Database Users

Focus is dying, what could it be?

i suspect the power/lock button is FUBAR, but there are some other symptoms that do not resemble just a bad power/lock button. here are the symptoms that indicate it is the power/lock button:
1. when the phone is off, almost impossible to turn on. sometimes have to press and hold power button 10-12 times before it will shut on
2. when the phone is on and i press the lock button to lock the phone, most of the time it thinks i held the button and says "slide down to power off" although sometimes it doesn't respond at all. it almost NEVER locks when i press it (like it should be doing)
3. when the phone is on and i press the lock button to unlock the phone, most of the time it shuts off completely and i go back to step 1
symptom that indicates another problem not related to power/lock button:
1. if the phone is off and i press the power button, when the phone responds it will sometimes say "samsung" like it is turning on, and then nothing else will happen. i won't get the ATT screen and it won't boot up. this some times happens multiple times before the phone finally boots
currently i've been letting the phone time out automatically instead of the lock button, and using the camera button to unlock it. i've also been trying to not let it turn off at all, because getting it back on is really tough.
is there anyway i can disable the lock/power button...and/or is there an alternative way to lock and turn on your phone that doesn't require the use of that button? even if i tell myself not to use it, there are still times in your pocket where the darn thing gets pressed. for me that could mean it kills my phone and doesn't restart for the rest of the day, which i'm sure you can imagine is not ideal.

tuffluck said:
i suspect the power/lock button is FUBAR, but there are some other symptoms that do not resemble just a bad power/lock button. here are the symptoms that indicate it is the power/lock button:
1. when the phone is off, almost impossible to turn on. sometimes have to press and hold power button 10-12 times before it will shut on
2. when the phone is on and i press the lock button to lock the phone, most of the time it thinks i held the button and says "slide down to power off" although sometimes it doesn't respond at all. it almost NEVER locks when i press it (like it should be doing)
3. when the phone is on and i press the lock button to unlock the phone, most of the time it shuts off completely and i go back to step 1
symptom that indicates another problem not related to power/lock button:
1. if the phone is off and i press the power button, when the phone responds it will sometimes say "samsung" like it is turning on, and then nothing else will happen. i won't get the ATT screen and it won't boot up. this some times happens multiple times before the phone finally boots
currently i've been letting the phone time out automatically instead of the lock button, and using the camera button to unlock it. i've also been trying to not let it turn off at all, because getting it back on is really tough.
is there anyway i can disable the lock/power button...and/or is there an alternative way to lock and turn on your phone that doesn't require the use of that button? even if i tell myself not to use it, there are still times in your pocket where the darn thing gets pressed. for me that could mean it kills my phone and doesn't restart for the rest of the day, which i'm sure you can imagine is not ideal.
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You seem to have a (hardware) problem with the power button (obviously).
There are a couple of ways to turn on the phone/display without the power button:
- camera/back
- connect power charger
- usb connect
Last 2 are not practical and first you already do. You should try and see how much would it cost to replace the power button, if you're out of warranty. Should be cheap, and beats workarounds.

is there any way to lock it rather than letting it just time out? what about turning it on?
do you feel pretty confident that the seemingly unrelated symptom where the "samsung" screen comes up and then shuts off while trying to turn the phone on STILL indicates the button is broken? just worried this problem extends further than just the button.
thanks for your help.

tuffluck said:
is there any way to lock it rather than letting it just time out? what about turning it on?
do you feel pretty confident that the seemingly unrelated symptom where the "samsung" screen comes up and then shuts off while trying to turn the phone on STILL indicates the button is broken? just worried this problem extends further than just the button.
thanks for your help.
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Click to collapse
There's no other way to turn it on (except plugging it to charge) and you found the one workaround, with the camera.
I am *very* sure that the power button is the culprit in your case, most likely the spring that pops back the button is either broken or out of place.
If you keep the power button pressed, in 2 seconds you'll see the slide message, but if you keep it pressed, then it just turns off after 2 more seconds. So, yes, it's the power button and nothing else, in your case.
Fix that and you should be back to normal.
And you're not the only one with this problem. Recently, I've tried to help someone else here, with the same problem, as you can see here.

thanks. i called around and a guy here in town said it will take him 30 minutes for $30 to fix it. i'm taking it to him at lunch, so hopefully i'll come back with a fully functional phone--he also was pretty certain it was the power button, and had seen this before. thanks for your help.

well it wasn't the power button. apparently there is a battery connected to the power button that is dying. but you can't even order a new battery, so pretty much once it's dead, it's dead for good and you have to do the camera button workaround like i was doing.
though he did solder the battery to the board a little more (that's another problem, from the factory it is soldered to the main board so even if you could replace it, you'd likely damage the board), and it seemed to fix the problem. he claimed it would only be temporary and within a few weeks the problem will likely come back.

tuffluck said:
well it wasn't the power button. apparently there is a battery connected to the power button that is dying. but you can't even order a new battery, so pretty much once it's dead, it's dead for good and you have to do the camera button workaround like i was doing.
though he did solder the battery to the board a little more (that's another problem, from the factory it is soldered to the main board so even if you could replace it, you'd likely damage the board), and it seemed to fix the problem. he claimed it would only be temporary and within a few weeks the problem will likely come back.
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That is weird indeed. I don't think I ever heard of another type of battery being used in phones, tied to buttons. Unless it's a capacitor but anyways...
Thanks for sharing the info with us!

I know this is thread is almost a year old, but unfortunately, it seems my Samsung Focus (v1.3) also has the exact same issue.
The worst bit is that every other aspect of this once glorious phone still works and I was very happy using it, not really feeling the need to upgrade.
I was using a custom ROM which I flashed back to AT&T original 7004 but that did not work. It doesn't seem to be a software issue at all.
The symptoms are the same - tapping the power button to lock the phone gives you the option to slide to power-off and after a second it will do that anyway (without any interaction). When you try to boot, it won't progress past the SAMSUNG screen and in the rare chance it does boot, it will work for an hour or two before dying again. Connecting power helps a little (as you can't turn off the phone with mains power connected), but only just. I have tried using the original battery which I initially suspected was causing issues but even a generic battery has the same issues. I'm tempted to spend $20 on a genuine battery but I don't think it will really help given the generic battery did work properly when the phone was itself.
I'm now faced with upgrading to the Lumia 920 but with new models around the corner I think I'm going for the budget Lumia 520 which has similar specs to the Focus (except LED flash) and will hold out for the new flagship model, or buy the 920 when it falls a bit more.

Hi - just wanted to add my experience with this issue (as my focus exhibited these exact symptoms today). Unlike some people, though, even if my phone managed to boot up, it would shut down again after a few seconds on the tile screen.
Like cysser0, I also suspected the battery at first, but replacing the long-life I had purchased last year with the original battery (which I keep charged as a back-up) had no effect on the symptoms. To be brief, I tried all sorts of things over the course of an hour. Nearing the end of my tether, and resigning myself to try a format as a last resort, I discovered that if I held the power button and the volume button down, I could get the phone to stay on. Releasing either of these buttons would result in the phone switching off suddenly.
Wrapping a rubber band tightly around the top of the phone has allowed me to continue using the phone for the moment, and I have managed to do a backup of all my content (not that I will be able to restore it on this phone, it seems).

HTC HD2 broken

Hi,
After a night in a tent my HTC HD2 started to malfunction. When turning on the device I noticed it said ''safe mode'' (Android NAND (sensation rom)). At first I didn't think much of it, because I thought the device had turned of due to a dead battery. However after leaving it for a while to recharge I noticed that after each reboot it would return to safe mode. Then I noticed that the device kept showing that it was in vibration mode --> the volume down button is stuck(not physically though). Also the device kept popping up ''recent activities''... I'm under the impression that this is due to a malfunctioning call button, not a 100% sure though.
After I reflashed it to wm 6.5 the problem still prevails. However I was able to get a more detailed view of the issue:
The windows button lacks every response, the call button does not respond on touch but seems to randomely activate the call function. The home button functions poorly. However the back button, power on button and volume up button function correctly.
The volume down button seems dependent on the other buttons. When pushing one of the buttons below the screen the volume down button is activated and is stuck untill the screen is turned on and off. However the volume up button does not yield such a result. The volume down button still is responsive to touch though, as long as it is not stuck.
Any ideas how to solve this problem, or how to work around it? As a precaution I put the HD2 in a box with a moisture absorber.

Hi. I wish I could give you a better understand that what I can offer but what I think happened is you probably rolled onto your phone while sleeping.
This is not to say your problem could have came from something else but let me explain a little about safe mode.
Safe mode anyone can enter by pressing volume down and holding it while it boots up. It allows the developer a safe mode they can enter similiar to
why your computer has it installed on it. Normally pulling the battery and letting the phone reboot clears this out though. With that being said i think what
has happened is the volume button has stopped working as it should. There are several sites you can go to here on the web to send your phone out
to have it looked at and fixed. All in all it shouldn't be that costly and if your mechanically inclined and (careful) it shouldn't be to hard to do it yourself. I
would make sure you take very good notes/pictures in dismantling your phone because if you put it back together wrong you can make the problem worse.
Ebay, listing found here has the volume button and the tools necessary to open your phone and repair the volume key for around $7 usd.
Please make sure your phone model is supported and you have the know how to do this without making things a bigger issue. I would also
suggest to wait for more info because I could be wrong as well.

Thanks for your time, effort and information.
However I don't think it is a problem caused due to physical damage to the volume button. In addition the phone was in a 'sidepocket' of the tent, making it virtually impossible to roll onto it. Because the call button is malfunctioning as well I can imagine it being motherboard related, addmittedly I am not much of an electrician .

The issue has been partly resolved. Only one problem still exists. When I push the windows button it results in a volume up response. I performed a hard reset but the problem still persists, any ideas what could cause this?
Cheers

The hd2 high level of integration can not fall. Even without the screen broke, other things will break, so the sets of sets of silicone can not throw. Screen indeed not easy to break unless it fell out just in time to have something to knock to the screen.

Home button broken & Phone keeps restarting

I've tried
http://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-2/general/guide-oneplus-2-home-button-dead-t3324321
none of the solutions worked while I was on Seraphs CM13.
There wasn't any on-screen buttons even in the buttons menu, so then I decided to flash Oxygen back on it because I know there was on screen buttons. After getting Oxygen 2.2.1 back, I tried to call *#808# and it would just lag and nothing would show up. Now the phone keeps restarting on it's own, power button doesn't make the clicky sound anymore however I'm able to feel when it's pressed down and I'm not sure if the power button is the cause of it. Not sure what to do from here, should I just contact OnePlus? It's been several months with my phone.

Same here

The home button on this phone is a capacitative one, it should not make any clicking sound as it's static.
Probably your home button and/or IC circuit just died for you like many others (me included). I swapped the button myself, as I'm pretty used to repairing phones myself, but that alone didn't fix the home button so it's probably the speaker IC or flex cable going up to the mainboard that's gotten fried by static electricity through the button.

NEED HELP. Power button stuck.

My power button gets stuck and as you know when you long press it it reboots the phone. So basically my phone is just constantly rebooting and rebooting, its practically unusable. I need help if anyone knows a way to disable the function of power button, I mean so the power button wont do any function anymore, or swap it with another button.

I had the same problem. Got the button replaced, it worked for a month or so and I started getting the random reboots again. A search on the internet reveals that this is a common problem with the S3, and I doubt they fixed the issue for the S3 neo.
1.5 years of use and my power button is broken, my volume buttons are mushy and my camera doesn't focus at all. The build quality on this phone is a joke.
You'll probably have to have your power key replaced as well. Or do what I did and remove it from the motherboard. You won't believe how flimsy the solder is. I now use the accessibility shortcut button to lock / unlock my phone. It's a hassle and it takes up screen real estate, but at least it works.

SpaceDye said:
I had the same problem. Got the button replaced, it worked for a month or so and I started getting the random reboots again. A search on the internet reveals that this is a common problem with the S3, and I doubt they fixed the issue for the S3 neo.
1.5 years of use and my power button is broken, my volume buttons are mushy and my camera doesn't focus at all. The build quality on this phone is a joke.
You'll probably have to have your power key replaced as well. Or do what I did and remove it from the motherboard. You won't believe how flimsy the solder is. I now use the accessibility shortcut button to lock / unlock my phone. It's a hassle and it takes up screen real estate, but at least it works.
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Mine stopped doing it now but I'm sure it will start again. You are right, build quality of this phone is really lame. That part on the sides that looks like metal is mostly worned off from my phone. Camera focus is crap and volume is lower than before, I can barely hear notifications. Maybe I'll remove the button too, but I'm concerned about how to boot the phone if it turns off.

You can turn on the phone by connecting the charger, immediately booting into download mode (before the battery icon comes up) and restarting from there. It's not the best solution, but at least I have a functional phone until my oneplus x arrives sometime this week

try to do this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXSbBG4NV-w

samo_say said:
try to do this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXSbBG4NV-w
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Click to collapse
I tried something similar and boy it works for a while.

SpaceDye said:
You can turn on the phone by connecting the charger, immediately booting into download mode (before the battery icon comes up) and restarting from there. It's not the best solution, but at least I have a functional phone until my oneplus x arrives sometime this week
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Click to collapse
That's actually a fantastic idea. I thought about flashing cm that has no offline charging and booting that way, but this is better solution lol.

SpaceDye said:
. I now use the accessibility shortcut button to lock / unlock my phone.
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Click to collapse
You can try nova launcher since it has a gesture for double tap to lock screen, or maybe a 3rd party app.

use soft lock to lock screen without pressing power button

Samsung Sm- J120H aka Galaxy J1 (2016) LCD problem

Hello, I hope this is the right forum for my question, sorry if I made a mistake. Anyway, my uncle bought this phone month ago in another country, everything worked fine until yesterday when LCD stopped working. After some time of trying to fix it, we concluded that if you press volume (up, down or both at the same time) button and then the power button, screen turns on and works for some time (couple minutes) but then goes black again. If you just press power button (without pressing volume button) it stays black but you can still hear it unlocks when you slide your finger across the screen, so touch screen works, phone works but LCD is black. I am guessing it's loosing connection but how does it turn on every time when I press volume button? It's very confusing. Phone was in a protective case since first day and it hasn't been dropped. Since it's bought in another country, it would cost more to return it there than to buy new one, so do you have any ideas? I have been replacing lcd screens for my friends last two years so I was thinking maybe I can disassemble it and check connections. Any help? sorry for my bad english

Luka keko said:
Hello, I hope this is the right forum for my question, sorry if I made a mistake. Anyway, my uncle bought this phone month ago in another country, everything worked fine until yesterday when LCD stopped working. After some time of trying to fix it, we concluded that if you press volume (up, down or both at the same time) button and then the power button, screen turns on and works for some time (couple minutes) but then goes black again. If you just press power button (without pressing volume button) it stays black but you can still hear it unlocks when you slide your finger across the screen, so touch screen works, phone works but LCD is black. I am guessing it's loosing connection but how does it turn on every time when I press volume button? It's very confusing. Phone was in a protective case since first day and it hasn't been dropped. Since it's bought in another country, it would cost more to return it there than to buy new one, so do you have any ideas? I have been replacing lcd screens for my friends last two years so I was thinking maybe I can disassemble it and check connections. Any help? sorry for my bad english
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Hello there, I'm from Brazil, as my english may not be the best lol... So I have same phone as you and similar problem... The problem is that volume down doesn't work. Other buttons work fine though. Also, the phone always enters in safe mode, so I assumed the volume down button is being pressed all the time. Except that, I realized that I could enter in download mode (I tested, if I don't press volume down in the combo 'power button + home + volume down' it won't get into download) and if I press volume down to cancel it will actually cancel and restart the phone. So the button is working... Here is the part where I think the problem is similar. There was a time I turned the phone off, through the system as we normally do, and then it wouldn't turn on again. I realized it was actually turning on, but the screen was black. I tried entering download mode and tested on odin and it actually had entered download mode, but the screen was black... Then after several attempts it finally got back on again... So I think there is something related with the button circuit with the lcd, I don't know. I would like to know if you got to any solution there. I guess that instead of bringing you any solution I'm bringing another problem lol. Well if I have any other information I will post it here. Best wishes.