Database Users

[Q] Tab is dead?

I wasn't doing anything special with my Tab, just browsing some sites, put it away for maybe an hour, then brought it out. Hit the power button on the side and... nothing.
I held it, thinking maybe it turned off. I also charged it for a while, thinking maybe the battery turned off.
Nada.
Anyone experience something like this and have a fix?
Thanks in advance.

try a long press on the power button.. maybe 10 secs... it might have frozen on the last software and that will turn it completely off. let me know if it works.

nvm... as soon as i finished typing this, the damn thing roared back to life..
mod, please delete~!

rodnav said:
try a long press on the power button.. maybe 10 secs... it might have frozen on the last software and that will turn it completely off. let me know if it works.
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lol thanks anyways. it suddenly turned on for no reason >-<
didn't even press the buttons...

That has happened to me 2 or 3 times during the past one month. I guess it is a feature (!) of the Tab

marjibis said:
That has happened to me 2 or 3 times during the past one month. I guess it is a feature (!) of the Tab
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Click to collapse
LOL neat feature.
I have had this happen too. I just held the power button down too for 5 secs and it worked.

Transformer hard to Awake

My transformer stand by button doesn't work all the time. Some time my finger literally hurts from applying the button.. Any suggestions
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

If you are rooted, install setcpu and create a profile for screen off and set the min to something in the middle 300's.
You could also verify you don't have a bunch of apps running.

I don't have that problem with mine. I just look at it and it wakes... maybe your button is broken?

I had the same problem with my first TF. After researching for a while, realized that it's the button. Returned it and got a new one. No problem with this one.

Same problem for me.
At the beginning I was thinking about a feature to avoid unaccidental power-on, then realized it is a bug (it got harder and harder, and after 40 days it ended up completely broken).
Just changed with a new one (thanks, Amazon): on/off button works like a charm on the new one.

I don't have a problem, but on a cold start there is a delay from pushing the button and something coming up on the display.
What I do is hold the button and count to 3 or 4. Then let go of the button. Within 5-10 seconds the information starts appearing on the screen.
When the unit is sleeping, it only takes a 1 second or less push of the button to get the screen back up.

Nexus S power button conspiracy theory/oddity

My power button has been malfunctioning for about 2 months now. That isn't to say it is 100% dead, but at times it'll work if I smack the button about a few times, and sometimes it will be completely unresponsive. I have read up on the subject and found a thread with a response from a guy claiming to be an engineer who said the micro switches they use in these phones are somewhat weak and only work for a limited number of presses. Recently, I changed roms, and to my surprise the power button worked great for a short period of time. Since then, I've found that when my power button starts acting up, wiping the dalvik cache put it back to normal. This lead me to thinking, and I've come to believe it could very well be a hardware problem that is meant to happen. I am by no means a coder/programmer but I have studied it enough to know that certain code can be written for a device that sets a "timer" for a piece of hardware to die out or malfunction. If that's the case with this, then it makes sense somewhat that wiping the dalvik cache resets this timer for a short time. Anyone have any thoughts? Am I crazy tinfoil hat wearer or does this make some sense?

knarfrabot said:
My power button has been malfunctioning for about 2 months now. That isn't to say it is 100% dead, but at times it'll work if I smack the button about a few times, and sometimes it will be completely unresponsive. I have read up on the subject and found a thread with a response from a guy claiming to be an engineer who said the micro switches they use in these phones are somewhat weak and only work for a limited number of presses. Recently, I changed roms, and to my surprise the power button worked great for a short period of time. Since then, I've found that when my power button starts acting up, wiping the dalvik cache put it back to normal. This lead me to thinking, and I've come to believe it could very well be a hardware problem that is meant to happen. I am by no means a coder/programmer but I have studied it enough to know that certain code can be written for a device that sets a "timer" for a piece of hardware to die out or malfunction. If that's the case with this, then it makes sense somewhat that wiping the dalvik cache resets this timer for a short time. Anyone have any thoughts? Am I crazy tinfoil hat wearer or does this make some sense?
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Click to collapse
I AGREE! I thought it broke a while ago but I did a complete wipe and put a brand new rom on it. Heck I almost sent it to Sammy but for some reason it stared working. I dont think its the dalvik cache though. I have a feeling its ClockworkMod Recovery because sometimes it says a key was disabled and I had problems after that. I couldnt lock my phone.

knarfrabot said:
My power button has been malfunctioning for about 2 monthsnow. That isn't to say it is 100% dead, but at times it'll work if I smack the button about a few times, and sometimes it will be completely unresponsive. I have read up on the subject and found a thread with a response from a guy claiming to be an engineer who said the micro switches they use in these phones are somewhat weak and only work for a limited number of presses. Recently, I changed roms, and to my surprise the power button worked great for a short period of time. Since then, I've found that when my power button starts acting up, wiping the dalvik cache put it back to normal. This lead me to thinking, and I've come to believe it could very well be a hardware problem that is meant to happen. I am by no means a coder/programmer but I have studied it enough to know that certain code can be written for a device that sets a "timer" for a piece of hardware to die out or malfunction. If that's the case with this, then it makes sense somewhat that wiping the dalvik cache resets this timer for a short time. Anyone have any thoughts? Am I crazy tinfoil hat wearer or does this make some sense?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, you solved your own theory in your statement. since when does smacking your phone equate to a software issue? my power button went in august, mostly. it started showing the behavior that you described about 4-6 weeks beforehand. i say mostly, because the physical button doesnt work anymore(rarely a response from it). but ive figured out how to work it to my advantage/needs. i can wake my phone by shaking it now, and put the screen to sleep. also can be done with a light smack in the right place on the back of the phone. but to be practicle, i remapped my search button to use as a power button and wake my phone with the volume button. really, the only hard part is navigating in the bootloader menu since the volume buttons wont work there with the power button broken. so ive learned to work it by lightly, very lightly, tapping on a certain place on the back of the phone near the power button. this "loosens" the volume buttons and lets me navigate the menu. then i tap the phone again to make a selection. this in no way indicates a software issue/conspiracy to me. when it just started displaying this behavior, i thought it might be a software issue too. but it turned out to be all physical damage.

You know, the funny thing about when it stops working is that it's never all at once.
It's a degrading process of malfunction until it takes repeated button pressing, not so much force, to work. After that it works so seldom that I'm forced to do something about it. It's for those reasons I think it's something more than a hardware problem.
From your experiences, even after a full wipe/new rom installation, your power button still doesn't work, if only for a brief time?
P.S. The new touch based recovery from team win works really well for those of us who can't use our power buttons
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium

@simms22
Hmm my guess is that there are multiple issues that result in a malfunctioning power button. Props to remapping your search button to lock your phone. It would be a great work around if my phone ever had this problem again. Have search to lock the phone and volume keys to wake it. I'm unsure how you remapped your search button though. Maybe you can tell me how?
knarfrabot said:
P.S. The new touch based recovery from team win works really well for those of us who can't use our power buttons
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed! If you have no access to a computer with adb/fastboot control the touch ClockWorkMod recovery would be very useful.

knarfrabot said:
You know, the funny thing about when it stops working is that it's never all at once.
It's a degrading process of malfunction until it takes repeated button pressing, not so much force, to work. After that it works so seldom that I'm forced to do something about it. It's for those reasons I think it's something more than a hardware problem.
From your experiences, even after a full wipe/new rom installation, your power button still doesn't work, if only for a brief time?
P.S. The new touch based recovery from team win works really well for those of us who can't use our power buttons
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive been using twrp recovery for a while. even the non touch version has a no power button option. but i dont believe that theres anything else but hardware issues here. it is a degradation. at first it comes and goes, later it mostly just comes( ) and doesnt go. i can even hear a slight rattle in the power button area now if i shake the phone.
about after flashing.. at first, 50% of the time it would work after flashing, but it was just coincidence. but now no. btw, i flash many times a day, even then when it first started acting funny. flashing, wiping, it just doesnt make a difference, its coincidence.
---------- Post added at 09:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 PM ----------
Tw1tchy said:
@simms22
Hmm my guess is that there are multiple issues that result in a malfunctioning power button. Props to remapping your search button to lock your phone. It would be a great work around if my phone ever had this problem again. Have search to lock the phone and volume keys to wake it. I'm unsure how you remapped your search button though. Maybe you can tell me how?
Agreed! If you have no access to a computer with adb/fastboot control the touch ClockWorkMod recovery would be very useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ButtonRemapper app, available here on xda for free http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9399440&postcount=1
you want v0241. i have all the power button functionality with my search key except waking the device(volume rocker wakes my device). short press screen off, long press power menu, long press plus volume down for screenshots.

@tw1tchy, I totally agree it is multiple factors, which is why I can only speak for myself based on my experiences, although your overall experience seems to be similar to mine.
@simms22, I have never noticed a rattle in my phone, its likely that you and I have different causes attributed to the power button failure.
Not trying to beat a dead horse but just for the sake of being thorough, have you tried ODIN? I noticed a substantial difference when I ODIN'ed back to stock.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium

Me everytime I drop my phone on concrete my battery door opens and the battery falls of my phone...And you know what's the most odd part ...I get scratches on my phone when I pick it up .....Does anyone else gets this ??
Envoyé depuis mon Nexus S avec Tapatalk

I really like my Nexus S, but I kinda hope this power button self destruct kicks in soon. I see it as a feature - to make buying a Galaxy Nexus easier to justify. Good looking out Sammy.

I've had a similar problem for the last 4 months or so. It started when I dropped my nexus without the cover onto concrete floor. Not good I know.
But anyway...ever since then the power button been funny. Sometimes it didn't work at all and I couldn't turn the screen off and on. It was really bad. It took a while but now I kind of know how to handle it. Still annoying mind u.
Basically with mine the trick is to press the button really really hard towards the top end and it works fine. I've also noticed what some others are saying about changing rooms and doing resets etc. It seems to help as well.
But yeah...I still love my nexus. Lol. I think by me dropping it is the reason for my problems. It probably landed badly and loosened some part of the connection in that section or something. But as I said...all Is good now that I know the trick to it.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I've had my NS since Christmas Eve 2009 and the power button completely stopped working 2 days ago. I did notice over the past few weeks that it wasn't responding properly. TBH, my NS has been through a LOT in the past 14-months (multiple impacts, spillages, kids etc), I'm surprised it's lasted this long
I'm now using the ButtonRemapper app to use 'search' as the power button. Works great! Plus my volume keys wake the phone up so all is ok.
I love my NS and wish I bought another one when CPW had them for £150 sim free!
It might be time for me to let go of the NS , just have to decide which phone is next (but thats for another thread lol)

ugh mine is under a year old. im very angry that this happened so quickly. im gonna try giving samsung a call. hopefully the will replace it. i shouldn't have to hack my phone in order to make it usable.

@rener78 You seem to have a vast misunderstanding of how sarcasm works. Just as future reference, posting dry, tasteless irony up on the internet as a smart-mouthed statement of ill will is about as practical as a chocolate teapot.
@staplebox Lol! Well played, sir or madam. I can't say posting a thread containing the words conspiracy theory doesn't grant me at least a well placed snarky comment. Although to be fair, I was kinda bored when I wrote it.
@ALL Yes, I get it, we've all dropped our phones before. I guess I expected a bit more from Sammy since my little old HTC hero that I beat halfway to hell is still going strong, while I pampered this nexus and its already giving me problems >1 year in but that's a whole different discussion I suppose.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium

great mine just went out yesterday... had mine for a ltl over a year now.
No tapping certain areas or anything works.
I did notice it slowly degrade over the past few weeks.
I used the fix my power button app so my volume keys wake up my phone, but sometimes after using that 5 or 6 times it will stop working too so i have to plug my phone in the charger to turn it on. Is there another way of getting the volume keys to act as a wake button??
edit: i'm gonna try out that button remapper i saw in an earlier post.

tankmaster90 said:
great mine just went out yesterday... had mine for a ltl over a year now.
No tapping certain areas or anything works.
I did notice it slowly degrade over the past few weeks.
I used the fix my power button app so my volume keys wake up my phone, but sometimes after using that 5 or 6 times it will stop working too so i have to plug my phone in the charger to turn it on. Is there another way of getting the volume keys to act as a wake button??
edit: i'm gonna try out that button remapper i saw in an earlier post.
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Click to collapse
if you are using an ics rom go to the main settings, security, lockscreen.. now disable the lockscreen. you can now wake your device with the volume button. its a feature built into ics.

interesting did not know this. Thanks, I think I'm still gonna use the button remapper to change the function of the search key to the power so I can reboot and stuff and go into recovery and such easier since i'm running cm9.

tankmaster90 said:
interesting did not know this. Thanks, I think I'm still gonna use the button remapper to change the function of the search key to the power so I can reboot and stuff and go into recovery and such easier since i'm running cm9.
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Click to collapse
thats what i do. my search button has all the features of the power button but being able to wake the device.

Here's another question what if i need to pull the battery?? I'm rooted and running CM9 what if i go into a boot loop and i need to pull the battery with no charger around (i know how to do it with a charger) would the button remap solve this?

tankmaster90 said:
Here's another question what if i need to pull the battery?? I'm rooted and running CM9 what if i go into a boot loop and i need to pull the battery with no charger around (i know how to do it with a charger) would the button remap solve this?
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no. the button remapper app doesnt do anything when off or the screens off. honestly, i no boot many times a week(because i test the trinity kernel as its being developed before release), ive figured out a system of light taps near the power button to let the volume buttons let me scroll, and to select in the bootloader.so for me its a non issue. to power up from being powered up, i dont do anything. a, pluging in powers it. b, tapping the back powers it when no usb is available. c, it powers up by itself usually, seconds to a few minutes after powering off.

Being a heavy user of my nexus s since July 2011, the power button died last Sunday.
One of the most important problems i had after that was that i was unable to lock bootloader before giving the mobile to samsung service, because the stuck power button caused problems to fastboot commands and the bootloater usage(menu) in general.
Finally i decided to go to the service and give the phone. The result was that in about an hour they replaced the button and gave me back the mobile. The repair was covered by the 2 years warranty and the unlocked bootloader did not cause any problem to that.
Up to now i have a "brand new" nexus s and i hope that the new button will last much longer.

Power button not working after upgrade to 9.2.1.17 / US

Yesterday I have updated my TF101/US to 9.2.1.17 (not rooted, serial B50) and now my power button does not work at all. I cannot either shut it off (I can hold it for minutes, nothing happens), nor can I wake it up (the only possibility is to plug in the power). Reset to factory setting does not help
I talked to Asus, they suggested to send it to RMA, but I want to try to discharge it completely and check whether it helps.
Will keep this post updated if I find out something more.
Update: battery discharge did not fix the issue. Going to send the device to RMA.

Thanks for this post, this if for no other reason is why I will be dealing with my random reboots (they only occur once a week or so, if that often, for me so not a big problem, not like a broken power button would be) rather than updating the patch. However, this belongs in general or Q&A not development

Also for me you have to call assistance for a RMA: i could understand that power button does not turn off screen, but i can't understand, a part an hardware problem, how it does not shut down keeping power button down or why it does not turn on.

Yes, that sounds like hardware issue, but that must be very weird coincidence.
The complete story is that I just received device from RMA yesterday (LCD backlights were broken). I turned it on, it happened to have ICS already (it was sent with Honeycomb) and I was able to install all my software. Then a message re. new OTA update poped up, I decided to upgrade, and right after that power button stopped to work.
Yes, that can be hardware issue as well, that is why it goes to RMA. If I were 100% sure that this is software issue, I would wait some days hoping that ASUS will release bugfix for it.

Hmmm..the device will not power on if it is shut down? (How would you know this unless you shut down, and then can't turn it back on I don't know).
I re-read this and it is unlikely IMO that a firmware update could break your hardware, but I guess if a computer virus can break nuclear centrifuges anything is possible? Could be a coincidence..I feel for you, I had an over-discharge issue one night and my TF didn't want to boot up, and then flashed the red battery on the screen, but for those first few seconds my heart wasn't beating..I get the same feeling when I get a bad flash too lol

Luckily, the device wakes up when you plug the charger in. So, currently my choice is either to keep it running (disable sleep) or to have a charger and plug the charger in when I need to wake it up.
The bad thing is that the RMA "cycle" takes about two weeks.

Maybe it isn't a coincidence..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1546640

Mine started this about two weeks ago before I picked up the update today... I thought i was the only one until I saw this post

I have misunderstood something: post says WAKE ON not TURN ON, ok this could be software related, but long press power button should be FORCE A SHUT DOWN...

Click this link on how to remove the front bezel. Then you can check the inside power switch to see if it's working:
http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/cracking-open-the-asus-eee-pad-transformer-tf101/6270147
That's the way I fixed my TF101 after I dropped it and the power button got stuck in the chassis.
Also read this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1391254
I think this is a solution to your problem, if it's not software related, which I doubt.

I get the same problem all the time, I leave it sitting for a couple hours come back and it won't turn on or off...

I also sometimes get the non functioning power button. I cannot consistently replicate it.
Sometimes it happens after it sleeps for awhile.
Sometimes it turns on when I open the tablet up while connected to the dock.
I have to hold the power button until it reboots itself. This is annoying after while. And even getting more so.

I'm also having a power-on related issue since the ICS update but didn't want to start a whole new thread for it. Ever since the update my Transformer boots into CWM by default. If I power it down completely then press the power button the EEE Pad logo flashes on the screen, I hear an audible "click" (best way I can describe it) from the device and it boots into CWM. If I select "Reboot device now" from the CWM menu it boots right back into CWM.
The only way to boot properly now is to hold the volume down/power buttons until the menu comes up to choose between Android and recovery and choose Android. (It actually defaults to this so I can just let it sit 10 seconds or so)
Any ideas?

Headcase_Fargone said:
I'm also having a power-on related issue since the ICS update but didn't want to start a whole new thread for it. Ever since the update my Transformer boots into CWM by default. If I power it down completely then press the power button the EEE Pad logo flashes on the screen, I hear an audible "click" (best way I can describe it) from the device and it boots into CWM. If I select "Reboot device now" from the CWM menu it boots right back into CWM.
The only way to boot properly now is to hold the volume down/power buttons until the menu comes up to choose between Android and recovery and choose Android. (It actually defaults to this so I can just let it sit 10 seconds or so)
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly same problem as me now. holding volume down and power is the only way to start it up if it has been left alone for awhile. since the update.

nosup4u said:
exactly same problem as me now. holding volume down and power is the only way to start it up if it has been left alone for awhile. since the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently it's a pretty common issue with the new version of CWM, as explained in this here thread.
So far the only solutions I'm seeing involve ADB commands or flashing a custom ROM.

fixed for now....
I had the same issue the power button would only cold power off the device. The only way to power back on is by connecting the charger.
I solved it for no in the following way which i do no recommend to anyone. I have opened the device and disconnected the battery for 5minutes. After connecting it back the device powered on with the power button as it should.
In my opinion it looks as if there's some power related controller that was "hang" and ignored the power button .
Any ideas ? Asus ?

Custom roms and non-removable battery

So this phone has a non removable battery....
A few times now I have seen the need to do a battery pull when you're installing recovery or something goes wrong with a rom install....esp when you get into a bootloop....how will this play out on a phone where you can't?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

As it's been stated countless times, either a combination of button presses, or holding down the power button for a long period will cut off the power. The exact method varies by phone though

Check the HTC One X forum. Fixed battery, and no problem whatsoever with taking care of freeze ups or lock ups. Just hold the power Key & Volume - keys for like 10 seconds, and it reboots.

Zorachus said:
Check the HTC One X forum. Fixed battery, and no problem whatsoever with taking care of freeze ups or lock ups. Just hold the power Key & Volume - keys for like 10 seconds, and it reboots.
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i smell a bad future for me and this phone then. my volume keys are compeltly worn out on my phone right now, i can barly get to safeboot(power+volDown) as it is much less if any soft reset to break a freeze needs the buttons x.x
luckly this will be my second phone and ive found a way to nearly use every button from the screen already, still feels bad.

Besides after root you can install apps to reboot right into recovery mode or fast boot if you are a flashoholic like me to preserve volume keys

I saw a video about the phone that stated that holding down the power button for 10 seconds will turn the phone off. It's something they have to build into something that doesn't have a removable battery, not just for users but for them as well.

Same thing as a desktop, or laptop, or tablet, or any other phone that locks up. Hold the power button. It's a hardware-level thing, it works regardless of what state the device is in.

Zurginator said:
Same thing as a desktop, or laptop, or tablet, or any other phone that locks up. Hold the power button. It's a hardware-level thing, it works regardless of what state the device is in.
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This. My HTC One X can do this anywhere - even fastboot and recovery. It's hardcoded to the button logic.
M.

It's the new Nexus, man! Hopefully you won't be putting as many ROMs on this as you would with other mobile devices.
I started doing it on my Galaxy Nexus a while ago and then I ended up going back to stock because it was just so good and I found I never needed a custom ROM on it. My HTC Desire on the other hand... well, let's just say that that thing has had a real beating with me flashing new ROMs on it almost every day! Haha!

On my Xperia T you must keep down the power button and volume up for five seconds, which forces the phone to shut down. Maybe it's the same?