Database Users

8525 Touchscreen Has Gone Crazy

Ok so my Cingular 8525 is basically unusable due to the touchscreen thinking it's getting taps in the upper right corner (upper left in landscape mode). This has the nice effect of closing programs down to the today screen in portrait mode or constantly popping up the start menu in landscape mode (about three times a second). Any ideas?
I tried soft resetting and also removing the battery for several minutes. Haven't tried a hard reset as I don't want to go through that except for a last resort. Tried wiping the screen with a soft cloth. There are no weird programs on the device except what everyone here uses.
I still have 5 days before the end of my 30 days return period with Cingular. If I bring it back will they just give me another one?

aroundlsu said:
Ok so my Cingular 8525 is basically unusable due to the touchscreen thinking it's getting taps in the upper right corner (upper left in landscape mode). This has the nice effect of closing programs down to the today screen in portrait mode or constantly popping up the start menu in landscape mode (about three times a second). Any ideas?
I tried soft resetting and also removing the battery for several minutes. Haven't tried a hard reset as I don't want to go through that except for a last resort. Tried wiping the screen with a soft cloth. There are no weird programs on the device except what everyone here uses.
I still have 5 days before the end of my 30 days return period with Cingular. If I bring it back will they just give me another one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on your touchscreen problem.. i have seen this occur by someone improperly putting on a screen protector or maybe there is some dirt up there.. and if you take it back to the store they may give you a new one or make you call the warranty by mail line and get a replacement that way

..... or your OK button could be stuck down

I took a bottle of lens cleaner from my camera bag and thoroughly cleaned the screen. I ran my fingernails under the edge of the screen and really made sure no dirt was under there. Lo and behold, it seems to be working fine now. I browsed some RSS headlines for about 10 minutes with no problems.
Weird though, I have used an Ipaq 4705 WM5 pocket pc for two years now and really ran it through the ringer. It looks like it's been to war and back (which it has in a since) and never experienced errant screen taps. Oh well, still enjoying the 8525 (last phone was 2125).
Thanks so much!

kevino said:
..... or your OK button could be stuck down
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good point, i had that problem once also, forgot all about it

aroundlsu said:
I took a bottle of lens cleaner from my camera bag and thoroughly cleaned the screen. I ran my fingernails under the edge of the screen and really made sure no dirt was under there. Lo and behold, it seems to be working fine now. I browsed some RSS headlines for about 10 minutes with no problems.
Weird though, I have used an Ipaq 4705 WM5 pocket pc for two years now and really ran it through the ringer. It looks like it's been to war and back (which it has in a since) and never experienced errant screen taps. Oh well, still enjoying the 8525 (last phone was 2125).
Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a note of caution!!! This is related to the screen alignment issue i.e. the touch sensitive area of the screen continuing beneath the bezel and causing unwanted touches whether through dust or the sticky gasket in there.
May not return, or will be cured again by the "business card" fix / or as you did a firm clean to release the screen from touching the bezel.
But, it's a question for you, if you only have 5 days left under warranty. Most people with the SA problem find the first signs appear in the first couple of weeks. I would certainly put it through it's paces, open up a few applications leave wifi on so it heats up, surf web over wifi etc etc as the added bit of heat generated internally was a known factor in exacerbating the problem. If all stays well over next couple of days maybe it'll be OK.
Would be good to get urgent feedback from anyone with a newer Hermes who's had this issue and what happened.
Mike

Argh, it's back. OK, I'm certain it's a touchscreen problem and not a button sticking as holding down OK will not cause the start menu to pop up while an application is up and holding the windows key will not close an app. Also the problem is delayed if I hold the stylus down on the screen. It's just the upper right (portrait mode) of the screen that is getting the errant screen tap (about three or four times a second).
I've ran a business card through the edges and it doesn't help. I'm not going to take this thing apart. I did that several times with the 2125 to fix unresponsive keys and joystick but the problems always reappear. My one year old 2125 is barely functional now. My g/f would rather keep her crap LG flip phone then inhieret the 2125 after watching me battle it. That's pretty sad.
I'm going to try a hard reset (second one in three weeks) and if that doesn't help I'm returning it to Cingular and getting my money back. Then I'll either buy another one or a blackjack. I like the 3g and love this device. It's my third Windows Mobile 5.0 product. I don't like the sub-par build quality on my second HTC product now. I paid $599 plus tax for this phone at a local Cingular store (despite the web store saying $550).

My advice for what it's worth is take it back. This screen business has a habit of coming and going and it's entirely possible you hard reset and everything is fine and two weeks later it's back. Also would be better to return with the issue present (not that they wouldn't believe you -would they?)
On the whole though this problem is much more rare than it was, so if you do get the same device again hopefully you will be luckier. If you get directly from shop though check the firmness of the key board clicking into place that seems to still be fairly common problem.
Not the best start to the new year!!
Mike

Well I got desperate and hard reset... I could barely get past the screen alignment startup so needless to say that didn't fix things. Having gone this far and thoroughly pissed at having to reinstall everything I decided to loosen those screws on the back and run a card around the edges.
So far, it's working! I'm not content settling on this hack though so I'm bringing it back Tuesday and will update on my experience at the retail store (not looking forward to that).
Happy new year and thanks for all the super fast responses guys!

Alignment
I was browsing the www the other day and saw a korean/ japanese site showing the inside of these precious devices, and (as pointed out above) how the seal/ gasket underneath the bezel is the root cause of our anguish.
There were some detailed pics of how you can DIY, and remove the gasket, but it's no where near me basic level of competency.
Why would they design a touch-screen to big for the device I wonder???

there is also the business card trick about sliding it underneath the edges to loosen the gasket... there is a whole thread on this screen alignment issue

what site shows how to fix the gasket?
There is a post about someone seeing a site showing how to fix the gasket proplem on the touch screen. Could I please get the URL??

johniz1967 said:
There is a post about someone seeing a site showing how to fix the gasket proplem on the touch screen. Could I please get the URL??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look down this page. Keep in mind non of the theoretical solutions is guaranteed/
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Hermes_Problems
Mike

Just got back in from my local Cingular store and actually had a pleasant, hassle-free experience exchanging my 8525 for a brand new one. I explained to the CSR the issue and she immediately understood the problem (must not be the first guy walking in there about this).
Unfortunately, she didn't have any in stock but merrily called around and found six others in stock at nearby stores. So off I went to the next store and had the old 8525 exchanged for a new one in less then ten minutes. The CSR didn't even bother to look at the old phone or check the accessories I returned with it.
The new 8525 is syncing up as I write this and immediately I notice some things are different. First of all, written on the side of the box is 12/26. So we know this phone is probably brand new. The keyboard does indeed click in and out more firmly then my old one. The USB cable plugs in tighter (a good thing, I was always getting USB connection problems), and lo and behold Windows Vista installed HTC sync drivers then Media Player automatically recognized the device (never did any of that on the old one).
I'm using the Windows Mobile Device Center Beta on Vista RTM and it just finished syncing without any problems. Moral of this story is if your 8525 is experiencing any problems at all and you are within 30 days, return it for a hassle free refund.

Good news and you're absolutely right about getting it back within warranty if there's a fault.
Great stuff!
Mike

aroundlsu said:
Just got back in from my local Cingular store and actually had a pleasant, hassle-free experience exchanging my 8525 for a brand new one. I explained to the CSR the issue and she immediately understood the problem (must not be the first guy walking in there about this).
Unfortunately, she didn't have any in stock but merrily called around and found six others in stock at nearby stores. So off I went to the next store and had the old 8525 exchanged for a new one in less then ten minutes. The CSR didn't even bother to look at the old phone or check the accessories I returned with it.
The new 8525 is syncing up as I write this and immediately I notice some things are different. First of all, written on the side of the box is 12/26. So we know this phone is probably brand new. The keyboard does indeed click in and out more firmly then my old one. The USB cable plugs in tighter (a good thing, I was always getting USB connection problems), and lo and behold Windows Vista installed HTC sync drivers then Media Player automatically recognized the device (never did any of that on the old one).
I'm using the Windows Mobile Device Center Beta on Vista RTM and it just finished syncing without any problems. Moral of this story is if your 8525 is experiencing any problems at all and you are within 30 days, return it for a hassle free refund.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
since your appears to be new from 12/26.. i am curious what firmware is on that phone.. details please

Cingular 8525 touch screen no working
I am having a problem with the touch screen on my 8525. My phone was working fine then the then the screen stopped responding. I was able to navigate via keyboard but that was it. I did a soft reset and it did not help. I then did a hard reset and the screen went to the setup and wants to align the screen which obviously I cannot do.
The changes I have made the same day prior to it not working are as follows:
-Unlocked with Hermes SIM Unlock
-Installed latest Cingular ROM
-Installed fit4cat Hermes Tweaker v1.1a
The phone worked fine for about 12 hrs before the touch screen stopped working.
Any suggestions?

Hey there, I have had the problem before (about 3.5 weeks ago). I had to send it in for service (since I am not a Cingular customer anymore but use the 8525 with T-mobile).Good luck.
wedgesurfer said:
I am having a problem with the touch screen on my 8525. My phone was working fine then the then the screen stopped responding. I was able to navigate via keyboard but that was it. I did a soft reset and it did not help. I then did a hard reset and the screen went to the setup and wants to align the screen which obviously I cannot do.
The changes I have made the same day prior to it not working are as follows:
-Unlocked with Hermes SIM Unlock
-Installed latest Cingular ROM
-Installed fit4cat Hermes Tweaker v1.1a
The phone worked fine for about 12 hrs before the touch screen stopped working.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Lower part of screen stopped responding

After 4 months of flawless work, the lower part of the screen (a strip several millimeters from the edge) suddenly stopped responding properly!
E.g., all buttons in this area (including launcher/phone/+ on home screen) either don't work at all, or sometimes activate after a while when strongly pressed with the thumb (orientation doesn't matter).
Just two hours before they responded fine to the index finger.
Also, I've noticed that when I "multi-touch" the lower line in a file browser with two fingers, it works nice! Buttons are too small for that, however
I first tried to restore backup, but it didn't help, of course.
Has anybody had the same problem?? I guess it's a warranty case ...

I would agree, it's probably a hardware problem that you'll have to bring your phone in for service to get fixed.

I'm having that same problem my self, but just now and then. What helped with me is that I press the upper left corner of the phone with my other hand and then the lower part works fine, so i think i should get a new digitizer or its just loose connector.

im having the same problem , i have put up with it for the past few weeks and its driving me nuts now. today i did a factory reset which made no difference , i called htc who didnt sound a bit suprised by my phone call it gets picked up tomorrow morning to go for repair so the question is ... is this a common fault? and how the hell am i gonna cope without my hero in my pocket ?

Yeah happened to mine last week, a few have had the same issue where it's just the launcher bit not responding. Although the good news is that I'm getting it back tomorrow though so it's good times!

I had the same problem with my touchscreen (after a month or so!)
Mine got picked up thursday by HTC and I just checked the tracking site and they just recieved it.
I wonder how long it's going to take

Visited their service center last week.
They've immediately replaced my screen with a new one without any ado. Now everything works as before!
BUT a friend of mine who bought his Hero in January is having similar problems now...

It is a common problem according to HTC.
Mine was repaired in just 10 days.

Same problem here, did htc said anything about this problem? is it a common fault?
thank you

I said it in the post above yours.

ah yes, right, thank you

mach2005 said:
It is a common problem according to HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they acknowledge it officially, couldn't you provide a link please?

i gave mine last week to repair, they returned to me unfixed. on the paper stated that they only updated the software, what a dumb this htc guys. need to go back and tell them again the same story. im wasting my time only for this. wtf

I recently had this problem. The 3 buttons at the bottom of the screen wouldn't respond, took it into T-Mobile who said I'd have it back within about 7 to 10 days... 3 weeks later I got a text saying I could collect my phone...
On the paper sheet it says they've replaced the lens.. Which I can see they have as before I had a miniscule hairline scratch near the top.
They also mention a software update (1.0.0.A6288)
Either way it works nicely now.

I've recently experienced the same issue - the lower part of the screen, the one where the LauncherPro icons usually are stopped responding to touch. If I press really hard it works sometimes, but it's pretty annoying. I didn't sit on the phone or drop it recently, it just stopped working all of a sudden.
Is there anything I can do, as the phone is out of warranty ?

HTC South Africa gave me a new hero after I took mine in for the 3rd time. Hardware problem. Very happy with their service.

i have this exact same problem, is the only solution to send to htc? >_> Cuz my warranty's out already unfortunately... i flashed my hero to CyanogenMod 7 and it seems to have helped, but still not completely responsive... I also have a problem where at times i completely lose control of my touch screen where the spots i touch seem to respond to opposite sides of the screen... anyone else?

Remove battery, Remove sim card. put a dryer on the htc logo for about 40 mins. put the phone under a heavy object. Let it dry for about 15 mins and your fixed.

^ wtf do u mean?... are u just being a gimp...

VillainRocks said:
Remove battery, Remove sim card. put a dryer on the htc logo for about 40 mins. put the phone under a heavy object. Let it dry for about 15 mins and your fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am having the same problem and i badly need to solve it please could u tell me that what do you exactly mean by put a dryer on the htc logo
thanks

hero touch screen unresponsive

hey guys, i have started experiencing weird issue with my hero since last week (bought it last december). the sense ui behaves weirdly and when moving across scenes its getting unpredictable with the touch response. if i go back to my home screen, it still feels am trying to oscillate between multiple screens.
on top of it, using smart dial has become a pain with its unpredictable behavior.
Though factory reset would help but now the touch is unresponsive that i couldnt sign in to my google account as keypad doesnt recognise my entry.
any one experiencing this issue? on top of not getting androind 2.1 this has been a real bad week.
any help is much appreciated.
cheers.

Go into the recovery menu and do whatever thar? I'm not sure this will help as capacitive screens seem quite failsafe, contact orange/insurance

serenity373 said:
hey guys, i have started experiencing weird issue with my hero since last week (bought it last december). the sense ui behaves weirdly and when moving across scenes its getting unpredictable with the touch response. if i go back to my home screen, it still feels am trying to oscillate between multiple screens.
on top of it, using smart dial has become a pain with its unpredictable behavior.
Though factory reset would help but now the touch is unresponsive that i couldnt sign in to my google account as keypad doesnt recognise my entry.
any one experiencing this issue? on top of not getting androind 2.1 this has been a real bad week.
any help is much appreciated.
cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I have the same problem, and factory reset doesn't help...
I'm gonna go to the Sprint store, and you should contact your carrier support. This problem is caused by device overheating, which damages the inner LCD screen. This screen makes the outer glass or reinforced plastic screen responsive.
It's free to fix with insurance, and $100 without. Of course, there is the chance that your carrier could be nice to you and replace it for free...

similar problems on my end too! gonna go to sprint soon

I have had this problem with my HTC hero on T-Mobile here in the UK earlier this year. Took the phone back to T-Mobile and they sent it off to HTC. After almost a month without my HTC I started to get annoyed. Eventually I got the phone back and was told that the main circuit board had been replaced.
The phone's been ok for about three months and now it's started again but appears that it's only the bottom part of the screen thats affected, where the three touch screen buttons are.
The phones going back again today but interestingly I worked out that it only seems to do it when the phone has been in my pocket and has got warm. The effect is that I can't press the touchscreen 'Phone' button or any of the buttons at either side of it but if i press any of the icons above them the phone button will be activated. (wierd!).
Now here's the thing, if I leave the phone on a flat surface in a cool air flow for a few minutes then everything goes back to normal. Which leads me to think that the problem is temperature related.
Regards

Quite strange, mine has started doing that too. Only when its warm though... Lol.

HTC has confermed to me that many Hero's have a bad touchscreen.
They will repair free under waranty.

Home key losing functionality

Picked up my Vibrant on launch day and it's been great through the weekend, now about an hour ago the home key seems to be flaking out on me. The other three keys are still as responsive as ever, but I have to hold my thumb perfectly still for about 5 seconds before it registers, if at all. Is anyone seeing issues like this on their Galaxy? Or on similar hardware?
Dosent seem to be anything physically interfering, and no there were not any drops, falls or accidental sittings. I'll swing into a tmo store tomorrow, but figured I check in with you folks until then.

Doesn't happen on mine, probably defective device sadly .

Mines working great also... Sorry to hear

Thanks for the responses, unfortunately it looks like I'm not alone...
http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Samsung-Vibrant/Home-button/td-p/419417

paxton said:
Thanks for the responses, unfortunately it looks like I'm not alone...
http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Samsung-Vibrant/Home-button/td-p/419417
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried restarting?

I did, a few times. Nothing.

I had the same problem. The home button would not respond to multiple touches, so I completely drained and charged the battery, now it works without any problems. I'm not sure if its fixed completely or just a temporary fix but so far so good.

Had the same exact problem! the next day after i got the phone i noticed that the home button would not work right, had to press it multiple times while the rest of the buttons seemed fine. I just went back to the store and replaced the phone. Everything seems to be working great now. I bet its a manufacturing screw up seeing how many people have the same issue. I would just replaced the phone and hope your next one doesnt eat sh*t

Any updates on this? I didn't have the problem until today, now my home key only works when not lit up. So if the keys are lit up and I want to use it I have to wait for the phone to go idle after a second and then hit it... I will call radio shack tomorrow and see if I can do an in-store return or since I ordered it online if I will have to mail it back, I will call the one far away so I can see if I just show up in store and fail to tell them I ordered it online if they will just do a swap for me there, and I can try that at tmobile as well... it's a 1 for 1 trade off so they aren't losing out (on much)...

I have the same issue. Sometimes it goes away but it always come back, even after factory reset. It seems like a shoddy manufacturing process. Just be glad you aren't a t-mobile employee as I have to ship it back before getting a replacement for the broken phone they sold me.

Sorry for reviving such an old post, but I stumbled on a solution of sorts to this issue of unresponsive capacitive buttons which I can reproduce 100% of the time.
This sounds silly, but I noticed the last week that whenever my home button decides to flake out on me switching live wallpapers brings it back to life. The button will then function perfectly for anywhere from a few hours to a few days, flake out again and then be brought back by a live wallpaper switch. No reseting, or changing of settings beyond the LW.
I just wanted to throw this out there, if only because many were guessing this seemingly common problem was a hardare issue and in my experience it's looking to be very much a software issue. Now I just have to figure out what's killing the button in the first place.

paxton, I tried your solution but it doesn't seem to do anything for me. I'm still at a loss.
I called Tmobile but tech service wants me to ship my phone back to them phone at my own cost. They forwarded me back to customer service when I refused. Anyone else having problems dealing with TMO? I'm worried that if I return the phone using buyer's remorse, I'll lose my Bing cash back.

i kinda had the same problem, just all buttons didnt seem so sensetive. So I removed my zag for reasons of it being sticky feeling during games like nova. Now my buttons respond so well. Thats how they should be...

i ONLY have this issue when i have a live wallpaper and also when the lights of the buttons are on, as soon as they time out i can press the home button and it will work

smashpunks said:
i kinda had the same problem, just all buttons didnt seem so sensetive. So I removed my zag for reasons of it being sticky feeling during games like nova. Now my buttons respond so well. Thats how they should be...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem... Removing the screen protector seemed to fix all issues. Oddly enough, it was only my home button that was having poor responsiveness.

[Q] Samsung Vibrant Home button?

The home button on my Samsung Vibrant seems to stop working at times.
Sometimes it works when the light turns on, at other times it only responds with the light off.
Then sometimes it works normally, and sometimes it doesn't respond at all.
Everything else seems to be working fine; no blue screen tint, GPS is ok, not phenomenal, but this is frustrating, when the home button does not operate as it should.
Is it worth it to go and return it for an exchange, as I am still within the 14 day window?
Or should I just keep it and go with what I have?

If you feel that the device is honestly defective, then yes, exchange it =P

jamesd86 said:
If you feel that the device is honestly defective, then yes, exchange it =P
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My worry is that I'll get a even more defective device, than what I have now.
Everything else seems to work fine though...
It's just that if the home button is acting like this now, I wonder how it'll be like 6 months from now.

Whats the point of the poll?
Anyway, do you have a screen protector on the phone covering the touch keys? I have heard some screen protectors reduce the sensitivity. If you are within your return period might as well exchange it to get a fully functional device.

10 letters...

speoples20 said:
Whats the point of the poll?
Anyway, do you have a screen protector on the phone covering the touch keys? I have heard some screen protectors reduce the sensitivity. If you are within your return period might as well exchange it to get a fully functional device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zagg made mine not very responsive. I took that crap off and they work like they should. Hell, the screen is scratch resistant ( not proof) so just be carefull and you can feel the real screen and looks better too....
Screw protector on capacitive buttons...

What terrible build quality, to make screen protectors lower sensitivity so much that people notice.
Anyway, I had my first otherwise-perfect-Vibrant replaced cause the settings key stopped working properly. I noticed on my third (!) Vibrant the touchkeys become a tad bit more unresponsive after applying my InvisibleShield but it is still usable.

I had the same problem with the second Vibrant I had. The problem would get progressively worse until it would not work at all. Hitting the power button and then waking the phone again seemed to "reset" the process, but the problem was still there. I returned it for a new phone with no problems. I would recommend the same for you.

I had a problem with home button, with and without screen protector. Replacement unit is working well. With Realook sp, it works well. Not as responsive as bareback, but definitely not noticeable enough to be an issue. Get a replacement unit asap.

yeah, i'm noticing i have the same problem and also it does seem to get better with a reset. or leave the phone a while and then pick it up 15 minutes later and it's fine... like something running in the background causing THAT button to be laggy, but the back button works fine always. no screen protector on mine. is Tmo giving out refurbs yet or will i get a NEW unit? Go into the store or do i have to call 611?

I think that the exchange is worth it, I did that in my 14 day period too. I exchanged because of the trim squeaking and I'm glad I did because it's nice to have stock phone over.

There is already a 9 page topic discussing this issue.

I had this issue on my first Vibrant, except it was the Menu capacitive button that starting getting unresponsive. It eventually got to the point that I had to physically tap on it with some force to get it to respond. Since I had the blue screen tint issue on that one as well I had it replaced. My second Vibrant has great capacitive buttons and perfect screen tint. It was a little flakey at first, but since I re-flashed the stock firmware it seems perfect now.

DKYang said:
There is already a 9 page topic discussing this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The capacitive buttons unresponsive issue? Yes, there is a thread on that but it might be difficult to find in a search because the title says menu button. Maybe the title can be changed for easier searching?
To the OP: I had this problem on Vibrant #3 and I exchanged it. It seems to be a hardware problem or at least a problem that won't get any better with time. I had the TMo rep check for this issue on the new phone before he completed the exchange. The first new one he brought out of the stock room had a similar problem right out of the box. It had the same ship date (7/10 I believe) as the one I was exchanging. The replacement phone hasn't really shown any problems.