Milestone touch screen issue - Hardware or ROM issue? - Motorola Droid and Milestone Q&A, Help & Troublesh

I have a completely non-responsive touch screen w/ my Motorola Milestone. It was going in/out for 3 days, restarts would always fix it, until finally it wouldn't recover responsiveness after a restart either.
The phone also is generally acting weird/bizarre. If I receive a call and it rings until battery is pulled ( I can't answer because of touch screen, but it still should end the ringtone sequence after the standard 5 rings!) There is also a longer than normal start time, and weird looking graphical errors on the unlock screen.
Does this seem like hardware or software? If software, potentially, what can I do to fix this? I have already tried three things: 1) Booting into OPEN RECOVERY, and re-installing CyanogenMOD 7.2.f, .... 2) Then tried a Nandroid Backup from a few weeks ago ..... 3) Then tried the "Factory Reset" option. None worked, same issues!
Any help is greatly appreciated....!

Sounds like moisture-related hardware failure to me.
Usually it starts with "ghost-touches" on the screen, but your phone's symptoms sound very advanced.
You could try the usual household tricks like putting it on the heater or in an airtight container filled with rice (to absorb moisture) overnight.

Eiertschik said:
Sounds like moisture-related hardware failure to me.
Usually it starts with "ghost-touches" on the screen, but your phone's symptoms sound very advanced.
You could try the usual household tricks like putting it on the heater or in an airtight container filled with rice (to absorb moisture) overnight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Tried all reasonable methods of rice/drying and nothing worked. Sad to say I might as well throw in the towel on the Milestone. 3.5 years aint bad I guess.

Related

Touch Screen has stopped working

Basically about 2 months ago I rooted the phone and put in cyangen mod, everything was fine until the touch screen stopped working. Most of the time it was brief but sometimes the touch screen just wouldn't work for a whole day and then start working again. Thinking I had done the root wrong I unrooted the phone back to it's orginal. However the problem still showed up despite that. I recently updated it to the donut update, and that's when the problem got worse. Now the touch screen won't work and when I go to the contacts using the trackball I get an error. And anytime i recieve a phone call I get the same error. Thinking it was a software problem and factory reset the phone and scaled it back to rc29. But still the touch screen doesn't work, and now because of that I am stuck on the setup screen at the beginning which ask you to touch the android to continue (which I can't). I have wiped and factory reset the g1 many times, and usually that has made the touch screen work again, but now it seems to not work at all. I deducted over the last couple of days that it must be the power adapter causing all of this. Since I got the touch screen working yesterday and had no problems the entire day. Then a hour after I put it on the charger the touch screen stopped working again and hasn't worked since. Is there anything that can be done at this point to fix it? I read somewhere about a script that makes the g1 touch screen work again but haven't been able to find it.
Same problem
I'm having a near identical problem. Most all of the symptoms are the same - except my touchscreen has only worked for a few seconds on one occasion after the initial failure. I've tried wiping, and about 3 different mods (JaCx, Cyan, Enomther). None have helped, and currently I'm stuck at the same point where it's asking me to touch the Android to begin, and I can't. The only difference is that I didn't unroot. So I'm going to try a few more roms, but I doubt I'll have any luck. My phone was also put on a charger that wasn't made for the g1. I began to notice the problem thereafter. Not sure why, but that certainly seems like the only reasonable variable which could be causing this.
Anyone out there have any ideas? It'd be much appreciated.
Have you guys dropped your phone recently? I'd like to share my story as well. Two weeks ago, I dropped the phone on hard tile while it was still in its leather/suade case. I picked it up and instantly found the touch capabilities were gone (with screen open or closed). After many soft resets and not knowing how else to fix it, I also decided to revert back to rc29 from cyanogenmod. Still no go, after being stuck at the setup screen. I disassembled the phone, using the G1 service manual, to make sure none of the ribbons were knocked loose and examined the lcd and digitizer for any cracks. No problems that I could see. Disassembled, and reassembled the phone a few more times and still with no avail.
If you were one of the first to receive a g1, such as myself, oct 22nd is the last day of your 1 yr warranty. So give t-mobile a call, and submit a claim before then if you want to take advantage of it. Make sure you reflash to stock image, and that there are no signs of visible damage on the phone or else the warranty will be void. Good luck.
Edit: If your phone's touch screen is working at random times, I'm suspecting its a hardware problem, most likely a damaged or worn out flex cable from opening and closing the screen. Try slowly opening the screen and touching the screen at the same time to see if anything happens.
When I was waiting for my G1 I came on this forum (Had a Diamond before so knew about it anyway) and found a topic discussing problems like this... If you have an Early G1 then I'm guessing this is the problem...
There is some sort of design flaw with the ribbon cable connecting the Touch Screen to the Mainboard catching onto the sliding mechanism. This eventually destroys the cable and causes the touchscreen to stop working. On Later models they've fixed it by taping the ribbon cable down instead of letting it hang loose.
In short... you need to unroot your phone and take it back to T-Mobile.
Interesting thoughts, thanks for the input. My G1 has never been dropped, and is actually relatively new, only a couple months old. But it's not on T-Mobile. I flashed MLIGN 2.5.7 (Hero). I did this b/c I know it bypasses the typical "touch here" activation BS. So I can boot, and get into the OS just fine. Which is where I'm at now.
Here's what I've done. I completely wiped my Fat32, Ext2, and Linux_Swamp partitions using Gparted. I completely wiped the phone using Cyan 1.4 Recovery. Yet no matter which Mod I use my touch screen doesn't cooperate, AND (no matter which mod I'm using) when I try to launch basic apps (dialer/phone, some settings menus, etc) I am notified that, "android.process.acore" has stopped. Without fail. It ALWAYS does this when attempting to access the dialer/phone. I would be more than happy to take some time troubleshooting the touch screen IF my damn dailer/phone would work. But it does not.
I read on some other forums about there being 2 compcache files for someone who had a similar issue. That's slightly above my head, though, and I'm not quite sure how to go about checking that and/or deleting one. Really, I just want to be able to access my dialer/phone app for the time being. Then I can take some time to trouble shoot the touch screen.
Anyone have any ideas about the process failing, or the compcache affect?
Also, I'm using 1.33.2005 SPL.
Thanks
gat0rjay said:
Interesting thoughts, thanks for the input. My G1 has never been dropped, and is actually relatively new, only a couple months old. But it's not on T-Mobile. I flashed MLIGN 2.5.7 (Hero). I did this b/c I know it bypasses the typical "touch here" activation BS. So I can boot, and get into the OS just fine. Which is where I'm at now.
Here's what I've done. I completely wiped my Fat32, Ext2, and Linux_Swamp partitions using Gparted. I completely wiped the phone using Cyan 1.4 Recovery. Yet no matter which Mod I use my touch screen doesn't cooperate, AND (no matter which mod I'm using) when I try to launch basic apps (dialer/phone, some settings menus, etc) I am notified that, "android.process.acore" has stopped. Without fail. It ALWAYS does this when attempting to access the dialer/phone. I would be more than happy to take some time troubleshooting the touch screen IF my damn dailer/phone would work. But it does not.
I read on some other forums about there being 2 compcache files for someone who had a similar issue. That's slightly above my head, though, and I'm not quite sure how to go about checking that and/or deleting one. Really, I just want to be able to access my dialer/phone app for the time being. Then I can take some time to trouble shoot the touch screen.
Anyone have any ideas about the process failing, or the compcache affect?
Also, I'm using 1.33.2005 SPL.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I realize this is an old thread but did you ever get the issue figured out? My phone did this just last night
Alright as suggested earlier in the thread it was a hardware issue. I found that my touchscreen had become unplugged and was causing the errors.
Sorry to bring this guy back from the dead but I figured I would educate a few people one a common touch-screen problem.
Yeah, 90% of the time it's the adapter you're using. Being a G1 owner with lots of mini-USB chargers i found the same problem. Also being a tech rep at t-mobile, i've had lots of calls revolving around this and fixing it.
The G1 uses a 1000mA charger (1A). For me, the touch-screen going haywire/unresponsive seemed to get more severe as the the chargers specs went lower. An old Motorola charger at 500mA was ridiculous. Talking to customers with the exact symptoms and hardware, eventually lost all functionality of the touch screen.
On a side note, it's not just the G1 that has problems with the wrong charger. A linksys router I have has a standard power port connection type in the back but requires a bigger amp adapter. hooking the wrong one up will cause complete failure. In many situations, not enough energy is just as detrimental as too much energy. One last example: Take a big 10" sub driver, hook it up to a crappy 300W amp, you get an overheated coil and eventually a busted driver.
So, lesson is, just because it fits doesn't mean it's safe to use. I never mix and match adapters with any device ever because of the risk of damage.

Bizarre Kaiser Behavior- death throes?

I've been running hyper dragon III on my tilt for the past few years. A couple of days ago my tilt started acting flakey, pulling up sms, email, contact lists, and dialing random numbers ,44924444466634444.......repeating like a stuck key. I reset but to not avail. I took out the battery and reset again, no luck. I figured it was time to replace my venerable hyper dragon with a shiny new Rom. I chose a clean wm6.5 Rom, ahmedfikry wm6.5 23569 Tilt 3D UC light Rom V2 . It seemed to work... at first. I was excited with the speed, the response, of this new interface and smugly back patting myself ... when the buggy behavior returned; hmm, I thought, a bad flash?, so I went back to the wiki, reformatted SD card, reset, rebooted... no joy! It can't be viral...can it, or worse some malignant kaiser killer cancer; can it? Insights, ideas, recommendations? Please be kind, I'm very vulnerable right now....
UPS just delivered my brand new seidio extended tilt battery! It came a day early, oh joy! Murphy strikes again... : )
if it is starting programs that are linked DIRECTLY to hardware buttons, i would suspect your kaiser's buttons or the cables from the buttons have gone faulty (hardware problem).
everything you say seems to point to things that are linked with buttons...there is a button for sms/email, all the numbers have buttons (on the keyboard) and even the contact list is sometimes mapped to one of the soft keys on some screens (e.g. the "All Contacts" button on the contacts page of manila).
so perhaps your buttons are the problem...they might be "sticking" or a cable or set of cables might have come loose or they might have cracked.
the only other possibility i can think of is that your screen protector might need changing. even worse, your touch screen may have gone faulty (hardware problem). you can try realigning the screen but i doubt that will help if the issue is sporadic.
finally, you might want to see if something physical triggers the issue. maybe holding it your left hand upside down? maybe slide open the top? or maybe more frequent when the keyboard is hidden? or try to apply pressure near the buttons or near the frame of the screen to see if that makes the issues more frequent?
good luck!
ASCIIker thanks for your insightful reply.
I fear you to be correct. I did not think to correlate the type of programs and their use of hardware buttons. I did however disassemble my sick little baby last night after posting. I went looking for pocket gunk or loose connections. I had replaced the LCD about a year ago and while it work fine after that, a loose screw wasn't impossible. Too my never ending surprise it booted up upon reassembly, but to my disappointment it began to exhibit the same freaky symptoms. I decided to do a Rom flash, but now was unable to get to my tricolor screen! After about 20 attempts, I gave up turned it off and put in my new battery. A long charge later, I turned it on to drain and train the battery expecting it to resume its schizoid activity...but no! I find a lovely 6.5 win-mo screen an a well behaved phone. I'm determined to solve this conundrum. I would like to say it was the principle of the thing, but really I'm driven by my ocd nature reinforced by cheapo habits. ASCIIker, do you think if I disconnect the 'd pad' connector I might be able to confirm your hypo? I sure I can get it to repeat its bad behavior if just spend some time reloading and setting preferences. Once I get it perfect its sure to fritz out! Either way thanks again.

[Q] My xperia x1, durbility is poor after just one year of use...

So its been about a year and half since I received this phone for my birthday, and from this moment on, I am 90% sure that these companies design these phones to fall apart after a while so you buy a new one.
Please to not be intimidated by the length of the problems, I really doent want to waste a $600 nice phone. Please help.....
List of problems:
So on one random day, while I was using my phone with EnergyROM sense 6.1 (Not even 6.5 (Windows 6.5.5)) the phone stopped rotating when I flipped the keyboard, as in the screen will not rotate when I try to use the keyboard. The touch screen also becomes uncalibrated, and even when I recalibrate it, it still acts very funky (have to click lower than button or higher, depending on its mood). I did absolutely nothing different with my phone that day, but I did not call my phone dead right away, so I decided to update the ROM with the latest sense 6.5 ROM to see if the OS is corrupt or over-cached. This did not fix the problem.
Also, another very weird thing is the phone's screen will illuminate (I guess backlight), but no picture will show when turned on after sleep mode, and I have to click the top button again to sleep and awake it to get a picture. When flipped, the screen doesn't even fully illuminate, and literally dies down to a black screen (half of the pixels are bright, and then it just fails).
Any help would be very appreciated. What I am thinking of is wiping the phone 100%, and not even leaving a rom on it. I heard there is a command that deletes the junk off your phone from a previous ROM to your updated ROM is clutter free. Any other suggestions?
Edit: I hard reset my phone, and nothing is fixed; I still cannot flip screen into landscape mode.
The "command" you are talking about is called "task 29", look for it in the ROM section.
It sounds like hardware problems, i've had mine for about 1 year and a half as well and no problems besides a couple of scratches.
The flex cable connecting LCD and board might be out of order.... I had the same issue.
palmwangja said:
The flex cable connecting LCD and board might be out of order.... I had the same issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I heard about that problem. I will first task 29 it, but are there any guides to take apart and fix the flex cable, or even just unplugging it and plugging it back in?
Also, what did you do with your broken phone? Did you buy a new one or get it fixed?
Thanks for the feed back both of you.
my X1 also aged same as yours and it still runs flawlessly now. so it might depends on how you used and keep it
as for the "wiping off the phone" its called task 29, and is encouraged to do before you flash a new ROM, have you did it before flashing energyROM?
rhadrio said:
my X1 also aged same as yours and it still runs flawlessly now. so it might depends on how you used and keep it
as for the "wiping off the phone" its called task 29, and is encouraged to do before you flash a new ROM, have you did it before flashing energyROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, but I just did now, but it seems to be a hardware problem because nothing seems to be working properly still. This is some serious BS because I am very over protected with this phone, just to prevent stuff like this to happen. I have never dropped it ONCE, and it seemed to just wear out by itself. The lenses covering the camera is cracked also, and the screen is all screwed up, and I didnt do absolutely nothing abusive to it, I am 110% sure of this.
Any suggestions on how to fix hardware/ ribbon connected to the screen problem?
Order a new cable and replace it.
If you search on Youtube for the video on how to disassemble x1 there is a complete guide that shows you. Its pretty easy and all you need to do is, take the flex cable out and carefully plug it back in. Then carefully put your X1 back together and hopefully you issue will be fixed. If it still persist, then try and get the flex cable changed.

HOW TO: fix Droid/Milestone touchscreen lack of responsiveness and Ghost Touch issues

NOTE: THIS SOLUTION IS POTENTIALLY DAMAGING AND MAY NOT WORK FOR EVERYONE
PROBLEM: touch screen acts erratic, notification bar keeps opening, screen appears to be touched by someone else continuously (Ghost Touch), and parts of the screen DO NOT RESPOND TO TOUCH.
MY OWN SPECIFIC CASE: I had the Ghost Touch issue for 3 days suddenly without intro, which often used to go away after a reboot or two, then phone worked normally after I removed the battery and left it in a dry area (in a closed drawer between books, no air entering, very dry atmosphere), however the RIGHT SIDE of the screen (Search button, rightmost letters [L and Delete and sometimes ENTER] do not work. If the phone is in normal landscape, you cannot open the notification bar by dragging it normally.
DIAGNOSIS: for some people, the problem is more severe. The Digitiser itself could be malfunctioning and has to be fixed, while for others it could be a true problem with the screen itself. However, for MANY OF US, it is a problem of HUMIDITY. The humidity sensors are causing the phone to act like that. Some say part of this problem happens because the way the keypad affects the phone internally as you open and close it a lot.
SOLUTIONS:
1- To be safe: send the phone to the shop. Ask them to open the phone and apply an extra layer of insulation, in case the digitiser and the screen are okay.
2- If something is faulty, replace it at the shop.
3- MY OWN SOLUTION: based on something I read many times, the solution was to apply DRY HEAT for at least 45 mins. What I did, based on averaging out many experiences I read online, was to remove the SD Card and SIM, remove battery, I heated up a toaster oven for 10 minutes, waited until the temperature was at about 60-70 degrees Celsius, SHUT DOWN THE HEAT, put the phone on its screen on a plate, screen facing down and covered by a cloth to protect it from direct contact with metal, then all inside the oven. The oven is a relatively big one, so phone was AWAY FROM A SOURCE OF DIRECT HEAT. I closed the lid, then every while 15 minutes I would heat the oven for 40 seconds to maintain the temp. This is LIKE (ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION) leaving your phone in the glove compartment of your car while its parked in a sunny spot, to find it really hot in the morning and tough to touch for a while. TO CONTINUE, after the phone was out of the oven (I can't believe I am saying this), I left the phone overnight in a dry area for 8 hours (could need less time). Then, I put everything back in, plugged it, and THE PHONE IS WORKING PERFECTLY NOW!
NOTE that solution number 3 could affect your keyboard buttons if heat is too much. It may cause the glue holding the keys to melt a bit. Be delicate with your keyboard after you restore your phone.
Again, I only did this YESTERDAY. With the exception of some keypad stickiness, the phone is working perfectly now.
I hope this was useful
B.
EDIT: Today is the First of May, phone is still working without a glitch
N.B. Press the Thank you button if you wanna congratulate me on daring to toast my milestone in the name of scientific inquiry
SECOND EDIT: Phone did it again for 2 days. Applied the same method, and it worked again. I think partially it happened because I was in a very humid location.
That didn't work for me, I had no option but to replace the touchscreen/gorila glass.
I love the idea of toasting a milestone
Thought with all my aggression against Moto, I think I just might leave it in there
Luckily I dont have these problems so I wont get tempted
AirLancer said:
I love the idea of toasting a milestone
Thought with all my aggression against Moto, I think I just might leave it in there
Luckily I dont have these problems so I wont get tempted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to admit, I cared litte whether or not this actually worked. I just wanted to toast it But it did work, so
Pretty tempted to try this out, I think I will when I have free time.
My phone had the dead zone problem for 2 months now, but in some very rare cases, like when it's a very hot day, the screen will work normally for a minute or something. Then it goes back to dead part. I assume this would fix it?
Lesiroth said:
Pretty tempted to try this out, I think I will when I have free time.
My phone had the dead zone problem for 2 months now, but in some very rare cases, like when it's a very hot day, the screen will work normally for a minute or something. Then it goes back to dead part. I assume this would fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it DOES indeed work on hot days, then it means the phone is not entirely dead. But I would suggest you do something less drastic first, such as the Glove Compartment method. No responsibility though
If you're trying to remove moisture, you could also try putting it in a baggie of crystaline cat litter (NOT the clay kind!) - this stuff is sold at a MUCH higher price as a way to save a phone from water damage, but it's the exact same substance. Does a great job removing moisture. It's the same sort of silica gel that's in those packets in medicine/vitamins that says "Dessicant - do not eat".
Or you could just put it in a sealed bowl with raw rice for a couple of days... this is the best and cheapest way (and then you have the silicon "grains", the ones that you find in shoe boxes or computer parts boxes).
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
CybeRNerO said:
Or you could just put it in a sealed bowl with raw rice for a couple of days... this is the best and cheapest way (and then you have the silicon "grains", the ones that you find in shoe boxes or computer parts boxes).
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure that rice doesn't do anything, I don't know how that started as a suggestion, but its not better than anything else; its not known to be absorbant, but the silicon is.
I've tried the method but the right segment of the digitizer still doesn't work.
My biggest issue with regards to "lack of responsiveness" are the 4 capacitive buttons. Pressing the Home key is always hit and miss. I know I hit it all the time because I can feel the vibration feedback but it only goes to homescreen 50% of the time.
Will also be testing this out as soon as I have the spare time. My screen started acting up after I accidentally put my milestone in a small beer spill at a party Hopefully this will work out for me too!
Abazel said:
I've tried the method but the right segment of the digitizer still doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Luckily for me, I was still under warranty, heh. Cause I had insurance. This is my second Droid this has happened to. Hopefully my replacement won't do the same thing.
How many times did you reheat the oven? I tried just once and it didn't help. My phone has been having this problem since January.
decon89 said:
How many times did you reheat the oven? I tried just once and it didn't help. My phone has been having this problem since January.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel I am on a cooking show
Well, depends on your over. Mainly I was trying to maintain a temp varying between 50-60 c. Mostly 50, but sometimes 60 to up the ante a bit and make sure things stay warm. 30 minutes at least. However, I have to say that I did this twice in 6 weeks, and after that the phone just died again, and I found my warranty card and sent it there to be fixed, and they fixed it, but ruined something else.
If you have the warranty card, take your phone and send it to them Someone told me the method worked and the phone has been good for quite a while, but most of us seem to re-experience the issue after a while.
I've been having these issues for a few days now too, and I think I know why. I've been using this Milestone for 4 months now, and I never had this problem until a few days ago. What I noticed yesterday was that after some acting up, the phone started working properly again. So I ran Touch Test. And I noticed that if I pressed really hard on the top side of the phone(where the logo and the ear piece are located) it started acting up again. My first impression was that the glue holding down the gorilla glass was loose. So I left the phone as usual on my night stand and then I tried the same thing with the pressing on the same area. Guess what? It didn't happen again. Now there seems to be no problem. So I tried to remember what happened yesterday before the screen started acting up, and I remember talking to my wife for a while when I was in my car. Yesterday was a pretty hot day and I was a little sweaty when I talked to her. Now since only that specific part with the earpiece was causing this issue(I tried pressing equally hard on other areas without any problem my guess is that the insulation between the earpiece and the touchscreen has been breached. Maybe because of all the sweat that went in there in time. You know the salt and acids in the swear are known to melt things, and poor quality glue is among them.
How to fix this? I do not know yet, but I do have a good idea that I'd like to share. I want to buy a screen protector foil, and put just a little band around the ear piece. That would probably lower my in-call volume, but since the Milestone is very loud anyway I hope it the quality of the calls won't be too much affected. After that I'll use it in normal conditions again and see if the ghosting happens again.
try completely formatting your SD CARD/PARTITION.
& then reinstalling using (FAT 32/EXT 2, 3, or 4)
sometimes traces from the previous ROM might interfare with touch codecs (maybe)
just trying to help. had similar issue & this is what i did.
bandroid842 said:
NOTE: THIS SOLUTION IS POTENTIALLY DAMAGING AND MAY NOT WORK FOR EVERYONE
PROBLEM: touch screen acts erratic, notification bar keeps opening, screen appears to be touched by someone else continuously (Ghost Touch), and parts of the screen DO NOT RESPOND TO TOUCH.
MY OWN SPECIFIC CASE: I had the Ghost Touch issue for 3 days suddenly without intro, which often used to go away after a reboot or two, then phone worked normally after I removed the battery and left it in a dry area (in a closed drawer between books, no air entering, very dry atmosphere), however the RIGHT SIDE of the screen (Search button, rightmost letters [L and Delete and sometimes ENTER] do not work. If the phone is in normal landscape, you cannot open the notification bar by dragging it normally.
DIAGNOSIS: for some people, the problem is more severe. The Digitiser itself could be malfunctioning and has to be fixed, while for others it could be a true problem with the screen itself. However, for MANY OF US, it is a problem of HUMIDITY. The humidity sensors are causing the phone to act like that. Some say part of this problem happens because the way the keypad affects the phone internally as you open and close it a lot.
SOLUTIONS:
1- To be safe: send the phone to the shop. Ask them to open the phone and apply an extra layer of insulation, in case the digitiser and the screen are okay.
2- If something is faulty, replace it at the shop.
3- MY OWN SOLUTION: based on something I read many times, the solution was to apply DRY HEAT for at least 45 mins. What I did, based on averaging out many experiences I read online, was to remove the SD Card and SIM, remove battery, I heated up a toaster oven for 10 minutes, waited until the temperature was at about 60-70 degrees Celsius, SHUT DOWN THE HEAT, put the phone on its screen on a plate, screen facing down and covered by a cloth to protect it from direct contact with metal, then all inside the oven. The oven is a relatively big one, so phone was AWAY FROM A SOURCE OF DIRECT HEAT. I closed the lid, then every while 15 minutes I would heat the oven for 40 seconds to maintain the temp. This is LIKE (ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION) leaving your phone in the glove compartment of your car while its parked in a sunny spot, to find it really hot in the morning and tough to touch for a while. TO CONTINUE, after the phone was out of the oven (I can't believe I am saying this), I left the phone overnight in a dry area for 8 hours (could need less time). Then, I put everything back in, plugged it, and THE PHONE IS WORKING PERFECTLY NOW!
NOTE that solution number 3 could affect your keyboard buttons if heat is too much. It may cause the glue holding the keys to melt a bit. Be delicate with your keyboard after you restore your phone.
Again, I only did this YESTERDAY. With the exception of some keypad stickiness, the phone is working perfectly now.
I hope this was useful
B.
EDIT: Today is the First of May, phone is still working without a glitch
N.B. Press the Thank you button if you wanna congratulate me on daring to toast my milestone in the name of scientific inquiry
SECOND EDIT: Phone did it again for 2 days. Applied the same method, and it worked again. I think partially it happened because I was in a very humid location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for that Solution.
It fixed the Issue of my friends MS without other problems
I'll have to try and the oven methode again. My phone has started to really act up again.
I've tried to install new roms, wipe ect. and it doesn't help with the screen.
Have anyone tried to replace the digiziter? They are pretty cheap on ebay
My milestone started freaking out just an hour ago. No more warranty here but I'm not brave enough to do the oven method. Had anybody tried the Rice alternative?

[Q] Droid 4 possessed / erratic touchscreen behaviour

Since the last few days I've been getting some strange issues with my touchscreen. Sometimes parts of the screen (or the full screen) do not respond, and even the softbuttons are affected. When I take the phone out of my pocket, it either responds normally (I use pattern lock) or tries to use the emergency dialer or emergency contacts, and sometimes even tries to call a number from the emergency dialer (number 2 and luckily not 112..)
When in the launcher, it sometimes opens an app (like my calendar) and slowly scrolls either sideways or vertically. Turning the screen off and on again once or twice usually solves it for a (short) while.
I've already read some threads about it and ruled out the following causes:
The phone is not connected to any charger when this happens.
It still happens after cleaning the screen (just with a cloth, no liquids)
It still happens after disabling CPU Tuner. I didn't overlock the system, but used some custom power settings and different governors which apparently can also affect this behaviour.
The battery is still original since nowadays I prefer to use external chargers instead of buying a big battery for every new phone
The only things that changed recently are:
I installed the OwnCloud app, but that doesn't seem related.
We moved to another office building, in which the carpet generates more static electricity.
I gained some weight which may put a bit more pressure in my pant pockets than before
It started happening a few days ago, after using the .215 ICS leak for a few weeks without issue. I seem to get the problem less at home than I do at work, which makes me think it's either the static electricity or CPU governor (since battery percentage is lower by the time I get home again, so it might use a different governor). However, I've been using CPU Tuner for quite some time before this issue started, and the issue persists after disabling it.
So I am guessing it's any of the following causes:
Static electricity
Keeping the phone in my pant pockets which may put some pressure on the screen
A problem with the battery or screen somehow (moisture?)
Some other hardware issue
Some software issue
Does anybody have any tips or other ideas about this? Thanks in advance.
Edit: I enabled some development options to show touch pointer location (white dot) and trails. Screenshot added. Phantom touches seem to be focused in the bottom center part of the phone, which is probably around where I grap it when I take it out of my pocket. Trails usually disappear the next time you touch the screen, but in this case the trails kept growing / adding. I made some real swipes (upper half of the screen) and they 'stuck' without the phone responding to them (the application did not scroll) due to the parallel phantom touches in the bottom. In this case the phantom touches blocked my real input, in other cases they cause some behaviour (scrolling etc.). However, sometimes when the screen is not responding, there are no phantom touches visible in this display mode.
Edit 2:The no-touch input problem seems to be 'triggered' most of the time I open the keyboard. Sometimes this is followed by the phantom touches, but usually they start occuring in the portrait mode lock screen.
Sjaakbanaan said:
Since the last few days I've been getting some strange issues with my touchscreen. Sometimes parts of the screen (or the full screen) do not respond, and even the softbuttons are affected. When I take the phone out of my pocket, it either responds normally (I use pattern lock) or tries to use the emergency dialer or emergency contacts, and sometimes even tries to call a number from the emergency dialer (number 2 and luckily not 112..)
When in the launcher, it sometimes opens an app (like my calendar) and slowly scrolls either sideways or vertically. Turning the screen off and on again once or twice usually solves it for a (short) while.
I've already read some threads about it and ruled out the following causes:
The phone is not connected to any charger when this happens.
It still happens after cleaning the screen (just with a cloth, no liquids)
It still happens after disabling CPU Tuner. I didn't overlock the system, but used some custom power settings and different governors which apparently can also affect this behaviour.
The battery is still original since nowadays I prefer to use external chargers instead of buying a big battery for every new phone
The only things that changed recently are:
I installed the OwnCloud app, but that doesn't seem related.
We moved to another office building, in which the carpet generates more static electricity.
I gained some weight which may put a bit more pressure in my pant pockets than before
It started happening a few days ago, after using the .215 ICS leak for a few weeks without issue. I seem to get the problem less at home than I do at work, which makes me think it's either the static electricity or CPU governor (since battery percentage is lower by the time I get home again, so it might use a different governor). However, I've been using CPU Tuner for quite some time before this issue started, and the issue persists after disabling it.
So I am guessing it's any of the following causes:
Static electricity
Keeping the phone in my pant pockets which may put some pressure on the screen
A problem with the battery or screen somehow (moisture?)
Some other hardware issue
Some software issue
Does anybody have any tips or other ideas about this? Thanks in advance.
Edit: I enabled some development options to show touch pointer location (white dot) and trails. Screenshot added. Phantom touches seem to be focused in the bottom center part of the phone, which is probably around where I grap it when I take it out of my pocket. Trails usually disappear the next time you touch the screen, but in this case the trails kept growing / adding. I made some real swipes (upper half of the screen) and they 'stuck' without the phone responding to them (the application did not scroll) due to the parallel phantom touches in the bottom. In this case the phantom touches blocked my real input, in other cases they cause some behaviour (scrolling etc.). However, sometimes when the screen is not responding, there are no phantom touches visible in this display mode.
Edit 2:The no-touch input problem seems to be 'triggered' most of the time I open the keyboard. Sometimes this is followed by the phantom touches, but usually they start occuring in the portrait mode lock screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
clean you phone with an air duster than a alcohol swab make sure you dry it quickly and use 72% not 90%. make sure you get the corners... get a screen protector and apply that as well. then sbf to 217... and wipe data,,,, that should work.
if not it could be the ribbon cable,,, it may be frayed...
how to fix
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1584260
where to get the part
http://cellphone-repair-shop.com/motorola-droid-4-lcd-screen/
myfishbear said:
clean you phone with an air duster than a alcohol swab make sure you dry it quickly and use 72% not 90%. make sure you get the corners... get a screen protector and apply that as well. then sbf to 217... and wipe data,,,, that should work.
if not it could be the ribbon cable,,, it may be frayed...
how to fix
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1584260
where to get the part
http://cellphone-repair-shop.com/motorola-droid-4-lcd-screen/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, let me try that. Couldn't find the right alcohol pct. so I'd have to use some generic screen cleaning liquid, would that be okay as well?
My screen was having issues too. So I turned the dot thing on from the dev part as well. The dot seems to freeze as I'm opening my keyboard. And the dot stays frozen in place until I close the scree again. Any ideas on how to fix it? Also if the screen is open and I touch a spot nothing happens, but then when I close the screen it will sense correctly where I touched while it was open.
Sounds like the same problem, so I'm getting the feeling it might be due to the connectors rather than the screen digitizer itself. After cleaning it, I didn't have any issues for a while, but they started occurring again now.
The replacement part is not available right now, a bit expensive, and excludes the price for the required tools which I don't have yet. Warranty may be tricky as I didn't get my phone from Verizon directly. So if it turns out to be a connector issue I will say goodbye to the Droid family and just get another non-QWERTY phone.. at least until Motorola starts selling them (as 'Milestone' since 'Droid' is a Verizon brand) in Europe again. The Droid 4 is the best phone I ever had, this is potentially making it unusable for me though. Glad I didn't order a Lapdock yet!
Motorola will repair your phone for 168... out of warranty and all... I found this cheaper and easier then fixing it myself and guaranteed done right in 5-7 days..
Sent from my DROID4 using xda app-developers app
Mine is still within the one year warranty. So I want to send it in. But I'm afraid they will check for the root stuff and they will consider voiding my warranty because I was rooted. I unrooted and did a factory reset to see if it would fix the issue. So this is my only chance left. I heard clearing the data wouldn't remove the qe process they use to know that I'm rooted. So I'm not sure if its worth the chance.
Flash SBF restores everything to my knowledge. No way to see what happened before the SBF flash.
I read in the original post for the DROID 4 ICS root tool that a sbf will not remove the part that says you were rooted at one point. I checked that first. An sbf flash is really easy. I was really hoping that it would work.
they dont take the time to check that stuff... if you sbf they wont know a thing...
bty found what u need on the cheap
Motorola DROID 4 XT894 Flex Cable Ribbon 27$
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorola-DROID-4-XT894-Flex-Cable-Ribbon-/150849219594
If they don't check it then why should I even bother? Does an sbf change something a factory reset doesn't? I've already reset it. I'll look into the fix though. It will depend on if I have the tools to do it or not.
SBF/fastboot will revert rom changes.
About that ribbon cable how would that work as the lcd is fused to the cable?
The Old One said:
SBF/fastboot will revert rom changes.
About that ribbon cable how would that work as the lcd is fused to the cable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cant be... it is glued in place and has connectors... how else could he sell you the cable by itself... http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola-Droid-4-Teardown/7759/1
Just to weigh in on the whole root checking thing, SBFing or fastbooting back to stock DOES NOT remove evidence of root. qe still picks it up somehow in stock recovery.
That being said, they cannot void your hardware warranty for software modifications, it's the law (in the U.S.)
Of course, if you somehow softbrick your phone, they have no obligation to help you.
Edit: Just to clarify, I tried this myself just this morning. Full SBF back to stock + a factory reset, and qe shows 0/1, which indicates currently unrooted but previously rooted. No idea how their security works, but it does.
podspi said:
Just to weigh in on the whole root checking thing, SBFing or fastbooting back to stock DOES NOT remove evidence of root. qe still picks it up somehow in stock recovery.
That being said, they cannot void your hardware warranty for software modifications, it's the law (in the U.S.)
Of course, if you somehow softbrick your phone, they have no obligation to help you.
Edit: Just to clarify, I tried this myself just this morning. Full SBF back to stock + a factory reset, and qe shows 0/1, which indicates currently unrooted but previously rooted. No idea how their security works, but it does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your right but most ppl dont inspect the phone that hardcore... it takes time, and time is money
Yes
Sent from my DROID4 using xda premium
myfishbear said:
your right but most ppl dont inspect the phone that hardcore... it takes time, and time is money
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree it's probably not anything most people need to worry about... I still plan on sending my D4 in before the warranty is up, I've been having terrible wifi + 4G drops, even on stock (that's why I fastbooted in the first place)
I am a bit nervous though, because I've heard horror stories about Moto replacements. That being said, if Ops phone is under warranty, I'd send it in rather than trying to repair it. If it isn't under warranty, then I'd go for the flex cable, the Moto phones are built well and reasonably easy to work on.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
I probably have some kind of warranty with the seller, not with Moto directly as I have no way of obtaining a QWERTY phone from them (they don't sell those in Europe for some reason). But I really can't miss my phone for an extended period of time, so I'd either need to switch to an old one while I'm waiting, or get a new one.
Since I don't have the tools available to open the phone properly and I don't want to spend any more money on this thing, I'll probably sit it out until it breaks. For now, switching the screen on and off one or two times seems to 'solve' it.
Sjaakbanaan said:
I probably have some kind of warranty with the seller, not with Moto directly as I have no way of obtaining a QWERTY phone from them (they don't sell those in Europe for some reason). But I really can't miss my phone for an extended period of time, so I'd either need to switch to an old one while I'm waiting, or get a new one.
Since I don't have the tools available to open the phone properly and I don't want to spend any more money on this thing, I'll probably sit it out until it breaks. For now, switching the screen on and off one or two times seems to 'solve' it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all u need is a $0.60 guitar pic and a t5 screwdriver(can find at home improvement store). none of those silly tools they try to sell you help that much
myfishbear said:
all u need is a $0.60 guitar pic and a t5 screwdriver(can find at home improvement store). none of those silly tools they try to sell you help that much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still have tons of guitar picks so I just ordered a Torx set for this and future problems.. hope that pushing the connector around a bit can solve it already.

Categories

Resources