Intermittent charging (stock ICS, multiple charger, probably not dirty port..) - AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note I717

My girlfriend's Note started acting weird. When she plugs in the charger it randomly stops and starts, sometimes for periods of seconds, sometimes minutes. We checked every combination of cord and charger (AC and car), and they all do the same. We both cleaned out the charger port, but that didn't have any effect. As a matter of fact, just sitting there motionless on the table it will still randomly start and stop charging.
I also noticed that the battery level seems to be off. At one point it was down to maybe 20% (in the yellow). I rebooted and it was up to 30 (in the green). I don't have any real numbers, it was only something I noticed. It's not rooted so I couldn't clear out the battery stats. Instead I drained it down to 0%, charged it all the way to full while it was off. It seemed to help for a day, but the problem came back later.
Could it be battery? Or phone? She has at&t insurance on it, and we're going to run to the (official) store. I just don't know if they send it back or replace it. She can't really be without a phone, so I'm hoping it's the battery (unless they want to replace the phone on the spot).

All we know is you have an at&t phone. What have you done to it?

same problem with Samsung Galaxy Note
Hi there everyone, i'm having the exact the same problem and my galaxy note is acting just like that- weird !!
About two months ago I updated to ICS and after that no issues, only once did it not charge as it was supposed to until i turned it off, removed the battery and put it back in.
Only now has it been charging like explained above -- the charging process as well as battery indications would be very inconsistent -- that is to say, it would charge for some time and then stop unexpectedly, whether turned on or off during the process.
Also, recently my PC would not recognize the phone on Windows 7 anymore, whereas before that it had been recognized seamlessly.
I've been using my galaxy note for about 8 months now, as well as about 2 months on ICS, and only now has there been this persistent issue.
Also, I did not use it inappropriately, rather with extreme care. I also got a phone case and have been using orginal software and hardware only, so the phone has been properly handled.
However, I have been using it pretty much, so it might be "wear and tear" in terms of battery usage, even more so, because it's been regularly charging and discharging in the car or at home, at the same time. Still, what surprises me is that my PC would not recognize it anymore even when it's turned on. Then, at times it would also go to "car mode", although it is not connected to the car dock. These issues have come up just now, as well, so i can imagine it might be a software or even port-related issue.
Unfortunately, at this moment I cannot take it to the store i bought it from to have them check the phone, so that's why I'm trying to figure out the problem myself. After all, if it's software or battery-related i might be able to fix it without having it replaced.
The phone is not branded and free to use with any carrier.
@ Face of Boe:
Did you go to the store then and have it replaced or was it in fact the battery, or did they (you) fix the problem otherwise?
Any help would be highly appreciated.
Chris

Try your preferred mobile repair shop first.
Face Of Boe said:
My girlfriend's Note started acting weird. When she plugs in the charger it randomly stops and starts, sometimes for periods of seconds, sometimes minutes. We checked every combination of cord and charger (AC and car), and they all do the same. We both cleaned out the charger port, but that didn't have any effect. As a matter of fact, just sitting there motionless on the table it will still randomly start and stop charging.
I also noticed that the battery level seems to be off. At one point it was down to maybe 20% (in the yellow). I rebooted and it was up to 30 (in the green). I don't have any real numbers, it was only something I noticed. It's not rooted so I couldn't clear out the battery stats. Instead I drained it down to 0%, charged it all the way to full while it was off. It seemed to help for a day, but the problem came back later.
Could it be battery? Or phone? She has at&t insurance on it, and we're going to run to the (official) store. I just don't know if they send it back or replace it. She can't really be without a phone, so I'm hoping it's the battery (unless they want to replace the phone on the spot).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this exact same problem a couple weeks ago...it all started one day at work when I had my phone plugged in (as I usually did if it was in one place for more than 5 minutes), but after turning on my screen for the the first time in an hour or so, I noticed that it hadn't charged at all! The indicator at the top didn't even show that it was plugged in.
Figuring it was just some kind of little glitch, I unplugged it, blew inside the charge port as well as the cable (old Nintendo habits die hard lol). Well as I went to plug it back in, I realized that NOW the indicator showed it was "charging", and my phone had gotten super hot in just the 30ish seconds it took me to blow the port and cable (heh.)
So obviously I freaked out and immediately shut it down, pulled the back, and removed the battery to let the two pieces calm down and make nice - before ultimately putting it back together and booting up after 15 minutes or so.
So the good news was that the "reverse charge" issue was gone...but the bad news was, the charge activity started acting literally word-for-word like your girlfriend's. Intermittent charging when it was sitting still, not charging at all for a period of time, losing more battery than it was gaining while it was plugged in and the screen was OFF...so yeah, it sucked. I did notice that I could push the cord back while it was plugged in and it would stay charging, but obviously I can't sit in one spot holding my phone for 5 hours a day - and that stopped working after a few tries anyway.
I spent countless hours on the internet, googling different phrases to try and find similar instances of this happening - but to no avail. Everyone's story was just a little different...and pretty much everything I found outside of XDA* was written by people over in England who dropped their N7000 in the snow, causing the charge port to be corroded. The conclusion from everything else I found regarding this issue for the i717 was essentially always "the only way you can fix this is to get a new phone, but you're screwed because this glitch causes the phone to look like it has water damage and therefore renders it ineligible for manufacturer warranty claim or even insurance claims".
To make matters worse, not only was my phone effectively unchargeable, but it was discharging at an absolutely absurd rate. I'm talking approximately 20% every TEN MINUTES!
So I got desperate (it's Sunday by now)...all of the cell phone repair places were closed where I live, but I was able to do some searching and found this guy that was surprisingly available at the AT&T store closest to my house. That kept me alive until Monday, when I was able to take it in to the guy who I've been going to ever since the iPhone days (he is FANTASTIC). So he looks at it, takes it apart, and in about 5 minutes he tells me that the small little strip where my charge port attaches to the mother board (or whatever) had a lot of cracks running across it that were causing it to short-out. He said that it's a very common problem with the AT&T Galaxy Note, I guess due to them using a pretty cheap part in that regard. This obviously explained the intermittent charging, the brief "reverse charge", and even the battery drain (if the motherboard was shorting out).
So what did he do?
Replaced the little strip that connects the charge port to the motherboard...took him half an hour...cost me $25. Advised me that, when I plug my phone in from now on, to try as hard as possible to keep the phone still and not move it around. So at least in my case, it was NOT the battery. If you'd rather be cautious and not take the phone into a store if you can avoid it, you can probably get a replacement battery online for just a few bucks and at least eliminate that.
So the moral of the story is: DO NOT try to take the phone in to AT&T store or deal with your warranty/insurance until you take it in to a decent repair place and have them take a look at it.
Hopefully this helps...I'm sure you are wanting (like I was) a software solution, but it is what it is. And just curious, did your girlfriend have any similar "reverse-charge" instances like I described above?
tl;dr: The problem is the charging port, not the battery. Should be an easy and inexpensive (<$50) fix at a legitimate cell phone repair location.
*The silver lining in this whole thing was that it caused me to stumble upon this forum...so I went from stock ROM, stock everything (before my charge port issue) to having flashed about one ROM per day over the last 5 days because I've been so interested in the entire world of customization that I only discovered after seeing a thread with "Gubment Cheeze" in the title (who WOULDN'T at least look at that to see what's up??) here on XDA and starting to read. I've been a 24/7 lurker ever since

I read the last post by cpa poke and I must say it's quite risky to actually have a phone repaired by an unlicensed dealer/repair shop, because you'll cause any warranty left on the item to be effectively void.
I do know it is tempting for any of us to get our phone fixed as soon as possible, but then I think we should keep it cool and try to work out what else we can to do to make it work -- even though it might be temporarily -- until we can return it properly, as according to warranty indications.
Any of you trying to get a "repair fix" might want to consider that it may well be rather short-lived, because the same problem could persist for some reason -- that your repair shop did not recognize. If ultimately you have to get it repaired again, your ("fantastic") repair guy might then not be able to solve the problem and at that point any warranty claim would be quite certainly rejected, either (because of any previous unauthorized modifications to the device).
As far as I'm concerned, I have been testing my device with different chargers, currently it's charging consistently while turned off.
Also, I don't think I have had any of the "battery drainage" problem while charging, rather the battery indications were rather unreliable.
Then, I have read the problem could be solved by changing the battery. So I'll see if that makes a difference as soon as I get a replacement.
Another option will be to factory reset the item. I'll try that as soon as I get a backup of my phone data.
To all of you who are stuck with this issue I suggest you try some of the above: different chargers, removing and reinserting your battery, or else a battery replacement, factory reset.
Also try and leave the phone for some time and try to charge it then while turned off -- that's how I got my phone to charge again (until now), and according to the battery symbol it's almost fully charged -- the issue might still persist after that, but maybe it'll work until I can fix it otherwise, or get a replacement. After all, if it's been handled properly we should expect to get it replaced.

chris110284 said:
I read the last post by cpa poke and I must say it's quite risky to actually have a phone repaired by an unlicensed dealer/repair shop, because you'll cause any warranty left on the item to be effectively void.
I do know it is tempting for any of us to get our phone fixed as soon as possible, but then I think we should keep it cool and try to work out what else we can to do to make it work -- even though it might be temporarily -- until we can return it properly, as according to warranty indications.
Any of you trying to get a "repair fix" might want to consider that it may well be rather short-lived, because the same problem could persist for some reason -- that your repair shop did not recognize. If ultimately you have to get it repaired again, your ("fantastic") repair guy might then not be able to solve the problem and at that point any warranty claim would be quite certainly rejected, either (because of any previous unauthorized modifications to the device).
As far as I'm concerned, I have been testing my device with different chargers, currently it's charging consistently while turned off.
Also, I don't think I have had any of the "battery drainage" problem while charging, rather the battery indications were rather unreliable.
Then, I have read the problem could be solved by changing the battery. So I'll see if that makes a difference as soon as I get a replacement.
Another option will be to factory reset the item. I'll try that as soon as I get a backup of my phone data.
To all of you who are stuck with this issue I suggest you try some of the above: different chargers, removing and reinserting your battery, or else a battery replacement, factory reset.
Also try and leave the phone for some time and try to charge it then while turned off -- that's how I got my phone to charge again (until now), and according to the battery symbol it's almost fully charged -- the issue might still persist after that, but maybe it'll work until I can fix it otherwise, or get a replacement. After all, if it's been handled properly we should expect to get it replaced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree that taking it to a repair place should only be reserved for desperate/time sensitive situations, the only reason I chose that route over going through AT&T or an insurance company was that, from everything I'd read, the symptoms alone would likely cause them to assume water damage - thus rendering the same scenario as if the 3rd party repair voided the warranty.

Im having the same problem with myGalaxy S3 today, random intermittent charging..
I Just took off the back cover a few minutes ago and found a little glob of water sitting above the charging port!! Aaah!!
Don't know how it got there, but going to let her dry out and see if it resolves itself.
info:
rooted S3 i9300
2 months old
ROM: Complex-D 2.1.3
Getting random freezes on this ROMfor a few days also, so going to flash a new rom and see if the problem persists

Is it me, or is this a retardly common issue with i717s? I've had this same issue twice. I replaced the charger flex board when I bought the phone in the first place. And now it hasn't been a month and the flex board seems like it's out again.

My phone had this issue and all I did was oder the charging port from parts4repair.com and it cleared the issue up
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium

Are you using the Samsung charger for your phone? It seems you are over volted and burn your usb port.

rangercaptain said:
Are you using the Samsung charger for your phone? It seems you are over volted and burn your usb port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed .....and another thought comes to mind..
Non-OEM charger tips, especially car dock chargers and desk chargers have port tips using different material thicknesses.
I am speculating here, but it's likely that the off sizing would produce intermittent charging problems or damage to the device.
Of course, the overcharging effect would certainly account for rapid flex cable burnouts.
Without the cables and a micrometer, impossible to know for sure.
OEM is certainly preferable....g
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA Premium HD app

srkrono said:
My phone had this issue and all I did was oder the charging port from parts4repair.com and it cleared the issue up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did the same about a month ago, when I got the phone. Now it's out again.
rangercaptain said:
Are you using the Samsung charger for your phone? It seems you are over volted and burn your usb port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't know this was anything more than a myth. Though, I'm not sure this is my problem. I can charge the phone - for now - by putting the phone on my bedside table and putting a small weight along the length of the cable so it holds the jack at an angle against the port.
I know I'm gonna get flamed for that last statement.

Related

Serious issue...

Hi there; Could do with some help please I seem to have a series issue with my Samsung Galaxy S2 today. It started this morning; I noticed the screen was randomly turning on; for no reason what so ever. It only does it when the phone isn't charging, if the data cable or the charger is plugged in; it doesn't do it.
Its on version KE7. I have tried a factory reset, and that hasn't sorted the issue. Therefore I seemed to think it was a hardware fault, however with it not being an issue when plugged in I wondered why it might be doing it.
Tap to speak also kept coming up for no apparent reason, I say kept coming up, doesn't happen all the time, but did come up about 6 times today, when I hadn't pressed anything, which would suggest the bottom centre button could be stuck or sticky, however that seems fine; and its not been near any moisture and has been a hot day.
The phone has not ever been rooted; so no issues there.
The phone battery dies very quickly within about 4 hours with the screen turning on all the time; and the phone will randomly freeze up completely, and I have to remove the battery to reset the phone.
Anybody got any ideas? Really could do with some help
Thanks
Rich
Update: It is plugged in charging now; and the MTP Application has come up; like the data cable is plugged in. That seems very odd to me...
Don't be afraid to send it back. These things aren't cheap even if you're paying through your contact, you're entitled to get what you paid for.
Your specific issues may be down to more than one thing. My screen lights up when I've read my gmail on a different device and it needs to clear the notification. Nothing too worrying about that. The other stuff does sound like some sort of shorting though and people have been given replacements for less serious issues.
I'm tempted to get mine swapped because the wifi often won't pick up an IP address and the gps won't get a fix if the phone gets too hot. Relatively minor compared to your issues.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Yeah I think its going to have to, I've tried playing about with settings, giving it time to cool down; pretty much everything I can think of, I really can't think what it could be, it seems to be many issues rather than just one, with it only being a month old, I expected slightly more.
Love the phone, did brilliantly yesterday; used it for lots of things; then today it just suddenly went, took it of charge, and it played up the whole way through.
Given up with it now, will take it back and see if I can get it fixed, I have 24 month warrenty with my contract.
Thanks
Put your original firmware back on if you can before attempting a warranty claim .
jje

[Q] Random Screen Wakes and Complete power off's (USB Port)

This started earlier in the week. I think I loaded the Free Monopoly, Contract killer and Text Plus in the morning when it started. I'm thinking this was Tuesday or Wednesday morning after Christmas.
At the Time I immediately killed and uninstalled all three of the recent app additions. This did not appear to resolve the issue.
Symptoms
Screen would not remain off for more than a few minutes without turning itself back on again. Full screen wakes.
Occasionally and without warning the phone would completely turn itself off, requiring the very long power button press to turn on again (was a full power-down).
Since this has started I decided to upgrade to the latest unamed rom.
This does not appear to have helped anything, although the frequency may have been reduced. I don't think this is related to the ROM since the issue survived the factory reset / wipe / rom change.
Questions
Are there any internal logs that may help to point me in the right direction?
If so, where / how can I view them?
I'm seeing a RILJ dialer something under Partial wakelocks in BBS.
I see this as [p]_RILJ under Kernal wakelocks as well. Any Idea what this is?
I admit, I was getting a bit silly with the quantity of Apps I had loaded and still running well at the time. Amazed the phone was still going very strong with no issues at all. I'm trimming this back on the new rom.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Random Illumination Wakes and sleep crashes.
Still trying to nail this down.
Additional observations.
Timing appears to be random.
When I say the screen wakes up, I'm mean illuminating.
The wakes appear almost as often as the power off freeze. What I mean is the quantity of complete power off's is similar to the screen wakes.
It's very possible that the same event may be causing both the screen wake and the hard starts. Neither issue occured prior to this the starting of both events.
I have occasionally seen the "Driving Mode" steering wheel icon pop-up, while unplugged. I've not connected this phone to any kind driving interface as of yet, so this is a surpriseds.
Today I had additional issues with extremely heavy battery drain in a short period of time. I had incorrectly added 2650mA under battery capacity beneath Calibration tab of "Battery Monitor Widget Pro".
Still looking for help finding and viewing any error logs on the device.
Does anyone know of some basic error log files on the device?
Again, all help is greatly appreciated.
Under Recent unamed ROM but I do not believe the ROM is the issue.
iqak said:
Still trying to nail this down.
Additional observations.
Timing appears to be random.
When I say the screen wakes up, I'm mean illuminating.
The wakes appear almost as often as the power off freeze. What I mean is the quantity of complete power off's is similar to the screen wakes.
It's very possible that the same event may be causing both the screen wake and the hard starts. Neither issue occured prior to this the starting of both events.
I have occasionally seen the "Driving Mode" steering wheel icon pop-up, while unplugged. I've not connected this phone to any kind driving interface as of yet, so this is a surpriseds.
Today I had additional issues with extremely heavy battery drain in a short period of time. I had incorrectly added 2650mA under battery capacity beneath Calibration tab of "Battery Monitor Widget Pro".
Still looking for help finding and viewing any error logs on the device.
Does anyone know of some basic error log files on the device?
Again, all help is greatly appreciated.
Under Recent unamed ROM but I do not believe the ROM is the issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These random screen wakes, particularly with the car mode activations, are what I was seeing when my usb port on the device failed. there are several threads in the general and QA forums regarding usb failures, you might want to dig around in there to see if other behavior is similar. I think one poster mentioned cleaning out the USB port with alcohol and a small paint brush. I had tried doing the same with canned air, but that did not help me. I ended up with a warranty replacement device.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA App
I think you may be onto something.
Since the event I am also having issues connecting up to my Win7 Pc.
On the morning of the event, I remember a brief weirdness to the charging indication. I think it said it was charging when it wasn't or vice versa.
So now the question becomes.
What do I need to do before an exchange?
Purchased from Best Buy on US Launch day without extended warranty.
Do I still have a warranty?
Can I go to the AT&T store in Sacramento?
I think you may be onto something.
Since the event I am also having issues connecting up to my Win7 Pc.
On the morning of the event, I remember a brief weirdness to the charging indication. I think it said it was charging when it wasn't or vice versa.
So now the question becomes.
What do I need to do before an exchange?
Purchased from Best Buy on US Launch day without extended warranty.
Do I still have a warranty?
Can I go to the AT&T store in Sacramento?
Your phone has a 1 year hardware warranty. Talk to Best Buy, and force them to give you a replacement. I did that with AT&T, not putting it on the phone insurance, but the phone's warranty that came with it, for free.
Backup your apps using a tool like ROM Toolbox from the market (it's my favorite). When you restore your phone, all apps that AREN'T sideloaded will come back with the last Google Sync you made, so sync now. If you're sure, 100% that it's hardware and not software, make a backup via CWM and ignore all previous instructions, but if you're like me, you'll want a fresh restart with the ability to axe all the apps you don't use on a clean ROM.
When backing up all non-sideloaded apps, Google does it for you, use a backup program from the market to ONLY backup your sideloaded apps.
HUGE ADDENDUM:
READ THIS. Alright, before taking it back to Best Buy, flash Entropy's "Back To Stock" ROM and kernel. If you don't, you're done. Warranty voided. If they are intelligent and check the flashcounter, and see you tripped it, but you're on a stock ROM, you can talk your way outta it. Try thinking of something before you go in. The excuse I will use if ever needed is I was clueless about why my phone was ****ing up, so my friend who said he could fix it took my phone for a day and temporarily fixed it, and it worked alright for a couple days before the issue came back. So you can claim ignorance IF NEEDED, but most of the time they don't check. Just be sure to have an answer for if they do.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
I do have a jig and I do not have the Exclamation Icon.
However my boot animation is no longer stock and I have not been able to read the flash counter. The Power-off, Hold volumes and plug USB thing is not working for me.
To date, I have not caught anything in software to cause this.
Getting myself ready, Thanks a million.
iqak said:
I do have a jig and I do not have the Exclamation Icon.
However my boot animation is no longer stock and I have not been able to read the flash counter. The Power-off, Hold volumes and plug USB thing is not working for me.
To date, I have not caught anything in software to cause this.
Getting myself ready, Thanks a million.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you used a root method that should not have increased the counter, I think you can mobile Odin back to stock unrooted to prep for warranty return.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA App
Shot back to this ROM
Kernel + cache + rooted UCKK6 system package: http://www.multiupload.com/NYL3XT51Y0
Feels like olden times.....Naked in front of the Gym class.
Beyond Best Buys 30 Days so had to go to the AT&T Service center.
They grilled me, checked, wiped, reflashed, yada-yada-yada.
Gave me the could be an app shpeel, did you use a car charger questions etc.
Long story short....
They want to try a new battery 1st.
So, news years eve overnight, maybe by Monday.
I admit this could be a possibility because I have had the battery lose a large amount of capacity in a short amount of time one the order of Full to Dead in 2-3 hours. This has occurred to me on maybe three or four occasions since launch day. Phone got warm to hot at the same time. This usually included a hard kill power off. Nice big gap / drop in battery stats.
Is there any way the phone would get a charging indication yet not charge?
Like if the USB port got wonked or crossed with something?
Additional Weirdness:
I have had the phone freeze up on me, picture turn weird as it gradually whitened to full white screen only.
No response from the keys or screen with the exception of a long power button press to recover. This occurred a few times since the original event (maybe 3) with the last one happening while plugging it back in for some juice for the return today.
Keeping this up to date in case others run across the same funkyness.
iqak said:
Shot back to this ROM
Kernel + cache + rooted UCKK6 system package: http://www.multiupload.com/NYL3XT51Y0
Feels like olden times.....Naked in front of the Gym class.
Beyond Best Buys 30 Days so had to go to the AT&T Service center.
They grilled me, checked, wiped, reflashed, yada-yada-yada.
Gave me the could be an app shpeel, did you use a car charger questions etc.
Long story short....
They want to try a new battery 1st.
So, news years eve overnight, maybe by Monday.
I admit this could be a possibility because I have had the battery lose a large amount of capacity in a short amount of time one the order of Full to Dead in 2-3 hours. This has occurred to me on maybe three or four occasions since launch day. Phone got warm to hot at the same time. This usually included a hard kill power off. Nice big gap / drop in battery stats.
Is there any way the phone would get a charging indication yet not charge?
Like if the USB port got wonked or crossed with something?
Additional Weirdness:
I have had the phone freeze up on me, picture turn weird as it gradually whitened to full white screen only.
No response from the keys or screen with the exception of a long power button press to recover. This occurred a few times since the original event (maybe 3) with the last one happening while plugging it back in for some juice for the return today.
Keeping this up to date in case others run across the same funkyness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the "try a different battery" story too. Conveniently my wife also has the I777 as well, so tried hers. No joy for me. After that, rma was approved. Good luck!
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA App
It ain't the battery man. The symptoms you described fit perfectly with a fried micro usb port.
If you haven't set the flashcounter off, and your phone has the AT&T boot logo, then you're good to go as far as exchanging it goes. DO IT UNDER WARRANTY AND NOT INSURANCE. This is the **** quality of the usb connecter, not user caused.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
I doubt it too, since the original event involved the AM unplugging from the charger. I always check the Next Amazon app, 1st thing.
I can honestly say that:
The phone has absolutely never been dropped.
The USB cable nor port has never been stressed, tweaked nor twisted.
Never used the phone with the cable attached.
Neither the phone nor the Taurus gunmetal case have a single scratch.
The phone has never been close to water, save for the obligatory post shower, AM, moist towel screen wipe (ok.... too much info).
I think I had 137 apps on this thing until the 1st event last week. In those original two months I've had maybe 5 force closes or other events. The force is definitely strong in this one!
I hope they forget the "new" battery when the time comes for the full swap?
As always, thanks for everyones help. I'll post this through beyond conclusion for the rest of us.
Definitely the USB port is screwed. I'm on my third phone cuz of this issue. First guy at best buy said it was probably because I wasn't using stock launcher. Whatever. Second replacement was easier, just a young girl who never even looked at my phone, and just gave me a new one. I did go to a different best buy second time to avoid possibly getting another phone from a bad batch. I've posted on other threads on this issue about the fact that this problem might be caused by the lack of a cover over the USB port. Maybe i'm wrong, but it seems to easy for junk to get in there. If you can't flash back to stock via computer, you can try mobile Odin, however I ended up soft bricking my phone trying to run the stock Odin one click via drop box through mobile Odin. Don't know if file didn't completely DL through drop box, but I couldn't fix soft brick since I couldn't connect phone to comp using the USB port. Long story short, my advice, flash stock while you still can, and keep it that way cuz the problem most likely won't go away.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
Additional info:
I performed a factory data reset (from the settings screen) prior to re-loading the unbrick/return to stock ROM. Also wiped all three memory areas prior to the rom.
Last night the Driving mode Icon and V-Lingo kept popping back up as if I were connected to a car adapter. I have no use for either as I have no car adapter yet (was at home). No cable was attached at the time and the phone was sleeping. This occurred a half dozen times or so.
I also randomly receive the USB connected icon despite having nothing connected to the phone. Says MTP-Initialization.
Odin 3 worked yesterday without any issue. Droid explorer also appears to work but Kies has refused to connect since the event, even with the New years update. The Win7 pc randomly recognizes the phone. Sometimes it's ok, but mostly it does not show up at all with the pc saying "USB device not recognized...".
With USB Debugging turned on, Kies says:
"Reconnect the device in Samsung Kies (PC Studio) mode.Current mode not supported by Kies."
I switched USB debugging off 1st thing this morning and it looks like Kies USB is working ok now.
Kies Air works like a champ.
Still think the USB Port is dorked. Probably the USB controller chip as I don't think I have any physical looseness. I really wish USB connectors were longer and deeper with screwed attachments to the motherboard in addition to the soldering.
Correct me if I am wrong here, but I thought that the "Driving / V-Lingo Mode" is Hardware triggered and it is not possible to trigger this mode with any software. At least that is the impression I got by reading the car cable connection cable discussions.
More fuel for the bad USB port fire?
Since the multiple wipes and return to stock, I do not think I've had an event from sleeping to hard crash / reboot required.
Still having wake-ups and spurious driving mode activation's both plugged in and unplugged. This may or may not be accompanied by the V-Lingo, terms prompt.
Prior to going back when the replacement battery fails to improve things....
Can I kill / Delete everything on the phones internal SD memory?
Not thinking,.. I still had the Titanium Backup directory along with Clockwork Mod etc. still on the phone when I brought the phone to the service center. Had they checked the phone directory, I could have lost warranty, etc.
Any other directories I should look for?
Just Realized I had not stated my Hardware Level.
Model: SAMSUNG-SGH-I777
Android Version: 2.3.6
Baseband Version: I777UCKK6
Kernel: 2.6.35.7
Build No. GINGERBREAD.UCKK6
Still getting spurious wakes with the USB port thinking:
It's connected to a PC.
It's connected to the car
or V-Lingo launches thinking I'm about to take a trip.
All of these occur with nothing connected at all, and typically the phone is sleeping. Still have not had a repeat Hard crash since the wipes and return to stock.
Do we have enough of a known hardware history here to know / avoid certain builds?
No. Not much effort has been put into figuring the faulty USB port out. Entropy and I even hashed it out in Q&A, both of us thinking it might have been the software. Truth is, you'll probably find more info in the international SGS II community than here, as more were sold, and our SGH I777 was discontinued only a month or two after being brought to the market.
Because it hasn't been reported on much, no one has thought to start observing the hardware for faults. You should consider doing so - I can tell you some information on my phone model later, after I remove the battery and such. Maybe shoot GTX or Entropy a PM to ask them for tips on identifying different hardware models and state why you're interested. As I said, I'll post my info on my new replacement, and observe it to see if the same problem occurs as it did in the last one.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Here's a link to the thread I started when mine went tango uniform:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1369647
I mentioned at one point about looking at device serial numbers to attempt to track bad hardware, but I'm not sure if that info is safe to post online when not coupled with device imei. I would think it is safe, but not sure.
Unfortunately I don't know if I can track down the info on my defective phone now, since it has been gone for several weeks.
Also: I was under the impression that the i777 had in fact NOT been discontinued, only not stocked in COR stores in LTE markets. I'd be interested in documentation on the discontinuation if you can provide it...
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA App
Wow, your thread has quite a few similarities.
With the exception of the ROM selections, the device responses appear to mimic my own dead on. I was on "update-unnamed-v1.0.4-full" when the issue reared its head. Jumped to v2.0.1 to see if it helped, but again, I seriously doubt this issue is ROM related.
I'm still waiting for the "overnight-ed" battery.
I expect it will arrive tomorrow. With any luck I can grab it from home at lunch and charge it at the office. Put an effort into trying it at least.
That pushes my eventual return out till Wednesday evening / Thursday morning. I'll be sure to get the serial number data from it before it goes back.
Would it be insecure of me to post the old serial number data after the exchange?
I'm wondering if charging device, cable or PC could have had something to do with the failure. Pretty sure the cable was stock, but the plug may have been a logitech. This arrangement had been used nightly since launch date, so I doubt it.
Electronic chips can do some funny things. I'm fairly certain the port itself is still firmly attached.
As always, thanks for everybody's help.

Mobile data connection lost!

This is my second padphone in 3 weeks and both devices have lost mobile data connection. The first time AT&T told me it was because of a crack on the screen. Made no sense but I paid the 200$ for insurance and got it replaced now the replacement is doing the same thing. For no reason at all I will loose all connection and the phone says no service and then comes back after a random amount of time.
Is anyone else experiencing this behavior?
Sent from my ASUS PadFone X using XDA Free mobile app
Not at all. Sorry.
I had the same problem too. Just change the sim card to a new one and it will be alright again
Have you updated the IMEI with at&t? I had some small issues with my data until I updated. Tether didn't work either. It would give my computer an IP but wouldn't pass traffic.
Sent from my ASUS PadFone X using XDA Free mobile app
infinitpain said:
This is my second padphone in 3 weeks and both devices have lost mobile data connection. The first time AT&T told me it was because of a crack on the screen. Made no sense but I paid the 200$ for insurance and got it replaced now the replacement is doing the same thing. For no reason at all I will loose all connection and the phone says no service and then comes back after a random amount of time.
Is anyone else experiencing this behavior?
Sent from my ASUS PadFone X using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello XDA Community,
I would like for anyone reporting any issues relating to heat and data to please contact me with details.
Are you using Wi-Fi, LTE, Streaming movies, Videos, Playing games, or using certain Applications?
Was your Padfone X docked when this happened?
Please provide your Serial Number.
I would like to gather as much information as possible and I cannot do it without this communities help.
Please email me at [email protected], place case number N140842602 in the subject line along with your username.
Lose power first?
infinitpain said:
This is my second padphone in 3 weeks and both devices have lost mobile data connection. The first time AT&T told me it was because of a crack on the screen. Made no sense but I paid the 200$ for insurance and got it replaced now the replacement is doing the same thing. For no reason at all I will loose all connection and the phone says no service and then comes back after a random amount of time.
Is anyone else experiencing this behavior?
Sent from my ASUS PadFone X using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you lose power first? Were you in tablet mode when it happened? You should check out the "Phone Died" thread and contact [email protected] You are not alone and this seems to be a fairly widespread issue. It was not the crack on the screen. Scott's email is [email protected].
Same issue as modirator
aselsley said:
Did you lose power first? Were you in tablet mode when it happened? You should check out the "Phone Died" thread and contact [email protected] You are not alone and this seems to be a fairly widespread issue. It was not the crack on the screen. Scott's email is [email protected].
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the phone was in the tablet while charging. This happened to me 3 times. 1st device I had taken the phone out of the charger and it wouldn't power on until I connected the phone directly to the charger. But it didn't have data connection when it finally powered up. The 2nd device I disconnected the charger from the tablet then pulled it out but it still happened. 3rd device I disconnected the charger from the tablet and tried powering on the device through the tablet. Still same problem the thing wouldn't turn on. So i pulled the phone out plugged it to the charger held the power button. It came one and as you guess no network. But in my case I get no network at all. So if there is a fix please let me know because this is very frustrating. I have had 3 of the phones and all of them have now had the same exact problem. My opinion is that this is a malfunction with the tablet. Because from my experience it never happens when the phone is charging directly through the charging cable.
No fix yet...
acriar said:
Yes the phone was in the tablet while charging. This happened to me 3 times. 1st device I had taken the phone out of the charger and it wouldn't power on until I connected the phone directly to the charger. But it didn't have data connection when it finally powered up. The 2nd device I disconnected the charger from the tablet then pulled it out but it still happened. 3rd device I disconnected the charger from the tablet and tried powering on the device through the tablet. Still same problem the thing wouldn't turn on. So i pulled the phone out plugged it to the charger held the power button. It came one and as you guess no network. But in my case I get no network at all. So if there is a fix please let me know because this is very frustrating. I have had 3 of the phones and all of them have now had the same exact problem. My opinion is that this is a malfunction with the tablet. Because from my experience it never happens when the phone is charging directly through the charging cable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Acriar for the additional information. So far every failure like this is pretty consistently in conjunction with the tablet. No, I don't have a fix. I wish I did, because your reply does not give me much hope for my third device. Again, let [email protected] know. Hopefully they are putting sufficient engineering resources on to this to fix it else the Padfone X's life in the US will be short at best.
acriar said:
Yes the phone was in the tablet while charging. This happened to me 3 times. 1st device I had taken the phone out of the charger and it wouldn't power on until I connected the phone directly to the charger. But it didn't have data connection when it finally powered up. The 2nd device I disconnected the charger from the tablet then pulled it out but it still happened. 3rd device I disconnected the charger from the tablet and tried powering on the device through the tablet. Still same problem the thing wouldn't turn on. So i pulled the phone out plugged it to the charger held the power button. It came one and as you guess no network. But in my case I get no network at all. So if there is a fix please let me know because this is very frustrating. I have had 3 of the phones and all of them have now had the same exact problem. My opinion is that this is a malfunction with the tablet. Because from my experience it never happens when the phone is charging directly through the charging cable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly my experience with the first phone. AT&T replaced that one. Didn't replace the one w/ dead pixels.
Similar problems with dropping network
I began having problems with the network dropping 2 weekends ago. I moved my phone from my pocket to the station, but the station never 'start'. When pulled out, the phone would not start. Neither was low on battery. Finally got the phone to start when I plugged it into the charger. That has happened a few more times since then. After that, the network was totally undependable for the night and next day, despite restarts of all types. I was on a trip, and when I got home the problem continued for the night, but then disappeared the next morning before I could take it to the ATT store. Worked fine a few days, then occasionally could connect and occasionally not. A restart of the phone usually gets the network back - but not always. My wifi connection has always been available when wifi was around, but the LTE is suddenly disappearing fast. Will send note to Scott, but wanted to add to this thread. BTW, great site. Thanks for the info here. Best padfone x forum I've found by far.
Asus repair: they truly are out in a league of their own.
dibblebill said:
Exactly my experience with the first phone. AT&T replaced that one. Didn't replace the one w/ dead pixels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For those of you with this problem the answer is to contact Asus. From my analysis when I sent mines in here's the problem. So as you see from my response the phone was over charging when left in the tablet for an extended period of time. Well it's not that the tablet wasn't managing this charge correctly it was the charger as well. I say this because when they returned my device it was accompanied by a new charger, and yes they replaced the tablet as well. But there is a new feature in their UI that request you use the factory charger when charging your device while in the tablet. I checked the numbers on the old charger that i had from my previous phones ( the failed one's before) and it had a different version number on it than the new one they sent. I also noticed some of the AMPs and voltage had been changed. That all said I want to give a big thank you to Asus repair because they are actually an honest bunch, and here's why. So as explained above i, like many of you, have had several of these devices. Just so happened that on the third one I'd been working out on hot day and when I arrived home was still sweating. The wet sensor for the device, for those that don't know, is right on the back where your fingures rest while holding it. As expected I touched it while sweating and it turned red, was unaware of this at the time however. Soon after the third device failed and I tired returning it to At&t. They explained they could not accept it due to the wet sensor. I explained that the phone was not water damaged and the problem that existed was the same as the past devices I returned. But they washed their hands of it and would not take it back. On to Asus; they were taking my tablet in as an RMA and explained they could check the damages on the phone, after I explained my situation. They explained they would let me know the repair cost for the phone before returning the devices. I asked if they would take an honest look at it in this case, explaining that if they found water damage that I would fully pay for the repairs but if the damage was due to the malfunction could they just fix that. Well they, unlike AT&T, did just and replaced the damaged device. I must say it is very rare for a company to have such conviction to its customers and truly appreciate their dedication. And if you are wondering about how the new setup is after the update so far no problems.
acriar said:
For those of you with this problem the answer is to contact Asus. From my analysis when I sent mines in here's the problem. So as you see from my response the phone was over charging when left in the tablet for an extended period of time. Well it's not that the tablet wasn't managing this charge correctly it was the charger as well. I say this because when they returned my device it was accompanied by a new charger, and yes they replaced the tablet as well. But there is a new feature in their UI that request you use the factory charger when charging your device while in the tablet. I checked the numbers on the old charger that i had from my previous phones ( the failed one's before) and it had a different version number on it than the new one they sent. I also noticed some of the AMPs and voltage had been changed. That all said I want to give a big thank you to Asus repair because they are actually an honest bunch, and here's why. So as explained above i, like many of you, have had several of these devices. Just so happened that on the third one I'd been working out on hot day and when I arrived home was still sweating. The wet sensor for the device, for those that don't know, is right on the back where your fingures rest while holding it. As expected I touched it while sweating and it turned red, was unaware of this at the time however. Soon after the third device failed and I tired returning it to At&t. They explained they could not accept it due to the wet sensor. I explained that the phone was not water damaged and the problem that existed was the same as the past devices I returned. But they washed their hands of it and would not take it back. On to Asus; they were taking my tablet in as an RMA and explained they could check the damages on the phone, after I explained my situation. They explained they would let me know the repair cost for the phone before returning the devices. I asked if they would take an honest look at it in this case, explaining that if they found water damage that I would fully pay for the repairs but if the damage was due to the malfunction could they just fix that. Well they, unlike AT&T, did just and replaced the damaged device. I must say it is very rare for a company to have such conviction to its customers and truly appreciate their dedication. And if you are wondering about how the new setup is after the update so far no problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I agree- ASUS's handling of the issue wasn't bad. They even replaced my scuffed tablet dock back cover. But it wasn't the charger- mine went out while discharging, every time. Sometimes within seconds of being docked. I had two different tablet dock hardware versions and both failed on me. It was something in the phone's handling of it, is my guess, seeing as the firmware update seemingly fixed it.

[Q] Battery "discharges" out of the blue

Hi,
My wife's been complaining about her sgs3, i9300a phone a lot lately, so I've been taking some time of to have a long hard look at it.
the phone in itself works quite well, it is somewhat guarded (she tends to drop it a lot but most of the time it's actually in it's case) and we've switched the screen once (well, not the screen, the top half of the phone to be exact)
the phone used to have a stock 4.1.3 (I think) samsung rom on it for the past year, it's been working well untill a couple of months ago I think and it does still function properly on light use
so what is the issue?
if you'll start a game, or anything that'll cause the phone to heat up - the screen would flicker a bit (not always) and the battery will suddenly report to be down to 0%, shutting down the device right after.
this sudden discharge is obviously not real, as the minute I connect it to a charger and boot up the phone it shows it's last charge before the phone was shut down - however the issue keeps on repeating itself over and over again.
If the phone is connected to a wall charger (or a pc via USB cable) this doesn't happen.
I've been trying to install a kitkat on the device (it have been working slowly so she needed an upgrade) yet the issue persists.
I've been reading around the Internet, some claim it's a faulty battery issue so I'm ordering one from eBay, however - I can't shake the feeling it might some other faulty hardware, perhaps a memory chip gone bad? as I can't see the connection between a bad battery and a flickering screen.
Truth to be told - I'm not a fan of android, or samsung, so I don't know much of the history of problems with it (if there is any) and I've been hoping that there is someone around here who might encountered (or heard) about my issue and would be able to shed some light for me.
thanks in advance!
Change the battery first, replacing the motherboard isn't worth it.
boomboomer said:
Change the battery first, replacing the motherboard isn't worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah... I'm planning on stealing my boss S3's battery for some testing later on today if he'll ever decide to show up...
perhaps shouldn't have told him that beforehand
I did hope someone encountered and fixed/learned about this problem as the device has 2 years of history at least...
if it'll come to motherboard switching I'll just force the little lady to switch to a real phone such as an HTC, or maybe go to WP
It was the battery..
Perhaps I should've guessed it by the fact it was REALLY hard closing the case... but it was only after I saw a normal battery that I noticed the real difference.
so for future reference to whomever might meet the same behavior - my battery was about 1.5 the size of what it should be and was quite round,
better call those Samsung representatives and get a replacement before it explodes
Anyone has experience with those 4200Mhz batteries? worth the money or should I just get a genuine one (it cost about the same in here, like 4$ more), the reviews are quite mixed.

Battery error on charging screen, looks serious.....

OK, so I'm going to be upfront about this. I'm using the Zerolemon extended battery, not the stock battery. The phone isn't dead, it does boot up and I can get into recovery, fastboot, download mode, etc. But when I boot up the phone, I sometimes get an "Invalid battery, shutting down" message after about 20 to 30 seconds. I'm currently running stock rooted MM 20J. I've gotten this error multiple times before when I was running Lollipop, much less so on MM. It didn't start getting bad until about a week or so ago. And seems to be getting worse. But that's not the biggest issue.
Now, for the 2nd time in a few days (and never encountered before this), where it is supposed to show a normal charging icon on the charging screen (when the phone is turned off and plugged in), instead it shows something that definitely isn't normal. I've gotten the invalid battery numerous times, but never this. I tried taking a pic with another device, but the pics came out blurry, static-filled, and smudged with fingerprints. So I'll just describe it:
It is a pic of 2 batteries side by side, the one on the left has a ? in the middle and a red flashing slash going through the middle of it. The one on the right looks normal, says LG in the middle. Both sides also say to refer to user's guide. Either way, it's not good.
Sometimes the percent of battery left will change wildly, more than a few times Android has said it is at X percent, then suddenly it's a lot lower in the span of a few seconds to a few minutes. I'm talking drops in the double digits. Ocassionally the value displayed will be higher than before. The "invalid battery" seems to happenly frequently thereafter, until I plug in for a few hours to get to 100%, then I don't see it again for most of the day.
I've had (this) phone for only a few months. When I bought the first v10 about 6 months ago, it initially came with Lollipop. I had to exchange that device a short while later in a T-Mo store, in exchange for another v10 also running LP. Well, that one had issues too, so a short time later I brought it back into the store again and exchanged for the v10 I currently have now, which already had MM. 3 identical phones in 6 months is just ridiculous. And I was able to do all this without using insurance (even though I do have insurance if I ever need to use it).
I do still have the stock battery, I suppose I can use it for now. I've had the Zerolemon itself since I bought the first v10, almost 6 months. I do believe it has a 6 month warranty if I'm not mistaken, which is almost over, maybe I can get it replaced. But I tried contacting their support a few months ago to see about an exchange, they never contacted me. I tried again after that. Still no response. I cant afford to replace it just yet, either via exchange or buying a new one, but will do so (the latter) if it comes down to it. I read somewhere that the "invalid battery" comes from the battery not being seated properly, or the gold/copper contacts being dirty, I've tried reseating as well as cleaning them, no luck. I have no idea what might be causing the error message on the charging screen, my best guess is that the battery is defective or worn out.
I also have 2 original LG fast charger cables/bricks, I've been having trouble using either cable to copy files to/from my PC, it sometimes will just disconnect for no reason (never while flashing, but I don't trust it). I'm beginning to think that the cables/bricks might be bad, or worse, that the phone's charging port is bad. I'm hoping not because I might as well throw it in the trash if the latter is the case.
Not sure what to do at this point, but this is getting to be a big headache.
Edit: Forgot to say but I've never gotten any of these issues with the stock battery.
If i were to guess it is due to the aftermarket battery being 2 batteries in series and one of the two is failing, i haven't had a similar experience in android nor seen the icon(s) you described before
But yeah, get the warranty exchange, probably best to stick with stock battery until then as well

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