Basically, the phone screen is unresponsive when your not holding it or any time it's not grounded. If I put it in the car holder and then touch the screen, its very sporadic. I have compared it with the droid eris and the Moto Droid under the same conditions at the same time, and it performs flawlessly. I have tried the incredible with the screen protector and without. If I take it out of the dock and hold the phone in my hand, it works great again. It's not just the car dock either. If I set it on certain surfaces and just touch it with one finger it does the same thing.
The car dock itself has nothing to do with it. I've narrowed it down to a grounding issue. I've also tested 3 Incredibles and ALL of them do it. I am going to post another video showing it on top of a piece of styrofoam which also creates the problem. It's definitely more widespread then just a few phones. Basically, If the phone has very little ground it is unresponsive. If you ground it, either by holding it or placing it on a surface that is grounded then it solves the problem. If you plug anything into it that is grounded it solves the problem.
Here is a new video on different surfaces. It's not a car dock issue. If it is some static issue as some are saying, it works great on a eris, or a moto droid so it's not capacitive screen in general.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL6sLW7Ll0E
The Car Dock one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsKc1_wG0zg
My goal for this thread, (now that I see it is happening to a lot of phones) is too get enough info out there so that other people can effectively recreate this problem on their phones. With enough people, I am hoping HTC or Verizon can offer a fix not just a work around.
UPDATE 5-17-10
I received 2 replacement Incredibles from Verizon. Both phones respond in the same way as the original. I called verizon, and they said "they are compiling a list of problems to send to HTC and they will add this one to the list". Hopefully the rep that I spoke with wasn't just trying to shut me up. I don't know... Anyway, Here is the last video I am going to do on the topic. In this I wanted to clearly show the following:
- It is not a "Capacitive" screen issue in general (MOTO Droid, and Eris are fine)
- It is a MASS DEFECT of this phone. (I am not saying ALL phones)
I am going to forward this message and the video to HTC. I will post the response. Here is the link to the new video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQRgT3gtmsI
not the same as yours but i have a similar issue. i ordered a few usb wall plugs from monoprice. whenever i use one of the usb wall plugs to charge, the touch screen is unresponsive. The volume rocker and power buttons, but the screen and bottom row of buttons dont work. Using the factory usb wall plugs everything works fine.
igl007 said:
I have searched for someone having this problem and haven't found anything yet. So I apologize if I missed it somewhere. It's one of those problems that is difficult to recreate ALL the time so that's not making it any easier.
Basically, the phone screen is unresponsive when your not holding it. If I put it in the car holder and then touch the screen, its very sporadic. I have compared it with the droid eris under the same conditions at the same time, and it performs flawlessly. I have tried the incredible with the screen protector and without. If I take it out of the dock and hold the phone in my hand, it works great again. It's not just the car dock either. If I set it on the table and just touch it with one finger it does the same thing, However when it's on the table it's much less consistent to create the problem. Has anyone heard of this? My wife has the incredible also, and it's doing the same thing in her car. Did we just get a bad batch of phones? Is this screen just crappy under those conditions? It would make this a totally useless phone if i can't use it in the car.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never had a capacitive touchscreen phone, so I don't know for sure; but maybe it has something to do with the relative capacitance. When you have one hand on the back and then touch the screen, maybe it senses a greater variance in the capacitance. If it's on the table or in your car cradle, maybe the variance in capacitance isn't great enough to register a touch. I'm not familiar with Android either, but maybe you can adjust the sensitivity? Just like those touch lamps, capacitive sensors are triggered by a relative change in capacitance and if it's not greater than the preset threshold, it doesn't register that you touched it.
Just an idea... again, I'm not really sure. I'm only lurking around in these forums because I have an Incredible on order. I'm just throwing some odd ideas out there. Good luck!
It is the type of charger/how you are using it! I had this issue. I could plug in via the provided charger and it would work. But I went on a trip and hadn't purchased a car charger yet so I grabbed my laptop ac/dc converter and plugged in the provided charger through it and my phone became unresponsive. If I plug it in the wall presto it works. The new car charger works as well!
I am sure it has something to do with the voltage being released through the charger.
Here are a couple of video's I did on the topic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsKc1_wG0zg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXB1MjYM5Ks
Me too
I'm also having the same issue and I am using the Verizon OEM Holster Mount Combo (Perfect fit for Incredible, no power).
I'll post over at PPCGeeks, and AndroidForums to see if we can find a fix.
jakewill
You have to use original charger ... it has voltage regulator and earth pin on the other end ... static should not travel on the screen otherwise it will do the same ..
Workarounds
I did find out that it is pretty easy to do the following:
1. Plug in either the charger or headphone jack. Either of those seems to ground it out enough... I also tried just clipping the headphone jack (metal part) into the clip part of the belt clip, and that worked, so there just needs to be SOMETHING else attached to the phone or mount that gives it more of a ground.
2. Just hold the sides (or just one side) with your thumb and ring finger while navigating with your index finger. That seems to do the trick.
Hope it helps.
jakewill
I'm not seeing this issue, but this can't be the real dock for the incr... which one are you using?
Capacitive screens become less responsive in the cold.... if it's in front of an A/C vent with it blaring, that could be the root cause.
syntrix said:
I'm not seeing this issue, but this can't be the real dock for the incr... which one are you using?
Capacitive screens become less responsive in the cold.... if it's in front of an A/C vent with it blaring, that could be the root cause.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The car dock has nothing to do with it actually. I've narrowed it down to a grounding issue. I've also tested 3 Incredibles and ALL of them do it. I am going to post another video showing it on top of a piece of styrofoam which also creates the problem. It's definitely more widespread then just a few phones. Basically, If the phone has very little ground it is unresponsive. If you ground it, either by holding it or placing it on a surface that is grounded then it solves the problem. If you plug anything into it that is grounded it solves the problem.
Updated the 1st post with a new video.
Same issues plus some new ones
I seem to have the same issues that were reported in the youtube videos because I have a similar car dock. I am also having the same issues as hoop762 as I also purchased the wall charger from monoprice. When I have it plugged in the touch screen does not work, the OEM charger works perfect. I also purchased the car charger from monoprice but that does not cause the same issues.
I have had another similar issue when I have it plugged into my car stereo via the audio jack and a male to male 3.5 cable. When it is plugged in and I try to listen to music withe the stock audio player it starts fast forwarding and skipping songs. If I pause the music then start it again it sometimes plays for a while but will then act a fool again. I had the same issue using pandora when it skipped songs until it I ran out of skips but i have not seen the issue in other programs. I have had this issue in and out of the car dock. I will add a video later if I can.
I replied to one of your videos (as tjowatonna)
"I have never noticed this issue on my Incredible and I just tested on a variety of surfaces using the Etherial Dialpad app (it's neat, check it out if you're a music nerd) to test and had no issues regardless of if it was placed on glass, plastic, cardboard, pillows. I didn't have any styrofoam to test."
Have you had anyone else try these tests on your phone? I'm just wondering if it's not something about your body that it doesn't like as much or that it likes more for people like me that can't reproduce this.
Again, there is no car dock specifically for the DI yet.
It looks like the edges of that generic dock have a big foamy area that might be very close to the screen.
It also looks like the phone/dock is touching the dash in the video.
I put mine on an anti-static bag on my workstation and tried to only use a finger. Everything worked just fine. I know you said you tried other areas with the same result. Do you have a screen protector on?
I'm just scratching my head here.
I can confirm this issue on my Incredible as well. For what it's worth, I have a Zagg shield on the screen, and I did *not* peel it off for testing.
In *any* situation where the phone is completely isolated from ground it seems to happen. I can reproduce the symptoms by setting the phone on a huge variety of surfaces or by placing it in my (plastic) car mount, and then trying to use it with just a single finger.
As has already been posted, touching the phone body even lightly with an additional finger while it is in this state (even one from same hand) will allow full responsiveness, as will any other sort of ground such as many cable connections. Also, the silicone case from Verizon can be installed or removed, and there is no difference either way.
I also just booted my old Hero (also has Zagg shield) to check its behavior and was unable to reproduce this, even with it sitting on a double folded rubber mat on top of a big pillow. It is 100% reproducible on my Incredible though.
So be it.
EDIT: In addition to the role that grounding clearly plays, static might be a factor too (as others have mentioned).
I tried my hardest to reproduce this affect and i was unable to. I have a new zagg screen protector i have not yet put on. I will add it and re-test again and post my results
** Update
I added on the Zagg Screen Protector and tested it again. I lost some responsiveness in general nothing still like has been demonstrated.
askwhy said:
I can confirm this issue on my Incredible as well. For what it's worth, I have a Zagg shield on the screen, and I did *not* peel it off for testing.
In *any* situation where the phone is completely isolated from ground it seems to happen. I can reproduce the symptoms by setting the phone on a huge variety of surfaces or by placing it in my (plastic) car mount, and then trying to use it with just a single finger.
As has already been posted, touching the phone body even lightly with an additional finger while it is in this state (even one from same hand) will allow full responsiveness, as will any other sort of ground such as many cable connections. Also, the silicone case from Verizon can be installed or removed, and there is no difference either way.
I also just booted my old Hero (also has Zagg shield) to check its behavior and was unable to reproduce this, even with it sitting on a double folded rubber mat on top of a big pillow. It is 100% reproducible on my Incredible though.
So be it.
EDIT: In addition to the role that grounding clearly plays, static might be a factor too (as others have mentioned).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for testing your phone and also trying it against another capacitive screen phone.
I talked to Verizon and they are sending 2 new Incredibles as both my phone and my wife's phone have the problem. I will report my results on tuesday...
aol8mydog said:
I've never had a capacitive touchscreen phone, so I don't know for sure; but maybe it has something to do with the relative capacitance. When you have one hand on the back and then touch the screen, maybe it senses a greater variance in the capacitance. If it's on the table or in your car cradle, maybe the variance in capacitance isn't great enough to register a touch. I'm not familiar with Android either, but maybe you can adjust the sensitivity? Just like those touch lamps, capacitive sensors are triggered by a relative change in capacitance and if it's not greater than the preset threshold, it doesn't register that you touched it.
Just an idea... again, I'm not really sure. I'm only lurking around in these forums because I have an Incredible on order. I'm just throwing some odd ideas out there. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that I have my Incredible, I have the same issues. Fortunately, I don't use it in a car-dock very often but I do plan on occasionally using it that way. If Verizon or HTC doesn't come out with a fix, I may just see if I could find a soft rubber-like material that also conducts electricity to make a grounding pad with a wire connected to the vehicle's ground on the cradle/dock so the phone's back can make contact when docked.
Update in first post...
I ordered my device on launch day, and this thing has had none of the issues you have shown, I even put it on styrofoam just to try it all out, works flawlessly.
sorry for your bad luck.
Related
I am an ex Blue Angel owner, and i have had the Wizard for about 7 months now, and the phone is perfect (size, battery, keyboard), however there is one problem that has been bugging me.
I use the standard case, as i like the format. however when i recieve a phone call and i remove it from the case, the screen 8 times out of 10 turns to landscape then back to portrait, and this prevents me answering the phone for 30 seconds or so until the screen turns back, as the hardware buttons dont respond. However i never figured what cused this, until i read through an unrelated post that it was caused my the magnets in the case. and testing this by waving the case over the surface of the phone reproduces this problem.
now i am stunned that they bundled this case with the phone, and i am in the market of looking for another without the magnets i.e snap button.
does anyone know of an an alternative case that is horizontal that has the same belt clip?
i have seen the Krussel Horizontal Case http://www.addonsworld.co.uk/product.php/21636/3384/, but i dont like the detachable belt clip. as i envisage the phone coming off it unlike a vertical case that has gravity and a low pivot point keeping it steady.
has anyone got any suggestions?
I've got the same probleme with my qtek 9100.
Hi Fuzzy [EDIT: and Alex],
some weeks ago I did a search for HTC Wizard on Froogle, and I found a lot of accessories: aluminium hard-cases, new styluses, loudspeaker mountings, modfied desktop stands...
Case-specific search:
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=htc+wizard+case&btnG=Search+Froogle
I am sure there is a case that fits your needs.
Greetz
Raubi
unfortunately i have looked through all the 8 pages of hits and there is not a case that is suitable. the nearest to what i want is a case made by sena http://www.senacases.com/cart/home.php?cat=413 however it itself has a magnetic clasp, so will most likely result in the same problem
I want a case like the original with same type of belt clip and without a magnetic clasp. Does anyone have or use such a case, or can confirm that the sena cases arent afflicted with the same problem.
Turn your phone over!!!
When you put the phone in the OEM case, have the screen facing your body (away from the magnetic clasp). This will accomplish 2 things:
1. Prevents the magnet from activating Landscape Mode.
2. Provide extra protection from direct impact for your screen.
I have always done this and never experienced the Landscape issue.
For me that doesnt work, infact it makes it worse i've just removed the phone like that from the case a few times and it change orientation every time. the magnet is contained in the flap and it triggers the screen change every time weather it brishes past the back or the front of the phone.
I have just bought the Krussell case from my first post after not succeeding finding an alternative, i think that with a belt clip it will be unsafe and will stick out much further than the original case, however it does have loops to loop belts through, so that may be the tradeoff i need.
I will let you know how i get on when i recieve the case next week.
what i am most surprised at is either HTC or the mobile carriers not picking up on the problem and selecting a different case.
but the one thing i have figured is that if the magnet is contained purely on the pouch and not the flap (i.e. the flap has metal in it) then this problem would not happen. and if i twisted the phone away from the case when removing it... and ...and ...and..... there would probably be lots of ways to get around it not happening, but in the real world in everyday use when i remove the phone it does happen and it causes me to miss lots of phone calls...
Very strange: when I put my MyTouch 4G in my car cradle (it's a generic one: http://www.officedepot.ca/a/products/494874/Gilsson-Universal-Windshield-Mount-Black/) the screen generally will not respond to touch making it essentially impossible to use.
I did notice that if I cover the back camera with my finger, the screen does respond to touch, even after I remove my finger. But then other strangeness occurs like it never times out to sleep mode and if I force it to sleep by pressing the top button, when I press the button again there is no lock screen and I need to cover the camera again to make it recognize touches.
I actually had a similar issue with my last phone (an Acer Liquid E) although using a hack to increase the touch sensitivity seemed to fix it on that phone.
I don't understand what is it about being put on a cradle that makes the phone behave this way. I have checked that the arms of the cradle aren't pressing any of the buttons and, in fact, just resting the phone in the cradle with the arms extended beyond the width of the phone does the same thing.
Anyone know what's going on?
Thanks!
probably time to return the cradle haha. but seriously speaking that just sounds super weird. especially the part where you say if you cover the camera the touch screen works. haha.
Does your cradle provide power ti the phone through use port? Generally this happens when there is voltage going to the phone that is interfering with the touch screeb, like using a generic charger.
I've seen this. It was caused by the cradle pressing in on the volume control. Adjust your phone on the cradle so the volume isn't touched and see if that solves it for you.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
No the cradle doesn't supply power it's just a generic holder. I did check that the arms aren't pressing any buttons as that's the first thing I suspected. Even with the arms open so that there is a space between them and the sides of the phone, so long as the phone is resting on the cradle (just by gravity) this happens.
The fact that covering the camera temporarily seems to fix it is also really strange. I almost started believing the phone can detect the dash of the car through the camera and shuts itself off so you don't play with it while driving. But that seems a little far fetched.
I've had the same behavior with my generic car dock as well. It's very sporadic (maybe once a week), and I can't figure out the cause. But for my $10 it's good enough until there's an official dock that's custom fit.
tmagritte said:
Very strange: when I put my MyTouch 4G in my car cradle (it's a generic one) the screen generally will not respond to touch making it essentially impossible to use.
I did notice that if I cover the back camera with my finger, the screen does respond to touch, even after I remove my finger. But then other strangeness occurs like it never times out to sleep mode and if I force it to sleep by pressing the top button, when I press the button again there is no lock screen and I need to cover the camera again to make it recognize touches.
I actually had a similar issue with my last phone (an Acer Liquid E) although using a hack to increase the touch sensitivity seemed to fix it on that phone.
I don't understand what is it about being put on a cradle that makes the phone behave this way. I have checked that the arms of the cradle aren't pressing any of the buttons and, in fact, just resting the phone in the cradle with the arms extended beyond the width of the phone does the same thing.
Anyone know what's going on?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's even weirder than I thought. Turns out this doesn't only happen with the car cradle, but also sometimes when the phone is lying on its back. Tends to be more likely on a soft surface like my couch or a carpet, but it's also happened on my work desk. In these cases slightly repositioning the phone seems to fix it. Also, it doesn't seem to happen if a charging cable is plugged in, so at least that should be a workaround for car use. It happens when waking from sleep. Once the touch input is responsive, it remains so regardless of what position the phone is put in until the phone goes to sleep.
I put up a video to demonstrate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NX_3uds_Ek
The other thing I noticed is a purple light that comes on underneath the touchpad when its pressed. It's not really visible by eye but for some reason the camera really picks it up... Is that the pad's touch sensor?
I just noticed a strange anomaly on my dock only when its plugged in to charge. If I run my finger over the flat areas to the left and right of the touchpad it ever-so-slightly vibrates as you move your finger. It almost feels like how your finger would vibrate or hum when circling a wet glass rim. When you unplug the dock the vibration feeling will go away. I'm not noticing any other issues with the dock or pad and it only will do it when the dock is plugged in (with or without the pad). Battery usage is very good and I'm running the 3.1 updated firmware on the tablet and the EP101-0209 for the dock.
Anyone else have this issue? Anything I should be worried about? I'm not planning on returning it unless i see it gets worse.
Update: it happens on any of the flat top area of the dock (but not the keyboard part) but not on the sides or back (due to the plastic I'm assuming).
someone else posted about that. apparently, it's low voltage electricity. not enough to electrocute you though. someone suggested that depending on the way you plug the +/- prongs of the plug into your wall socket, you won't get it. so based on what you have right now, just flip it.
Sorry, I missed that post..but as to flipping the adapter I did just that and what do you know!! It worked, its not having any of that issue anymore. Strange coming from AC current but I'm happy now.
Thanks!!
Are you sure it really goes away when it's not charging? Try it again. I noticed the very same thing but very quickly determined that it was simply the texture of the material causing a vibration as a moved my hand over it. If you keep your hand still it disappears. There is no low voltage electricity, for you to be able to feel it like that it would have to be a fairly high voltage.
Hello,
I'm wondering if anyone here has hardwired a spare Evo 4G into a car as a multimedia tablet? I would be interested in seeing the build with some questions i'd like answered
I have seen actual tablets installed. Id love to do something like this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stE33HD4g-c
How were you thinking of installing an evo?
Who the hell has a spare EVO hanging around?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
It's too small. For a car tablet, a reasonably responsive tablet with a resistive screen would be fine.
i wanted to do something similar to what the youtube video did with the galaxy.
I just had some concerns about what to do about power on/power off, and accessing the power button. I want to build it flush against my center console.
About sizing, I placed the evo where I want it in my center console and it doesnt seem too small. I don't mind fabricating housings to make it fit, I'm just not sure about how to access the power button on the top after I make it flush with the console
John, Ive looked into similar things like this before. Thought about getting one of the el-cheapo arcos tablets or something to use as a car stereo. In regards to your concerns for the power button, I came across one article that I wish I could find for you.
This guy wanted to build tablets into headrests for his kids to play games on. He found an app that could detect when external power was removed (the car being turned off) and it started a timer that would shut down the tablet after x minutes. The hitch to that was I think the tablet he was using was designed to automatically turn on when external power was applied.
Just a thought to get the ball in your mind rolling.
oh that would be perfect, auto power off. but then there comes the q on how to get the evo to turn on with power on. only thing I can think of is to open the phone up and solder something down to the power switch and use an aux button on my keyless entry.
or maybe a custom bootloader that can detect power?
When I plug my evo in, the screen turns on, comes out of standby.
Bielinsk said:
When I plug my evo in, the screen turns on, comes out of standby.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah thats right. I can set option for leaving screen on while plugged in.
Only concern I have about doing this method is that the Evo would have to be on ALL the time then. Not particularly liking that idea incase I drain the battery all the way out while I am away from the car for the weekend or something.
use a small piece of 1/8 inch plexi. cut it to a 90 degree angle with arms about 1/2 inch long. on the back side of the mounting surface attach two brackets so the 90 degree piece sits in the middle and run a pivot through all three. make sure that the piece of the L is against the power button, and that the other leg of the L is flush with the mounting surface. now when you press on the exposed piece of the L, the other leg pushes the power button.
I've definitely dabbled in the idea, but the fact my car is 100% still under warranty made me reconsider.
Currently, I have a inexpensive mounting bracket hooked to my center console. I'm able to disconnect and reconnect when I'm enter or exit the car.
It's worked out pretty well... in a way, it makes the EVO look like it's merged with the stereo.
The tricky part was just cutting the bracket to accommodate my PowerMat back plate. Didn't have a effective tool at the time.
jdgiotta said:
I've definitely dabbled in the idea, but the fact my car is 100% still under warranty made me reconsider.
Currently, I have a inexpensive mounting bracket hooked to my center console. I'm able to disconnect and reconnect when I'm enter or exit the car.
It's worked out pretty well... in a way, it makes the EVO look like it's merged with the stereo.
The tricky part was just cutting the bracket to accommodate my PowerMat back plate. Didn't have a effective tool at the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any pictures of this setup?
Sure, I'll get you photo as soon as I can.
I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this. It is clearly a hardware issue, and I doubt there's much I can do since it's not under warranty AND has a hacked bootloader, but:
If it gets jostled too much, especially if a particular spot near the dock connector gets much pressure, the screen "glitches" and it becomes unresponsive. It even happened yesterday when it was on my lap at a 90 degree angle and fell over onto my stomach. It's very difficult to use it for more than a short 5-10 minute period without this happening unless I'm SUPER gentle with it.
The screen comes back visually and can continue to be "glitched" with that slight pressure to the right spots, but it never comes back to responsiveness. I have to hard reset.
I can create a video of this behavior if anyone thinks that'll help.
The whole thing is unresponsive - even with a mouse or keyboard attached, no response, so it's not like just the touch sensitivity is gone. I doubt anyone does, but if there are any ideas / good places that will repair it for a realistic fee, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!
dirtygreek said:
I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this. It is clearly a hardware issue, and I doubt there's much I can do since it's not under warranty AND has a hacked bootloader, but:
If it gets jostled too much, especially if a particular spot near the dock connector gets much pressure, the screen "glitches" and it becomes unresponsive. It even happened yesterday when it was on my lap at a 90 degree angle and fell over onto my stomach. It's very difficult to use it for more than a short 5-10 minute period without this happening unless I'm SUPER gentle with it.
The screen comes back visually and can continue to be "glitched" with that slight pressure to the right spots, but it never comes back to responsiveness. I have to hard reset.
I can create a video of this behavior if anyone thinks that'll help.
The whole thing is unresponsive - even with a mouse or keyboard attached, no response, so it's not like just the touch sensitivity is gone. I doubt anyone does, but if there are any ideas / good places that will repair it for a realistic fee, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not just pop off the back cover and take a look around for loose connectors? Won't hurt anything.
MD
i have no such problem here matey and i ride a bike with the a500 in a laptop bag all day.