stripped down the phone and looked inside. But perhaps jamming the button a hundred times helped decrease the chance of the internal "signal relayer" getting stuck.
I had a similar issue with some keys on my laptop after a little kid played with it and got my keys messed up. Outside button was ok, something beyond that was not (so pressing "s" once would lead to 40 s's appearing on my document). Repeatedly pressing ended up helping out quite a lot.
Nonetheless, this may end up being a very useful thread for others later on.
My GF i777 was having the same issue reported here. I just sent it into mobiletechvideos.com and had the power button on the mother board replaced for 40-50 bucks and it works perfectly now. I would suggest using them if you want to keep your i777 working
bhatbhai said:
I think it's absolutely fascinating how we both seemed to develop the problem at the same time. Could be that many others will soon suffer the same problem. Although I'm definitely going to look into those apps now, I found a temporary fix myself (and it could just be coincidental anyway). I pulled the battery out, pressed my power button repeatedly about 100 times, and now I'm able to use the power button again without it sticking and causing this problem.
The weird part is, that physically, the external button wasn't stuck at all. I could still click the button as many times as I wanted even while "stuck" symptoms appeared on my phone, like the power menu coming up, or a reboot. My guess is that the hardware problem lies somewhere between the physical button and the electronic circuitry within, but I haven't actually stripped down the phone and looked inside. But perhaps jamming the button a hundred times helped decrease the chance of the internal "signal relayer" getting stuck.
I had a similar issue with some keys on my laptop after a little kid played with it and got my keys messed up. Outside button was ok, something beyond that was not (so pressing "s" once would lead to 40 s's appearing on my document). Repeatedly pressing ended up helping out quite a lot.
Nonetheless, this may end up being a very useful thread for others later on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having this same problem. I started a different thread a few days ago about power button issues that at the time I attributed to the recent software update. But it was apparently just very coincidental, and after some tinkering I was able to get the button working using similar methods described in this thread already. After I got it working again, I rooted and successfully installed AOKP 4.2.2, but now when I manage to get the power button to send a signal it pulls up the shut down options screen and then restarts about ten seconds after that. I assume it is still the same hardware issue, but since the restarts only began occurring after flashing the custom rom I can't entirely rule out the possibility that it is some how related.
jmeas said:
I am having this same problem. I started a different thread a few days ago about power button issues that at the time I attributed to the recent software update. But it was apparently just very coincidental, and after some tinkering I was able to get the button working using similar methods described in this thread already. After I got it working again, I rooted and successfully installed AOKP 4.2.2, but now when I manage to get the power button to send a signal it pulls up the shut down options screen and then restarts about ten seconds after that. I assume it is still the same hardware issue, but since the restarts only began occurring after flashing the custom rom I can't entirely rule out the possibility that it is some how related.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you flash back to stock and you still have the button problem, then it is almost certainly hardware. Did you do that yet?
I actually just flashed AOKP a few days ago. Instead of using one of the applications above, which either drained my battery (auto screen on) or wasn't entirely convenient (button savior), I've got a different set up.
In rom control, activate "volume rocker to wake." It's not a hundred percent, oddly, but it gets the job done. This will help with screen on.
For screen off and power menu, I added a navbar with the second smallest height (30 dpi?), with the power button on it. Now I permanently have a the ability to turn off my screen, from whatever I'm doing, with just one click. Long pressing it gets you the power menu.
As a side note, I added screenshot to the power menu so I wouldn't have to hold my power button for that either. But no, I haven't tried using the nav bar power button with volume down for screenshot, because I'm an idiot and just thought of that now.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD
creepyncrawly said:
If you flash back to stock and you still have the button problem, then it is almost certainly hardware. Did you do that yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had the opportunity to do that yet. The restart issues may have begun when I flashed the Siyah 4.3.3 kernel before installing the rom, but I probably won't have the chance to tinker with it until the weekend.
Edit: I have also noticed that I can only reliably use the volume buttons to wake my phone up from sleep when it is plugged in.
Weird, I just started getting this problem today, too. Kinda weird how this all happened to us in the same month
Add me to the list of those whose power button suddenly and mysteriously died. Opened up an email Sunday 4/14, the phone rebooted on its own, and when it restarted the power button no longer worked. My suspicious is it's somehow software/rom related. I'm running Task's AOKP 4.2.2 (4.1.13), for what its worth. If everyone with the issue posts their experience maybe we can figure out what's going on...
Mine started doing the same back in March. Pressing the power button would cause it to reboot and sometimes bring up the power menu, as if I was long pressing it. Then the power button didn't want to work at all, sometimes. I tried everything I could think of, even reverting back to stock, but the problem persisted. Then I finally found that pulling the battery and pressing the power button a few times fixed the problem, for a while anyways. If I don't do it every 2-3 days, it starts happening again. I've actually seen something similar happen with notebooks before. A charge manages to build in the motherboard and the system won't power on. Removing the power supply, pulling the battery, and holding the power button for 30 seconds to allow the charge to dissipate actually fixed the notebooks. That's where I got the idea to do it with my phone. Just wish I didn't have to do it every couple days.
My power button stopped working a couple of days ago and I tried this solution http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1193057&page=2 post #17. Just take the phone apart, spray the power button with the electrical cleaner, and continuously pushing the button for a while (2 or 3 min). Keep the button wet while pushing it. Let it dry, put the phone back together, and start it back up. You should be able to tell whether it worked because when you put the battery back in it will not immediately start back up.