[Q] Think my Phone is Pooched? Shutdown Issue - Captivate Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Ok folks I've had my phone for a few months. I had some minor reboot/shutdown issues when I first received the phone (I know dumbass why didnt you exchange it then). But I installed an early Cog Rom and problems went away.
Now recently when I fully charge my phone - every time it goes to sleep I have to boot it back up.
To make sure it wasn't ROM related - I had completely wiped the phone and went to stock OTA and didn't have ANY applications installed on it.
Sure enough - charged back up to 100% and phone starts failing. After it gets down to about 70% the phone will stay up and working.
Before I make that call to AT&T - wanted your input on if this is something that can be fixed or am I fubard? - Thanks.

There are several different threads in the general section about this. General consensus seems to be that it can be caused by app or battery issues, but that most are a hardware problem with the phone. I mailed my phone off for return/exchange yesterday, thankfully i just squeaked in under the 30 day return policy. You'll probably have to go through AT&T or Samsung warranty department

Figured as much - just was double checking before I wandered over to the warranty center here in town to get a hopefully working refurb.

Related

Malfunctioning Battery - an upgrade horror story

This post is simply to document my recent experience with a malfunctioning battery in the hope that it may help someone is a similar situation one day.
For just over 12 months I have been the proud owner of a T-Mobile MDA Vario. Over that time I have successfully applied several custom ROM upgradess. And then one day some months ago, my phone started behaving strangely:
The initial symptom was the screen going white, or sometimes it would have flickering lines. I worked around this by cycling standby off then on. Generally the phone would be OK for another day, or perhaps another hour or so.
The next symptom that started to occurr was the battery status would change dramatically. The phone would display a full battery one minute then down to say 10% the next. Restarting the phone would see the battery status return to 100% or whatever it was on previously.
The final symptom was the phone would re-boot itself, particularly after a phone call, and sometime even when receiving a phone call.
It was at this point I decided it was time for a warranty repair. However I was running a 2.26 custom ROM. I decided to downgrade it back to the most recent T-Mobile factory ROM (2.21). This is were things went really wrong. Part way through the downgrade the phone rebooted! I could not get past the boot loader (RSOD - rainbow screen of death)! I tried everything, and many different ROMS's. Sometimes it would get to 60% through the upgrade, other times the RSOD would flash repeatedly on then off every few seconds. The battery had a full charge so I could not understand what went wrong.
I took the phone to a "specialist" in London's Chinatown. They spent a good hour on it and couldn't solve the problem. They told me they even rang to the guy who founded xdadevelopers forum! No luck.
So, with my phone stuck on the RSOD sceen, with IPL proudly displaying as 2.26, I boldly walked into T-Mobile on Oxford St and checked the phone in for warranty repair. I told them I was trying to install the latest T-Mobile ROM when it went wrong (the truth - only I didn't say upgrade or downgrade ).
A week later I got a phone call to say my phone had been repaired! The warranty repair sheet said something like "base unit replaced". Sure enough, it was a brand new phone, only the battery and the battery cover were the same as before! Interestingly, the repair sheet clearly stated "battery tested - passed".
Unfortunately the story does not end here. I took my phone home, unlocked it, and quickly went about installing the latest AKU 2.3 custom ROM..... and you guessed it.... RSOD!! I couldn't believe it! What had "I" done wrong! How was I going to take the phone back again!
Well, at this point, I thought about all the steps I had been through, and recalled the original problem. The battery! Even though it often reported say 90% sometimes it would drop to 10% then 0% then back up to 60%! If this was happening during an upgrade then that would explain it. Fortunately a college I work with ahs the same phone. I borrowed is battery, ran the upgrade and hey presto... it worked!!
So, the message is this - if you have problems with an upgrade, consider your battery may be faulty and you need to get a new one!
Spoonter
P.S. Love this forum, you guys rock! Moski's ROM's are the best and thanks to everyone for your postings and ideas and everything!! Happy Christmas and all that!!!

AT&T Tilt just shuts off?

I have a tilt and for some reason the last couple of days it will just turn its self off. It has done it twice while I was in the middle of a call. Any know what could be causing this. ATT stock ROM... Second one already exchanged one with same problem, No Software installed....
Me too! I have the same issue. I tried to reset Tilt (from Setting options) and it did not solve the problem. I am seeking ways to solve this issue before I have to call ATT.
Please Help!!!
this started happening to me about 1 month ago, it's progressively gotten worse (phone turns off after 2min call even with full battery). At first I thought maybe the phone was overheating because immediately turning the phone back on after it shut-off during a call the phone would get half way through booting and then turn off again.
Luckily my phone is under warranty for another couple weeks (cutting it pretty close!) I called att and they think it's a battery problem. they sent me a new one... I just got it today. Going to do some heavy use and see if I can get it to turn off.
keep ya posted.
charged the new battery completely and then ran it all the way down testing it with phone calls / internet surfing / downloads... no crash or power off. looks like the battery was the problem.

Fixing random shut down

My wifes captivate has the random shut down issue. Already got replacement phone and it started back up after a few weeks. If I use Odin one click to restore ucjf6 (or upgrade her phone to froyo) will this end my shutdown woes? I have been under the impression that the shutdown issue was a software problem.
I can't say I've ever heard of that happening to a stock rom (I'm guessing you never flashed any custom ROMs on to it)...
At this stage, I think it'll be better off if you take it back to AT&T as you've not really done anything to it (modding/romming wise).
Its out of warranty.she has been dealing with it by using an app from the market. I was hoping that upgrade to froyo would over write the defective software. Then I got to thinking that maybe odin would do the same thing.
The app from the market works perfectly, but it kills her battery life(it's called Captivate Keep Alive from Blue Steel).
Hmm, then yeah I suggest for you to flash her phone... Possibly to a custom ROM at this stage. Stock ROMs usually have way too much bloatware.
Also, if you can please check what version of Captivate she has... It'll be underneath where her battery is.
Usually a four digit code (1006,1007,1008,etc).
Hers is 1008.
Yeap, you should be fine to use any of these ODIN files.
2.1 - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SBSMALFJ
2.2 - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QL6NX702
If you need instructions, just yell again
I would probably recommend the 2.2 one (if you're not going to flash any custom ROMs).
If you are thinking of custom ROMs, then I recommend going to 2.1.
Thanks for the help. I, and my wifes battery, appreciate it.
My cappy also just randomly shuts off, but i know it isn't the battery because I've switched batteries from another cappy. I also heard there were re-calls on some cappy's as well. can it also be a hardware problem?
I have installed Firefly 3.0 on my captivate every now and then when the battery gets low to like 30% it turns off and then i gotta pop the battery out and pop it back in because it randomly shuts down. It has happened in games, phone calls from friends that are in iraq, and various other things. I just reloaded fire fly onto my phone but I am not sure whats going on with it.
After trying about everything to kill this gremlin, deleting widgets, CKA, Load Monitor, etc., I went back to JF6, charged the phone fully and let it run. The problem is still here. On the very next battrery cycle after reverting to JF6, the random shutdown occurred again while running off battery with a bone stock set-up. The battery was at about 70% when the failure occurred. (It is a new battery too.)
I bot my fone last Sept, just shy of one year ago. So today I called ATT and after a short discussion with the rep, a replacement is on the way. I described the problem and advised that one by one I had un-installed all the widgets and apps that I thought might be causing problems, then mentioned resorting to the factory reset.
A few questions followed. Then I was on hold awhile. I'm really glad I reverted to JF6 and ran the stock set-up to the fail condition. It allowed me to speak to the rep with confidence, and high hopes that they would get me an exchange. When it came time to answer questions about the Settings About details, it was all right as rain.
Now the question is will the new device have the power-off Gremlin? We shall see!
Guess I'll have some fun flashing different set-ups for these next few days 'til the replacement arrives.
Then one last flash to JF6 and back this first cappy goes...
If you are experiencing this shutdown issue, get back to stock and see if it stays. If you have had your phone less than one year, and it's dying on you, you should be able to get a refurb.

[Q] Tmobile Note 4 randomly restarting

Hello all,
Firstly, I hope this is the right place to put this thread. I did a search and did not find anyone else having this issue so I decided to put my post here. I am having a problem with my note 4 randomly restarting a few times every hour. It goes through its shutdown procedure and turns right back on. Occasionally it will shutdown and stay off. It seems to be software related, but I'm no expert on these things. I did however download 'Device Temperature' from the play store to check to see if it might be overheating. As far as I can tell it has stayed a cool 24-25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) the entire time.
It does this at unpredictable times, whether or not the phone is in my pocket, in my hands, or laying flat on a desk with or without the charger plugged in.
I don't think I can take it back to Tmobile to have it replaced as I bought it from a friend a few weeks ago to use on cricket. This just started 2 days ago.
The device is SIM unlocked, but not rooted with stock everything. It's still in mint condition and to my knowledge has never been dropped.
Can anyone help?
More Information
I did a Google search for "Galaxy Note 4 Random Reboot" and I found some information saying to reformat my SD card or try doing a factory reset on the phone.
I tried both (I actually removed the SD card completely instead of just reformating it), and about a half hour later... boom restart again. FML.
Once again I turn to the wonderful folks at XDA for help. Thanks to all in advance.
Sounds like it could be bad eMMC flash memory. Go with your friend and have Tmobile replace it. Also get Square Trade insurance if you can.
Got it fixed
I called Samsung about the issue and after some brief troubleshooting they recommended having it reflashed at a samsung experience center. The closest one to me was in a Best Buy. I dropped it off, after explaining what was happening, and an hour later it was ready to be picked working good as new. I haven't noticed it restart even once since.
Samsung offered to replace the entire unit but it would cost me $28 for 2 day shipping (assuming that they had my model in stock). I will go that route if the issue returns. I'm hoping not to go this route because I already paid for this phone to be unlocked once - I'd rather not pay again if I don't have to.
I'll keep you guys updated if the rebooting issue returns again.
Also check to make sure the battery is properly seated and contacts are not bent/damaged.
railshot said:
Also check to make sure the battery is properly seated and contacts are not bent/damaged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. I kept having this issue with my Note 3 and could not figure it out. Eventually I just took out the battery, cleaned the contacts, put it back in, and it never had a random reboot after that.
Are you guys running any custom roms, or is it still stock?

[Q] Note 3 crashes/reboots about once a day

For the last few weeks, my AT&T Note 3 has started randomly rebooting. It can happen when I'm viewing email, when the phone is in my pocket, or even in the middle of the night when it is just sitting recharging. The rebooting is roughly once per day: somedays more than once, other times it can go over 24 hours. The problem seems to have started after I updated to 5.0. I have tried a factory reset, but the problem came back. I called AT&T support and they said that they've had a lot of problems with Samsung devices after the 5..0 roll out, with random rebooting, or the Bluetooth failing, or the WiFi failing. They said that they need to replace the Note 3, but because it is over a year old I must pay $100 for the replacement through Asurion (I have been paying the insurance fee).
Searching on line has not provided much on this problem. Does the AT&T comment make sense? If I need to replace the phone, shouldn't it be for free because the problem was caused by AT&T?
I'd appreciate any comments.
Note that I realize it could be related to an App I use being incompatible with 5.0, but I need to use my phone for work pretty much constantly, so troubleshooting which one (if any) is not practical.
Mine started doing the same thing about a week ago. Till then it was not having any problems with the 5.0 version.
They need to figure out the problem and push out a update. Otherwise it is like they don't care about us, unless we go out every year and buy a new phone !
Problem solved?
After trying a reset and cleaning checking the battery contacts didn't work, I looked for other patterns. It seemed to me that one of the most common times it rebooted was when I checked my email with the K9 email client - something that is always running in the background, and could have caused it to reboot when on charge overnight.
I uninstalled K9 and that didn't help - the phone rebooted after about 9 hours. However, since that reboot it has now gone nearly 48 hours without rebooting. Maybe I was right about K9 and uninstalling it wasn't enough - I should have also manually rebooted the phone.
The phone has been rebooting at random times, sometimes as short as about 5 hours apart and sometimes more than a day apart. It could be that right now I'm at one extreme and it will reboot randomly today. But if it makes it through tomorrow morning without rebooting then K9 was probably the problem.
It has now been over 72 hours since the last reboot, which does suggest that the original problem was the K9 email client, crashing and forcing a reboot on the phone after the Android 5 update.
Problem NOT resolved!
A few minutes ago, roughly 76 hours after the last random reboot, when I thought that the problem was resolved, I heard the reboot tone coming from my phone that was sitting on the table.
So, while removing K9 reduced the frequency of the reboot, it did not solve the underlying problem.
Use Titanium Backup and backup all user apps and data. Factory reset and reflash stock if you want to take the extra step. Use standard Google and Samsung apps for a while. Do not restore accounts or system data automatically. Removing and reconnecting accounts and clear data for an app in app manager are always good quick troubleshooting options. Restore apps as you need them, if you really need them. Favor stability over extraneous features.
.......................................................
Galaxy Note 3 - AT&T (sm-n900a)
Since I removed K9 and rebooted the phone, it has only rebooted randomly once in 5 days: this was at 72 hours, and now it has been up for 65 hours since then. Trying what you suggest would take weeks, given the current frequency of random rebooting. Plus, my phone is used for work constantly - I couldn't get by with just the Samsung and Google apps built into the basic phone image.
For the moment, I will just live with the phone as-is and hope that Samsung issues a new version of 5 soon.
Now at nearly four days since the last crash/reboot, or only one in seven days. At that frequency, it is certainly not worth the effort of trying to track down the secondary cause (it could take months), now that I know that K9 was the main problem.
It has been a while since I started this discussion, with no conclusion. The phone still randomly reboots - only once all of last week, but then it woke me up on a reboot at 4:30 am this morning, and rebooted again while I was checking Facebook at 7 am.
I'm having a rebooting issue as well with my Note 3. It started about a week ago and will do it many times during the day. I have tried wiping the cache partition, doing a factory reset and the other day I downgraded the software from 5.0 to 4.4.2 and rooted it and froze the over the air update from AT&T but still have random rebooting. I have had the reboot issue with and without the SD card installed so I know that is not the issue either. I was thinking it was a software issue so that is why I did all of the stuff listed but now I'm wondering if it could be hardware. I guess I'm just at a loss of what to try know and was hoping someone on here had any suggestions.
I hope that with your additional post that we'll get some answers. One thing: does it happen when sitting idle on charge too, or only when not sitting idle? In the later case, it could be a simple as dirty battery contacts.
jeffp25 said:
I hope that with your additional post that we'll get some answers. One thing: does it happen when sitting idle on charge too, or only when not sitting idle? In the later case, it could be a simple as dirty battery contacts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It happens both when charging and when sitting unplugged. I even tried swapping the battery for a new one and the contacts and also clean
Well, it was an idea. I did the same thing, buying a new OEM battery and hoping it would help. It didn't. But then again, mine often reboots at night (it woke me up at 4 am this morning), so I knew it was unlikely to be a battery issue in my case.
Yeah thanks for the idea but it seems like I'm running out of things to try
I feel the same. The only thing left would be to wipe out the phone and try it with nothing but stock, non-upgrades, apps. But I use the phone for work, and it can go more than a week between reboots (or less than a day), so that isn't practical.
I might just end up mailing my phone into Samsung to be repaired but now that I have it rooted is there any special steps that need to be done to unroot it? I was just going to do a factory reset and let AT&T android 5.0 do it's update if that will kill the root. I'm not worried about warranty since it is no long under warranty.
Maybe use logcat and letting it run and wait for a reboot to happen so you can see what is going on. However the logs could get big and it might not capture what happens right before it reboots.

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