[Q] Power Issues... Even in recovery/download mode - Sprint Samsung Galaxy S III

Phone randomly turns off/reboots (mostly reboots). Sometimes the phone won't go past the "SAMSUNG" screen on boot. I booted the phone into recovery and download mode multiple times but it'll reboot after a minute or two.
I've tried another battery and still had the same issue. I've removed the battery and held the power button down to discharge power. I've opened up the phone, blew the dust out, and made sure that the power button was not getting stuck. I'm fairly certain it's not a rogue app causing the issue, but I've factory reset the phone to stock.
Please advise!

dwrdbg said:
Phone randomly turns off/reboots (mostly reboots). Sometimes the phone won't go past the "SAMSUNG" screen on boot. I booted the phone into recovery and download mode multiple times but it'll reboot after a minute or two.
I've tried another battery and still had the same issue. I've removed the battery and held the power button down to discharge power. I've opened up the phone, blew the dust out, and made sure that the power button was not getting stuck. I'm fairly certain it's not a rogue app causing the issue, but I've factory reset the phone to stock.
Please advise!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you have a sd card, sometimes a funky sd card will cause this as well. remove yours for a while to check if its causing your issue

Sounds like the same problem I was having. Take your finger and lightly move it up and down over the power button.. if it acts up or reboots it could be the button issue..
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

I was having the EXACT same issue. I thought it might be the recent upgrade to the cm11 nightlies since before it was once a week but now it's just non-stop. Is the issue the actual power button switch or the plastic buttons?
Orion78 said:
Sounds like the same problem I was having. Take your finger and lightly move it up and down over the power button.. if it acts up or reboots it could be the button issue..
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

beantek said:
I was having the EXACT same issue. I thought it might be the recent upgrade to the cm11 nightlies since before it was once a week but now it's just non-stop. Is the issue the actual power button switch or the plastic buttons?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me it was the power button itself.. Read my post on how to fix the issue yourself if you dont want to take your phone into Sprint
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2679936

Fixed (kind of )
I've taken my phone apart before to replace the speaker/audio jack module after my headphone jack stopped working in one ear (also a common s3 problem). I did as suggested and added a piece of paper wedged in between the button and the button switch. Surprisingly the switch was perfectly clicky so any problem will have to be internally such as corrosion or just worn out. The problem seemed to have been fixed (kind of, not really) as the phone turned on and wouldn't freak out when I rubbed the power/hold button. I got all my data off the phone successfully. The buttons themselves are pretty cheap online but I don't want to have to solder considering I have an upgrade. I'll just get an S5 whenever they are available. Thanks for the help.
Orion78 said:
For me it was the power button itself.. Read my post on how to fix the issue yourself if you dont want to take your phone into Sprint
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2679936
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions. I determined that it was in fact a power button issue.
My "FIX" (for anyone with similar issues):
Temporary:
I removed the logic board from the phone and flicked the button up and down and that helped a little with the button's hypersensitivity. Because a slight tap would make the button "stick" and power off, I took apart the phone and physically removed the plastic power button. I could hit the button if necessary with a small screwdriver or my watch strap thingy, but I did my best to keep the battery from dying out. As for dealing with a lack of "lock" button, I installed an xposed module that let me remap my volume up button as a lock button.
Permanent:
My mother recently upgraded her phone and gave me her S3. Unfortunately it had a cracked screen. I removed her logic board and swapped it out with what was in phone and reactivated her phone as mine.
Thanks for everyone's help, and hopefully this can help someone else too!

Related

Broken power button

I have a sort of weird issue. I've got a rooted evo4g with an unlocked bootloader running alter rom. I had some issues with it a while back, so I ran fix permissions and cleared the caches through amon-ra. when I did that, all hell broke loose. my power button stopped working and the volume button took over to wake up the screen. Not only does the power button not work when booted anymore, it won't even work in recovery or in the bootloader. the volume buttons will navigate in recovery, but not in bootloader.
I would like to do a nandroid backup so I can reflash my phone and then just restore my texts, call logs, etc on a clean flash...but since I can't select any menu options in recovery I can't do a nandroid backup.
I have cwm touch for my nexus s 4g, but I don't see one for evo 4g....only standard evo. is that one the same? can I still use it on an evo4g? I know some phones are not interchangeable with recovery on variants...like nexus s, for example hs two recoveries...one for 3g, one for 4g.
also, does anyone have any idea what may have caused the buttons to go haywire like this? I've never seen anything like it. I mean, sure buttons die. All moving parts fail at some point...it's in their nature....but switching control to another hw button???? That jusy makes my head hurt to think about how it could have happened!! lol
Download smelkusmod recovery. It has touch scrolling and you can scroll, select and Deselect with the haptic buttons.
Your power button issue could be a hardware failure. Possibly one of the connectors came undone rendering the power button useless.
death-by-soap said:
Download smelkusmod recovery. It has touch scrolling and you can scroll, select and Deselect with the haptic buttons.
Your power button issue could be a hardware failure. Possibly one of the connectors came undone rendering the power button useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
even though death by soap has twice as many posts but the same number of thanks as you, he is right on about this.
smelkus is a great recovery and is, essentially, touch screen. what do you do if your phone turns completely off, and are you a little familar with adb?
johnny.dalvik-cache said:
even though death by soap has twice as many posts but the same number of thanks as you, he is right on about this.
smelkus is a great recovery and is, essentially, touch screen. what do you do if your phone turns completely off, and are you a little familar with adb?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm...good question. It's actually my sister's phone. I'm also interested in knowing how she turns it back on...I'll definitely ask her that. when I turned it off I had to pull the battery and I quickly re-inserted it so it would trigger a start-up, but I'm not sure about how she turns it on if it's been off for a while.
...and yes, I'm novice-level with adb. I know adb, fastboot, etc...enough to get by, at least I have a black belt in google-fu, too...so anything I don't understand google teaches me lol
(btw, my thank you's came from the ns4g section. I posted the first working jb rom for my device and everyone clicked thanks for it....I'm no star dev or anything to say the least )
****
I just texted her...she says it always auto boots when the battery is re-inserted as long as it has a charge. it almost sounds like the power button is just stuck in a pressed position...but wouldn't I notice that when android is booted by the power control menu always being displayed (which I can't even get to display if I do press the button)???
****
I just tested with my ns4g by holding down the power button all the way through a reboot, until after the phone FULLY booted....no power menu popped up.
what are the odds the button is just stuck in a pressed position?? anyone want to take bets? I'm gonna take it apart tonight and see if that's what it is unless someone has any other ideas.
death-by-soap said:
Download smelkusmod recovery. It has touch scrolling and you can scroll, select and Deselect with the haptic buttons.
Your power button issue could be a hardware failure. Possibly one of the connectors came undone rendering the power button useless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hp420 said:
hmmm...good question. It's actually my sister's phone. I'm also interested in knowing how she turns it back on...I'll definitely ask her that. when I turned it off I had to pull the battery and I quickly re-inserted it so it would trigger a start-up, but I'm not sure about how she turns it on if it's been off for a while.
...and yes, I'm novice-level with adb. I know adb, fastboot, etc...enough to get by, at least I have a black belt in google-fu, too...so anything I don't understand google teaches me lol
(btw, my thank you's came from the ns4g section. I posted the first working jb rom for my device and everyone clicked thanks for it....I'm no star dev or anything to say the least )
****
I just texted her...she says it always auto boots when the battery is re-inserted as long as it has a charge. it almost sounds like the power button is just stuck in a pressed position...but wouldn't I notice that when android is booted by the power control menu always being displayed (which I can't even get to display if I do press the button)???
****
I just tested with my ns4g by holding down the power button all the way through a reboot, until after the phone FULLY booted....no power menu popped up.
what are the odds the button is just stuck in a pressed position?? anyone want to take bets? I'm gonna take it apart tonight and see if that's what it is unless someone has any other ideas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just saw this thread. and seeing as how the phone auto-boots when the battery is put in, it does sound like the power button is stuck in the 'down' position. i recently went through a similar thing with the power button, and i opened up the phone and just put the button back in place. does the button acutally LOOK like it's depressed ( ...hehe..sorry, i dont know how else to ask that..) like..is the button not protruding out like it should? if you're down for opening the phone up (which is surprisingly easy if you have the proper little screw-drivers) then it MIGHT be an easy fix. i had never done it before, and it really was easy. you can put that black-belt to use for some easy video tutorials. but, please procede with caution.
atljatl said:
just saw this thread. and seeing as how the phone auto-boots when the battery is put in, it does sound like the power button is stuck in the 'down' position. i recently went through a similar thing with the power button, and i opened up the phone and just put the button back in place. does the button acutally LOOK like it's depressed ( ...hehe..sorry, i dont know how else to ask that..) like..is the button not protruding out like it should? if you're down for opening the phone up (which is surprisingly easy if you have the proper little screw-drivers) then it MIGHT be an easy fix. i had never done it before, and it really was easy. you can put that black-belt to use for some easy video tutorials. but, please procede with caution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say if it looks pressed since it's not currently in front of me...I know exactly what you mean, though. The inner workings of the button get stuck, and the outer rubber piece will be sort of caved in instead of sticking out like it should.
I build gaming computers as a side-hobby. I'm sure a little disassembly won't be too difficult, as long as I'm not removing any of the guts and I can just get to it by opening the case, I should be ok....too much more and I run into issues when things are that tightly packed into a case.
(reading a tear-down tut now )
Awesome! It should be a piece of cake for you, especially with your video game background. Cool. Let me know how it goes.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Power Button messed up

The power button on my S3 (SGH-i747) is pretty messed up. When i'm not touching it, it decides to register a press and completely messes up everything im doing on the phone. It has such frequent reboots that i can barely boot into recovery. The only way i can actually boot is by holding the phone horizontally with the power button facing down. Is there any fix to this? I'm on CM10.1.0 so would flashing back to stock decrease the sensitivity of this button? Or is it necessary to fix at the shop?
Also i have a cracked screen, so im not sure it would be accepted under the warranty even if it's unrooted.
r8revealed said:
The power button on my S3 (SGH-i747) is pretty messed up. When i'm not touching it, it decides to register a press and completely messes up everything im doing on the phone. It has such frequent reboots that i can barely boot into recovery. The only way i can actually boot is by holding the phone horizontally with the power button facing down. Is there any fix to this? I'm on CM10.1.0 so would flashing back to stock decrease the sensitivity of this button? Or is it necessary to fix at the shop?
Also i have a cracked screen, so im not sure it would be accepted under the warranty even if it's unrooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hardware failure, repair it or get a new phone
nothing you can do, the flex cable that connect's the button to the board is either busted or shorted
Danvdh said:
Hardware failure, repair it or get a new phone
nothing you can do, the flex cable that connect's the button to the board is either busted or shorted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the same issue.
There's absolutely nothing I can do? I thought maybe if I'd open up the device and tinker with it... maybe I can get it working.
s1mpd1ddy said:
I'm having the same issue.
There's absolutely nothing I can do? I thought maybe if I'd open up the device and tinker with it... maybe I can get it working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes this is quite an annoying problem. If you're having the same problem, are you able to boot into download mode? I can't for some reason.
r8revealed said:
Yes this is quite an annoying problem. If you're having the same problem, are you able to boot into download mode? I can't for some reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something like this you don't want to boot into download mode. What if it resets while you're pushing a file? then your whole phone will be messed up.
I got mine to boot. My method is a bit unorthodox though.... i kept pressing the power button throughout the boot process up until the lock screen. Once it finally loads... i flicked the power button a few times really hard.... it seems to stay in the position but remains extremely sensitive.. as in, i dont even have to press it to turn off the screen.
sucks man... i think this is happening to a lot of power users. I'm literally one week past my warranty.
s1mpd1ddy said:
Something like this you don't want to boot into download mode. What if it resets while you're pushing a file? then your whole phone will be messed up.
I got mine to boot. My method is a bit unorthodox though.... i kept pressing the power button throughout the boot process up until the lock screen. Once it finally loads... i flicked the power button a few times really hard.... it seems to stay in the position but remains extremely sensitive.. as in, i dont even have to press it to turn off the screen.
sucks man... i think this is happening to a lot of power users. I'm literally one week past my warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i didnt want anything to happen while anything is installing etc. I somehow got into recovery, but it shut down within a second. (thankfully the first option in cwm is reboot, so that saved me). I can't return for warranty because I'm rooted on CM10.1.0, which was why i wanted to attempt unrooting (but that seems impossible at the moment).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1753574
That thread seems to be the solution to our problem, but i feel that if i open it up, something worse will happen. Right now, the phone boots up fine when held horizontally (but shuts down ~2min later) and i can easily backup my data.
One strange thing that i've noticed with this problem that maybe isn't right. Normally , do you have to hold down the power button to shut it off? I always used to think that a power menu would show, THEN you could select shut down, but here, it just shuts down. The power menu flashes sometimes, but shuts down anyway. This may also have me believe that something other than the power button is the problem.
r8revealed said:
Yeah i didnt want anything to happen while anything is installing etc. I somehow got into recovery, but it shut down within a second. (thankfully the first option in cwm is reboot, so that saved me). I can't return for warranty because I'm rooted on CM10.1.0, which was why i wanted to attempt unrooting (but that seems impossible at the moment).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1753574
That thread seems to be the solution to our problem, but i feel that if i open it up, something worse will happen. Right now, the phone boots up fine when held horizontally (but shuts down ~2min later) and i can easily backup my data.
One strange thing that i've noticed with this problem that maybe isn't right. Normally , do you have to hold down the power button to shut it off? I always used to think that a power menu would show, THEN you could select shut down, but here, it just shuts down. The power menu flashes sometimes, but shuts down anyway. This may also have me believe that something other than the power button is the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you hold the power button for 5 seconds or more , it will skip that power menu and reboot. So this still sounds like power button to me.
thanks for the link, been searching everywhere... so fckin hard to search all the S3 threads on XDA. They need to consolidate
r8revealed said:
Yeah i didnt want anything to happen while anything is installing etc. I somehow got into recovery, but it shut down within a second. (thankfully the first option in cwm is reboot, so that saved me). I can't return for warranty because I'm rooted on CM10.1.0, which was why i wanted to attempt unrooting (but that seems impossible at the moment).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1753574
That thread seems to be the solution to our problem, but i feel that if i open it up, something worse will happen. Right now, the phone boots up fine when held horizontally (but shuts down ~2min later) and i can easily backup my data.
One strange thing that i've noticed with this problem that maybe isn't right. Normally , do you have to hold down the power button to shut it off? I always used to think that a power menu would show, THEN you could select shut down, but here, it just shuts down. The power menu flashes sometimes, but shuts down anyway. This may also have me believe that something other than the power button is the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you able to fix your problem with the fix in that link? I seem to be having the same problem as you.
No, I ended up buying a new phone (I was going to upgrade anyway). I took out the power button, but that wasn't the problem. In a way, it was the button under the button that was sensitive. I would have to take out the motherboard to see the exact problem.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 (SGH-i337) via Tapatalk 4

[Q] Power button hyper-sensitive

Hi all,
I've had some problems with my S3 power button. It's behaving like it's being pressed when it isn't. Just slightly brushing it, without depressing the button, is registering a press. Pressing the button is behaving like the button is being held.
I've read a number of possible fixes. I tried software options, just to be sure (cleared cache, factory reset). But this is almost certainly a hardware problem.
I stripped the phone down and the physical button itself looks absolutely fine. It is interacting as it should with the internal button on the motherboard. The issue seems to be that the internal button attached to the motherboard (the little white button) is registering clicks even when it's not being fully depressed.
The phone did have some water damage about 6 months ago. I wonder if this could be causing the the phone to mess up now?
I even tried a fix that many people seem to think works: smacking the crap out of the power button itself. It had no affect on my phone - I think that "fix" that is for a power button that is stuck depressed and not a power button registering phantom clicks/being hyper-sensitive.
So I suppose I have the following questions:
1) Has anyone else experienced similar problems and, if so, did they get it fixed?
2) My plan is to try replacing the motherboard/logic board and see if that helps. Does that sound like the best fix or is it overkill?
3) If I'm replacing the motherboard, does it need to be an I747 motherboard or will any S3 model work fine?
4) What's the best source for a motherboard? I don't mind if they're used or refub so long as they work.
Any advice you can offer is welcome.
Cheers.
BenScopato said:
Hi all,
I've had some problems with my S3 power button. It's behaving like it's being pressed when it isn't. Just slightly brushing it, without depressing the button, is registering a press. Pressing the button is behaving like the button is being held.
I've read a number of possible fixes. I tried software options, just to be sure (cleared cache, factory reset). But this is almost certainly a hardware problem.
I stripped the phone down and the physical button itself looks absolutely fine. It is interacting as it should with the internal button on the motherboard. The issue seems to be that the internal button attached to the motherboard (the little white button) is registering clicks even when it's not being fully depressed.
The phone did have some water damage about 6 months ago. I wonder if this could be causing the the phone to mess up now?
I even tried a fix that many people seem to think works: smacking the crap out of the power button itself. It had no affect on my phone - I think that "fix" that is for a power button that is stuck depressed and not a power button registering phantom clicks/being hyper-sensitive.
So I suppose I have the following questions:
1) Has anyone else experienced similar problems and, if so, did they get it fixed?
2) My plan is to try replacing the motherboard/logic board and see if that helps. Does that sound like the best fix or is it overkill?
3) If I'm replacing the motherboard, does it need to be an I747 motherboard or will any S3 model work fine?
4) What's the best source for a motherboard? I don't mind if they're used or refub so long as they work.
Any advice you can offer is welcome.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the exact same problem with mine, and unfortunately there's not much you can do about it as it's a hardware defect. I haven't tried replacing motherboards or anything, so that might help you. What I did to help with the problem was rerouting my power button to my volume up key so that I can use the power button as little as possible. The only time I use the power button now is when I need to power it on - which causes reboot loops sometimes.
Drisc0 said:
I had the exact same problem with mine, and unfortunately there's not much you can do about it as it's a hardware defect. I haven't tried replacing motherboards or anything, so that might help you. What I did to help with the problem was rerouting my power button to my volume up key so that I can use the power button as little as possible. The only time I use the power button now is when I need to power it on - which causes reboot loops sometimes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sucks.
I like the sound of your work around, though. Was it pretty simple rerouting the power button?
BenScopato said:
Sucks.
I like the sound of your work around, though. Was it pretty simple rerouting the power button?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto, my power button is borked too. Ended up doing the same thing but I don't use my power button at all. I just use rom toolbox to reboot system/into recovery
Rerouting was simple for me as it's baked into the settings in the rom I'm on (ground zero) as it is with most custom ROM'S I've been on. If you're just running stock I'm sure there's an app in the market that'll work however I'm drawing a blank ATM
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
brianray14 said:
Ditto, my power button is borked too. Ended up doing the same thing but I don't use my power button at all. I just use rom toolbox to reboot system/into recovery
Rerouting was simple for me as it's baked into the settings in the rom I'm on (ground zero) as it is with most custom ROM'S I've been on. If you're just running stock I'm sure there's an app in the market that'll work however I'm drawing a blank ATM
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running CM.
I've had a look through the routing options. What I can't locate is a way to disable the power button completely. My main problem right now is the phantom clicks. I'd rather that button be dead.
Anyone know of a way I can make that happen in CM?
Nevermind. I just physically removed the power button. That did the trick.
For anyone interested, you can replace a faulty power button on the motherboard pretty easily and the parts are cheap. If I wasn't due an upgrade in 4 months I'd probably do that. No need to replace the whole motherboard.
Does anyone know the app to reroute the button? I too have the same problem.

t999 bootloop system, recovery, and download mode

This started happening right after I charged my phone on a different outlet than usual, so I dunno... It started going into a bootloop after I unplugged it and tried to use it again. I can get into download mode but it reboots, I'll see the warning screen and maybe hit the up button to continue before it reboots again. Recovery sometimes I see the blue text before it reboots. I see the logo and sometimes the lineage logo, but it reboots before continuing further. It doesn't stay booted long enough to access it from my computer. I've pulled the battery out and tried my backup battery. I had been using lineage for about a week so I don't think it was the ROM. Anything I can do to save my phone? I think I have everything backed up, though might lose a few photos.
Sounds like there may be a problem with the power button. Try opening the phone and cleaning the contacts. After cleaning, quickly press and release the power button several times in a row while using a bit more force than usual.
audit13 said:
Sounds like there may be a problem with the power button. Try opening the phone and cleaning the contacts. After cleaning, quickly press and release the power button several times in a row while using a bit more force than usual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but by opening the phone do you mean removing the backplate, or actually unscrewing the part underneath. I haven't taken it apart before, not sure if there's an order/process to it.
You need to remove the screws and gently pry the plastic frame from the screen.
It's allliiivvvvve!
Thanks!
How did you fix it?
audit13 said:
How did you fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unscrewed the back and hit the power button as recommended, but also the volume buttons, and removed the top plastic part that's separate from the rest, detached all the thingys that snap into the board, and peeked under what I assume is the motherboard(?) at the power button. Sprayed everything with compressed air, hit all the buttons multiple times again, and reattached everything. When I put it back together it booted up. So I guess it worked? I have no idea what exactly fixed it. Thanks for your help!
The power button, when pressed, causes a momentary short. When the power button is constantly shorted (contacts are touching), it can cause the boot loop. Cleaning the contact probably removed a small piece of debris that caused the constant shorting.
Congratulations on your success.

[solved] [help] Power button Issue

Hi,
I have a strange issue with my HTC one m8. I am getting a warning 'to restart your phone press and hold the power and volume up buttons for 10 seconds'. The strange thing is that my button is not stucks, it still 'clicks'.
I have gone through this forum and found many other people facing similar issues. I have tried remapping keys in my device and disabling the power button. Even though this has solved the problem of the warning showing, the phone does behave abnormally sometimes.
Is there any way to disable power button from kernal and remap it to say volume button. or is there any other simple solutions to this problem. Please help i really can't afford a new phone right now.
Thanks a lot
Okay. So i have managed to solve the issue without any software optimizations
Coming to the point, what you need is isopropyl alcohol (commonly known as rubbing alcohol, surgical spirit, medical spirit). I got a very small syringe and injected minute amounts to the sides of power button. I injected small quantities into both sides of the power button. Now, i started pressing the power button, rocking it left and right for about an hour periodically making sure the solution was well inside.
After this i left the phone unattended to dry for about 12 hours. After that the power button was back to normal. I was suffering with this problem for more than three months, i didn't want to try this solution earlier. So if you are suffering from similar issue, i am sure this method will help.
Thanks

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