[Q] Banging my head on my desk over moral dilemma - Streak 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I just can't freaking stand it.
Starting about three weeks ago I have been having major problems with my Streak doing spontaneous restarts. I tried everything. Nothing worked.
I went as far as to use the Wiki instructions to install a version one generation old on the phone so that it would do an over the air update to the current release, which it did. Didn't help. Whenever I used the phone for a long call or to play a game or use navigation, anything that kept it actually doing something for several minutes, it would start rebooting. Sometimes it would freeze to where I had to pull the battery. I even bought a disposable phone while on vacation so I could have something I could count on.
So last week I called Dell support and described what is going on. When the tech heard the symptoms and that I had already done a factory reset and fresh loads and more factory resets, he quickly decided to replace the phone.
I have had the phone since April 2011 and in May I dropped it in my living room. It has worked perfectly but does have a crack in the glass that is purely cosmetic and is not why I tried to get it replaced. The phone has worked perfectly until recently.
I'm banging my head on the desk because, wouldn't you know it, the phone has been working perfectly since I called in. We didn't do anything, just talked about the phone, and it has had one restart in the last week. As a test, I used the Navigator for the 30 mile commute home from work. My wife called me, the phone answered, worked flawlessly on speaker, and when she hung up the Navigator came right back up as smooth as you could ask for. The one game I play right now (Grave Defense) has worked flawlessly except for one restart in the middle of a game. I couldn't ask for the phone to be better.
So what do I do when the replacement arrives? I'm not sure if I trust the phone not to start screwing up again, but I'm going to be sending back a phone that is apparently working fine but has a cracked glass. We all know the entirely reasonable conclusion they will come to.
So what should I do?

Maybe you should call Dell and tell them that the screen is cracked. Find out if they will even take it back. They may not, and wind up charging you for the new one. I've not heard of them doing this, mind you, but it sounds possible.
They may just tell you to send in the old one anyway, but you may as well let them know that the screen is cracked, since they are going to find out when they get it. Hopefully since you already have a return authorization, it wont matter...
Has anyone noticed it seems to be easier to get a replacement since they EOL'd the Streak?
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk

Maybe they're trying to clear out stock?
I had no problem sending it back with the cracked glass as long as the problem had nothing to do with the glass. Now the damned thing is working, so I have an issue with it.
I really don't understand this phone. I didn't change anything and it is like a different phone.

Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A

Oh, I thought the screen cracked after you called them.
Nevermind. As long as you disclosed the cracked screen, don't hesitate to send it back. If it was bad once, no reason to think it wont be again.
There are definitely some flaky ones.
From some posts I've read, it does seem as though they are being unusually friendly about returns lately. Prolly just my imagination...
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk

slaydog said:
As long as you disclosed the cracked screen, don't hesitate to send it back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, I never said I did that. I don't want people to think they are knowingly taking back units with cracked screens. The tech didn't ask if it had ever been dropped and I didn't see the point in volunteering the information as it had nothing to do with the problem I was having. I know that is not exactly taking the high road, but as I said, the screen isn't why I'm exchanging it. I considered swapping my cracked screen and the unbroken one from the replacement and sending my flaky phone back with the good screen, but they would probably notice that the phone had been dismantled and assume that is the source of the problem. I'm between a rock and a hard place here, but it's my own fault. I'm probably going to end up with a bill for the replacement phone, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
I'm mostly just astonished at how freaking strange the behavior of this phone is. It was working fine then lost its mind for about three weeks and then decided that it was going to start working the way it is supposed to again with no interference from me. It was flaky in the morning, I did nothing to it, and that afternoon it started behaving itself.

Well, it froze up good yesterday. Tried everything short of swinging a dead cat over my head in a cemetary at midnight and got it working again, just in time to retire it.
When I got home the replacement was waiting for me. Smooth as silk. I played the hell out of my new favorite time sucking game last night (Stupid Zombies) and not a single hiccup. I'd love to lose some of the extra apps, but I think I am going to leave well enough alone this time. Now I need to find out how much Dell is going to bill me for returning a unit with a cracked screen, but I'll worry about that when it happens.

Related

Eris automatically scrolling to the left....

So I was up one night, with my rooted eris. Lying in bed, texting my girlfriend because she refused to let me sleep, I thought nothing of it. My phone was plugged in, and I fell asleep on top of it >.<
Now most of the time my phone will automatically scroll to the left.
I have reset my phone and tried other ROMs and it's all the same. I read in the forums that there is no fix but that was as of 5-xx-10
So i was wondering.... Is there a fix now or am I going to have to get a new phone??
And if i do have to get a new phone Would it be a refurb or would it be a NEW phone???
I would prefer to get a new phone... My Eris just doesnt seem to cut it anymore.
I had this issue and it turned out being a hardware issue. I traded it in for a replacement. It was refurbished from different parts. I haven't had any problems with the one I have and I have had it longer than my first Eris.
synesthete said:
I had this issue and it turned out being a hardware issue. I traded it in for a replacement. It was refurbished from different parts. I haven't had any problems with the one I have and I have had it longer than my first Eris.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah same is happening with my Girls non-root eris, looks like its time for an upgrade.
8on3s said:
Yeah same is happening with my Girls non-root eris, looks like its time for an upgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lucky you, i haven't even got a year into my NEW contract with this phone yet. I would love to have verizon give me a new phone, but somehow im doubting they will
my wife's eris was doing the same thing, but when we took it to verizon they it didn't do it in front of them (kinda like how a car's "doing something" until you take it to the mechanics... figures) and so they told her they can't do anything about it
this is actually the 2nd phone to do it, the first was brand new this one is a refurb
Zerox8610 said:
Lucky you, i haven't even got a year into my NEW contract with this phone yet. I would love to have verizon give me a new phone, but somehow im doubting they will
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol ok well upgrade was the wrong word we're on the same we got ours in February, but perhaps she could be lucky and get something newer, if not the Eris is still a killer phone once you get Froyo on it.
Sent from my Tazz Froyo using XDA App
tfitzger said:
my wife's eris was doing the same thing, but when we took it to verizon they it didn't do it in front of them (kinda like how a car's "doing something" until you take it to the mechanics... figures) and so they told her they can't do anything about it
this is actually the 2nd phone to do it, the first was brand new this one is a refurb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I took mine in, they replaced it with no questions asked. It is a known issue that many people have had. In that situation I would probably try to speak to someone else. Also, I remember that the problem seemed to happen more when charging.
it is an issue with the trackball and the insulation around it in some eris's. take it in and verizon should give you a replacement.
Customer Support
I'm on my 3rd Eris now, after having the left scrolling problem on both phones. My first was not rooted, second was, and ultimately proved to be a common hardware issue. In my experience, the store itself can be quite difficult to deal with. What I have done, which has yet to fail me, is call technical support and go over your symptoms. They connected me, both times, with someone from the more advanced technical assistance. I told them that I had the latest update and had no physical damage, and they told me it needed to be replaced. Ask them, and they happily agree, to call your local store and see if there are any replacements available in stock. They will then put an indication on your account that a replacement is necessary and when you arrive at the store, you will not have to go through the staff in the stores judgement. Just let them know they will need to replace the phone and to look at notes on your account. Otherwise, the techie will simply send you a phone from the warehouse and you must send back the defective one, charging you nothing in the process. I know some of that is repeat information, but unfortunately have not had much luck with this phone. I mentioned the issue to the tech support and they mentioned that you can usually claim a new upgraded phone after 4-5 warranty replacements. Just some FYI from my unfortunate experience. Good luck all!
mjb413 said:
it is an issue with the trackball and the insulation around it in some eris's. take it in and verizon should give you a replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct
Sent from my Tazz Froyo using XDA App
I started having this problem a couple days ago on my 2nd Eris. I called Verizon and explained the problem in a calm manner and they denied any knowledge of this being an issue with Eris. Naturally they are sending me a replacement Eris but the weird thing is they agreed to send me an Incredible at no charge if I have any trouble with the Eris that is en route to me. So, um yeah, they know this is a known Eris problem.
gospodinwizard said:
I started having this problem a couple days ago on my 2nd Eris. I called Verizon and explained the problem in a calm manner and they denied any knowledge of this being an issue with Eris. Naturally they are sending me a replacement Eris but the weird thing is they agreed to send me an Incredible at no charge if I have any trouble with the Eris that is en route to me. So, um yeah, they know this is a known Eris problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, I'm assuming you need to have insurance on the phone in order for them to replace it??? Or will they simply replace any defective Eris??
I bought my Eris virtually unused from a guy on craigslist (he, obviously, bought it through Verizon)...is there any chance they would replace it?
Zerox8610 said:
So I was up one night, with my rooted eris. Lying in bed, texting my girlfriend because she refused to let me sleep, I thought nothing of it. My phone was plugged in, and I fell asleep on top of it >.
Try plugging it in and wiggling where it plugs to phone with power and screen on, tell me what you get, happened to me scrolling to left on 2eris'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK so Verizon is sending me a replacement for my auto-scrolling phone. Of course, the phone was next to unusable in the interim until I re-installed Launcher Pro and set it to have just one homescreen. Kind of annoying only having one screen but at least I can use my phone until the replacement arrives.
Ddukes76 said:
Zerox8610 said:
So I was up one night, with my rooted eris. Lying in bed, texting my girlfriend because she refused to let me sleep, I thought nothing of it. My phone was plugged in, and I fell asleep on top of it >.
Try plugging it in and wiggling where it plugs to phone with power and screen on, tell me what you get, happened to me scrolling to left on 2eris'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i got a replacement. And 2 days later. SAME GLITCH.
Going to try and go in tomorrow and get yet ANOTHER phone... its not just when charging but, i think the charger is the cause of all this.... idgaf really, a few more Eris and they'll have to upgrade me >.<
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found one way to fix this issue temporarily. If you wipe your phone few times with a hand or against your jeans...this issue dissapears....for few minutes, sometimes hours, simetimes a day or two....
clearly hardware replacements does not work. any techies here to fix the issue on a hardware level?
ERIS+TAKBALLS=Crap
Totally agree as YOU will find many others that have been cursed with the ERIS
Trackball. It has a mind of its own. I spans from inadvertently making phone calls you dont want to, to locking the whole damn thing.
I still myself have not decided on what to do.
Zerox8610 said:
So I was up one night, with my rooted eris. Lying in bed, texting my girlfriend because she refused to let me sleep, I thought nothing of it. My phone was plugged in, and I fell asleep on top of it >.<
Now most of the time my phone will automatically scroll to the left.
I have reset my phone and tried other ROMs and it's all the same. I read in the forums that there is no fix but that was as of 5-xx-10
So i was wondering.... Is there a fix now or am I going to have to get a new phone??
And if i do have to get a new phone Would it be a refurb or would it be a NEW phone???
I would prefer to get a new phone... My Eris just doesnt seem to cut it anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fixed mine by replacing the usb port and cleaning the Tball rollers with alcohol.
But what I think was most helpful in correcting it was;
The usb port and Tball are on a separate daughter board, held down by 2 screws. When removing it, I noticed the screws seemed loose. Putting it back together, I made sure they were tight.
Replacing the usb port (daughter board) was just because I had a spare. I think its a matter of the board coming loose and maybe dirty rollers.
At the same time the Tball started messing up, I noticed the usb port was getting wiggly.
Sent from my GSBv1.2 using XDA App
amfetamine said:
The usb port and Tball are on a separate daughter board, held down by 2 screws. When removing it, I noticed the screws seemed loose. Putting it back together, I made sure they were tight.
Replacing the usb port (daughter board) was just because I had a spare. I think its a matter of the board coming loose and maybe dirty rollers.
At the same time the Tball started messing up, I noticed the usb port was getting wiggly.
Sent from my GSBv1.2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah! That's a very enlightening observation. Thanks for the info.
I think I may have found a fix for this, can you guys confirm.
REALLY HARD PRESS ON THE ROLLING BALL. FEW TIMES.
Did it 2 days ago, issue did not come back.

htc EVO 3D display / digitizer failure.

Well, I have had the 3D since launch. After the first couple of days I started seeing phantom touches. After 1 week I started to notice this was getting far worse and that the display/digitizer was registering touches when nothing was near the device.
Called Sprint walked through a full wipe of the OS and reinstall. That was a no go and wasted nearly 2 hours of my time on the phone... However the Level 2 tech agreed that it appeared to be a failure of the device and advised that I return it to the Sprint store.
Got to sprint and showed them the video I had made of what the phone was doing. They also agreed that something was wrong with the phone and replaced it immediately.
Just in case I am not the only one that is having this problem I am uploading the video to youtube... I will share that link with you as soon as it is done uploading.
This is a video showing the issue using the "draw" application:
If you run into similar issues let me know!
I've seen some strange things happen but I figured it was the Otterbox Defender case or humidity here in Florida.
Will watch more closely now. Thanks for the report!
I've also been having strange issues, where touches are appearing out of nowhere. Had to turn off the pattern lock as a result, since I nearly got locked out of my device since it wouldn't register my pattern properly. It seems to 'reset' itself after a couple reboots, but starts acting up again at a later random time. Between the poor GPS performance and this issue, I'm starting to wonder if I upgraded from my Evo 4G a bit too early...
Same thing happens to mine while texting I would click a letter but it would click another one. It just did it once tho
never discount the existence of a true phantom pressing those screens ;p
I have heard of several people with the issue. Kinda makes me nervous. Already swapped 1 due to bad camera.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Same thing happens to my e3d
My touchscreen is having issues lately too. It'll work fine for several hours, then the screen will either be unresponsive or register phantom movements. Sometimes it won't register the lockpattern as I move my fingers, and other times it refuses to swipe left or right between screens. I've been trying to figure out if it's some kind of software or hardware issue, but no luck. I'd hate to return it(since it's my 2nd 3D) but if it continues for the rest of the week, it's going back. I made a video clip of it jumping screens randomly just in case the Sprint store ask any questions.
*update
I installed the paint program like OP did and had similar things happen on mine with the random lines and unresponsive screens. I guess I'll return tonight for 3D #3....
Mine just started doin the same thing lately, any of you have results yet? Did you turn in your phone or did they repair it? I really dont wanna go to the sprint store and turn mine in because i dont want a refurbished unit. 9/10 in the past when ive went through insurance, the phone they send me is broken as well and then it goes round and round. Sometimes my phone will just stop responding to touch, it will have phantom touches and/or on the htc_ime mod keyboard on compact qwerty; the ui, jk, m, . column up and down wont work at all. strange to say the least, never had this happen to any of my phones before.
My launch day EVO 3D is being replaced also due to this issue. She be back up and running with my new phone Wednesday.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Well mine developed this problem a few days ago.
The top inch or so of the screen and when I get this problem the touch sensitive buttons also dont work sometimes.
My problem and my question is that, I dont have insurance on the phone, I bought it on Amazon from a private party after my EVO 4G was stollen.
If I take it to Sprint can they just replace the digitizer, since this is a defect of the phone and would that even fix this problem?
If you don't have insurance on the phone then you need to go on ebay and search for evo 3d lcd digitizer housing. Yesterday, I paid $50 shipped from usa.
If you cant find a good listing then u can buy the lcd + digitizer (or just the digitizer) without housing. But it's hard work to do these two because those things are glued and painful to disassemble. It will definitely look jacked up after all your hard work. Just get it with the housing (front black plastic)
Here is a usa seller with what i'm talking about but he as no feedback so i didnt buy from him.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HTC-EVO-3D-...ultDomain_0&hash=item1c20adc044#ht_2172wt_286
There is a hi res disassembly video on youtube.
I've been experiencing this issue lately as well. I've had this phone since the month it was released and it only started acting up as of a couple weeks ago. It started off as the touch screen not registering any touches, not even the capacitive buttons. Then this week it started it started doing the crazy phantom touch thing. In order to get it working, I simply shut off the screen then turn it back on again. It seems to happen less if I'm lighter on the screen. Thank gawd I'm not the only one experiencing this.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
I called a sprint store and they told me that they would either replace the digitizer or the phone for a fee of 35 dollars, since I did not have insurance.
So, I took my phone in and they had another screen that was from another phone that had a different problem.
After they replaced it, he did not charge me
I was happy until I started to drive home and I was checking it some more and realized that the new screen also had the same digitizer problem.
I guess im headed back to Sprint tomorrow hopefully they give me another phone. and I will happily pay the 35 dollars.
Wow thats a real good deal. I never considered taking it for repair. I thought it must be cheaper to do it myself. I hope they can get you a working one. I'm sure they won't try to charge you for it when you go back.
I'm having trouble with my Evo as well, not sure if its the same issue or not.. for about the past week my notification bar will be intermittently unusable, I can't pull it down at all.. then sometimes it'll work. Unfortunately the times I've been near a sprint store it's working fine.. UGH. Also it's been giving me some random letters occasionally when texting, or the most aggravating is when it "clicks" the backspace button and that sticks and it erases whatever text I just wrote. Sounds like a similar issue.. I just wish mine was consistent, sometimes it works perfect.
Call me an idiot but whats the app that you were using!?
Edit:nvm found it haha
Well today i paid the 35 dollars and will be getting another phone
A really good app for testing screen problems is call "touch test"
http://www.appbrain.com/app/touch-test/org.hermit.touchtest
Mine seem to get worse when i had more then one finger on the screen. and it got really bad with just a little bit of preasure on the screen.
I'm having a similar problem but it is only with the capacitative soft keys.
I have problems from time to time. It gets so annoying on Swype because it will leave breaks while I'm Swyping and instead of one word I'll get like four weird words instead. Very cumbersome.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

Would this be enough for you to get a new EVO..?

Well I'm on my second EVO. My first one the screen seemed very vibrant, this one, not so much. I don't know if it's just me. My current one also has the light leak from the home button which bothers me when I see it but don't notice it otherwise. The last issue is rebooting or shutting off. I go commando with my evo (no case) as you know it's a slippery phone. My first evo fell a couple of times form about 3-4 feet, no biggie. I notice with this phone that everytime it gets hit a bit hard it turns off and you have to reboot it to start up again (power + volume down). Yesterday it slipped out of my hand while I was sitting at my desk and it must of fallen about 10-12 inches. Of course this is a refurbished phone.
jimmyg41 said:
Well I'm on my second EVO. My first one the screen seemed very vibrant, this one, not so much. I don't know if it's just me. My current one also has the light leak from the home button which bothers me when I see it but don't notice it otherwise. The last issue is rebooting or shutting off. I go commando with my evo (no case) as you know it's a slippery phone. My first evo fell a couple of times form about 3-4 feet, no biggie. I notice with this phone that everytime it gets hit a bit hard it turns off and you have to reboot it to start up again (power + volume down). Yesterday it slipped out of my hand while I was sitting at my desk and it must of fallen about 10-12 inches. Of course this is a refurbished phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
stop dropping your phone. problem solved.
Spyderekz said:
stop dropping your phone. problem solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great insight, tell me more. Why even waste the time to post this?
you are right, ill tell you what you want to know.
" the phone probably has a loose cable inside of it, and should be replaced. you can either show a sprint rep in store by banging it hard on your hand or calling the insurance and telling them its a faulty replacement, i had a similar issue with a display that would flicker in and out at times as if it was off. "
Thank you for your reply. Maybe I worded my question weirdly. I was just asking if the issues that I stated would be enough for you to go exchange the phone. I know I can get a new one, no big deal. Everyone is a bit different on their tolerance of issues.
When you go in pick the weakest or dumbest looking rep and be forceful about what you want. tell them you KNOW the problem and it shouldnt be happening. i got my phone replaced recently due to a graphic flicker when playing games. they didnt want to exchange it at first but i won in the end. because i KNOW cellphones and how they should work
Did you get a new phone or a refurbished phone? I know the reps at the Sprint store by my house, they'll give me a new (to me, but still refurbished) phone. Just wondering if it's even worth it since my issues are minimal.

Power Button Issues

So a couple of days ago I noticed my power button on top was not responding very well, hmmm. Thought maybe it was because of my case or some debris got lodged in there. Took case completely off and cycled power button several times but made no difference. It does still work, as in power the phone on and off but you have to push on harder than what it use to be.
Looked online at youtube and related posts, was gonna look at fixing the phone myself. Holy crap, to take this phone apart is a pretty good ordeal and more than likely you will need a new outer case after all is said and done. Went down to local ATT store today and talked to them, and at first lady was like what's the problem, I can power it on and off. I said, well I can too but you have to mash on it a bit to do it, and once I put my case back on it's really gonna get more difficult. Get a new one and compare it, so she did and said she could hardly tell the difference, well I can, the new one has a positive click for each push of the button, which mine did too up til two days ago.
After reading online, I see this is a fairly common issue with the HTC ONE, which ticks me off since it's only 6 months old. Hell my HTC INC, was 4 years old and never had a problem besides just getting slow. Anyway, she brought a new one, or maybe it was newly reconditioned, I don't know, and then loaded it up and said here you go. I asked her if it was a 64gb model like mine, she wasn't sure, so I looked and it wasn't unfortunately. So she put in the warranty order for another one coming to my house. Bums me out bigtime, since I had this one all soff, unlocked, rooted and the whole shot plus as far as I know there was no pixels dead or lifting of the screen or gaps between speakers, and the whole plethora of problems that plague this model of phone, so who knows what my newly refurbished model will bring.
I'm contemplating whether I should even bother relocking bootloader before I mail the phone back in. Any body else run into power button issues?

Finally bit the dust

Man I gotta say I'm super bummed out. My battery recently crapped out on me, so I replaced it on my own because I just hit outside my two year warranty.
Well yesterday my phone shutoff randomly and is now bootlooping over and over, and nothing has resolved the issue (flashing factory software etc). So I now have a completely useless Nexus 6p that is in perfect physical condition with a crapped out set of cores that wont allow the phone to boot. I know there's the custom kernel that allows the phone to run off the power efficient cores and I certainly recognize the time spent and the skill required to create something like that. I'm just salty that my expensive phone is now a paper weight.
I made the mistake of buying this direct from Huawei an not from google (it was a better deal at the time and now I see why) and they all but laughed at me when I asked for assistance in replacement for the battery issue, and I didnt even bother asking them about a replacement now that the phone is completely dead.
I talked to google just for laughs and they told me what I knew I would hear, that I didnt buy it from them so I was screwed. I guess long story short is that out of all the devices I've owned this has probably been one of the best while it worked and the worst I've ever experienced when things went wrong. Right at the two year mark it self destructs? I still have my original htc evo that works! lol
/EndRant :silly:
If you want to donate it for parts, I need a new metal housing and LCD for mine.
Mine is still running on all 8 cores and battery replacement was done in August of last year and is still running fine.

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