Notification bar area becomes unresponsive unpredictably - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I am at the end of my rope with this. Several days ago my s5 started refusing to drop down the notification panel and the quick settings menu. I'm running stock rooted kitkat 4.4.2. I did a factory reset, disabled xposed (in case some notification bar mod was causing this even though I hadn't changed my xposed settings for months), got a replacement SIM card, went back to an earlier version of google, and now sometimes it will work for a whole day and then stop responding again. I took out the external SD card and it still does it. I uninstalled anything new (not much) that had recently been installed. I have been using Nova as my launcher, so I tried going back to just Touchwiz, but no change. I unfroze EVERYTHING I had frozen with TiBu and that didn't help.
It's not just the drop down screens, when I open Titanium Backup and try to use the "clear" or "menu" buttons at the top of the screen, they don't respond either. It's like something is freezing the top half inch of the screen (I measured it in frustration).
I went into the diagnostic menu and checked the screen and everything is responding as far as I can tell--the line goes up to about an eighth of an inch from the top of the screen but the pictures for this when I googled looked like that so maybe they aren't supposed to reach the actual top of the screen.
I installed an app (Expand Status Bar) that will let you drop down either the notification bar or the quick settings, and that always works, so the function is still there in the operating system.
Googling shows that several models at least of Samsung, and even some Sony, are showing this problem and nobody seems to know how to fix it.
Has anyone got any clues they can give me about this? I can't seem to find what the problem is.
Update--I tried flashing Hispasian Kernel but it didn't solve the problem. Well, it was worth a try.

Related

[Q] Strange screen problem

Hey, I was just playing with my phone this morning and noticed a strange problem... The top part of my screen, just under the notification bar, does not respond when touched, if an app is running. For example, I cannot hit the location/search/layers button in gmaps, or the search button in market (this is only in portrait mode btw), but on the main screen, it responds just fine. This problem did not exist yesterday either, and I have already tried rebooting, and that did not fix it...
Might want to provide a bit more info if you want help.
I.e. What rom are you using, what kernel, any speedtweaks, etc.
Oops, sorry, it just seemed to fix itself randomly, but I am running CM7 1.2/MR2 radio, no other tweaks, just in case anyone else has the same issue in the future...
NoHesHere said:
Hey, I was just playing with my phone this morning and noticed a strange problem... The top part of my screen, just under the notification bar, does not respond when touched, if an app is running. For example, I cannot hit the location/search/layers button in gmaps, or the search button in market (this is only in portrait mode btw), but on the main screen, it responds just fine. This problem did not exist yesterday either, and I have already tried rebooting, and that did not fix it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im hoping it was just a fluke for you, but keep an eye on the issue, if it happens more it would sound like you could have a bad digitizer (its what controls the touch screen)
So it happened again today, not sure what set it off, but this time it wasn't just the top part of the screen. Phantom presses would happen, the notification bar would go halfway down and then pop right back up, the 4 buttons on the bottom wouldn't respond... I did a battery pull, and it seems to have fixed it for now, should I be contacting verizon to replace this one? It is a replacement of my original one (which bricked)...

Here's how to reproduce home screen flickering

For those who are still getting home screen flickering after .14 update and thinking it's a random thing, here's how to reproduce the problem regardless of docking or performance mode:
1. Go to the home screen (you should have a decent amount of apps, widgets and folders on it).
2. Bring up something that overlays the home screen. This includes:
a. Recent Apps on the left
b. ASUS (or Android) Quick Setting on the lower right
c. Mouse cursor (arrow or circle)
(Opened folders don't seem to trigger the problem.)
3. Keep the overlay on the screen and wait. Within 10 seconds you should see a big black triangle on the lower left of the screen flickering. It takes longer for the flickering to appear for the first time, but afterwards you almost always see it after a few seconds.
4. Once the overlay is gone (for the mouse cursor, just wait about 10 seconds and the cursor will disappear automatically), the flickering will not occur regardless of how long you wait!
Hopefully this issue can be addressed in the next update!! It's starting to annoy me.
P.S. The home screen will also show some very occasional black or white horizontal lines flickering. Now I think this one is truly random. Usually you need to stare at the screen for a long time to see it.
** UPDATE **
As I've mentioned in the reply, I've discovered that having News and Weather widget in the screen on either side of the center Home Screen (but not on the center screen itself) will increase the chance of reproducibility. Also, having a lot of widgets and apps on the home screen will also do it. Having more than 7 or 8 apps in Recent Apps will definitely do it.
I have the triangle thing too but only if I have a couple of apps (enough that I can scroll the list) open.
I can't recreate it but I have seen it before
You also get some 'flickering' when you have SD card mounted and some other app is updating an ongoing notification.
It seems to forget it's place and the ordering of the notifications jump around.
Same Bug here...
i can recreate it using texttab and pressing any overlay item. its irritating
I get this bug as well in .14. I don't remember seeing it in previous ICS builds (.11 or .13), but I wasn't exactly looking for it either.
I used to get this just when it was charging in the dock... now its worse.
I've found that swiping away a few apps from the recent item overlay fixes things for me whenever it happens. It's annoying though
Yes I had this issue as well but I did a Factory Reset and re-installed my apps last night and cannot reproduce this problem now. Anyone else?
I've had this bug in every build except the current one. Seems gone for me. Only problem I've (luckily) seen with my Prime.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Before upgrading to ICS I didn't see the screen flicker at all, but now that I've upgraded I see it all the time when I use a live wallpaper
Mine occurs with use youtube & thumb keyboard
Open youtube app, quickly in the search bar, and as the keyboard and the video loads in the background it'll flicker
also as you type
Mickeylittle said:
Yes I had this issue as well but I did a Factory Reset and re-installed my apps last night and cannot reproduce this problem now. Anyone else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I finally gave in and did a complete data wipe. Initially the problem went away as expected (because the Home screens were mostly empty after the factory reset). After all the apps and Home screen states were restored, the problem came back as before, completely reproducible.
So this got me thinking: perhaps it was one of the widgets, or too many widgets/folders/apps on the home screen that's causing this flickering. I finally narrowed down to just one: the stock News and Weather widget. As long as this widget is on either side of the center home screen (but not on the center home screen itself), the flickering will appear, completely reproducible! Since this widget is not really functioning properly under ICS (no setup screen) so no lost there.
Oh, and that more-than-7-or-8-apps-in-Recent-Apps thing will also produce flickering regardless of anything, but only when you first open it up. Otherwise it works the same as other overlays if other conditions are met.
Now I have to go restore about 20GB of stuff. Factor reset wiped it all clean. The thing is, I could've figured all this out without the factory reset. Oh well.
OP has been updated.
luminus69 said:
Yes I finally gave in and did a complete data wipe. Initially the problem went away as expected (because the Home screens were mostly empty after the factory reset). After all the apps and Home screen states were restored, the problem came back as before, completely reproducible.
So this got me thinking: perhaps it was one of the widgets, or too many widgets/folders/apps on the home screen that's causing this flickering. I finally narrowed down to just one: the stock News and Weather widget. As long as this widget is on either side of the center home screen (but not on the center home screen itself), the flickering will appear, completely reproducible! Since this widget is not really functioning properly under ICS (no setup screen) so no lost there.
Oh, and that more-than-7-or-8-apps-in-Recent-Apps thing will also produce flickering regardless of anything, but only when you first open it up. Otherwise it works the same as other overlays if other conditions are met.
Now I have to go restore about 20GB of stuff. Factor reset wiped it all clean. The thing is, I could've figured all this out without the factory reset. Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The News and Weather made no difference for me, but the number of items in Recent Apps did. Swiping items out of the list made the triangle flicker disappear from the home screen and from within other apps.
This bug only popped up for me once the jitter came back for me - any and all overlays (including the bottom bar, notification popup, and a couple monitoring apps) constantly move up and down a few pixels. I can't capture on my cell phone because the frame rate is apparently in sync, but this video from another poster here shows it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIO2LBMG-dc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I really hope Gary and Asus will address this issue shortly.
I sometimes have a flickering and screen freeze during games like Reckless Racing 2 or some other too. A workaround is to go back to homescreen then and close the app where it happened.
Not sure if it's the same problem you guys are talking about.
Got still the 9.4.2.11 build here in germany. This never happened to me in the last weeks, but since 2 or 3 days I got it a few times while running games (without the dock).
The .14 update has greatly reduced this issue for me, but there is still a very brief flicker when showing the recent apps menu if there are a lot of apps in it
same problem
I always had this problem. I did factory reset once and the problem remained. After the .14 update, i still have the problem. Really really really want to have the problem solved..But thank you so much for telling me how to reproduce the problem
can't reproduce it either, but i still experience it once in a while. a minor bug, but still among a long list

Problem with software buttons and Twilight

I don't know if this is the right area but here it goes.
The area where the software buttons are located are not being affected by Twilight anymore. I don't know if the problem is with Twilight per se or something else, but I do know the problem appeared right after I tried using Muzei, I was messing around with it, seemed like a good app but I was enjoying the wallpaper I was previously using, but when I went back to it this glitch appeared, I'll link a screenshot of the phone that better illustrates it.
http://imgur.com/chnlK2K
On the lock screen it seems to work without problems:
http://imgur.com/CBWPBHI,uuy5ao4#1
I know it's a minor bug but it's one of those little things that can be very annoying.
I've already tried clearing the data both from Twilight and Muzei, and removing and re-installing them, did not work.
I don't know if it matters but I messed around with the blur and dim settings on Muzei that first time I used it, although since clearing the data and re-installing it they are back to default. Also, the problem persists with other wallpapers, even with the Muzei ones.
Also, using a Motorola Moto G with KitKat, not rooted and stock rom and launcher.
Anyone ?
I really wish I wouldn't have to make a factory reset just because of this but it's really annoying.
Twilight has never covered the software buttons for me on my Moto G. I switched to EasyEyes and it seems to work fine, the brightness of the buttons doesn't seem to change but at least it doesn't look nearly as wrong anymore.
I've had the same thing appear today. Bar at bottom of screen with software buttons undimmed by twilight. No new apps installed & not using Muzei. Phone is Oneplus 2.

Unresponsive touch screen.

Got it quite a few times now. I cant knock on, second screen wont scroll. Turn screen on cant unlock. Have to toggle on and off a few times or just leave it alone for a while and try again.. It doesnt respond to touches at all. Anyone else?
It's happened to me a few times as well, usually when my alarm is going off so it's doubly annoying because i can't hit snooze. I usually end up pulling the battery out for a second, but I really hope they're working on a fix for this.
I just noticed this problem today as well.
I have the AT&T model.
The top left corner of the screen (right below the double cameras) was not responsive at all until I restarted the phone.
Not sure what caused this issue.
The top left off The screen has been unresponsive a number of times. A restart works for a few hours. Then it stops working again...
clockcycle said:
Got it quite a few times now. I cant knock on, second screen wont scroll. Turn screen on cant unlock. Have to toggle on and off a few times or just leave it alone for a while and try again.. It doesnt respond to touches at all. Anyone else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having an issue with the touch screen in the corners. Top left and bottom right are unresponsive at times, rendering the backspace button on my keyboard useless from time to time, and also won't let me start chrome from my home screen (my rightmost icon in the bottom row). On the top left, it prevents me from hitting the back button in gmail and other apps. Super annoying.
I didn't see any articles about it or find the unresponsiveness noted in any other reviews, have had the phone about 2 months now. I'm also not sure if recalibrating the screen would help since that is not in the default settings (maybe it is In the hidden menu?)
I have the T-Mobile V10.
Are any of you guys using Nova Launcher?
This started happening to me as well. I thought it was an issue with giving Nova Launcher root permission however the issue came back. There is a thread on the reddit as well with people having the same issue. I've been in contact with T-Mobile as well as LG. I'll update if I find anything else.
Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk
Could we include carrier and what launcher, even if it's stock.
I ask because there's got to be a common denominator and I'm guessing it's going to be a combo - and with more info we'll be able to figure out the issue.
It can only help.
I just had this for the first time and only once during typing in whatsapp. I'm using a whatsapp mod.
which i believe is the cause for mine. i had to click the power button and then turn it on again to work, after that no problem anymore.
Same problem. I have the Verizon lg v10 stock. The left too corner under the cameras goes dead and won't respond until I reboot. After reboot all is fine for a few hours, then boom, it happens again.
I thought it was an issue with just my phone cuz I couldn't find anything about it, went to Verizon for the 14 day worry free guarantee, got a brand new one out of the wrapper, all was fine for a day, then same issue.
Same issue here. The upper left corner of my screen will become unresponsive at times and the only thing to fix it is a reboot. I have AT&T stock V10.
Not just an LG issue.
I have a ZTE ZMAX. In the last few days it is doing the same thing. The dead spot in the top left follows the rotation of the screen. I have done a factory reset and problem returned. Seems like its a problem for many phones. It happens with the original launcher and Zeam launcher as well. It would be great if someone figured this out.
I have the same issue with my verizon v10, i have not found out the cause but i did find something that works for me. I reset my app preferences in application manager and everything went back to normal and no issues since. Hope this helps
@jstringn1 thanks for the info I'll try it out.
Honestly it's sounding like and android issue.
Hopefully Google addresses it soon.
SAME. Just bought the V10 on Sunday and I've already noticed the same thing; the upper left hand side of the screen is unresponsive. It seems to ONLY be for certain things though. Stupidly I rebooted to fix it before I fully tested that theory, but I think it's only with certain things. For example, when I open GoogleMaps, I can't hit the "Menu" button in the top right hand side. But if I close the app and go to a screen where I have an App in that same corner, tapping on it seems to open it right up. I hope that info helps to troubleshoot....because I'm ready to take this phone back....but not before I post my review on my YouTube channel.
@jstring I just tried your suggestions. Seems to be ok thus far, but I'll check back in with you all later to let you know if the issue has come back. Because a reboot fixes too...but only temporarily. We'll see.
jstringn1 said:
I have the same issue with my verizon v10, i have not found out the cause but i did find something that works for me. I reset my app preferences in application manager and everything went back to normal and no issues since. Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you go to Settings -> Device -> Apps -> Downloaded -> More Options (three dots) -> Reset app preferences?
If so, I tried this , but the top left corner of the screen is still unresponsive.
I also completed reset my phone to factory. No Nova launcher or anything else.
Really puzzled here.....
New findings:
Every time when I open the LG music app (the purple one that came preinstalled), it will trigger the issue. (Please try this on your phone and post your findings )
same issue here
the bttom right is not responsive
and i need to restart it every now and then
i am using it without any mods
but
any one would relate this issue with the latest update as as far as i remeber it showed only after the software update
my software version is
V10 ame xx
I think it started happening after I got the AT&T update. Didn't think it was related, since Verizon V10 has the issues too.
Same here
Verizon
stock
Nova Launcher
Top left unresponsive, follows on rotate
Reboot fixes for a few hours
cHiLLyWiLLy78 said:
Verizon
stock
Nova Launcher
Top left unresponsive, follows on rotate
Reboot fixes for a few hours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did your phone get an update from Verizon recently?
v10 AT&T, has the issue. Using NOVA Launcher. Willing to change launchers if I can use that back button.

notification menu won't drop down - top of screen unresponsive

I'm at the end of my rope with this. Several days ago my s5 started refusing to drop down the notification panel and the quick settings menu. I'm running stock rooted kitkat 4.4.2. I did a factory reset, disabled xposed (in case some notification bar mod was causing this even though I hadn't changed my xposed settings for months), got a replacement SIM card, went back to an earlier version of google, and now sometimes it will work for a whole day and then stop responding again. I took out the external SD card and it still does it. I uninstalled anything new (not much) that had recently been installed. I have been using Nova as my launcher, so I tried going back to just Touchwiz, but no change.
It's not just the drop down screens, when I open Titanium Backup and try to use the "clear" or "menu" buttons at the top of the screen, they don't respond either. It's like something is freezing the top half inch of the screen (I measured it in frustration).
I went into the diagnostic menu and checked the screen and everything is responding as far as I can tell--the line goes up to about an eighth of an inch from the top of the screen but the pictures for this when I googled looked like that so maybe they aren't supposed to reach the actual top of the screen.
Googling shows that several models at least of Samsung, and even some Sony, are showing this problem and nobody seems to know how to fix it.
Has anyone got any clues they can give me about this? I can't seem to find what the problem is.
Update--I tried flashing Hispasian Kernel but it didn't solve the problem. I tried defrosting everything I had frozen with Titanium Backup and that didn't solve the problem.
Flash latest stock lollipop FOL1 and see if it's still there. If that doesn't work then you have a hardware defect and you'll need to get your phone repaired.
That's a good idea. Thanks!

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