Related
I Think I May have found the cause of the otherwise apparently 'random' freezes/hangs and total lack of touch sensitivity.
Basically, In my case at least, It Is the G-sensor/accelerometer.
I have been noticing increasing numbers of these freezes on Mattc 1.5 Froyo, Mainly in Landscape, Mainly in games.
TEST:
I installed 'Iron Sight' Game. (If theory is right then you should be able to use any landscape game, but please try Iron sight if possible.)
I Ran the game and it switched to landscape,
SO I PHYSICALLY TURNED MY HD2 TO LANDSCAPE.
THIS IS WHERE THE FREEZING AND LAGGING BEGAN!
On the Main menu found it difficult to press any options.
When I did manage to start a Game The control buttons were hard to press and the game was unplayable because screen sensitivity was just not there most of the game.
I Then Physically turned the HD2 around and Back to Portrait orientation, AND ALTHOUGH THE SCREEN ORIENTATION STAYED IN LANDSCAPE I DID NOT EXPERIENCE ONE SINGLE LAG OR FREEZE.
BUTTON PRESSES WERE RESPONSIVE TO TOUCH AT ALL TIMES FOR AT LEAST 15 MINUTES!
HERES WHERE IT GETS MORE INTERESTING....
I Then Turned the HD2 back around to landscape again and the Problems IMMEDIATELY RETURNED.
I THEN HELD THE PHONE VERY STILL IN LANDSCAPE AND AFTER A FEW SECONDS THE PROBLEMS/LAG/FREEZES DISSAPEARED AGAIN!!!
TESTED REPEATEDLY!
IN LANDSCAPE AS SOON AS THERE IS ANY PHYSICAL MOVEMENT, THE GAME FREEZES, BUT IF I KEEP IT STILL THE GAME RESPONDS PERFECTLY WITHOUT HESITATION.
Can some of you please test this theory?
A cradle/Dock would be handy for testing but it is possible to keep the phone still enough in-hand in my tests.
Use the game "Iron Sight" where possible, but use other games/apps too if you have time or inclination
Post the results below ( with logs where possible ?) Please.
Note:
After discovering the above, I did a search on XDA and found that a member called 'Hinky' and touched on this but I think I have narrowed it down.... I think
Please test and confirm (or debunk lol).
Thanks.
thesweeney said:
I Think I May have found the cause of the otherwise apparently 'random' freezes/hangs and total lack of touch sensitivity.
Basically, In my case at least, It Is the G-sensor/accelerometer.
I have been noticing increasing numbers of these freezes on Mattc 1.5 Froyo, Mainly in Landscape, Mainly in games.
TEST:
I installed 'Iron Sight' Game. (If theory is right then you should be able to use any landscape game, but please try Iron sight if possible.)
I Ran the game and it switched to landscape, SO I PHYSICALLY TURNED MY HD2 TO LANDSCAPE.
THIS IS WHERE THE FREEZES BEGAN!
On the Main menu found it difficult to press any options.
When I did manage to start a Game The control buttons were hard to press and the game was unplayable because screen sensitivity was just not there most of the game.
I Then turned the HD2 Back to Portrait mode AND ALTHOUGH THE SCREEN ORIENTATION STAYED IN LANDSCAPE I DID NOT EXPERIENCE ONE SINGLE LAG.
BUTTON PRESSES WERE RESPONSIVE TO TOUCH AT ALL TIMES FOR AT LEAST 15 MINUTES!
HERES WHERE IT GETS MORE INTERESTING....
I Then Turned the HD2 around to landscape again and the Problems IMMEDIATELY RETURNED.
I THEN HELD THE PHONE VERY STILL IN LANDSCAPE AND AFTER A FEW SECONDS THE PROBLEMS/LAG/FREEZES DISSAPEARED AGAIN!!!
TESTED REPEATEDLY!
IN LANDSCAPE AS SOON AS THERE IS ANY PHYSICAL MOVEMENT, THE GAME FREEZES, BUT IF I KEEP IT STILL THE GAME RESPONDS PERFECTLY WITHOUT HESITATION.
Can some of you please test this theory?
A cradle/Dock would be handy for testing but it is possible to keep the phone still enough in-hand in my tests.
Use the game "Iron Sight" where possible, but use other games/apps too if you have time or inclination
Post the results below ( with logs where possible ?) Please.
Note:
After discovering the above, I did a search on XDA and found that a member called 'Hinky' and touched on this but I think I have narrowed it down.... I think
Please test and confirm (or debunk lol).
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes this is something that the devs have been discussing. It does seem that the freeze issue is in fact related to the g sensor. I don't know if anyone is working on it at this time but I believe Cotulla will try to sort it out for his September release
ala380 said:
Yes this is something that the devs have been discussing. It does seem that the freeze issue is in fact related to the g sensor. I don't know if anyone is working on it at this time but I believe Cotulla will try to sort it out for his September release
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DOH! Didnt know it was already a known issue LMAO
I'll get my coat....
thesweeney said:
DOH! Didnt know it was already a known issue LMAO
I'll get my coat....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol keep with the testing though I didn't figure that much out
Hmmm this is def the prob for my touch screen issues. I tested a bit using the latest mattc Leo + Froyo w/Sense 1.5 version, with latest FULLRAM. I found that while on the sense home screen if I hold the phone out in front of me either landscape and portrait it's ok, and I can do whatever I want at full speed no lag at all. THEN if I lay the phone flat, It freezes. I did this like 20+ times and every time It would freeze whether I was playing a game or reading an email.
This also happen to me. Using Mattc 1.5 Froyo, it happens when using internet browser. The screen will freeze or not response right after i turn from Portrait to Landscape or sometimes have to wait for few seconds. I have to turn my device from Landscape to Portrait, and back to Landscape again, then the screen responses back to normal. This also happens in Copilot app when using in Landscape mode.
I turned off the screen rotation
What I did since i installed my ROM with 380mb ram is to turn off all screen rotation settings, so far so good, I haven't notice any freeze or lag so far in any application or while waking the device up, I used to have it and I hate it, I almost went back to Winmo!!.
robrob777 said:
What I did since i installed my ROM with 380mb ram is to turn off all screen rotation settings, so far so good, I haven't notice any freeze or lag so far in any application or while waking the device up, I used to have it and I hate it, I almost went back to Winmo!!.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was the first thing i tried but strangely it made no difference.
anyone know how to totally disable the g-sensor?
doesnt have any of the mentioned problems...
iron sight lite runs the same for me when i hold the phone portrait or LS...
have no bad screen sens while holding LS...
running mattc 1.5 with the default zimage...
thesweeney said:
This was the first thing i tried but strangely it made no difference.
anyone know how to totally disable the g-sensor?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to know too! disabling auto rotation doesnt mean completely stop the g-sensor running.
Bimme said:
doesnt have any of the mentioned problems...
iron sight lite runs the same for me when i hold the phone portrait or LS...
have no bad screen sens while holding LS...
running mattc 1.5 with the default zimage...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please tell me....
Did you fresh install 1.5 or upgrade 1.4>1.5?
I had quite a few freezes on 1.4.
Then I upgraded to 1.5 and kept my apps etc from 1.4.
I HARDLY HAD ANY FREEZES AT ALL
Then I did a fresh install of 1.5 and started getting LOTS of freezes.
i did a fresh install.
i deleted all android files on my sd card and extracted the new build to a new made "Android" folder...
i use xanny roms, and i still have the robovoice problem, so i can´t use android daily...
i noticed on all android builds ive tried sofar, that the polling interval of the gsensor is very bad/small. U can see it when u go to calibrate the gsensor, the bubbles move very slowly...
this is not a big thing when u only use the gsenor to turn screen to LS, but it is essential to play games using the sensor...
thesweeney said:
DOH! Didnt know it was already a known issue LMAO
I'll get my coat....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, no worries I'm glad that you pointed it out. This was actually one of those really useful threads and the kind of thing that the developers are looking for. I am not a dev but I speak with them pretty regularly when the same issue are pointed out time and time again by those who do not read the threads. This was something that has not been talk about here so I appreciate your well thought post and the information that you provided
I was just a step before creating a new thread about it when I saw this one.
This is definitely one of the things that are really pissing me off using Android.
Furthermore, I did tests on this issue for quite long to doubt that it's an autorotation related issue. Maybe it has something to do with the g-sensor, but it still would happen randomly even trying not to move the phone at all. I noticed that the problem wouldnt appear that often when decreasing the polling interval of set cpu and same time increasing the min. freq. to 380, but still, it DOES happen.
I'd really appreciate any statement on this, developer side of course.
I have the occasional screen freeze on landscape, but not very often using froyostone.
Bimme said:
i did a fresh install.
i deleted all android files on my sd card and extracted the new build to a new made "Android" folder...
i use xanny roms, and i still have the robovoice problem, so i can´t use android daily...
i noticed on all android builds ive tried sofar, that the polling interval of the gsensor is very bad/small. U can see it when u go to calibrate the gsensor, the bubbles move very slowly...
this is not a big thing when u only use the gsenor to turn screen to LS, but it is essential to play games using the sensor...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers for that ^
+1 for the Gsensor polling intervals seeming very slow.
THIS CAN BE SEEN VERY CLEARLY USING THE 'VR TUNNEL' LIVE WALLPAPER.
Here the cubes move smoothly at a good fps while the tunnel moves around at what appears to be 4/5 fps.
ala380 said:
Lol, no worries I'm glad that you pointed it out. This was actually one of those really useful threads and the kind of thing that the developers are looking for. I am not a dev but I speak with them pretty regularly when the same issue are pointed out time and time again by those who do not read the threads. This was something that has not been talk about here so I appreciate your well thought post and the information that you provided
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe, Thanks for that ^.
I dont feel quite so stupid now
For a moment there, before I found out it was a known issue... I thought I had discovered the Androids very own penicilin or something equally as important... but as usual I was behind the times lol.
Jealousy said:
I was just a step before creating a new thread about it when I saw this one.
This is definitely one of the things that are really pissing me off using Android.
Furthermore, I did tests on this issue for quite long to doubt that it's an autorotation related issue. Maybe it has something to do with the g-sensor, but it still would happen randomly even trying not to move the phone at all. I noticed that the problem wouldnt appear that often when decreasing the polling interval of set cpu and same time increasing the min. freq. to 380, but still, it DOES happen.
I'd really appreciate any statement on this, developer side of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possibly not related to autorotation per-se, but...
With Autorotation disabled... If I turn my phone on its side (with volume buttons pointing towards floor) I still experience freezes on my home screen or anywhere else for that matter.
Plus I have found that holding the phone VERY still in any position seems to eliminate 'ALL' freezing and lagging problems.
Do the G-sensor and the Dgital compass 'interlink' or communicate in any way? Is it possible that the screwed up compass output is screwing with the g-sensor output?
I ask this because the game 'hungry shark' thought that my phone was flat whent the usb port was pointed down towards the floor.
Dont know if that makes sense but for me it seems like the g-sensor is fubar as well as the digital compass.
trilbyfish said:
I then used even bigger and bolder letters to emphasize my points!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[SARCASM]Very helpful buddy[/SARCASM]
I did the font size thing for people who just wanted to skim through the long post.
thesweeney said:
Possibly not related to autorotation per-se, but...
With Autorotation disabled... If I turn my phone on its side (with volume buttons pointing towards floor) I still experience freezes on my home screen or anywhere else for that matter.
Plus I have found that holding the phone VERY still in any position seems to eliminate 'ALL' freezing and lagging problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well ofc, it wouldn't freeze when it's COMPLETELY hold still, but I guess that shouldn't be the point of daily usage.
Now when it comes to spontaneous outside actions, you are trying to pick up a call using touchscreen cuz ur used to it or trying to shoot out a text in hurry, and your device will just go sleep for some time. I mean, how'd you hold still if you're moving (fast)?
If you ask me thats pretty much a major bug, not to forget the 3g data thing. I'm not moaning around, just want to attain more focus on this. I notice people losing themselves in some benchmark trolling - just time waste.
There is already a thread for that (walking dead)
Just found a possible solution, please repport if it is better for you too :
- boot windows mobile, calibrate the g-sensor in settings (i did it 2 or 3 times, but i don't think its important)
- do a proper shutdown of wm
- restart wm + android
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
After disabling "Auto-rotate screen" I haven't had a freeze yet, so good so far.
Firstly hello to all my fellow Vega UK users!
For the price I think this device is great, but it does have it's issues.
Do any of you have the problem where the touch screen just seems to stop working? It'll kick in again soon enough, but it's frustrating as hell.
Also sometimes the task manager seems to appear by itself, but I can;t get it to appear when I need it?
I'm using Pauls Add-on ROM. (thanks Paul )
Logicalstep
I havn't had any major lag at all.
What do you mean by task manager? do you mean the one when you hold "home"?
I have found after a lot of use, with a lot of apps open that the system can lag. I guess this is due to system resources. Recommend installing ES Task Manager from the market to manage running tasks.
You mentioned the task manager appears by its self, do you mean the home screen selector? I found hitting the home button to many times makes this display.
Some users have reported issues with the touch system when the tablet is charging. Do these issues only appear when plugged in?
adfrad said:
Some users have reported issues with the touch system when the tablet is charging. Do these issues only appear when plugged in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes believe so. due to non regulated power supply causes the screen to become over sensitive.
I get this issue too occasionally, vastly increased when plugged in, now and then when not.
I dont use the machine when its charging.
No real rhyme or reason to it occouring in my experience, id love to know of a cause, other than dirty screen.
Rgds
Lok
Yeah It's a bit of a strange one tbh.
Can;t say I have noticed the lag more when plugged in. I though the PSU was regulated, isn't it just a standard Switch mode PSU?
On the task manager, well obviously there is a task manager with Foryo and oon my Galaxy s I hold the hold button down and it appears, however there doesn;t appear to be a reliable way to do this on the Vega....or am I wrong?
Logicalstep
I never get any touch lag, but I'm not convinced "lag" is the word you want.
"lag" would indicate that the response is somewhat behind the touch action. Android versions below Gingerbread do suffer from that when the CPU is loaded but the Vega is better then most in that regard.
What it does suffer from a _lot_ it erroneous and missing touch events (especially when using a poorly smoothed PSU like the one provided) symptoms include:
1. Swipe gestures being terminated before you lift your finger.
2. Long press actions acting like multiple-presses.
3. (The most common for me) Finger up events failing to register (resulting is erroneous long-presses)
But none of these are "lag". I believe there are grounding problems in the Vega and thus how you hold the tablet and the humidity and static of the environment can change the reliability of the touch screen. It's been reported that having the Vega plugged into a desktop via USB increases the reliability of the display (at least when also charging) which lends credence to the idea that it's grounding related.
What I have noticed ín particular is that holding the tablet in landscape mode makes the keyboard ultra inaccurate. You must press much below the level you want. E.g., if you want to write a Q you hit the A key. It's a bit bothersome while writing...
I haven't experienced any lag, just a slight deadzone at the bottom of the screen and inaccurate keyboard typing. Nothing major. I also haven't really noticed the messed up screen sensitivity when charging that people have been going on about.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
CalumD said:
I haven't experienced any lag, just a slight deadzone at the bottom of the screen and inaccurate keyboard typing. Nothing major. I also haven't really noticed the messed up screen sensitivity when charging that people have been going on about.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this out:
http://android.modaco.com/content/advent-vega-vega-modaco-com/327198/screen-calibration-app/
HunteronX said:
Try this out:
http://android.modaco.com/content/advent-vega-vega-modaco-com/327198/screen-calibration-app/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gave if a try, seems to have made typing on the Vega a whole lot better!
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
Confirmed over at modaco and by myself also.
Not 100pc improvement but a 90pc. Another essential app.
Goodstuff.
Rgds
Lok
Iv seen lag when I first turn it on but it goes away in couple of minutes, if its on standby it never lags.... cmon honeycomb!!!!
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
The performance pack really reduces start up lag issues btw.
I've seen the device lag sometimes but since i installed pauls peformance pack the lag has gone away making the device so much better.
Well for me the keyboard is still a major issue. Not lag really, but it appears to register my touches multiple times. Right now Im typing this reply on my tablet and I have to go back so many times to correct multiple characters, spaces etc. Its just taking so long and requires so much effort to write a simple message.. for browsing and apps I love it but for email its horrible..
dopeh said:
Well for me the keyboard is still a major issue. Not lag really, but it appears to register my touches multiple times. Right now Im typing this reply on my tablet and I have to go back so many times to correct multiple characters, spaces etc. Its just taking so long and requires so much effort to write a simple message.. for browsing and apps I love it but for email its horrible..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried cleaning your screen and then using the calibration program posted on modaco?
zzleezz said:
Have you tried cleaning your screen and then using the calibration program posted on modaco?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried it but doesn't seem to make any difference..
dopeh said:
Just tried it but doesn't seem to make any difference..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK just to be sure...
Is the power supply plugged in? (Screws up the calibration in my experience)
Are you touching the screen while it calibrates?
Problems I've got with the Acer A500:
GPS is very weak. I get the best reception with the back of the unit facing the sky but in normal orientation I'm lucky to get 5 sats.
Compass doesn't work, always 90deg off
Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.
Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.
System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.
Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.
Bluetooth sharing only shows visible devices and not paired devices. What's the F-ing point of pairing if I have to make a device visible before I can send a file to it?
No media scanner notification. It takes a while to scan external USB media and there's no indication the scanning is going on. The only indication that it's done is when media starts appearing in apps like gallery. On older revs of the OS there is a notice that scanning is ongoing.
Copy/paste annoying. Especially that you can't paste if there's no text in your editor!!! In 2.2 you tap once to bring up the picker/caret (don't know what the google term is) and you tap that to get a popup menu for copy/paste/delete. On the Acer you have to double-tap to select text and only then do you get a menu on the top of the screen. Trouble is, if you have no text in your document you can't paste because there's no text to select!
Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.
Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?
Some of these are certainly Acer's fault and are related to hardware specific to this device. The UI elements I'm left wondering about. This is the only Gingerbread device I've really used and I can't tell how much is default behavior and how much Acer messed with the OS and borked it.
It's possible I've become spoiled by the devs on XDA. I'm coming from a Vibrant and the dev action is furious with that device. I've regularly upgraded my device with new ROMs on the order of every 2-3 weeks since October and I'm currently using 2.2.1 on my phone.
Given that the bootloader is locked (and encrypted?) I'm thinking dev action isn't going to happen real soon and I'm further thinking about returning this. I hate the idea of doing that because in a lot of ways this is a really nice tablet. It's got the form factor and weight I want. It's responsive. wifi is good enough for my purposes and I can carry it throughout home and work with no connection problems. I've found ways to make it part of my device chain (doc markup, blogging, reading, music playing) and the price was was low enough for me to give it a try. For the most part I like the device.
Trouble is, the bugs are like having someone standing next to you randomly poking you in the ribs. It's not enough to call the police but if he doesn't stop I'm going to punch him in the nose. With the Acer the bugs aren't bad enough for me to throw it out the window but they're getting bad enough that this thing may get returned.
For those in the know, how much of what I've complained about is normal Gingerbread and how much has Acer likely borked?
For reference my kernel is 2.6.36.3-00001-g9b3ce2b and build is Acer_A500_1.104.02_COM_GEN1
michaelh99 said:
Problems I've got with the Acer A500:
GPS is very weak. I get the best reception with the back of the unit facing the sky but in normal orientation I'm lucky to get 5 sats.
Compass doesn't work, always 90deg off
Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.
Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.
System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.
Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.
Bluetooth sharing only shows visible devices and not paired devices. What's the F-ing point of pairing if I have to make a device visible before I can send a file to it?
No media scanner notification. It takes a while to scan external USB media and there's no indication the scanning is going on. The only indication that it's done is when media starts appearing in apps like gallery. On older revs of the OS there is a notice that scanning is ongoing.
Copy/paste annoying. Especially that you can't paste if there's no text in your editor!!! In 2.2 you tap once to bring up the picker/caret (don't know what the google term is) and you tap that to get a popup menu for copy/paste/delete. On the Acer you have to double-tap to select text and only then do you get a menu on the top of the screen. Trouble is, if you have no text in your document you can't paste because there's no text to select!
Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.
Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?
Some of these are certainly Acer's fault and are related to hardware specific to this device. The UI elements I'm left wondering about. This is the only Gingerbread device I've really used and I can't tell how much is default behavior and how much Acer messed with the OS and borked it.
It's possible I've become spoiled by the devs on XDA. I'm coming from a Vibrant and the dev action is furious with that device. I've regularly upgraded my device with new ROMs on the order of every 2-3 weeks since October and I'm currently using 2.2.1 on my phone.
Given that the bootloader is locked (and encrypted?) I'm thinking dev action isn't going to happen real soon and I'm further thinking about returning this. I hate the idea of doing that because in a lot of ways this is a really nice tablet. It's got the form factor and weight I want. It's responsive. wifi is good enough for my purposes and I can carry it throughout home and work with no connection problems. I've found ways to make it part of my device chain (doc markup, blogging, reading, music playing) and the price was was low enough for me to give it a try. For the most part I like the device.
Trouble is, the bugs are like having someone standing next to you randomly poking you in the ribs. It's not enough to call the police but if he doesn't stop I'm going to punch him in the nose. With the Acer the bugs aren't bad enough for me to throw it out the window but they're getting bad enough that this thing may get returned.
For those in the know, how much of what I've complained about is normal Gingerbread and how much has Acer likely borked?
For reference my kernel is 2.6.36.3-00001-g9b3ce2b and build is Acer_A500_1.104.02_COM_GEN1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if you know this or not, but tablets and Honeycomb are pretty new.
rorytmeadows said:
I'm not sure if you know this or not, but tablets and Honeycomb are pretty new.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm aware. How does that apply to my questions & issues with the A500?
michaelh99 said:
Yeah, I'm aware. How does that apply to my questions & issues with the A500?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I think your thread is misleading. Tablets are new and there are going to be flaws in new products. That's why you don't buy the first new model of a car. But if you're going to, then understand there is always risk.
1. I have had no problems with the GPS.
2. I have had problems with the compass, but nothing unusual for a digital compass.
3. Unresponsiveness happens with pretty much every device. Mine has been unresponsive like 5 times already, but a power down and then up again fixes it beautifully. It's like a nice reminder to clear the system and make it run faster. This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Acer. It could be Honeycomb.
4. Apps crashing. Happens. I'd think that it's Honeycomb, rather than Acer.
5. I've seen the headset icon on when I didn't have any headphones in. Oh no! Stop the presses! This occurs, sure, but that could be Honeycomb, not Acer. Also, are we sure it's not the music icon?
6. Bluetooth profiles are limited. Sure. But maybe that's a reminder to us all that Bluetooth is awful technology. This one is probably Acer.
7. Copy and paste, although annoying, isn't Acer.
8. Right now, it's not proper to open the bootloader for everyone. Don't hold that against any company.
Most of the things you mentioned really might have to do with Honeycomb rather than Acer. So don't trash the wrong company.
Now given that it's Honeycomb instead, it's new. It will have bugs and problems. Sit and wait or learn the trade and get in there and fix it.
Or wait until a future generation product.
Problems I've got with the Acer A500:
Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.
NEVER OCCUR for me
Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.
NEVER OCCUR for me
System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.
NEVER OCCUR for me
Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.
Just restore to factory default or clear the data in "manage application" can solve the problem
Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.
Root the device and remove the sound using root explorer
Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?
when you press vol +/-, there is a small icon on the right and you can adjust 3 volume settings
....
Ya, I'm pretty much in the rorytmeadows and ardatdat camp. Considering Acer did very little to their OEM copy, I'd place the blame for a lot of the issues on HC.
The compass is definitely finicky. I've only ever got a solid read when my GPS was tracking - when it's not, the compass is definitely off (using GPS Essentials here which could also be an app issue). If there is a common degree variance, this can be coded in/out. Also, orientation matter - whether you have it in portrait, facing you, landscape facing up... There's a difference and the gyro checks.
I understand where some of you guys are coming from re. new releases having bugs. I can't accept that viewpoint. I paid for this device and while a few bugs are to be expected these days, some of the problems amount to beta level bugs that should have never left the factory.
If there were going to be regular releases of updates I'd feel differently but it seems clear that releases will likely only come from the devs and only after jumping through the hurdles and hoops that Acer has put in their way.
I think the A500 was worth trying but I'm still not sure it's worth keeping.
A BETA bug is something that is consistent (across all testware) and repeatable. Nothing you listed falls near that.
gammaRascal said:
A BETA bug is something that is consistent (across all testware) and repeatable. Nothing you listed falls near that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we'll have to agree to disagree. The general level of bugginess shown by the complaints in this forum alone cause me to classify this (and many other android devices) as beta.
With so many people willing to be paying testers, the manufacturers don't have any incentive to behave differently.
michaelh99 said:
I think we'll have to agree to disagree.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya, but... Nothing you listed is consistent and repeatable... Where exactly is the disagreement?
The general level of bugginess shown by the complaints in this forum alone cause me to classify this (and many other android devices) as beta.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see it. Maybe I'm biased *shrug* The majority (not all, of course) complaints or issues with the a500 (be them HW, SW or HC related) on this (and other) forum are sporadic and inconclusive. Not a lot of serious testing happening and a complaint like 'my gps can't see any satellites' doesn't mean a whole lot without more granular info. It doesn't help and it certainly shouldn't be used as part of a rationale. You gotta take those kinds of half-thought out complaints with a grain of salt.
With so many people willing to be paying testers, the manufacturers don't have any incentive to behave differently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read this all the time - with games mostly, but the argument is the same.
How when a new game is released (pick your poison) you're bound to get a very small, thought vocal, minority who dig their nails into the support section complaining about 'players are paying to be testers' - or - 'their computer should be able to play it' etc. The argument being, 'it's suppose to act the way I want it to act' when in fact, that is never the case. With games, with hardware - software. 'It's suppose to act the way they want it to act' - We're just consumers. We consume. They create, we consume.
Now, I'm not trying to discount the importance of your view (I know it reads like I am but I'm not trying too - just trying to further the discussion). You're obviously having issues with the a500 and far be it for me to make lite of them. I think what is key here is that, for the majority of us, there aren't any of these kinds of issues and that, of the ones you listed, few are consistent and repeatable.
So I chalk it up to one of two things - you got a bum tablet or it's user error.
gammaRascal said:
Ya, but... Nothing you listed is consistent and repeatable... Where exactly is the disagreement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the problems are very repeatable on my machine. In the end, that's the only one I care about and the only one that matters to me.
Not a lot of serious testing happening .. You gotta take those kinds of half-thought out complaints with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're mistaking brief descriptions for incomplete testing or "thoughts.". I haven't described my testing methodology nor put down all the tests I've done because I'm not game for writing a paper on the subject.
I've been around quite a while and have been in development for decades and done my time in QA. I know how to test. Which is part of the point. I'm not running into these problems while doing things that qualify as something a user shouldn't do and I'm really not interested in helping Acer or Google iron out the bugs in their system.
Hell, I just did a factory reset and without installing any apps I had the Market crash twice while just browsing my paid apps list.
The argument being, 'it's suppose to act the way I want it to act' when in fact, that is never the case. With games, with hardware - software. 'It's suppose to act the way they want it to act' - We're just consumers. We consume. They create, we consume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, know where you're coming from. My complaint isn't the same.
I want it to behave the way it used to
My UI complains stem from behavior that was present in 2.2x and is very different but harder to use in 3.x. They futzed with the UI for no good reason IMO.
So I chalk it up to one of two things - you got a bum tablet or it's user error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's not user error
I've just factory reset the thing and I'm going to spend a few hours using just the apps I can't live without and leave off the questionable utilities that might be destabilizing the system (widgetlocker, stuff like that) and see where that gets me.
So far it's not good though. 2 market crashes with a stock system.
All very fair and understandable. I've had my share of freezes/lockups and FC. There is no doubt that updates are needed. I'm just not convinced the majority of the issues are Acer related, but rather, Honeycomb related.
Hey Michael do us a favor and return it. I am having none of the issues you have listed with mine with the exception of some FC apps, but I attribute this to the apps not being optimized for HC since the tablet specific apps work perfect.
Sounds like you got a bum tablet, so you have 3 options. 1) keep it and keep complaining and hope you or another dev can fix your problems. 2) exchange it for a new 3) return it and wait a year or so til HC is more stable and out of this "beta" phase.
Sent from my Droid using XDA Premium App
michaelg1030 said:
Hey Michael do us a favor and return it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you a favor? In other words, stfu?
BTW michaelh99, I appreciate the fact that you're not flying off half-cocked and taking anything I (or others) have said out of context. It's important for mature and focused discussion to stay calm and proactive - with the goal being, resolution - not argument.
If bugs were completely out of technology before it was released to the public then we wouldn't have technology.
gammaRascal said:
BTW michaelh99, I appreciate the fact that you're not flying off half-cocked and taking anything I (or others) have said out of context. It's important for mature and focused discussion to stay calm and proactive - with the goal being, resolution - not argument.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
I'm not really expecting people to supply resolutions to the problems I've seen. It looks like most of them are problems with the first release. Some could be due to my personal usage patterns (apps I have installed) but others are clearly out of box bugs.
It may be that I need to bite the bullet and get a larger version of my phone (Samsung), which I've been very happy with. Like many people I wanted to pay as little as I could. May be that I went too low for my expectations.
rorytmeadows said:
If bugs were completely out of technology before it was released to the public then we wouldn't have technology.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I can crash the market by browsing my paid apps after having done a factory reset and without having installed anything I would say they haven't met the minimum necessary to release the device.
The market is a core component of the system. If that's unstable, the whole device is suspect.
Why did you start this thread knowing that no matter what good things are said about the tablet, nothing would change your mind. If you are not happy with the device then return it and go on. The majority of the owners here are very satisfied with both the hardware and software of the Acer. I don't think anyone was expecting HC to run as smooth as apple os and if these were your expectations then you will never be happy for the time being.
Again, I'm assuming you started this thread hoping someone would agree with you, but the fact is that most of us do not. Your problems are way out of the ordinary and for all intended purposes unacceptable in this device. So again, return it. Your not doing yourself any service by keeping a faulty product.
Sent from my Droid using XDA Premium App
Good point michaelg1030.
michaelh99 said:
If I can crash the market by browsing my paid apps after having done a factory reset and without having installed anything I would say they haven't met the minimum necessary to release the device.
The market is a core component of the system. If that's unstable, the whole device is suspect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
michaelh99 have you considered posting a bug report to Google? For what it's worth, it may at least bring the issues you're having to their attention. It's placating but it can't hurt.
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list
A lot of us have had the device for at least week now so it would be a good time to post impressions after a bit more hands on time. I’ll start...
10 days in I’m still glad I got it but there are plenty of things that could be improved. I’ve been on HTC phones (Desire, Desire Z) before this running at different times standard HTC Sense ROMs as well as various versions of Cyanogen Mod and AOSP based ROMs. My views after 2 weeks of use:
* Loving the fact that Samsung appears to be treating this almost like a developer phone (ala Nexus) in terms of open bootloader, availability of source code etc. I’ve said my goodbyes to HTC precisely because of this.
* Based on the frequency of updates Samsung also appears to be focused on addressing issues. They are one if the first out of the gates for Gingerbread updates to their existing devices so I’m hoping they continue to focus on delivering on the latest versions of Android.
* Touchwiz is not as invasive as HTC’s Sense. It improves on stock android in many ways. My first Samsung phone so I can’t really speak of improvements over previous versions of Samsung ROMs but so far I don’t hate TouchWiz but I do find that they seem to take a lot of inspiration from Apple even when the standard Android implementation is better in some cases (I didn’t hate HTC Sense either but I did find it too far from stock for my liking). Having said that there are some totally brain dead decisions that Samsung appear to have taken which I just don’t get:
1) Default home screen on the left instead of the middle. Why copy Apple on this one when Android’s default makes so much more sense. I love having frequently used apps with a swipe to the right and an agenda widget on the left so I can get to both with a single swipe. Now I have to pick one.
2) Fixed icons at the bottom. I understand Phone and Apps being fixed but not messaging and contacts. I’d like to change those - hell, even Apple lets you change those. *** NEVERMIND *** See posts below. It CAN be edited.
3) Lock screen - talk about making something worse - this one takes the cake. Thank god for widget locker.
4) Dialer logs - I don’t want my SMS messages to show up on my phone dialer logs. There is no option to just view all calls without the rest of the stuff cluttering it up. (Yes I know I can switch to Dialer One but apart from this one major issue I actually like the default Samsung dialer).
* Wireless - Everything wireless about this phone has issues. May be a function of how thin it is but my experience so far:
1) Phone - Much improved after the latest firmware updates but data connection can take a while to latch on when moving out of WiFi coverage and sometimes just drops out for 5-10 minutes at a time for no apparent reason (even when the phone shows five bars in a strong signal area).
2) Bluetooth - The headset I have is not working well at all. Quality seems fine but every few seconds drops out or gets noisy for a second or so. The same headset works perfectly well with the HTC devices as well as with an iPhone.
3) GPS - Sometimes flawless but lock time is definitely a lot slower than the HTC devices. It also has a tendancy to lose lock a lot easier than the HTC devices. Other times it jumps around all over the place before getting a lock. Lots of weird behaviour here.
4) WiFi - Where other phones get weak coverage this one gets none. If you have strong WiFi signals everywhere you use the device this is not an issue. 5 Ghz also performs significantly worse than 2 Ghz.
* Battery life - It appears this phone has only 2 gears. A low gear for phone / SMS / push mail / browsing where battery life is excellent but then kicks into hyper-turbo mode if you use Flash video, games or anything taxing where it burns through battery life in no time. You can easily get through a whole day with power to spare if you stick to only the basic activities but best to use everything else while plugged in.
The reality is even with all these issues, I couldn’t give this device up. The power and speed coupled with the slim form factor and gorgeous screen are just too damn impressive and all the problems pale in significance. I might have had buyers remorse if the HTC Sensation was coming with an open bootloader and a slimmer profile but at the moment I don’t see anything that compares. I’m just hoping Samsung can fix some of the problems I’ve listed in software.
Regarding fixed items at the bottom: you can edit them from within the applications screen.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
2) Fixed icons at the bottom. I understand Phone and Apps being fixed but not messaging and contacts. I’d like to change those - hell, even Apple lets you change those.
You can change those - Go to app drawer-> menu -> edit -> and drop the app you wants.
EleCtrOx666 said:
You can change those - Go to app drawer-> menu -> edit -> and drop the app you wants.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works! Thanks
Interesting thoughts indeed.... I hope there is some help out there ^^
Here's a solution for 1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=13825680#post13825680
Nice honest and informative post. Most of the issues will hopefully be fixable once we start getting some custom ROMs I'm hoping. Or hopefully fixes direct from Samsung in regards to GPS, WiFi, and 3G. I guess time will tell.
gstar_raw said:
Nice honest and informative post. Most of the issues will hopefully be fixable once we start getting some custom ROMs I'm hoping. Or hopefully fixes direct from Samsung in regards to GPS, WiFi, and 3G. I guess time will tell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very puzzling that Sammy would have issues in key connectivity areas on such a high profile phone. Wonder if they''re all antenna related? As you say, hopefully not, and it's all solvable with SW.
Homescreen order
C'mon guys - it's not that hard to reorder your homescreens...
Just pinch zoom (helicopter mode) longpress & drag.....
Hope this helps you...
---
Regards,
Ian.
EleCtrOx666 said:
Here's a solution for 1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=13825680#post13825680
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Will try it.
BatterBits said:
C'mon guys - it's not that hard to reorder your homescreens...
Just pinch zoom (helicopter mode) click & drag.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue isn't re-ordering. It's changing the default home screen from the left (on TouchWiz) to the middle (As on stock Android / Sense etc)
Abra_Cadabra said:
Thanks! Will try it.
The issue isn't re-ordering. It's changing the default home screen from the left (on TouchWiz) to the middle (As on stock Android / Sense etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in the old TW, it allowed users to change the default home screen. I have no idea what happened to the new TW
Abra_Cadabra said:
Thanks! Will try it.
The issue isn't re-ordering. It's changing the default home screen from the left (on TouchWiz) to the middle (As on stock Android / Sense etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doh!
Sorry, Didn't quite catch that - I understand now where you're coming from.
<note to self - dont respond to posts you haven't read properly>
---
Regards,
Ian
After my first day with this phone I switched to the the ADW Launcher, Samsung really didn't think the TouchWiz launcher through - not only the default homescreen being on the left, but also the fact that Apps in the drawer aren't sorted alphabetically.
I used to own the Samsung Galaxy Vibrant. It's disturbing that Samsung is still not getting the GPS working right!
briansj said:
I used to own the Samsung Galaxy Vibrant. It's disturbing that Samsung is still not getting the GPS working right!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My gps works like a charm
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
I'm on the latest firmware but it's still pretty buggy...
I've tried switching to launcher pro but I still get crash reboots and loss of sound.
Last night I entered the pin and the phone just reboots.
I also loose the clicks on the pin screen. When this happens you have to reboot go get audio back...I tried playing an mp4 video with no sound when it was in this state and it just said unable to play. Of course it worked fine after a reboot...
So pretty buggy at the moment
mine has no bugs or what so ever, after 2 weeks of used i can never compare it to other phones performance either android or iOS,i used both before but this one is simply way above them..
no built in stock music widget was a dissapointment for me as well as the horrible lock screen style and the lag during wakeup..apart from that this phone is really amazing..but touchwiz needs some serious thought...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Agreed that this phone is as speedy and steady as the HTC Desire and iPhone 4 that I have owned. The trick to all these phones is that if you play around too much with settings,tweaks,launchers you are likely to get problems.
Hey guys!
I've got 2 of the T-Mobile HD2 handsets, both 'yellow reset button' revisions. One runs Windows Mobile 6.5 (have yet to find an alternative for texting through Outlook/Exchange), the other running some flavor of Android. This setup has been working just fine for months, but last month I started experiencing random restarts, sleep death, and charge death. In two known instances, this happened during calls.
Now having been educated on How to ask a question properly, I have done my best to attempt all the due diligence I could muster...
--The Android handset is presently running the Nexus ICS 1.5 ROM with the Dormanix ICS kernel. After the first few random restarts, I tried it with the regular kernel (tyung's?) and had the same issue. I then reverted to my mainstays of Typhoon Cyanogen and Hyperdroid, both with stock kernels, both demonstrating the same issue after the first day or two.
--I've tried every radio release from 2.10-2.15, being careful to only install the '50' releases, not the '51's. None of these have alleviated the issue.
--I used setCPU to try overclocking, underclocking, then just set it back to stock and uninstalled setCPU.
--The most recent format attempt, while I didn't task29, I did format /system and /data from within CWM.
--Also with the most recent attempt, I didn't install any backup software or create any backups, except with text messages through GoSMS. I did not restore any backups with Titanium Backup or MyBackup Pro.
--I have not uninstalled any system apps with ROM Toolbox.
--I have tried updating my CWM install version to 5.x.
--I have attempted switching the OSes of the two handsets; both have had the same issue with Android but neither have SoD'd with Windows Mobile.
Just about the only thing I haven't tried was switching the the cLK bootloader instead of MagLDR; my logic for not doing so is that I do keep an archive of all the old versions of the ROMs I've installed so that, in cases like these, I could try some older known-stable-to-me releases, and all the ones I've downloaded were for MAG. Additionally, none of the other threads I read indicated that the seemingly mature MAG platform was found to be the cause of anyone else's issues; all the other threads seemed to relate to either titanium backup restoring something in an extremely wonky manner, or an unstable/incompatible release of the baseband firmware.
The only other thing I could think of that could cause the issue that started roughly around the time that this problem started was my use of LBE Privacy Guard. I'm hesitant to blame LBE for the following reasons:
1.) LBE has been perfectly stable on my Incredible 2.
2.) LBE hasn't been blamed for any of the other SoD issues discussed in these threads.
3.) The Google Play page for LBE indicates no such issues reported in either the dev writeup or the first five pages of reviews.
4.) The SoDs don't seem to coordinate with the times that LBE blocks things.
5.) Uninstalling didn't make the issue go away.
However, given the nature of LBE and the kind of low-level access it gets to the system, I felt it worth mentioning.
Thanks for reading my lengthy plight; any assistance (including thread links if I missed a thread in my searches) would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime, I'm going to give Task29 and installing CLK a try.
Joey
Okay, after reading your question/issue thoroughly, it seems that you have tried almost everything but to no avail.
First thing I noticed was, " I started experiencing random restarts, sleep death, and charge death"
This may indicate bent battery pins, or just a faulty battery.
(Have you tried a different battery? Checked the pins?)
Have you tried going to complete stock and using your phone normally? If yes, did you experience any restarting, sleep death, charge death or any kind of issues? If not, do so.
Have you ever had your device stuck while flashing something? radio ? bootloader ? and you had to remove battery?
Have you ever felt that your device is overheating or lagging a lot ?
Have you ever dropped your device ? Had something spilled on it? ( This may seem a weird question, but ... you never know )
Marvlesz said:
Okay, after reading your question/issue thoroughly, it seems that you have tried almost everything but to no avail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do my best to walk all the beaten paths before I ask for help. If I'm going to ask everyone else to spend their time helping me out, the least I can do is demonstrate that solving the issue is worth my own time.
First thing I noticed was, " I started experiencing random restarts, sleep death, and charge death"
This may indicate bent battery pins, or just a faulty battery.
(Have you tried a different battery? Checked the pins?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got five different batteries I rotate regularly. Two do admittedly need replacing, but the batteries all work perfectly in the WinMo handset. Additionally, I've had instances where I've been playing Robo Defense, and while it won't respond to input until it does its reboot, the game still carries on with the screen fully lit. However, the issue doesn't appear to be related to a capacitive touch screen failure, since a known unresponsive screen has ALWAYS been met with an restart, given enough time, and a battery pull ALWAYS returns it to proper working order.
Have you tried going to complete stock and using your phone normally? If yes, did you experience any restarting, sleep death, charge death or any kind of issues? If not, do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're talking stock as in WinMo 6.5, then 'yes' in the sense that the issue first started on the first HD2 (we'll designate it "Alpha"), which was running Android, while the second HD2 ("Bravo") was runing WM. Since I too wondered if it might be a hardware/bootloader/whatever issue, I task29'd both phones and made Alpha run WM and Bravo run Android. Alpha, which would SoD regularly with Android, has never done so with WM. Bravo, which never had an issue with WM, SoD's with Android. Having both phones at my disposal has enabled me to pretty reasonably conclude that it's something to do with Android and rule out a hardware issue.
Have you ever had your device stuck while flashing something? radio ? bootloader ? and you had to remove battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The closest I had to that was a radio revision whereby the bootloader never got past the 'loading' prompt, but neither that, nor the MagLDR install, nor any of the radio installations I've tried have required a reflash due to a botched installation attempt.
Have you ever felt that your device is overheating or lagging a lot ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're a fan of the SyFy Channel series "Warehouse 13", reading this question felt like being asked, "did you smell anything that you'd describe as smelling like fudge?". That being said, I've occasionally noticed it, but it's never seemed to be correlated to a reboot/SoD. Usually graphics intensive apps or GPS navigation will do it, but that's been mostly consistent ever since I owned an iPhone 2G. If you're going for "the CPU is being pegged" as a cause for the SoD, I'll be a bit more vigilant as I use it to see if a heat issue seems to trigger it, but my immediate reaction is "no".
Have you ever dropped your device ? Had something spilled on it? ( This may seem a weird question, but ... you never know )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not weird, perfectly understandable, and I'm pretty good with keeping my gear unsmashed
Hope it helps!
Joey
voyager529 said:
Additionally, I've had instances where I've been playing Robo Defense, and while it won't respond to input until it does its reboot, the game still carries on with the screen fully lit. However, the issue doesn't appear to be related to a capacitive touch screen failure, since a known unresponsive screen has ALWAYS been met with an restart, given enough time, and a battery pull ALWAYS returns it to proper working order.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you checked your pins? Swapping batteries make them vulnerable.
Also, I have never ever had a non responsive screen. So this may, JUST MAY, have something to do with a hardware related issue.
voyager529 said:
If you're talking stock as in WinMo 6.5, then 'yes' in the sense that the issue first started on the first HD2 (we'll designate it "Alpha"), which was running Android, while the second HD2 ("Bravo") was runing WM. Since I too wondered if it might be a hardware/bootloader/whatever issue, I task29'd both phones and made Alpha run WM and Bravo run Android. Alpha, which would SoD regularly with Android, has never done so with WM. Bravo, which never had an issue with WM, SoD's with Android. Having both phones at my disposal has enabled me to pretty reasonably conclude that it's something to do with Android and rule out a hardware issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From the redded part, I can understand that the issue started on Alpha, and soon thereafter it had affected Bravo.
This could mean that it is a thing shared between the two devices, a thing you do/use on both devices.
Maybe an sdcard ? Have you tried booting android from sd? have you tried booting android from NAND without an sdcard?
voyager529 said:
If you're a fan of the SyFy Channel series "Warehouse 13", reading this question felt like being asked, "did you smell anything that you'd describe as smelling like fudge?". That being said, I've occasionally noticed it, but it's never seemed to be correlated to a reboot/SoD. Usually graphics intensive apps or GPS navigation will do it, but that's been mostly consistent ever since I owned an iPhone 2G. If you're going for "the CPU is being pegged" as a cause for the SoD, I'll be a bit more vigilant as I use it to see if a heat issue seems to trigger it, but my immediate reaction is "no".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, okay then, it's not the device overheating.
Let's narrow it down, your both devices started to have charging/screen issues. With a relatively close time from each other.
Now, there is something bugging me. If Bravo was on WinMo, and you said you have had no issues on WinMo whatsoever, how did you know that the it was is experiencing the same issues?
(If your answer is going to be "Because I put android on it" , then the issue probably originated from the way you flash android.)
You also said that: on Winmo, both devices ran fine and on Android both devices had SoD's .
This may mean, the ROM you are/were using is simply malfunctioning. Have you tried various ROMs or it is just one ROM ?
Sorry for being late, awaiting your reply
Have you checked your pins? Swapping batteries make them vulnerable.
Also, I have never ever had a non responsive screen. So this may, JUST MAY, have something to do with a hardware related issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ironically, Bravo (the one presently running Android) was warranty replaced less than a month ago due to an actual, legit unresponsive screen. The fact that the pattern is consistently "screen stops responding/SoD/CoD -> hot reboot -> phone resumes working perfectly", and has been on both phones, leads me to put that particular explanation towards the bottom of the pile. Rather selfishly, the supplemental reason to that is that T-Mo isn't going to honor a warranty replacement for an issue that only happens on an operating system that is an unofficial port, so if it is some bizarre hardware issue, it's gonna be mighty expensive to get the phone swapped.
This could mean that it is a thing shared between the two devices, a thing you do/use on both devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a thought about that that I'll get to in a moment...
Have you tried booting android from sd?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. good catch =)
have you tried booting android from NAND without an sdcard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always use the NAND methods, but data is a bit hard to store without an SD card. You have inspired me to do a MicroSD shuffle though. I'll give that a try.
Now, there is something bugging me. If Bravo was on WinMo, and you said you have had no issues on WinMo whatsoever, how did you know that the it was is experiencing the same issues?
(If your answer is going to be "Because I put android on it" , then the issue probably originated from the way you flash android.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is, in fact, the answer lol. Originally, Alpha ran Android and Bravo ran WinMo. This problem started, so I switched them around: Bravo was configured to run Android, and Alpha became the WinMo phone. Alpha, which would SoD with Android, has not done so in the weeks since it became the WinMo running handset. Bravo, now sporting Googleware, exhibited the same issues.
To answer your last question regarding whether it was the ROM, I tried the ICS ROM with stock kernel, Dormanix's kernel, Typhoon CyanogenMod (the most reliable in my experience), and HyperDroid. All of these ROMs did the same thing after the first day or two, but hadn't done so in the past: I used both the latest release and older releases that I've used and am 100% certain have worked for me, on my hardware, without fail. As such, this is starting to ratchet back to being a PEBKAC/ID10T issue, but I was never able to pinpoint anything specifically that would earn me a dunce cap. This morning though, I had a breakthrough...
Yesterday, I decided to ditch MAGLDR and opt for CLK instead. I must admit that I do greatly prefer MagLDR, but I was determined to try as many things as possible to get to the bottom of this. I Task29'd, got CLK in along with CWM Recovery, Flashed the ROM again, and started restoring apps from the Google Play Store. No reboots at this point, but then again, most flashes have worked wonderfully the first day. As an aside, I'm torn: I do like the greatly decreased boot time and increased internal storage availability, but MagLDR was much simpler to work with for frequent flashing chores. Oh well.
The stock lock screen gives me a camera launching option by dragging the unlock icon to the left. Being left handed, on more than one occasion I've ended up getting myself to the camera by accident because the side of my palm triggered the multitouch. As such, I did a little experiment. Using ROM Toolbox, I 'froze' the camera app; I never use it intentionally anyway. After doing so, I was curious as to how the lock screen would react. Behold! I finally found a way to consistently trigger a restart! This got me thinking two things:
1.) As much as I like taking out things like the stock news/weather/twitter apps that I never, EVER use, maybe one of those were being randomly restarted (as Android apps tend to do), and instead of giving up on starting the app, my phone instead decided to divide by zero.
2.) The utility of Advanced Task Killer and its ilk have been hotly debated in Android forums. Personally, I find ATK to be extremely useful and love its functionality. As such, it's among the first things I install. Hence, I wonder if, for some bizarre reason, ATK is either killing the wrong task, or its presence is wreaking havoc.
Thus, I have foregone MagLDR, foregone ATK, and foregone pulling out stuff in ROMs I don't want. Also, I bought the GOTO lockscreen to help me get rid of the camera launching problem. So far, my system uptime is 6 hours, 14 minutes
Joey
voyager529 said:
The stock lock screen gives me a camera launching option by dragging the unlock icon to the left. Being left handed, on more than one occasion I've ended up getting myself to the camera by accident because the side of my palm triggered the multitouch. As such, I did a little experiment. Using ROM Toolbox, I 'froze' the camera app; I never use it intentionally anyway. After doing so, I was curious as to how the lock screen would react. Behold! I finally found a way to consistently trigger a restart! This got me thinking two things:
1.) As much as I like taking out things like the stock news/weather/twitter apps that I never, EVER use, maybe one of those were being randomly restarted (as Android apps tend to do), and instead of giving up on starting the app, my phone instead decided to divide by zero.
2.) The utility of Advanced Task Killer and its ilk have been hotly debated in Android forums. Personally, I find ATK to be extremely useful and love its functionality. As such, it's among the first things I install. Hence, I wonder if, for some bizarre reason, ATK is either killing the wrong task, or its presence is wreaking havoc.
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lmao !! xD
But that is weird. Why would your phone reboot when the app is frozen ? When you freeze an app, it disappears from the app launcher, but being available on the lockscreen may be the cause.
I don't think it's ATK, since I was on the SD versions of Android, I used to use ATK. And never had a problem. On the other hand, I did notice some random reboots on ICS after freezing some system apps with Titanium Backup.
That said, these reboots shouldn't occur when on typhoon, Hyperdroid or any non-ICS ROM, should they ?
I'm still confused about this "Originally, Alpha ran Android and Bravo ran WinMo. This problem started"
There is no way in hell, two separate devices, would face the same issue without any relation.
And, forgive me but, if the problem only occurred on Alpha, why did you put Android on Bravo while it was working fine? (Again, sorry, but I need an answer for this )
Update: The phone froze twice yesterday, but has been fine since...wait, literally just rebooted as I was typing this after I hit the 'home' key.
I'm thinking that at some point early next week, I'll try task29ing again and put typhoon on there with no task killer and no alternate launcher and see if I get anywhere.
To answer your question, the problem started on Alpha. As a desktop computer tech, when a desktop has issues like this, it tends to be faulty RAM. Since phones don't have user-swappable DIMMs, I wanted to rule out a hardware issue. Alpha has been running WinMo 6.5 flawlessly ever since, which leads me to believe that it is, indeed, a software issue of some kind.
Joey
voyager529 said:
Update: The phone froze twice yesterday, but has been fine since...wait, literally just rebooted as I was typing this after I hit the 'home' key.
I'm thinking that at some point early next week, I'll try task29ing again and put typhoon on there with no task killer and no alternate launcher and see if I get anywhere.
To answer your question, the problem started on Alpha. As a desktop computer tech, when a desktop has issues like this, it tends to be faulty RAM. Since phones don't have user-swappable DIMMs, I wanted to rule out a hardware issue. Alpha has been running WinMo 6.5 flawlessly ever since, which leads me to believe that it is, indeed, a software issue of some kind.
Joey
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I don't know if it was just me not reading this whole thing properly (which it probably was, given the amount of information you're providing) but you never seemed to have actually answered the questions about bent battery pins. You mentioned that you are often swapping batteries which makes the battery pins vulnerable to being unintentionally bent out of shape, and they may not be making contact with the battery properly. I have no clue as to how this would really help you (maybe the reboots, not the screen issue), but it wouldn't do any harm to check it out
---------- Post added at 02:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:51 PM ----------
Marvlesz said:
And, forgive me but, if the problem only occurred on Alpha, why did you put Android on Bravo while it was working fine? (Again, sorry, but I need an answer for this )
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Didn't see this earlier, but surely the question is 'why would you leave the HD2 on the world's worst OS?'
I'm disinclined to believe it's the battery pins for the following reasons:
1.) in certain cases, the screen is unresponsive, but the send/end buttons light up, indicating that power is indeed flowing.
2.) in certain cases, I've had the phone do a 'hot restart' (i.e. not going through the bootloader, just showing the boot animation) mid phone call or during other kinds of use. If it was a momentary disconnect, wouldn't it be doing a complete, cold restart?
As for why I'm using Windows Mobile, two reasons:
1.) Android has been giving me issues lately, as this thread clearly illustrates. For all the crap Windows Mobile 6.5 gets, it's been pretty stable, ALWAYS rings, is significantly less demanding on battery life.
2.) Its killer feature for me is that it enables text messaging through Exchange/Outlook 2010, something no other mobile OS presently provides. Additionally, it does all of the core phone functions I use (calls, texting, tethering, web browsing with Opera Mobile, Facebook notifications/caller ID sync, USB mass storage, video/music playback, Swype input, etc.). It might not have 100,000,000,000,000 apps, but the Sencity flavor of EnergyROM is extremely reliable.
Joey
voyager529 said:
If you're going for "the CPU is being pegged" as a cause for the SoD, I'll be a bit more vigilant as I use it to see if a heat issue seems to trigger it, but my immediate reaction is "no".
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Even if you can't feel it overheating, try putting it in a cool place for some time until you can feel that the aluminium back cover is cold to touch, then do something which would normally cause a hot reboot or any other issue. An open window with a slight breeze is normally good enough to cool the phone down (so long as it isn't too sunny or hot obviously).
I guess you're right about WinMo being the most stable OS (although from what I've heard WP7 is very good as well) but I just couldn't live with it. Even if I started experiencing large issues I would do everything in my power to not use that OS again! Used it the other day on my friend's HD2 which he now keeps purely as an alarm clock and it's ghastly, I found it painful to use again.
voyager529 said:
I'm disinclined to believe it's the battery pins for the following reasons:
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Will checking the battery pins trigger a bomb ? Why don't you just CHECK THE PINS to eliminate all the doubt. Instead of the assumptions you keep making !
And do what Nigel has said, and report back.
Marvlesz said:
Will checking the battery pins trigger a bomb ? Why don't you just CHECK THE PINS to eliminate all the doubt. Instead of the assumptions you keep making !
And do what Nigel has said, and report back.
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I apologize for my earlier lack of clarity.
I did check the pins for any obvious bending or lack of pressure, and they all appeared to be correctly shaped and pressured. As a result, I'm hesitant to blame it on the pins' shape and pressure at a micro level because of the reasons below - if the pins are bent in such a manner that it's undetectable by me personally but causing the problems in functionality, I wouldn't expect it to happen mid-call or mid-game.
In the none-too-distant future, I do intend on doing another task29 and going back to MagLDR and trying a previously untried ROM. Also, I have ordered new batteries, in the event that it's the physical batteries themselves.
I'll report back with what happens, and again, than you so much for all of your help.
Joey
voyager529 said:
I apologize for my earlier lack of clarity.
I did check the pins for any obvious bending or lack of pressure, and they all appeared to be correctly shaped and pressured. As a result, I'm hesitant to blame it on the pins' shape and pressure at a micro level because of the reasons below - if the pins are bent in such a manner that it's undetectable by me personally but causing the problems in functionality, I wouldn't expect it to happen mid-call or mid-game.
In the none-too-distant future, I do intend on doing another task29 and going back to MagLDR and trying a previously untried ROM. Also, I have ordered new batteries, in the event that it's the physical batteries themselves.
I'll report back with what happens, and again, than you so much for all of your help.
Joey
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Ah, OK thanks for clearing that up (I, like Marvlesz, thought you simply were refusing to check the battery pins for some odd reason). Did you try the fridge trick? I've read in many places that it works for some people, maybe it could help you too (although don't leave it in there for too long; I'm no expert but I would assume phones aren't designed for that ) and report back.
Just thought I'd follow up with everyone...
On April 22, I task29'd, MagLDR'd, and installed HyperDroid-CM7-Observant-Opossum -v5.9.0. Since then, my phone has been working properly.
Thus, I am chalking the whole ordeal up to one of three things:
1.) an issue with a backup of some kind.
2.) an issue with the internal memory that I managed to 'partition around' when I installed MagLDR again.
3.) an issue with ICS/kernel compatibility that was unique to my phones for some odd reason.
Regardless, for the past ten days, the only reason I've had to reboot the phone was due to a dead battery. Thank you everyone who watched this thread and helped me with my issue. I am greatly appreciative of your willingness and patience.
Joey