Good morning all. I have a small amount of knowledge about this device (I’ve read a fair bit) but would still classify myself as a novice user. I am able to flash my device and have had android running for a while now. I have a few issues, and just want confirmation that I’m not doing anything stupidly wrong.
Firstly, I have flashed to a number of winmo roms, all with varying degrees of usability. I found them to be slow compared to android. All my rom including the last two roms, chuckyrom tabtastic and chuckydroid, have given me a few issues of varying degrees. They freeze a lot and require a soft reset or to pull the battery. Sometimes, if I try and restart straight away, the red writing on the first screen doesn't come up and the phone vibrates 4 or 5 times. Further to this, they may restart midway through booting up, or if I am transferring a large amount of data or using my phone as a wireless hotspot the phone also resets after a while. I have noticed the phone gets quite warm during this. Best results for a reboot come after pulling the battery and leaving it for 15-20 minutes.
Secondly, I have used a number of different android builds (all HTC based) and whilst generally the phone does not freeze when it is in idle mode, it freezes up to 15-20 times a day when using applications such as facebook, internet explorer, music etc. Is this normal?? I don't get any force close notifications. When people say it is “relatively stable” what does this actually mean – no freezing, 5 freezes a day, 50 freezes a day?? The device also freezes when syncing all data. Sometimes when I am in a call, if a change occurs on the device (text message or other notification comes in, even when on the move which I’m guessing may be location changes in the system) the phone freezes and emits a “bzzzzzzzz”ing noise (well, I don't know how well the word “bzzzzzz” conveys what I’m trying to say, but you may get the picture). All this in turn leads to me needing to re-boot, which then brings into play the issues of rebooting above.
The other day, I noted that the micro-usb cable had what appeared to be small burn marks on it, and the contacts inside the micro-usb cable were a bit corroded/eroded. I do remember a few weeks ago where my phone froze in the middle of the night whilst on charge and the phone became quite hot, possibly resulting in the damage to the cable. Yesterday, I got a new cable and woke up this morning with the phone quite warm again (battery temp was at 39 degrees). This was all whilst using android.
I have tried a number of different winmo roms and android builds, flashed radio, task29, different micro sd cards, formatted sd card etc. I am thinking of reflashing back ot the original rom and if I still have the same issues then sending away to get it fixed. Problem with this is that Telstra here in Australia claim it will be a month and that no replacement phone will be given to me in the meantime. I think I am paying about $160 a month at the moment – surely this is a bit slack not to give me a replacement phone in the meantime? Can anyone share their experiences with Telstra and/or tips when dealing with them?
Any help with the above would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.
No, don't think you're doing anything wrong. Android builds shouldn't be freezing at all, as far as I know. I've tried many builds, and have never had one freeze on me. The current ones are arguably more stable than most Windows Mobile ROMs! Still, Windows Mobile shouldn't actually require pulling the battery that often either.
Based on what you mention it sounds like your phone might be overheating, which would probably be a hardware problem (at least really unlikely to be caused purely by user operation or software). It might be worth checking the battery pins, to make sure all of them make a firm connection to the battery. If not, it could be one is disconnecting as your phone gets warmer. Still, overheating itself is a more likely cause, especially because of what you mention about vibrating x times if you restart it without giving it time to cool down.
I'm no expert, but it might be time to send your phone in for repairs... (if you do, don't forget to remove HSPL & restore stock ROM)
thanks for that help. I think i will send it back, i had already checked the battery pins.
just got rid of HSPL, but now having trouble flashing back to original rom. it jsut gets stuck on the update screen at 0%.... any ideas? i tried via SD card too, and it just gave me the "loading" page....
THnaks!
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.
Irulu AL101: No Sound, Dicky Auto-Rotate
Greetings.
I had reached a point of near Android-Nirvana with my non-phone 10” off brand (but still pretty nifty) tablet: all of its/my issues had been resolved or accommodated and “we” were actually approaching something akin to productivity. Then, of course, things went bad. Perhaps you can help?
The tablet in question:
Model Number: IRULU AL101
(Currently selling for ~$120 with combo USB keyboard/case & shipping included on ebay, though I bought mine months ago)
Android Version: 4.0.4
Baseband Version: 1.5rc4
Kernel Version: 3.0.8+, Nov 5, 2012
Build Number: crane_al101-eng4.0.4 IMM76D, 20121113 test-keys
The problems:
Auto-Rotate acting oddly.
No sound.
Note: I normally use the tablet in a noisy industrial environment while wearing ear plugs, so I can’t be sure if the sound stopped working the same time the auto-rotate stopped working properly. Earlier this April, I went on a trip and used my tablet as an Internet clock radio, so I KNOW the sound and I THINK the auto-rotate were both working properly then.
The no sound problem is, of course, self explanatory. The auto-rotate problem requires some explanation.
a. When I switch auto-rotate on, auto-rotate switches on. Excellent.
b. When I rotate the tablet, the screen rotates properly. Excellent.
c. If I suspend the tablet (short press on the power switch), the tablet suspend. Excellent.
d. If I turn the tablet back on, the tablet turns on. I am greeted with the tablet locked screen, which rotates properly. Excellent.
e. If I unlock the device, the screen instantly rotates back to the normal landscape position, and the screen will not rotate again. Not excellent.
f. If I inspect the settings, I discover that auto-rotate has become unchecked.
I have done everything a clueless newbie with a computer running a slipshod OS supported by crappie/nonexistent documentation might (e.g., reboot; remove apps; “factory reset”, etc.), but, other than wasting my time and engendering in myself a deep longing for ZDS DOS & CP/M-86, I have accomplished nothing.
Other than taking myself and my tablet to one of Google’s campi and immolating us both in protest, can anyone suggest anything?
Thanks in advance.
MD
Did you ever solve this problem with this tablet? Mine just started doing it. The only other thing I noticed is that the sound will start up if the screen is off, but only once it starts a new music track. Also video playback problems at the same time. I just wondered if you were able to.solve your issue without a factory reset or with a reset. Thankyou for your time.
Dear Bert,
I’m sorry (for both of us), but I never did solve the problem. I went as far as trying to reinitialize the tablet, but the feature that back’s up and restores the firmware (or whatever it’s called) doesn’t work on any Irulu tablet I’ve ever tried (which is two or three).
I eventually just bought another one (and a few spares). I certainly can’t prove anything, but I think installing an app might have corrupted it. I have treated my new tablet like a Windoze computer — i.e., I’ve tried to avoid installing software that can be done without — and thus far all is okay with the replacement unit.
If you have any success, do report back when you have a chance.
Good luck!
MD
Well I have the firmware tools from the board manufacturer, I had recovered this unit from being bricked before. Anyway I loaded a full fresh firmware flash for it formatting the system partition as well. The problem still persists. At the moment my current working theory is power issues internally. For some reason when the screen turns off the sound will return. So I in hooked the backlight and got some static over the speakers. Its almost as if the power is being drained from the sound processor and the tilt sensor causing them to stop functioning. It could also be an issue similar to the trod on xboxes, solder joints under CPU coming undone because of heat. No heatsink or heat spreader on these units. If I can't figure anything else out I may try reflowing the solder. The person this tablet came from lost all paperwork that came with it otherwise I would return it.
If you want recovery mode instructions, firmware and firmware tools let me know. Most of the info I found to help me get that unit back online before was in Chinese. Also Hecate what you do install app wise. These tablets are "rooted" with full system access. Easy to mess up the basic software. These tools should work with all of the irulu tablets. Worst case I do have access to the firmware archive and can get the firmware you might need.
Sorry for rambling here, I have ADHD can you tell.
Sent from my TC970 using Tapatalk 2
Dear Bert,
Thanks for the feedback.
At the time this problem appeared, I made some fairly extensive efforts to restore the tablet, which included obtaining the Chinese utility which is supposed to reformat the tablets internal memory and reinstall the operating system. I confess that I can’t recall all the details of what I did, except that my efforts resulted in a broad and impressive variety of failures.
I think I might still have the software/etc. lying about, so I don’t need to avail myself of your very generous offer. Thanks anyway!
Fortunately, other than this issue, I’ve had no trouble with the tablets (the original or its replacement) whatsoever.
Cordially,
MD
Hi guys
My wife brought me this phone from E-BAY and I accept that I have something completely different inside the case (namely something lower spec).
So far (in general) its good enough for my needs, but I have no idea of the hardware spec I have OR the software involved (seller in Hong Kong claimed Kit Kat).
Also, when I recently connected to my car charger the screen went dim so I quickly unplugged it and the phone took over an hour to switch back on afterwards. Since then my home screen and desktop screens have gone haywire and the phone keeps putting itself in silent mode. Phone itself still dials, makes and receives calls but sound us absent everywhere else ie video/mp3 playback. The "home" button no longer appears to work either, like the volume buttons.
Is there a PC program that I can try to plug into to help me establish exactly what I've got under the hood, with a view to downloading a compatible ROM ?
CORRECTION.
Label in back of phone states the model as being SM-G900H.
Apologies for my bad navigating but this phone is my only source of internet.
Many of the controls no longer function as they should do and its difficult to navigate the forum (unfamiliarity) with inconsistent controls. Can anybody point me with tips towards recovery please ?
Can't find the original eBay listing now (of course) but all I can offer is maybe some pics of phone and the label inside if it would help. At THIS moment in time my priority is to find out exactly what my hardware is so I can then try and source a suitable ROM to install, can anyone suggest a PC utility that can "investigate" my hardware (and maybe software) so that I can begin to try and correct what is wrong.