AT&T Fuze screen issue - bottom menu-area of screen is flickering almost constantly
(Forgive me for the length of this post. I am just trying to provide as much information as possible! If anyone has encountered this same or similar issue, your help is greatly appreciated).
I need help! (professional and otherwise) ...with my AT&T Fuze (rebranded Touch Pro).
I am developing a game for Windows Mobile called Scrobble (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3206316&posted=1), and I left it running overnight.
My screen is set to turn off after 1 minute, and my device set to sleep after 5 minutes when plugged in to external power.
I had the Fuze plugged into wall outlet power to recharge. I left it lying, like I always do, face down on a black soft-leather CD case (so the glowing charging light doesn't bother me).
I left it alone for the 7.5 or so hours I was asleep. When I woke up in the morning and picked it up, the screen was on. It usually is not on, and I don't think I pressed the button to activate the screen.
When I looked at the screen, the Scrobble program was still running, and the bottom menu portion of the screen was flickering. Scrobble has two menu buttons at the bottom -- "Turn" and "Game" -- with a SIP keyboard icon in between them (same as nearly all WM apps).
In any other program, or the Today screen, the menu portion of the screen flickers (the brightness constantly and rapidly fluctuates consistently... like a fluorescent light that is on its last leg).
I did a full power off and power on, and during the "world phone" screen and the the AT&T 3G "power up" animation, the flicker was -not- there. But as soon the Windows Mobile loading/splash screen appeared, the flicker returned, in the exact same spot.
And I can see the ghost "Turn -- [SIP] -- Game" menu in the flicker. But I don't think it's burnt into the display, because it's not there during the first two loading/splash screens.
Currently I have the battery completely removed from the device and will leave it out for a while. If that doesn't work I will do a hard reset.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!! (This device is about 2 months old -- does HTC provide any support for it directly?).
Fixed
Phew! My screen flicker issue is no more.
I'm not sure if it's because I took the battery out and let it sit and think about what it had done for ~22 hours, or if it's because it just went away after a while (with the battery out for 22hrs). But either way, my Fuze is back to normal!
So if anyone leaves theirs on overnight and wakes up in the morning to a flickering ghost of a menu at the bottom, my suggestion is to fully reboot it, then take the battery out and leave it out overnight!
(It's kind of nice going a full day without any phone calls!!).
good for you.. you dont need a new phone giving you damage issues already... glad to hear that its gone
Thanks you for this post. I am going through the same thing with my ATT Fuze. This time it is Tomtom that I left running overnight with the screen turning on and off. I can add that the flicker and ghost is there the second the phone powers on. I have already hard reset and took the battery out for a few mins, but the flickering still there. Now I will take the battery out for several hours and hopefully it will be normal again.
I had a similar issue this week. I was using the phone all day, getting emails and phone calls, no problems. I get home and go to charge my phone and it doesn't appear to be charging. I flip on the screen and the whole screen is flickering on and off like it's not getting enough power. I charged the device over night, hard reset, pulled battery for 24 hours and still it won't go away. I just got the device thru amazon so I already reordered a replacement.
I've never left my screen on for hours at a time and I sometimes run into that same issue. The bottom of the screen flickers, and I can see a ghost image of my left and right soft keys when doing things that pull up a dark grey or black screen, like adjusting the volume. I usually try a few soft resets, and if that doesn't work I turn it off and take the battery out for a while. From what I am reading it seems to be correlated with extended periods of screen usage, but my screen has rarely been kept on for more than 30 minutes at a time.
Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but I was just having the same problem with my Fuze: the bottom quarter of the screen was flickering, but without the ghosting you spoke of. Out of curiosity, I went into my "Power Settings" menu, and for some reason the "auto adjust backlight" was unchecked, and the brightness settings were maxed out. I checked "auto adjust backlight" and the flickering stopped. Not sure why, but thought I'd add it to the thread.
kart_racer3 said:
Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but I was just having the same problem with my Fuze: the bottom quarter of the screen was flickering, but without the ghosting you spoke of. Out of curiosity, I went into my "Power Settings" menu, and for some reason the "auto adjust backlight" was unchecked, and the brightness settings were maxed out. I checked "auto adjust backlight" and the flickering stopped. Not sure why, but thought I'd add it to the thread.
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Yeah I did notice that it's only really noticeable when the screen is set to max brightness. Setting it on auto adjust cleared it up for me also.
proj3ktpat said:
Yeah I did notice that it's only really noticeable when the screen is set to max brightness. Setting it on auto adjust cleared it up for me also.
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thx guys...helped me out too...
Just sent my unit in for repair (under warrenty) due to the screen flicker issue, lets see what happens when it comes back.
I just started to experience the flicker today. Has be somewhat concerned. The device is only two weeks old.
However, it seems to have stopped by itself while I was searching the forums for an answer. If it returns, I'll try the 'remove battery' method and see if that helps.
Also, I love Scrobble! Shame it doesn't work on QVGA displays. Or, at least, didn't on my Wizard...
Related thread
Hey guys there's a thread with the same exact issue and a screenshot on the first post.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=535099
Seems to be something related to the Hardware 3D Acceleration driver for Windows Mobile, I get this problem only once 3d has been activated.
If Sense/TF3D is turned off, I never see this problem. It only comes up once a game or Sense has been launched.
I can also boot into Android without 3D activated and not have this problem, but if I run Sense then go into Android I get the flicker from a Windows Mobile screen while in Android.
protwitness: That doesn't seem to be the case (for me, at least.) I don't run TF3D and it still happens. I can't really discern what the trigger is, but I have a feeling it has something to do with the screen brightness auto adjustment. (Sometimes, I'll turn my phone on when it's dark and it jumps to full day-light brightness for some reason.)
I've adjusted to it and it doesn't really bother me any more.
How can I decrease the today screen (I think it is called home in 6.5) time out? Currently the lowest I can get it from the settings screen is 1 hour. Is there a way to get it below that?
Thanks!
You're talking about the screen brightness?
No I am talking about the Today Screen Timeout
Its a setting under start->settings->today
It sets the time before the system goes back to today screen. For example, open browser, and leave phone for 2 hours. Come back and it will be on today screen, not on browser.
Currently the shortest time is 1 hour. I would like to set this to 10 minutes or so. It used to have the 10 minute option back in WM6.0
I'm going to take a look on the registrys to test this
Hello,
I have WM6.5 on a Touch Pro 2
I recently noticed a rather annoying feature of WM. I am not sure if it's new or original, as I've only had the phone for a few weeks.
I am on a messaging program (SMS/MMS or one of my email accts). I close/end the program (I also go to the Task Manager making sure there are no running programs). I go to the Home Screen. I switch the screen off.
A few minutes later, I turn the screen on. Instead of the Home Screen, the last messaging account is open, staring at me!
It's not that important,as I would simply X on top right and go to the Home Screen. But rather annoying. Interesting, it doesn't happen all the time either. Sometimes I turn the screen on and the Home Screen is right there.
Thoughts appreciated
Had to use Google Nav to get across town tonight, after sunset. I usually drop the phone in my center console after it locks location and begins giving directions. On my old Moto Droid, I could turn the screen off and just listen to the voice directions.
On the Thunderbolt, it seems to keep the screen on, regardless of what the time out is set for. If I hit the power button, the screen turns off, then powers back on in a second.
This is just a complete waste of battery. If I was sitting the phone in a car dock, it'd be different, but this is a waste. Anyone experiencing this, or know how to get the screen to turn off when Navigation is active?
idk if this works but have you tried hitting the home button to get out of google nav (while it's still running) then hit the power button?
I have experienced the same feature. It doesn't bother me too much though cuz I have my phone plugged in.
I bet the above idea works.
this is not a signature I type it in every time maybe sent from my phone or my computer
Bateluer said:
Had to use Google Nav to get across town tonight, after sunset. I usually drop the phone in my center console after it locks location and begins giving directions. On my old Moto Droid, I could turn the screen off and just listen to the voice directions.
On the Thunderbolt, it seems to keep the screen on, regardless of what the time out is set for. If I hit the power button, the screen turns off, then powers back on in a second.
This is just a complete waste of battery. If I was sitting the phone in a car dock, it'd be different, but this is a waste. Anyone experiencing this, or know how to get the screen to turn off when Navigation is active?
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It only keeps the screen active if you are in the navigation program. Just back out, or go to any other screen and it will turn the screen off normally. Working as intended.
akanatrix said:
It only keeps the screen active if you are in the navigation program. Just back out, or go to any other screen and it will turn the screen off normally. Working as intended.
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Have to test this. Thanks.
I have experienced the same issue with the thunderbolt. The screen stays on weather I have the phone plugged in or not.
I see hitting the home button as more of a workaround than a solution here. It's easier for me while driving to turn the display on and off with one physical button.
I'm hoping that cyanogenmod will fix the issue when it's released but I feel like there should still be a way to set the screen to stay off when the power button is pressed in navigation.
I think its a feature, keep screen alive. As mentioned, going to home screen allows you to put it to sleep, but you cannot while navigation is active.
I can see your point though, keep it off, then a quick on shows you where you are without the need to open the app from the tray.
In order to reduce battery drain while navigating and streaming audio, I used to turn the screen off on my Nexus One whenever I had a long uninterrupted stretch ahead with no turns; the audio prompt gave me plenty of time to turn the screen back on before I needed to see the road configuration. That doesn't work on the G2x; the screen only stays off for a second or two before coming back on, like one of those trick birthday candles that keeps relighting itself. I can turn the screen off if I change to another application before hitting the power switch, but that means more fiddling in traffic to get the navigation display back.
Is there a setting I'm overlooking, or is it just a peculiarity of this version that I will have to live with?
This was bothering me also,
With the navigation still running, press the home button to back out to the homescreen and keep the navigation still running in the background. This allows you to turn the screen off
omarsalmin said:
With the navigation still running, press the home button to back out to the homescreen and keep the navigation still running in the background. This allows you to turn the screen off
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Yeah, that's a variant of the "switch to another application" technique I mentioned. Unfortunately, that still leaves a good deal of fiddling with the phone while driving to get back to the navigation screen.
Thanks for the reply, though; I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in this concern.