[Q] Menu key self-activating - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi all,
My i9505 has been working very nicely for quite a while now with a stock ROM (I9505XXUHOJ2) with no real issues to speak of. This past week, however, I have started wondering if someone is messing with me or if the phone is possessed. For no apparent reason, the menu key keeps self-activating. Sitting on a desk, no hands anywhere near, it pops up. Listing to my podcatcher or music in the car, same thing. And it keeps popping up multiple times. It's not only annoying, it pops up when I'm trying to use apps and causes me to make choices I wasn't intending to. I'm hoping I don't delete something by mistake this way some day.
Does anyone have any ideas other than the hardware going bad? If it is hardware, is it worth fixing (I can do my own repairs and have most of the tools, so parts is more the issue than labor)?
Thanks in advance!

The only suggestion, other than fixing the hardware, is factory reset or reflashing the rom altogether.
Maybe it isn't even a hardware issue. Maybe dust and dirt got underneath the glass and is causing false touch commands.
Other than that, the only other fix I see is replacing the touchscreen. As the menu key is not actually a physical key, like the home button, it is part of the touchscreen.

GDReaper said:
The only suggestion, other than fixing the hardware, is factory reset or reflashing the rom altogether.
Maybe it isn't even a hardware issue. Maybe dust and dirt got underneath the glass and is causing false touch commands.
Other than that, the only other fix I see is replacing the touchscreen. As the menu key is not actually a physical key, like the home button, it is part of the touchscreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering about that - if it part of the touchscreen, then only a touchscreen replacement will be the real answer.
What about switching to a ROM that allows me to turn off those keys and put those soft keys on the screen? Does AOSP do that?

eisenbergw said:
I was wondering about that - if it part of the touchscreen, then only a touchscreen replacement will be the real answer.
What about switching to a ROM that allows me to turn off those keys and put those soft keys on the screen? Does AOSP do that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends. There are AOSP based roms that have such a feature, and then there are pure AOSP roms that are very barebone.
CM roms generally have the on-screen navigation keys option.
You can also use Xposed to enable the keys.

Related

New X01HT owner with questions

hi, i'm a new owner and there are a few things that are bugging me and i'm not sure if it's normal or if it's problematic.
-the start menu pops up sometimes when i slide out the keyboard. is this normal?
-the device can only be charged when the usb is connected to my computer, but not when the usb is connected to an ac adapter.
-keys are mixed up (i supposed because of the Japanese keyboard layout, and i think i saw a fix for this)
when sliding out the keyboard, it takes about 6-8 seconds to adjust from portrait to landscape(with the start menu popping up when going to landscape).
-is it normal for the touchscreen to be completely unresponsive when the keyboard is slid out?
-the touchscreen is completely unresponsive sometimes while the keyboard is hidden and i have to either press random buttons or slide the keyboard in and out to get response back.
sorry for my noobishness and thanks in advance.
ok i've managed to solve the keyboard layout problem and i guess the delay is typical,. but the following problems/issues still exist:
-the start menu pops up sometimes when i slide out the keyboard. is this normal?
-the device can only be charged when the usb is connected to my computer, but not when the usb is connected to an ac adapter.
-is it normal for the touchscreen to be completely unresponsive when the keyboard is slid out?
-the touchscreen is completely unresponsive sometimes while the keyboard is hidden and i have to either press random buttons or slide the keyboard in and out to get response back.
thanks in advance.
anyone? any kinda help would be great
ji1386 said:
ok i've managed to solve the keyboard layout problem and i guess the delay is typical,. but the following problems/issues still exist:
-the start menu pops up sometimes when i slide out the keyboard. is this normal?
-the device can only be charged when the usb is connected to my computer, but not when the usb is connected to an ac adapter.
-is it normal for the touchscreen to be completely unresponsive when the keyboard is slid out?
-the touchscreen is completely unresponsive sometimes while the keyboard is hidden and i have to either press random buttons or slide the keyboard in and out to get response back.
thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi ji1386
I'm afraid that does not sound good. I have seen at least two other cases where the keyboard being slid out causes the start menu to pop up. It was concluded that pressure is being put on the touch sensitive screen by the mechanism. This is a hardware issue and can also show as programmes suddenly closing for no ovvious reason and I think this may also be responsible for the touch screen not responding when keyboard open. In summary pressure on the touch sensitive screen somewhere when there should not be.
If the device is under warranty I'd go for an immediate replacement. Perhaps just before doing so I would try a HARD reset just to be sure.
Mike
mikechannon said:
Hi ji1386
I'm afraid that does not sound good. I have seen at least two other cases where the keyboard being slid out causes the start menu to pop up. It was concluded that pressure is being put on the touch sensitive screen by the mechanism. This is a hardware issue and can also show as programmes suddenly closing for no ovvious reason and I think this may also be responsible for the touch screen not responding when keyboard open. In summary pressure on the touch sensitive screen somewhere when there should not be.
If the device is under warranty I'd go for an immediate replacement. Perhaps just before doing so I would try a HARD reset just to be sure.
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi, thanks a lot for the response. it really helps. now for the other problems
-is it normal for the the touchscreen to stop responding to taps when the keyboard is slid out?
ji1386 said:
hi, thanks a lot for the response. it really helps. now for the other problems
-is it normal for the the touchscreen to stop responding to taps when the keyboard is slid out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's not normal. The screen should respond as normal. For example when using word, even with the keyboard ou you should still be able to tap for the soft keyboard, tap on bold, centre, tap in text to inser a word etc etc.
If you can't I think it's because the keyboard mechanism is somehow putting pressure at some point on the screen i.e the same issue as the start menu popping up. If a hard reset does not cure this then it's a repair job or replacement under warranty I'd say.
Mike
mikechannon said:
No it's not normal. The screen should respond as normal. For example when using word, even with the keyboard ou you should still be able to tap for the soft keyboard, tap on bold, centre, tap in text to inser a word etc etc.
If you can't I think it's because the keyboard mechanism is somehow putting pressure at some point on the screen i.e the same issue as the start menu popping up. If a hard reset does not cure this then it's a repair job or replacement under warranty I'd say.
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks mike for all your help.
More bad news...since yesterday, the touch-screen no longer responds at all...completely unresponsive to tap or touch. I've tried hard/soft reseting and still got nothing...
I have however managed to get it to charge through a wall outlet. but it's a bit buggy...
Unfortunately, I bought this phone used locally and the guy isn't responding to any of my phone calls/emails, but whatever karma will come back to haunt him...I was thinking about taking this to a small claims court, but i dunno how to go about doing so and if my case will hold up...
anyway, I've had to take it to a repair shop. They said they'd order in a screen and replace it for $150 cad and it should fix it, if not a diagnosis charge of 20 bucks...
this should bring the total cost of this phone to $725cad...great...
Hopefully it solves all my problems. I'm guessing the start menu problem and the touch responsiveness problems get solved after this.
ji1386 said:
thanks mike for all your help.
More bad news...since yesterday, the touch-screen no longer responds at all...completely unresponsive to tap or touch. I've tried hard/soft reseting and still got nothing...
I have however managed to get it to charge through a wall outlet. but it's a bit buggy...
Unfortunately, I bought this phone used locally and the guy isn't responding to any of my phone calls/emails, but whatever karma will come back to haunt him...I was thinking about taking this to a small claims court, but i dunno how to go about doing so and if my case will hold up...
anyway, I've had to take it to a repair shop. They said they'd order in a screen and replace it for $150 cad and it should fix it, if not a diagnosis charge of 20 bucks...
this should bring the total cost of this phone to $725cad...great...
Hopefully it solves all my problems. I'm guessing the start menu problem and the touch responsiveness problems get solved after this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I certainly hope it works out ok. Changing the screen assumes (possibly correctly) that the screen is at fault. If the screen is fine just getting pressure put on it somewhere then it will be a bit of luck whether it solves problem or not. A key problem here is that the screen is sensitive to touch, even on the area under the bezel - which of course is absolutely daft. Combine this with the fact that there is not a lot of room for heat expansion and the slide out keyboard can cause minor distortions in the casing and you have potential for a certain percentage of devices to have problems. Thankfully now far less than early models but still being reported.
Good Luck
Mike
Took it to a repair shop this week. Opened it up and looks like a damaged flex ribbon cable (possibly from sliding out the keyboard or just a faulty cable) is the culprit behind the unresponsive touchscreen.
Apparently those are impossible to find (if not very hard). i live in Canada where parts for these phones are quite scarce, so I'm not too sure what i should do. The guy said he could try to find a replacement part, but it'd take almost a month.
Anyway, just thought I'd mention it to let anyone with unresponsive touch screens know. I guess just add this to the list of possible causes.
how did you fix keyboard layout problem
Ji1836,
Can you please let me know how you solved the keyboard layout problem.
I also have a softbank X01HT with a japanese keyboard layout. I have upgraded to WM6 BLACK 2.5. But some keys are mixed up like the dot and comma and others as well. I tried the fixes in the wiki but nothing worked.
Aprreciate your help.

Touchscreen not responsive unless left softkey is constantly pressed

Hey guys!
I've seen people complain about broken Wizard LCD/touchscreen around here but none of them said anything about partially functioning touchscreen. So here it goes:
A few days ago my phone stopped responding to taps. Just like that! I updated the phone with the latest ROM from HTC (official) and no change. Since then I've been lurking this forum trying to find something similar ...
I've flashed it with custom roms, now I'm trying the WM6 with the hope that maybe the touchscreen will respond to taps by itself, without me having to keep the left softkey pressed while tapping. I can't decide if this is a hardware or a software issue.
If anyone should have any idea about this, please advise. I'm not afraid to open it up or anything like that...
ps: waiting on a replacement touchscreen I ordered off of eBay. ($12)
Thanks a bunch,
kevin
Same Problem
My touchscreen has been acting up lately and today it just stopped working. Tried many things like you with no luck. However I followed your advice on pressing the left soft key and the touch screen started working.
Does anyone have any clues?
touch screen prob.
if your touch screen is not responding then you have to chang the touch screen if it responce some where in time then you open you device and just resolder the touch screen film connector (back side of screen)its just get drysoldered thats why these things happen like you press rite side of screen and it geting work again if relese its stop working................
you have to do only re sloder the connector of touchscreen
Different Problem
Like the post originator said, the screen does work, you just have to hold the left soft key down while tapping. Also did take it apart and didn't see any problems.
Mine just developed this issue, anyone have a fix? I've got a digitizer (Touch panel) on order from ebay as a 1st step. Anyone have any other ideas?
Thanks!
Ok this is odd, but I'm suddenly having the same issue. Touchscreen doesn't work unless I'm holding the left soft key as well... This has to be software right? Anyone have any ideas yet?
I dont have this problem.. but this is 'interesting' I'm wondering, if it is hardware or software problem. For hardware problem, you can try pressing on the area around the left softkey rather than the left softkey. For hardware, you can check to see if it is working after a hardreset?
phillyjaq said:
Ok this is odd, but I'm suddenly having the same issue. Touchscreen doesn't work unless I'm holding the left soft key as well... This has to be software right? Anyone have any ideas yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This issue has to be related to corrupted software that was installed, I mean how can this many people have the same exact problem around the same time if it's hardware related. Compare notes: All those having this issue,submit the most recent software that was installed, and if everyone installed the same thing, then that's the culprit!
8125
2.25.11.1

Touch Screen Not working.. plz help.

Hi mates yesterday i bought a used herm...with excellent condition. but when i opened any dialog. the window closed automatically. and the screen light remains always on. and touch is creating problems.
and after some time the touch screen totally stop working. i dont know what happened. al the buttons are working fine. i upgraded my t-mobile herm to its original t-mobile wm6 rom. and again the touch screen is not working. and the screen light always stay on..
so is this hardware or software problem.?
guide me if you have any clue about this..
according to my thinking.. i think some button is pressed continuesly.. but everything is working fine.. only the touch is not working.
broken digitizer for the touch screen, buy a replacement lcd/digitizer together and replace yourself, about $100Aud. Use Mike Channons site to download the service manual. Use the search function and type in "htc service manual hermes".
As for the light, you will have to use your buttons to navigate to settings>system>backlight>battery power and external power. you can select how long the backlight remains on for.
Cheers...
Hi mate thanks for your reply.. Actually the situation is that. the screen is working perfectly. all buttons are also working perfectly. but suddenly the touch feature stopped working.
that time i was just opening some menus and they closed automatically. it looks like that there is some button pressed. and the screen light never stops. it continuously remains on. all buttons are working perfectly and everything. on the touch feature is not working.
i upgraded my device with genuine shipped t-mobile wm6 rom and again it stopped at the starting screen where i have to click the screen and the device brings the window for stylus adjustment.
so i wanna ask that is this also possible that some touch drivers are corrupted or something like this.? or is this a hardware failure.?
Kind Regards
I had same problem, it was hardware. Thats why I said to change the lcd. It is theoretically possible to replace JUST the digitizer, BUT, it is a MAJOR hassle.
As for getting past the alignment stage, look up Remote Screen Alignment. Its a cab file that stores the alignment settings on your pc. You WILL have to have a friend that has the same phone so you can get their settings as you need to copy them to your pc first. You can then copy the settings to your phone so you can use it until you replace that pesky lcd...
Cheers.....
I had a similar problem with my hermes. After a lot of investigating, I found out that this is a heat related issue with the hermes. The unit will heat up an some connection somwhere gets messed up and continually registers ghost taps on the upper right corner of the screen, which causes the continual opening and closing of programs/task manager. This overloads the phone which then causes the screen to eventually become unresponsive due to excessive computing.
With my phone, it must be heat related because it will only occur during or after heavy use or overcharging. Other people have had this exact problem with the conclusion being overheating. The worse part is, there is apparently no way to fix this, replacing the screen doesn't change anything. setting your screen alignment very far left will fix the problem but then everything you tap needs to be compensated for.
Good luck, hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but it's better to know whats wrong and that you can't fix it then not know whats wrong and keep trying to fix it.
same problem here... only my hermes is overheating already after 5 minutes use...
in the morning it works and when i put it in front of the airconditioning the touchscreen also works...
somebody who has an idea where to look for a solution??
kingsfan said:
same problem here... only my hermes is overheating already after 5 minutes use...
in the morning it works and when i put it in front of the airconditioning the touchscreen also works...
somebody who has an idea where to look for a solution??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some of the suggestions in the white screen thread/s might help. The problem is that those who have the heat related problem will find it very difficult to trace the actual fault. The heat may be causing miniscule expansions on the boards / components and connectors. The tiniest of cracks or poor connections can therefore break with the expansion.
Another theory is that rather than heat it might be a capacitor that is breaking down either over time or again through heating. Unless you are a skilled electronic engineer that is virtually impossible to check, particularly since schematics are not available.
You might just be lucky if you dismantled and re-assembled - it might just re-set a connector or adjust a board so it does not get affected in future. That would be very much a matter of luck and of course potentially the situation might be made worse!
Mike
Hi mates. I am back with some issue.. i moved my device to a repair center and he said that its a software issue. and he fixed my device without changing any rom.. i dont know how..
but again when i open some window like programs. the right scrollbar make a problem... when i move scrollbar it automatically press the top close button..i aligned my screen 3 times but same problem with right side scroll bar.
and after playing with it. the touch totally stopped.
now the thing is.all the buttons are working fine and everything is working fine. even sms and calls. but when i check sms and press my scroller button. it displays the right click menu instead of opening the sms. and the screen light is continuesly on. as something is pressed. so. i think this thing wil help. i am now trying this method to check my pc.
http://inuchanbt.blog54.fc2.com/blog-entry-99.html
check this out as well.
i will send you details soon.
might just have something lodged between the case and screen.. also to get rid of the screen alignment, cable it up and delete welcome from the startup programs and then reset it.. should get you past it so at least you can use it until you repair your screen

Problem

Whenever i slide out the keyboard the screen either becomes unresponsive or blacks out. I tried flashing two diff roms from itje and smaberg but they both have the same problem. The screen also becomes very inaccurate and unresponsive. Anyone have such problems?
Nope, here is fine.
The question - does the situation STAY this way or just happens for a few seconds?
Now the screen doesnt even work, when i slide out the keyboard the whole screen blanks out.
custom rom?
Exactly.
The questions:
1. Do you use custom ROM's?
2. Or what did you install
Also
3. Did your phone falled down? I mean - it may be a mechanical problem with connection with 2 parts of the device, no?
I've tried 2 custom now im back on the official one, looks like its going to the service centre. I think its a mechanical problem. When the keyboard is slid out, the screen appears to power down with some colours appearing, when it is in fact still on.
I think the magnet of your x1 has some problem,as we all know,system determine the keyboard sliding by magnetic induction,
and here is a way to test it,you can put you x1 on somethings which has a big magnet, if x1's screen rotate, I think magnet of your x1 has some problem or lose,
I sent it to service center. Hope it gets fixed well.

Soft keys (back,home,tasks) stopped functioning.

Started having this issue on my phone 48hrs ago after it being left on the shelf charging from 5% battery overnight. So I'm using a 3rd party app to simulate the buttons for time being as a workaround (there's loads of variants on the Play Store that don't require root) until I fix it.
I had to replace a cracked screen on it a few months back (which was easier to do then I thought thanks to the iFixIt teardown. All has seemed well apart from some light blooms on the screen that I've lived with and now the buttons failing, and the part I ordered didn't come with the adhesive to reattach the back.
So I've now bought another screen\digitizer from amazon in the hope it'll resolve the issue and should be delivered within the week.
I've seen a lot of forums around the web for people with similar issues.
Tests tend to involve variations of safemode or factory resetting without restoring original. But this doesn't resolve the majority of cases, except the occasional temporary fix.
Solutions include; factory resets, flashing different ROMs, dropping at a 20degree angle, persistently hitting the buttons and re-seating a ribbon cable.
My thoughts:
It seems to me that maybe the Soft Keys area uses resistive touch section rather than capacitive touch, which would explain why the soft key touch area works in some instances but not others. It would also through weight behind it being a hardware issue. The capacitive multi-touch screen works fine, but the resistive section for the soft keys doesn't. Anyone have further thoughts on this?
Same without me
Easy test
Rotate your phone into secondary landscape mode. This will place the navigation buttons on the other end of the screen. From here, you will be able to perform the necessary tests to determine the validity of your theory.
AndyCorps said:
My thoughts:
It seems to me that maybe the Soft Keys area uses resistive touch section rather than capacitive touch, which would explain why the soft key touch area works in some instances but not others. It would also through weight behind it being a hardware issue. The capacitive multi-touch screen works fine, but the resistive section for the soft keys doesn't. Anyone have further thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol this doesn't make any sense, if it was a true you would be able to press soft keys with a pen or old stylus - this is how resistive screen works.
No part of this phone's screen is resistive. Sigh people that don't understand the basics of capacitive touch screens.
Thanks for the responses.
Yeah, resistive was a pretty far stretch of imagination, but I couldn't think what else it might be at the time.
Anyway. Replacement screen fitted and soft keys working again.:victory:
I can put off looking for a replacement phone for a little longer.

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