[Q] Phone started glitching, please assist. - Samsung Epic 4G Touch

I'm not sure what happened with this phone but yesterday out of the blue it started doing a few random strange things. It will make the little beep like it's been plugged in when it hasn't and will say charging. The screen will come on, and then usually it will not time back out. Also this stupid vlingo app that I can't seem to remove keeps turning itself on. My phone is answering on speaker automatically even though I don't want it to.
Anyway, this phone is rooted. Unfortunately, I rooted it when I first got it quite some time ago and I don't remember which kernel or rom I have. I've been gone for a really long time from here and I'm just not sure what the easiest way would be to fix this. Any input would be really appreciated. I just don't wanna lose my contacts and apps and stuff. I have titanium backup but I have not run a new backup yet bc I'm not sure what the source of the problem is. I don't wanna back something up and then restore the problem again.

Use titanium backup to remove apps. Check your charge port for dust or bent pins.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

it's more than just an app, the whole phone is acting up, I need to either factory reset the phone or apply a new rom/kernel or something, simply removing an app isn't going to fix what is going on. I cannot get the phone to work normally. I'm not sure what all I can do

Well you were not and still am not being specific at all. Remove vlingo with TB and that will solve your issues with that. Make sure you don't have any shorted pins in your charge port or excessive dust and that may or may not be the culprit for that random charging while not charging and answering on speaker issue. It is up to you to diagnose your phone and do what you think will work. I nor anyone else is going to help you if you don't want to help yourself. It is YOUR problem. I have given advice, take it or leave it. If you want a new ROM, go find one that suits your needs, read and understand the OP of your chosen ROM and flash it. We are not going to just give you what you want. You obviously know how to read. Take advantage of that.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Sent from my SPH-D710BST using xda premium

I am really sorry, I can assure you that I did not mean to come off rude in any way. I think you read what I wrote differently than how it was meant when I wrote it. I do appreciate you taking the time to respond and I'll try to be a little more clear.
I did remove the app using TB, thank you for that tip, but there is i think another voice app that is now popping up instead, I will try to remove that one as well but I havent done that yet because I wanted to find out if that was the way I should go. What I meant about it not being just the one app being the problem is that so many problems seem to have started all at once. These are the problems that have started over the last 2 days.
The lock screen now rotates, it used to be stationary
the phone answers on speaker, when I take it off speaker it occasionally reverts back to speaker
The screen turns on by itself and doesn't time back out, it stays lit until I hit the button
when I type a text message this other voice app now pops up and i have to close it to return to typing the text, and it happens over and over
When the phone is not plugged in I hear the sound that it makes when I plug it in, and it says charging, then later it goes back to battery, then back to charging (i did check the prongs and I don't see anything bent)
So like I said it's a lot of stuff that just came all of a sudden, And I'm not sure if I'm better off removing apps or starting over with a factory reset, or if I should flash the phone with a different rom. Like I said basically after I rooted the phone I for the most part just used the phone for the next almost 2 years, I wasn't really testing a lot of roms or anything like that so I'm just a little unfamiliar with how to proceed from this point.

Related

[Not Solved] Car Home (car mode) acting like a virus! Need Help!

Even after uninstalling it with titanium backup,root explorer and native android in menu it keeps popping up in notification bar with these ill-effects:
It closes out any apps or programs I was using!
It automatically puts me on speaker when I make or receive calls
Screen orientation cannot be disabled
Screen lock cannot be disabled
Volume is lowered when playing music
stays at the same volume and cannot be adjusted.
Some suggestions were to disable automatic startup and bluetooth in Car Home's menus when it pops up, I did not see such option. Now the menu does not pop up anymore, only the steering wheel icon pops up in notification bar to let me know its here to make my day a living hell again. Everyday, Every Hour, Every minute. I've done full wipe,cache,dalvik, and reinstall of cm6 6.1.2 and it just wont GO AWAY! Please HELP!
Posting in general forum because I'm not getting any help in Q/A!
You know what, my phone started exactly the same thing yesterday lunchtime and it's bloody annoying.
One thing that bugs me is that the headphone volume is now jammed at "very loud" with no way to adjust it.
Likely cause: pins 4 & 5 of the USB port shorted out. I would recommend carefully cleaning the USB port on the phone to see if that helps (it didn't for me).
Unless anyone has a magic solution, mine is going back to stock today and then back to HTC for repair.
Had the exact same issue a while back so I just took it to Sprint and got a new one.
perhaps its my google account cuz i notice after fresh install and before i sync my market there car home is no where to be found. so im thinking theres probably an issue with my google account and apps. even thiugh it does not have car home as one of ny apps ive installed.
issue temporarily fixed by going to both car apps in applications and force stop/clearing data but then it came back again, defiantly sometime to do with usb port
My phone started having the same problem, it would come up for no reason at all. Just now I plugged it into my car charger and it magically stopped. I was wondering if the usb cable I got from HTC could be bad.
Its a provlem with your micro usb. I had the same problem on multiple
roms. Getting a new usb cable cleared it up for me.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I had the same problem, and it turned out that it was a 3rd party charger that I bought on ebay that caused it. I bought a charger from Sprint, and it cleared up for me.
Don't mean to dig up an old thread, but figured would be better than starting a new one.
My Evo just started doing similar things just two days ago. Pretty sure mine was a moisture issue- put it in my pocket while swim suit was still wet, I've read similar reports on other forums.
My issue is Car Home will launch whenever it wants (seems to be purely random.) It will 'dock' then 'undock' (indicated by the chime it plays) two or three times in a row before it finally just runs in the background. If you are in an application while this happens it will either crash the program, or refresh everything, losing what ever state you were on.
Any got a software fix for this yet? I've tried uninstalling it, freezing it, reinstalling it, deleting the apk with root explorer... nothing. Not only is it god awful annoying it's killing my battery life. From what I am understanding this issue is rooted in hardware problems, but there has to be a way of stopping a program from auto loading.
I even went as far as to delete EVERY file that root explorer found the words 'car' and 'home' in with it's search function. Tried installing apps that supposedly blocked it from auto loading like NoDock, did nothing.
If all else fails I guess i could do a full wipe and reload CM7, but I've read reports that that doesn't even fix it. Is there anyway to confirm it's a USB problem, and not a short in the magnetic sensor? I attempted to take a cat log, think it was throwing a Java error, need to read up on how to post said log.
If there is a more complete thread or resolution page, please link it, I have no issues reading up on it myself if only I can find it.
Thanks for any input!
This problem is caused by the liquid damage... Everytime I have one come in with this issue.. I have signs of liquid damage to the board, especially around the charging port...
I hear ya, but there has to be a way of removing carhome completely. My phone operates fantastic for 80% of the day, so it's not like it's a catastrophic error or anything.
Same thing happening here on my Evo with Cyanogenmod 7.1RC1. Really odd behavior. I just uninstalled car home using Titanium and I'm waiting to see if that fixes it.
I downloaded nodock (trial) and pretty much solved the issue. I still have problems on start up but once I am able to enable the app. I might just end up buying the app because of no other choice.
I fixed this issue by getting a new phone. Its a hardware issue, something something usb port dying glitching, thinks its docking with car dock
I would totally do the same thing if I wasn't living in fear of the new ota
crakerjaks said:
I fixed this issue by getting a new phone. Its a hardware issue, something something usb port dying glitching, thinks its docking with car dock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.
It's a hardware issue, not software. The tech at my local Sprint store said they see this a lot with people that use car chargers, especially during the winter. The end of the cable falls on the floor and gets dirt, salt, and other crap in it then gets picked up and plugged into the phone and screws up the USB port. Sometimes it just needs to be cleaned, but sometimes it actually gets damaged.
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G with Tapatalk
I cleaned my charging port with rubbing alcohol and it seems to be fixed.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
has anyone found a solution to this issue, im currently experiencing it on my inspire.... from what i have read its a hardware issue, but isn't there anyway to make a patch of something that can block car home from launching?? it randomly starts up on my phone and causes my speaker phone to always be on when receiving calls or making one, until i manually turn it off but still its pretty annoying... help!! lol
water damage or generic charger
I had this problem I was using a cheap stand charger when I switched back to the stock charger it solved the problem after a few days.... but that evo broke and my next evo had it again plus HDMI wasn't working. Took it in and it had all kinds of corrosion from water damage causing the problem. So take it in or take it apart and clean it hope that helps

Just got my gsm nexus and I like it but.....

Last night I updated to the latest ics update so I'm on 4.0.4. I've noticed it shuts off by itself occasionally. Even now at work, phone is laying flat and it shut off once. Also this morning driving to work phone was on my dash and it shut off. Both times phone was in sleep mode and I didn't know it shut off completely until I tried to turn screen on with volume keys or power button. I would then of course have to hold down power button to start phone up again. I haven't rooted or anything , I'm stock. I've tried tapping the back by the battery to see if something was loose but nothing happened.
Maybe some of you guys have experienced the same. Will this go away when I start rooting and romming ,or do I have defective hardware?
So no-one? So far I looked online and someone mentioned putting paper under battery to hold it tighter against contacts? I'm trying that but not sure if it's making battery hotter. I'll see if that works.
Also called Google just in case I have to go through the returning process which I hope not to go through this is what they emailed me for my issue.
" Greetings and salutations,
Thank you for contacting Google. It was my pleasure assisting you today. Many issues can be resolved by performing a hard reset by removing the battery or by factory data resetting your device, but first I'd like you to try removing the battery, wiping it clean with lint free cloth, as well as the prongs that connect to the battery itself. Try this a few times, if it does not work this should. Be sure to backup any personal files you may have on the device.
To factory data reset your device, touch the Settings icon from your ‘Home’ or ‘All Apps’ screen, then select ‘Backup & reset’ under ‘Personal.’
If you're unable to get to your Settings menu, follow the steps below:
1. Power down your device 2. Press and hold both volume keys and the power button to enter Bootloader mode 3. Press the volume keys to cycle to the Recovery mode option 4. Press the power button to select Recovery mode 5. From the Recovery mode screen, press and hold the Power button then press the Volume up button. 6. Use the volume buttons to select wipe data/factory reset. 7. Select Yes -- delete all user data. 8. The factory data reset process will now start. Once its finished, select 'Reboot system now.
If for any reason you need to contact us again, please feel free to reply directly to this email or visit our help center at
http://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/request.py?contact_type=contact_policy& policy=hardware
Regards,
The Google Play Team"
I better root and try a Rom asap huh?
I'd say get a replacement for it while you still can.
yeah getting a replacement could be the wisest thing to do
altho if when you received it in 4.0.1 it wasnt randomly shutting then something might've gone wrong with the update so you can unlock your bootloader and flash some ROMs to see how that goes
I definitely want to try some roms before I replace it as I have some time under Samsung's waranty. I also want to gently pull the contacts out a bit with small pliers to see if it holds the battery better. I'll even clean the contacts.
Man I'm hoping it's software ...
SysAdmNj said:
I definitely want to try some roms before I replace it as I have some time under Samsung's waranty. I also want to gently pull the contacts out a bit with small pliers to see if it holds the battery better. I'll even clean the contacts.
Man I'm hoping it's software ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gently pull the contacts out? Wouldn't that void your warranty? I'd be careful with the hardware if I were you.
Unless your battery contacts on the phone are smashed/deformed, it is unlikely that the battery connection is being physical broken at the contacts. The battery fits fairly snug in the compartment and the contacts stay touching even when the battery is partially removed. Probably no benefit to placing a piece of paper in there. Also keep in mind your NFC is in the battery.
I am also using a "Yakju" device from Google Play. No similar issue on 4.0.4 stock or CM9. At least not this nightly build : )
I actually got the GSM nexus yesterday and I had the exact same problem. The phone powered itself off twice. Once right after I turned it on and again about two hours later. Both times it occurred when I was moving around with the phone.
I pulled the battery and popped it back in a few times and it hasn't happened since.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
You guys are probably right. The battery does already feel snug in there.
As I'm reading through forums for my issue, I can't believe how many sgn users are experiencing the same thing I am, some even reboots. Alot of them think it's apps. Good chance I'll exchange for the another device with same issue. I'm starting to wonder if this is why Google dropped the price.
Can't wait to get home and mess with this more. Hopefully I can make it go away.
I had this same problem when I first got mine with random reboots an powering off by itself,after about 2 weeks the problem went away, don't ask me how it seem to magically go away by itself maybe because battery needed time to settle in with the charging process.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
I'm happy to report, knock on wood, that after I factory reset the phone the problem seems to have gone away. Last night I used the toolkit to unlock bootloader and root, and I flashed cm9 nightly and all is good so far. My only problem now is I dont know which rom to try next
I definitely want something with led customizations like cm9 has, thats just so old school reminds me of a blackberry .
Any suggestions, I guess I can also ask elsewhere.
SysAdmNj said:
I definitely want something with led customizations like cm9 has, thats just so old school reminds me of a blackberry .
Any suggestions, I guess I can also ask elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use light flow. It also lets me customize both LED and audio notification per app
harveydent said:
I use light flow. It also lets me customize both LED and audio notification per app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had light flow going when my phone would shut itself off. It doesnt include alot of the apps I use to customize so I'm not the biggest fan of it now. I think the cm9 led customizations is sufficient as it lets you add any of your apps regardless.
Aokp has more features and is most popular so you could try that. Then try paradigm rom. I done use light flow, I just have a few led colors from stock and its enough for me for now. Google voice green, handcent texts blue, and Gmail and calls white. All from the stock apps.
Black ice is good so far. So many different variations of aokp roms I guess, its hard to recommend the "best" one.

problems with a refurb

hey all-
youve been a great community since ive been around (last december) and i was wondering if anyone had any insight on a problem im having.
I recently got a replacement phone that is refurbished from sprint, because the power button on my old e4gt was completely stuck
when i got the phone i immediately rooted it and went to my usual set up of Blazer 4.1 with the rogue 1.4.1 kernel.
since then ive been having some trouble:
the touchscreen is very wonky, ill be in the middle of texting and it will all of a sudden start selecting things all over the screen. simply turning the screen off and then back on usually works, but ive noticed that the frequency of this is increasing. also the menu home back and search keys all pick and choose when they want to work, and when they dont. sometimes ill press them and they wont work, other times ill be browsing the web and the menu button will start going off and on, without me pressing it.
ive also been experiencing quite a few random reboots, this wouldnt be such a problem however sometimes the phone will just shut off, with the red led light still on, but the screen wont come on when i press the power button. ive also noticed that sometimes the phone will randomly reboot, and then hang on the samsung screen. this has happened a few times at night and caused me to miss class because my alarm didnt go off (lol). when any of this happens i just hold down the power and vol up button to reboot into recovery, and then reboot the phone from there.
the only visible difference i can tell is that under the build number it says: "Blazer v4.1 ~ PI:FG-X^2I^2
i dont remember the last part of that being in any of the previous build numbers; ive been running this build pretty much since it came out, theres just something about the speed, snapiness, and battery life of this gb build that has me hooked.
if anyone knows if these problems are hardware related, or if i just had a bad flash, id greatly appreciate your feedback.
i know this has turned into a long post, but i just have one more question:
i use google play music as my music player, and absolutely love it. my favorite part about it is the fact that i can "download" songs to stay available even when i dont have a data connection, this comes in reallyyyy handy. HOWEVER, i use titanium backup to backup my apps, and when i flash to a new rom and restore play music, it restores all my music, but not the music that i have stored on the device. this is annoying because i then have to wait for a stable wifi connection to download the 500 or so songs that i usually keep on the device. My question is whether or not there is a way to backup all of the cached music, or if i could move the app+app data to my sd card, so i wouldnt have to redownload all the songs when i flash a new rom.
again youve all been a great community and im thankful for all the devs and all the work they do. i apologize for this post being so long, i dont usually post much but when i do ive always gotten the solutions for the problems ive had.
have a great day everyone, and you stay classy san diego
replace
put the phone back to stock and see if these problems still occur. If the do still occur then take it into a service center and have it replaced
ryandoubleu said:
put the phone back to stock and see if these problems still occur. If the do still occur then take it into a service center and have it replaced
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wish i could take it to a service center however when i had the battery out of it someone spilled water on the battery so the water damage sticker is now red even though the water never got on the phone.
Brick it and get a new one. They messed up.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Ctanferno22 said:
i wish i could take it to a service center however when i had the battery out of it someone spilled water on the battery so the water damage sticker is now red even though the water never got on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A service center should take the phone apart and check the sticker in the inside. You could also just buy a battery from amazon and use that when taking it in.
sent from MY BAD A$$ ET4G
Will sprit replace a brick phone. Cause I know if you try tweak it and f it up that your fault.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Get android assistant from play. It will allow you to move apps to your SD card. Tools>App2SD
Buy a new battery and send that back with the phone if you continue to have issues

[Q] Any hope of recovery?

I'm pretty sure I know the answer but I need to hear it from the experts before moving forward. Last week I received a phone call and ignored it. About 30 minutes later I turned the phone on to see who it was and the screen was frozen at the receiving call screen. Strange but ok. Pushed the power button off then on and still frozen. After a battery pull it reboots but doesn't go past the Samsung splash screen. Another battery pull with the same result. I put it on the charger and let it stay that way for a while but no progress. Another battery pull and reboot, though, and now I have a blank screen with the dreaded solid blue light. Can't get into recovery with volume up or down and power...
My phone was rooted and running an older version of Paranoid Android with no issues. I hadn't flashed or really done anything out of the ordinary with it for at least a month. Plus I had just replaced the battery a few weeks ago.
I did take it to the Sprint store and they determined it was a bad charging port. I'm 99% sure that wasn't the issue since I get the same result with a fully charged battery but if that makes them happy then ok. I just received my replacement E4GT in the mail and wanted to see if there was anything I can do to recover some things off of the old phone before I return it. My computer doesn't recognize it and, like I said, I can't get into any recovery. I hate to lose a bunch of photos and videos of the kids but it looks like this is my lesson to start a backup plan. Is there any way I can retrieve anything from the old phone? Thanks for any advice!
tony
In the future use drop box, it can back up all that stuff that we all cherish on your phone.
Maybe jtag?
Pp.
sent from a jellybean filled epic touch.
Ok so if you had Google's sync on then, with auto-instant upload to Google+ then it is backed up in a totally private album. Just log into your google account on your new e4gt. If and only if your lucky, stuff might be there. Or if you had a memory card just plug it into your desktop or laptop and it might just be there.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Thanks for the input. Unfortunately I didn't have G+ sync on and was saving most everything onto the phone instead of the SD card. Stupid mistakes to learn from...
tony

Anyway to recover?

My wife's s3 shut itself down a few days ago and now it's stuck in a boot loop. It was on rooted stock 4.1.
It will not fully boot into the system, trying to get into recovery will barely let you see the recovery screen before it cuts off, and getting into download mode will turn off after about 20 sec.
I'd love to be able to savage some things from the device, but I'm lost as to what I could try now.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using XDA Free mobile app
Sounds like a faulty/stuck power button. A common thing these days. Open the device and play with the switch a little. Ive seen several people say this fixed it temporarily. Doesn't work for everyone though. If it is the button, the only permanent fix is to replace the part. Only a few bucks online and I dont believe its too difficult to do.
Thanks for trying to help. Unfortunately it didn't help me. Took it apart, physical button actuates fine, switch underneath seems to click and return ok. Blew compressed air to be sure nothing's making it stick, button and switch. When I got it back together, except for actually having recovery load up for a few sec (once), it is behaving the same way.
Seeing as I have no soldering experience or equipment and we have already got my wife another device, I may just call it dead.
Thanks again for the help.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using XDA Free mobile app
Sorry I cant be of better help for that. If you want to do a quick test though, just so you know for sure....
Take out the battery, then put it back in and wait a few moments. If it turns on by itself, its almost definitely a power switch gone bad.

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