So i've been experiencing this issue for months now. I've had the issue since i've gotten the phone but its the past few months that its really gotten bad. So before anyone jumps the gun, i've done quite a bit of research on this and cannot find anything worthwhile, more on that soon.
So as usual, i'll pickup my phone and press the power button or the home button to turn on the screen, but at completely random times the screen will not come on at all. Sometimes the capacitive buttons will light up (maybe 15-20% of the time), but not always.
In my searches I found the following solutions to this problem:
Get a new sim card
Dont use an SD card
Get a new battery
Check the leads on the battery and phone for cleanliness
Factory reset
Remove 1 app at a time and test until it stops happening
Dont freeze any apps
Restore stock firmware
Dont use SetCPU
Turn off animations
Get rid of the lock screen
Remove custom message from lock screen
Clear cache through Recovery
Dont restore data with Titanium Backup when restoring apps
Turn off WiFi and/or Bluetooth and/or GPS
Dont use GreenPower or Greenify
Avoid stock launcher
I have tried all of the above except for removing 1 app at a time (and those that dont apply). I'm deep into that one and only have a few apps left to try. This is something that happens at least once a day, but typically 3-5 times in a day. I used to think i could make it happen by pressing the power button to turn on the screen and immediately hit it again to turn it off. It would sometimes work but that doesnt trigger it anymore.
My phone used to be rooted, but being on AT&T there was no "normal" way to flash a good recovery like CWM or TWRP and install roms, you have to use some other thing which i dont use. So i've always had stock recovery, im fully updated to the newest stock rom that is out, update came OTA which was after i removed root and used odin to flash an older stock rom back. My wife's Note 3 also has the same issue and it has never been rooted, we have gone through all of the above and still it continues to happen.
Also on a side note, my phone was swapped out because of an issue it had 3 months after i purchased the phone. I was able to get a brand new one, not refurbished. The issue had occured once or twice before the swap and an incredibly frustrating amount of times since then.
Reading through most of the other threads, everyone seems to have to remove their battery and re-insert it to get back into their phone. The ones that dont have to do that have found that removing their SD Card, getting a new one, sending the phone in, or one of the other options have worked. However for me, nothing has worked.
Does anyone have any other ideas? Is this common on the Note 3 (I've had it since release)? 70% of the time i can hold the power button for a few seconds to try and bring up the power menu and it works, but not always.. I usually just have to wait up to a minute or two (never actually counted, i use my phone for that stuff...which.. isnt..working...)
I've had wake lock lag on a few android phones. Even iPhones.
I would highly recommend rooting it on att and flash a mod that reduces it on the note 3. I talked about it here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2628716
Rebooting the phone always helps.
wudien said:
I've had wake lock lag on a few android phones. Even iPhones.
I would highly recommend rooting it on att and flash a mod that reduces it on the note 3. I talked about it here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2628716
Rebooting the phone always helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I cannot root my phone. I have to have my company email on my phone, and for Android devices they use Air Watch. I tried for weeks to get it working while rooted, and even used Root Cloak or something like that (with Wanam Xposed) to hide root from specific apps. Air Watch was specifically tested to work with that app but it still for some reason didn't work (new version of Air Watch perhaps with no update to Root Cloak? Just my guess). I had to remove root, factory reset and re-flash stock from Odin (that was a dual purpose flash) to remove all traces of Root so I could use Air Watch for my company email/calendar/contacts/etc again, even after unrooting and using all the cleanup tools, triangle away, and everything, it still detected my phone as rooted...
However, I don't think that's really a viable solution to the problem, that's more of a band aid. Looking at that thread and looking around, it seems to work well but I still haven't found anyone with my same issue where they used it and it worked. I would like to narrow this down to what the issue is exactly, the root cause. I think its a problem with KitKat, or at least all of 4.4.x (not sure about 4.4.4 yet).
Related
Hi,
I have a rooted GT-i9000m (bell Galaxy S Vibrant). I used the one click lag fix to root my phone and it works fine.
A few days ago out of no where all the apps started auto closing as soon as i opened them and then both the menu and back touch buttons lit up and the screen went black. I held the power down till it rebooted only to get and error with com.android.calendar even tho I never use the app. When it finish's booting none of my installed apps are showing.
The first time it happened with com.android.app and I did a full wipe and factory reset and just reinstalled everything.
Ideally I don't want to system reset to factory settings again and lose all my files and notes that i copied back on to the phone 2days ago...
Please note I have tried clearing the data for the calendar app in settings -> apps and i cleared the calendar back up. My problem is that none of my installed apps are showing...
(Update) I also cant reinstall or update apps due to a Installation error - Insufficient storage. But there's room on both SD cards. I also set 850mb for apps when i did the one click lag fix and i don't have 850mb of apps installed.
(Update 2) I did a factory reset again this time i didn't format the internal and external SD cards. (It works like new again) Thus I got to keep all my personal files and ring tones ect. The only thing that was deleted that I didn't back up is my Notes. This leads me to my new question whats best for backing up apps on a rooted SGS (bell Vibrant)?
If anyone has answers they would be much appreciated.
i had the same problem
install rom manager from the market place
there is a option in there "Fix Permissions" just run that and it will fix it up for you
only takes 1-2min to run
Tried what you said but i cant install anything... I get Installation Error - Insufficient storage available.
I now understand the cause of the problem. I change my battery once and some times twice a day. At first I would wait for the long shut down (untill the screen goes totaly black) and then take off the back and swap out the battery. At least 3 times the phone would boot up and ask me for the network unlock code (I bought the unlock code directly from bell for 75$). I found this rather annoying so i tried just taking the battery out wile it was on (idle) and it appeared to work flawlessly at least 20-30 times before the phone would start to do an endless force close loop cycle. This kept forcing me to do a factory reset on the phone. I can only assume the one click lag fix and my disregard for the need of the shutdown before removing the battery must be all the cause of my problems.
I will try and see if my phone is more stable with out the one click lag fix.
nope that is not the cause of the problem
but it sounds like you are another victim of the lag fixes that is killing your internal SD card.
not the fault of the lag fix, it just make the problem apear sooner than later
I have been having a similar issue and I'm using Voodoo lagfix. I think it's because I took the battery out before it had completely shut down.
read this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=793404
Well the phone bit the dust today. I opened up google maps to look up an address and it crashed with the usual error. So i rebooted the phone and now it stays stuck at the boot logo. (the glowing S with both touch keys staying lit) So i did the recovery thing again but this time I had to do the Vol-up + home + power in order to get the phone working some what. IDK but it wont let me log into my google account to sync my contacts. My APN settings are correct and working and I even tried off my Wifi at home. I'll just hope its a google problem and not my phone acting up. Thanks for the pointer to the bad internal SD. That may be the problem kinda hard to prove it to Samy thoe...
I get force close errors after about 4-7 days of use. Now its gotten worse. A few days ago I was looking up an address and my phone crashed and rebooted it self. It then hug at the S boot logo for 20mins. I got to my friends apartment building to find my phone still stuck at this boot logo. I couldn't remember his apartment number or buzzer code... Normally i just check my contacts list and buzz the code. I was standing out side in the Canadian fall cold wind trying to get this phone to work... OMG i almost just smashed it on the spot. Anyways I remembered about something i had read on this forum about the recovery mode ( i had used it to root ) so i tried that out got the little menu and tried every option before having to do the dreaded factory reset. Well nothing work with the exception of the factory reset it got my phone working in about 5mins... LOL
Anyways I thought I might try upgrading the firmware when I got home. What a mistake... I cant control my phones MP3 player via my bluetooth car stereo any longer. Tried everything even a factory reset and formatting the internal and external SD's. I tried running it with out rooting it again and with out the lag fix in hopes that I wouldn't get a force close error. Wouldn't you know it about 5 hours after the factory reset un-rooted just after i finish coping over all my music. I get a force close error! So I tried again and this time the phone ran for about 30hours before it started giving me force close errors about the email now...
Sigh I've tried just about everything in my power to make this phone work. So I assumed it must be the phone... I called Samsung up to get a RMA going... Wouldn't you know it they tell me that I have to call my carrier to get it RMA/repaired. I try to explain that I bought the phone with out a contract and bought the unlock code from Bell so I could use it on Fido. They tell me to call Fido... ROFL Fido wouldn't even give me their APN settings when i got this phone so knew they would be of no help. They don't even have one android phone in their line up i tell the sammy rep. So they tell me I should go back to the Bell store I bought it from to get it repaired/RMA'ed.
I doubt Bell will be of much help but here's hoping.
Do you think my phone is broken, bad flash, buggy memory, ect and needs to be RMA'ed?
Update...
I got my phone back from repairs 2 weeks ago. They flat out replaced the phone for a new one. This was a huge headache for me because the new one wasn't unlocked. Took Bell 2 hours to get the new one unlocked wile my wife waited out side double parked downtown! (I thought it would be a quick pick up and I would be out) The blue-tooth works flawlessly again!!
Much to my dismay the replacement phone has started acting up much like my first one did. It gets several force close errors a day and has gotten to the point where it no longer can send or receive text messages (using Handcent). The stock Music Player app also force closes at random with more frequently. It looks like I got another Lemon. This time around I did NOT root, lag-fix, or flash firmware. I will be sending it for repairs as soon as I can afford to buy another phone to use wile this one is off at repairs. My back up phone is a 3~ year old Iphone3g that my son has made his... (cracked screen, vol rockers dont work, power button is jammed in, the LCD screen it self is bleeding on the top edge)
The Vibrant never let me down other than as a phone. As a divx player or using all-share it rocks! I use these features A LOT to play my 720p divx movies on any TV or the projector in the bedroom .
with that being said I might keep the phone just as a portable movie player to bring from place to place and put my sim in something more stable.
I am hoping someone has dealt with either of the following problems, and come up with a way to effectively diagnose and fix either.
The phone - 1101 build; running AT&T Stock KK4; rooted via kernel swap method (using stock KK4 kernel after swap, i.e., do not have clockwork recovery); some AT&T bloatware frozen with TiBu, otherwise stock with root
Problem #1 - roughly once a day, the phone will freeze when in sleep mode; I have had this happen with both the slide to unlock and Exchange PIN lock screen up; when I hit power to wake the phone, the screen wakes up but is unresponsive and then the screen won't shot off again; live wallpaper is frozen in place, but if the phone was plugged in, the battery icon continues with the animation loop. And if the phone is not plugged in, battery power drops rapidly in this state.
The phone isn't completely dead, because if I connect/disconnect it via USB (set to debug mode) to my laptop, the computer recognizes the phone is connected, but it is dead enough that if I call the phone, it does not recognize the missed call. The only way I can restore the phone is a battery pull. Usually it takes several minutes for the phone to come back after this, acting like it would if I had flushed the dalvik cache or installed an update.zip from recovery.
Problem #2 -also roughly once a day, at random times the screen will wake up momentarily, then clear, and I will hear the AT&T boot up sound, after a short while, the phone will run through the media scanner and any other startup launches, acting as though it had been turned on, but the battery stats show continuous uptime throughout. I have had this happen when using the phone, including when on a phone call (and the call did not drop).
I have seen problem #2 on virtually all of the AT&T GB leaks, and it seems to get more frequent the more apps that are installed. I had not seen problem #1 until recently.
The phone is out of warranty, and owned by my employer. I am not due for a new phone from them until July. I've done more master clear/reflash stock cycles than I care to admit, tried replacing/testing for disk errors the external SD card, etc..., and am afraid of doing that and having the problems come up again.
Any thoughts on how to diagnose either of these problems?
Hmm... I don't really think there is an exact diagnosis for any of these issues. Some phones are just problematic like that. The only thing I can suggest is trying a different ROM or kernel, and that might help your stability.
I have the exact same problems. Hope someone comes up with a fix. The only help I can give you is that when the phone freezes, instead of pulling the battery, you can hold the vol up & power buttons for 10 seconds and the phone will restart. Easier than pulling your phone apart, especially if you have it in a case, like I do.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk
korockinout13 said:
Hmm... I don't really think there is an exact diagnosis for any of these issues. Some phones are just problematic like that. The only thing I can suggest is trying a different ROM or kernel, and that might help your stability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, the way I see it, unfortunately these problems could be a function of:
Bad hardware
Misbehaving app
ROM issue
Kernel issue
I tried pretty much every leaked AT&T GB ROM and had random reboots with all of them. Seems to track with the number of apps installed, but can't prove that. I have not tried any custom ROMs or kernels.
Since this is technically not my phone, I am trying to avoid doing anything that can't really be undone if I need to turn the phone back in at some point. And I need something that can be a daily driver for work calls and Exchange email, and rely heavily on tethering when I am on the road.
Anyone with ideas on what to test, or how to capture enough log information to figure out where the problem is, would be a big help. Otherwise, I am stuck riding this out until July when I can get a new phone from my employer.
Nothing you do can't be undone, it's just a simple Odin flash away.
Be sure to back up your efs folder before flashing too much
studacris said:
Nothing you do can't be undone, it's just a simple Odin flash away.
Be sure to back up your efs folder before flashing too much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used Odin with the various GB leaks; if I go further afield (heck, performance is dicey already, how many more problems could I have with one of the ICS alphas), is it still a straight shot back to stock KK4, or are there other steps to do first?
And before I go down that road, any suggestions on diagnostics (other than yet again pulling apps off of the Captivate to see if one of them is the culprit...?)
stoobie-doo said:
I've used Odin with the various GB leaks; if I go further afield (heck, performance is dicey already, how many more problems could I have with one of the ICS alphas), is it still a straight shot back to stock KK4, or are there other steps to do first?
And before I go down that road, any suggestions on diagnostics (other than yet again pulling apps off of the Captivate to see if one of them is the culprit...?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You actually might have less problems on ICS. But it all depends. You can always get back to stock with one, bootloader-free, safe flash. Diagnostics wise, there isn't really much you can do besides removing apps. I would only worry about the ones that are constantly running in the background, as they could possibly be screwing with the phone while in sleep. I think it's unlikely that this sort of testing would actually help though. I still say try something different.
stoobie-doo said:
Anyone with ideas on what to test, or how to capture enough log information to figure out where the problem is, would be a big help. Otherwise, I am stuck riding this out until July when I can get a new phone from my employer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having the same issues except in my case I have tried to recreate the conditions and check memory and I am close to maxing it out. Part of my problem is that I come from a Palm background and I have found that Android, or at least the Cappy, is not as responsive (I was really spoiled by Cards on my Pre) I was thinking that my Android noobness is causing me to push the phone too hard and locking it up. FWIW, you might want to check memory issues
Very screwy behavior on my Captivate. Hoping someone out there can help me diagnose this..
Captivate is running stock KK4; rooted via kernel swap method; some AT&T bloatware frozen in TiBu - no other image changes
The Captivate is struck on the swipe to unlock screen. I sync this phone to my company's Exchange server and have a PIN-lock policy enforced. I believe that it goes to the PIN at 15 minutes. The clock and swipe screen are showing a time less than 15 minutes after the last time I had used the phone; the screen was dark until I pressed power once, but now I can not make the screen go back to sleep. Plugging the phone into the computer does show the phone connected, and the Live Wallpaper is still running (i.e., it is not frozen in place, which I also see some times).
EDIT: After rebooting (vol-up and power does respond); it looks like something may have been up the same time as I was frozen with my phone signal - yellow instead of green; don't know if that was a coincidence or not
Any one have any ideas as to what may be going on here, and how I would remedy this?
Probably asking the obvious, but can you get into recovery or D/L mode to possibly reflash the rom?
jeeper11 said:
Probably asking the obvious, but can you get into recovery or D/L mode to possibly reflash the rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can, and I can reboot, and have the phone work again for the next 24-36 hours before it freezes again.
I am hoping that someone has an idea of the root cause of this issue, bad flash or otherwise, to try to solve this once and for all. To be honest, I have had horrible experiences with GB on the Captivate, but since this is my work phone, paid for, and technically owned by my employer, I have been hesitant to stray too far from stock (heck, if AT&T's tethering manager could figure out that a corporate phone plan with tethering should be allowed to tether, I would have stayed fully stock).
I'm betting that it's bad behaved software, rather than a bad flash due to the unpredictable nature of this problem, but I am not sure of a way to capture logs in a consistent basis that would allow me to trap what actually goes wrong to solve this. GB seems to get progressively less stable the more apps are installed, but I don't know if that is the root cause, or just the increasing likelihood of installing something with an insidious bug. But short of stripping everything off and losing the advantage of having a phone with apps, I don't know how to solve this and the soft reboot issue that also came with the first GB leaks and never went away.
Sigh.
There could be just one rogue app causing it
Its a Hong Kong bought LG P990 with GB, bought two years old. Rooted but 100% stock, just deleted pre-installed apps. At first it happened only once in a while, now maybe 1-3 times a day. It won't turn on. I don't know if its actually off or if the power button doesn't work. So I have to pull the battery and restart.
Its seems that about a year ago one day the power button require quite a bit of pressing to get it to turn on. Like I have to push really hard just to get it to turn on. Its been that way ever since. I always would have to do a restart every week or so because the thing would get REALLY buggy or REALLY slow. Then it started to not turn at all, the power button. It would do that about once a month, then once a week, then three times a day yesterday. This happen exponentially.
Its always been buggy and slow. I only have about 10 apps on it. Barely using any space.
Is it dying? How to tell if your smartphone is dying? How often do people replace their smartphones?
hi! you should try to:
a) flash the rom again and try to do it as clean as you can(try a hard reset then flash)
b)either use a rom that is already modded without the apps that you care to get rid off or watch if the problem is caused by the removal of unwanted app
c)have a little patience and test
hope it helps!
vader20 said:
hi! you should try to:
a) flash the rom again and try to do it as clean as you can(try a hard reset then flash)
b)either use a rom that is already modded without the apps that you care to get rid off or watch if the problem is caused by the removal of unwanted app
c)have a little patience and test
hope it helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your help. But I did the root and deletion of stock apps a long time ago. Why is this problem starting to get worst now? Or are you referring to the general slowness?
I never flashed a rom before so I don't really want to start. Unless its the clear answer to solve my problems. Is that what your suggesting? I have thought abut it, but I wonder how much worst I can make it. Plus, I am just scared I'll screw it up.
My v20s stock rooted rom was performing pretty well by my standards but after changing basebands and removing some unwanted apps i had some trouble with playstore(after using 3g internet, when switching to wi-fi it would not download or update apps) and the phone sometimes just shut off removing the battery being the only way to solve both problems.
Since i flashed the new v30a everything is peachy except the phone and that damn chrome app are a bit laggy sometimes(mostly chrome).
My advice to you is to ,one by one, try to eliminate each possible cause.Also flashing a new stock rom is not hard(and i guess neither a custom one tho i have no experience with that) so have no fear and please do read the tutorials for each rom. Good luck!
I can't figure out what's causing it. I don't have very many apps installed that didn't come with the phone, and any I did install were from the Play Store. I haven't done any modifications such as root to the device.
In order to bring it back to life, I have to either hold the power button down for 30 seconds to shut it down (or take out the battery) and power it back on.
Interestingly, if I have notifications waiting and the LED is flashing, that continues to flash even if the phone won't wake up.
I did 'disable' several of the bloatware apps in the app management area in Settings. I'm starting to think that must be what's causing it. Is there a particular bloatware app that should never be disabled? One that would cause this issue?
Other apps I've installed are things like Netflix, eBay, the app for my bank, and a TV-listings app. Pretty basic stuff. I don't think any of those would be the problem, would they?
Remaining battery doesn't appear to have an effect. It's happened with full battery and somewhat low battery.
'Services' that I use are Exchange push email and Gmail. I also have it Bluetooth synched to my car's hands-free thing.
Any help would be appreciated. Taking my phone out of my pocket to use it just to find that it's not responsive is very troublesome.
Thanks.
EDIT: For clarification, this is an AT&T version of the S4A.
EvilTelephone said:
I can't figure out what's causing it. I don't have very many apps installed that didn't come with the phone, and any I did install were from the Play Store. I haven't done any modifications such as root to the device.
In order to bring it back to life, I have to either hold the power button down for 30 seconds to shut it down (or take out the battery) and power it back on.
Interestingly, if I have notifications waiting and the LED is flashing, that continues to flash even if the phone won't wake up.
I did 'disable' several of the bloatware apps in the app management area in Settings. I'm starting to think that must be what's causing it. Is there a particular bloatware app that should never be disabled? One that would cause this issue?
Other apps I've installed are things like Netflix, eBay, the app for my bank, and a TV-listings app. Pretty basic stuff. I don't think any of those would be the problem, would they?
Remaining battery doesn't appear to have an effect. It's happened with full battery and somewhat low battery.
'Services' that I use are Exchange push email and Gmail. I also have it Bluetooth synched to my car's hands-free thing.
Any help would be appreciated. Taking my phone out of my pocket to use it just to find that it's not responsive is very troublesome.
Thanks.
EDIT: For clarification, this is an AT&T version of the S4A.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe u can enable back all the apps that u have disabled and see if it happens anymore.
u mentioned "the phone won't wake up" and "not responsive". do u mean that the screen stayed off and u are unable to get the screen to be on?
cfchong said:
u mentioned "the phone won't wake up" and "not responsive". do u mean that the screen stayed off and u are unable to get the screen to be on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right. None of the buttons wake the phone up or turn on the screen. I can tell the phone is still 'on' though. It's not like it got powered off in my pocket.
The advice you've got is sound - if you think it might be because of disabled apps, re-enable them all and see if it keeps happening. If it doesn't... well then you disable them one at a time until it starts happening again.
Then you come back to the forum again and let everyone know which app never to disable.
If it doesn't stop happening after re-enabling all the apps... well then my guess would be a faulty device. Can't think of any other logical reason for it to behave like that. So try the apps first, if that doesn't help, "return to sender".
EvilTelephone said:
That's right. None of the buttons wake the phone up or turn on the screen. I can tell the phone is still 'on' though. It's not like it got powered off in my pocket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if enabling back all system apps do not resolve the problem, try disabling all user apps to test. one of your downloaded app may be the cause.
Alright, over the past month I've done a bunch of testing. Here are my results.
1. Re-enabling all the system apps didn't help.
2. I uninstalled all my user apps. Didn't help.
3. I completely reset the phone to stock settings and formatted all storage. That didn't help.
4. I figured maybe it was something with bluetooth since it seemed to happen after I used bluetooth devices. I disabled bluetooth completely. It didn't help.
I'm out of ideas for the moment. Could the phone just be bad? I would wonder why the issue only happens occasionally.
Thanks.
Start a chat with Samsung. They have always been good to me.
GT-i9295(i537) running SafeStrap
I have the same problem, is there any solution, thanks
ogbeate said:
I have the same problem, is there any solution, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Solved, rom change and ready, do not turn off more
I have the same problem in i9500. I now live in China and have purchased an s2, s3 and now the s4 from China Unicom. I have successfully rooted and flashed new ROMS (latest HK stock firmware) on the S2 and S3. When I bought the s4, it worked fine. I immediately flashed the latest stock HK ROM using Odin 3.07, After flashing, the phone is unresponsive after going into deep sleep meaning that nothing happens when I press the power button. After a long press of the power button, the phone will re-boot. Sometimes I have to pull the battery. Again, this phone is totally stock. I haven't added any applications. I re-flashed the stock China Unicom formware and I took the phone to the Samsung Service facility and they did a new flash. Phone worked great. I take it home, flash the HK ROM with Odin...same results; phone is unresponsive after going into deep sleep. I return to the Samsung service store and they again flash the phone. Phone works fine. What are they doing that I'm not doing? Could the partition table get corrupted during my flash processes. Should I try another version of Odin? Should I try a PIT file and try that? I'm downloading the ROM's from SamMobile. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Edit: I fixed this problem by upgrading to 4.3 which brought it's own set of problems.