For the past week or so, I've had the strangest issue. My phone turns itself off. I'll have the phone next to me and use it for a minute, put it down, then go to look at it again and its off. Have to press the reset button to get it back on.
Now, normally I'd assume something is wrong with the phone, but this makes me wonder. It turns off everyday when I am driving to/from work, in the same general area (between 2 roads about 1-2 miles apart). It's not just me experiencing this - my fiance does to. We both have the Fuze as well. When we went out last night, they both turned off on the way out, and again on the way back.
I'm wondering if it is a tower issue, or if it could be an issue with the phone (they are around the same age). I'm running a 6.5 rom on mine, while he is running a 6.1 rom, which he worked on himself.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I'm trying to figure out what causes it, and if it is outside the phone, if there is something to do. We are both on AT&T as well.. It's really driving me nuts.
I suspect extraterrestrial interference.
Seriously though, the fact that it happens to both phones does not make sense.
I have never heard of towers having the ability to do anything other than sending signals.
Unless you have installed a remote controll program such as Sprite Terminator that is not functioning correctly, this is certainly an anomaly.
Nope, no remote control programs.
Everyone around the office is joking about extraterrestrial interference. I have never heard of towers causing issues like that.
I must say, it's kinda freaky. I only really started to pay attention as I'm reaching my 1 year with the phone soon, and if there is an issue, I want to get it fixed.
The only thing which comes to mind is worrying close to the little green men screwing you about!
It would appear from your message that the phones only, and always, turn off when in the same location (or moving through that location atleast).
Assuming this is correct, then i would hazard a guess that there is some kind of EM interference in that area which is causing the phone to power off.
As to what that is... unless you are passing close by a military radar i cant think what would be causing such interference (airport surveillance radar shouldnt do it, nor will an aircraft weather radar unless its very old, and you're way too close to it [if so, i hope you dont want kids!], also a microwave transmitter shouldnt do it [again unless you're very close] and they are strictly LOS so should be positioned well above you).
Finally, all i can think of is a below ground electricity cable, but again - if you are getting enough EM radiation from that, your phone turning off is gonna be the least of your troubles.
If you figure it out pls let us know - i'm intrigued!
Wanted to post an update on this.
The past few days, nothing has happened. Guessing whatever was causing it is now fixed (or gone). Oddly enough, I walked to the printer and came back to my desk and my phone had decided to restart itself today.
I think my phone is possessed now..
Thanks for the ideas - I'm assuming it was something interfering, but have no idea what. Northern Virginia is a military area, so maybe that is to blame..
Related
Ok so this has happened every night I have had the Captivate (3 nights), I go to bed at night and in the morning where my signal bar should be I have a circle with a slash through it (no network). When I go to bed I will have like 2-4 bars of service but something must happen and I lose all network functionality. I have to restart the phone which solves the problem but is a serious pain. This also happens sometimes randomly throughout the day.
Any ideas if this is a common problem with all Captivates or if it is a hardware or software issue?
I like this phone and if I can get it to work properly I love it more than my iphone but not getting service is a buzz kill and I will return it. (Bought it unsubsidized for $500 because I couldn't deal with my iphone anymore)
Note: I live in Tampa which generally has good AT&T service and have had no other problems with other phones
Did you turn off the phone and remove the sim card for a few minutes?? According to an at&t rep doing that solves network issues.
The problem I had today was that the phone showed full bars, but I couldn't send a text or make calls. I took the reps advice and it's fine for now.
Well I will give that a try tonight and see how it goes and post back tomorrow with my results. I really love everything. Else about this phone and would be a shame of I had to get rid of it because of silly antenna issues. Thanks for the advice!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Are you sure you don't have any power saving apps on that are turning off the radio after a few hours? Did it happen when it was stock with no programs installed? Might try and flash it back to stock and see if that solves the problem.
Otherwise you could always walk into an AT&T store and ask for another one and see if it still happens.
Well last night it did the same thing after removing the sim for about 10 minutes before bed.
And as far as knowing if it did this before I rooted it.....well...I owned the phone for maybe 10 minutes after unboxing it before I rooted it. So I have no idea if it is because it is rooted. I don't have any apps on it for power saving purposes and nothing should be killing the radio. Problem is that it isn't like airport mode is on...its completely out of service and the only way to get service back is to reboot. Turning the radios on and then off again while the phone is on won't work...it must be a reboot.
I will probably end up returning it and trying one more Captivate before I look else where for a new phone. But after seeing this screen it would be hard to look at any other phone twice.
iphone4 would be a good screen alternative
ur antenna issue is unique and a new phone will probably fix it. id get that sim replaced too.
The new iPhone would be ok...but I can't go back to an iPhone. I have had 4 of them (2 first gens) and I am so bored of them. And I know people rave about the iPhones new screen but side by side with this phone I would take the extra screen real estate anyway.
And I did consider getting a new sim card too. I think I will wait until towards the end of my 30 day return policy and trade in for a new one.
Thanks for all the help guys
koppelmanwj said:
Ok so this has happened every night I have had the Captivate (3 nights), I go to bed at night and in the morning where my signal bar should be I have a circle with a slash through it (no network). When I go to bed I will have like 2-4 bars of service but something must happen and I lose all network functionality. I have to restart the phone which solves the problem but is a serious pain. This also happens sometimes randomly throughout the day.
Any ideas if this is a common problem with all Captivates or if it is a hardware or software issue?
I like this phone and if I can get it to work properly I love it more than my iphone but not getting service is a buzz kill and I will return it. (Bought it unsubsidized for $500 because I couldn't deal with my iphone anymore)
Note: I live in Tampa which generally has good AT&T service and have had no other problems with other phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had mine since July 18th and had never have this happen...till this morning. When I pulled it off charger I noticed the signal meter what a circle with a slash. Well, I dont get great reception in my apartment so it didnt phase me until I was on my way to work and still didnt have a signal. So, I turned it off and back on and then it had a signal. So I dont know what was up with that. I'll keep an eye on it tomorrow to see if its something thats going to happen regularly.
Hmmm...so I'm not the only one having this problem. Yeah I don't get superb service in my apartment but I have also never really had any other network problems with other phones.
Wonder if there is something that kills the network if you don't have a decent signal for a certain period of time. I just wish it wasn't everyday. On the brightside nobody will wake me up with emails or texts or calls.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
So I am unsure whats going on. My phone currently has no service (in an area where I normally get 5).
The only way I can get service back is if I reboot the phone. This has happened in the past on a different captivate. I have been through 4 phones so I dont think its the phone, instead its gotta be something I have installed.
Any thoughts?
I hurt myself with something. I'm not sure what it is. Any thoughts?
Sorry for being a jerk but you gotta give more information than that man if you want help. Nobody knows what you are thinking or what you did except you.
I have that happen occasionally when I have been in an area without any reception for a long time and then move back into a covered area (3 times when leaving my work which doesn't get any reception). My solution is to turn airplane mode on and then off.
Hi guys. I've got a saga to describe for those of you who are interested, but I'll try to keep it brief. I think it really boils down to one or two simple issues.
I've had Verizon phones for a long time, in Central Illinois. Probably about 10 years now. Rarely had problems with dropped calls. My previous phone was a Droid 1 ... worked great, very rarely (as I recall) had dropped calls.
Then in January 2012, as the Droid was killing me with general Android lag and unresponsiveness (but voice was still fine), I upgraded to a Galaxy Nexus. Loved it for Android performance. For the first 3 or 4 months I had it, I don't recall it giving me any undue trouble .. dropped calls were minimal if any, I think.
Then sometime around April or May, started getting a ridiculous number of dropped calls. Mostly at my home, throughout the day, but not just there, I've also experienced them a mile or two away from my house. The neighbor hood is fairly wooded, but that's never been a problem before.
Additionally, my wife has a "feature phone" (non-smartphone) also with Verizon and very rarely if ever has dropped call problems.
The topography at my house is along a river, we're right near a high bluff overlooking the river, with line of sight (besides the trees, of which there are not a ton, really) for at least a mile or so across the river. I think we're possibly within range of several cell towers.
I notice at most points when I'm in my house, using some apps that help you track signal strength and show you the cell tower ids, that I'm mostly one just two different ones, both of which seem to be maybe about 1 mile away. Also, if I'm walking up one flight of stairs, I pretty reliably see that same app showing the phone switching among possibly as many as 4 or 5 towers, in the space of about 5 or 10 seconds!
I suspect this may be caused by the topography in my area.
I also suspect that most of my dropped calls *may* have something to do with being in range of so many towers, or with the phone switching too frequently (or unnecessarily, really) among the towers, while I'm on the call, if this is possible (I have very little technical knowledge of cell phone radio technology -- hence this post).
Now, I've done a fair amount of research and talked to Verizon customer support about this at length. They've actually been very patient and good with me, but we still haven't arrived at the solution.
I originally thought the problem my be the Galaxy Nexus, but after getting a warranty replacement on that one, and even getting to try a Droid RAZR and then finally the GS3, I'm seeing virtually the exact same behavior on all of the phones. The symptoms do *not* seem to be directly related to signal strength exactly. I get usually about 50 - 60% of the total bars (maybe 3/5 or 4/5) in most parts of the house, yet *still* get these persistent drops.
Verizon's final best solution for me, basically, was to use a Network Extender. Despite my misgivings towards this, I have acquired one and it does seem to solve the problem for me, when I'm home, and when I'm in range of the device (its range seems pretty good in my house). One big problem with it though, ridiculously, is it seems that whenever it's on, my wife's Verizon phone starts dropping calls (and it never does otherwise). So there's a Catch-22 there, added to the fact that I'd rather not have to be running a Net Extender *and* the fact that I still see other drops when taking a walk or driving at least a mile or two from my house.
So, for those of you still with me, I'm wondering if
a) my theory about excessive switching, etc., is plausible, or if you have another one based on the facts I've outlined
b) if doing something like flashing an alternate radio ROM (I barely even knew there were separate ROMs for the radio -- I've done some rooting before of Android, but not the radio) might give me some more control or better performance. It'd be great if there were a setting somewhere where I could tell the phone to be less willing to switch towers or to give a higher preference to one tower, at least while in a certain GPS area (I know, I'm sure it's a reach).
Anyway, looking for a little education into why your opinions are of what may be causing this and if I have any remedies available that are feasible and may actually help.
Thank you for your attention and expertise.
So my daughters iPod Touch 5 is just over a month out of warranty and decides to develop a major WiFi issue. It can detect all WiFi signals just fine and at the standard distances, but it will only connect if it's only inches away from the WiFi source. This tells me there is a TX problem, either software or hardware, though I'm leaning toward hardware at this point. Bluetooth is working fine.
The device has been reset and restored countless times and it just updated to iOS 7.1 with no change in WiFi behavior. I posted a thread on the official apple support forum but it got deleted because that place is run by a bunch of communist tyrants that won't stand for any negative opinions about their brand. I tried taking it to the "genius" bar, but my blood pressure started to rapidly rise after standing at the empty counter for 10 minutes while I watched multiple employees walking around the store playing with demo units. I decided to leave for the safety of myself and the employees.
Anyway, has anyone else heard of this exact issue? I know the WiFi IC in these (and the iPhone) are prone to going bad, but that usually results in the greyed out WiFi situation. I wanted to believe it was maybe as simple as the solder point for the TX signal being broken, but the IC isn't BGA like I thought it would be. I have a hot air station and can replace it if I have to, but it's not something I'm looking forward too. It also seems impossible to find the Murata 339S0171 in the US for some odd reason.
Not sure if others are having this, but I've had this phone for maybe 3 months now. I was having an issue where periodically it would spontaneously lose data/phone service. I would have an empty triangle on the top of the phone (no bars nothing). I can't make calls etc. I would try several reboots etc and nothing would work. I had this happen several times this summer and linked it to overheating. The way I found to fix this was to remove my phone case and hold it in front of the car AC for a few minutes and after rebooting the data/phone would come back. I'm using a standard black TPU phone case (nothing thick or heavy). This problem also shows up when I'm driving with the phone for long periods while windshield mounted. The sun will heat the back of the phone and the data again would cut out.
I'm using Metro PCS, has anyone else had this issue.
Try a network reset.
Clear system cache.
Never leave a phone bake in the sun.
If it overheats it will thermal shutdown, hopefully... and/or be damaged.
Turn off if it's running hot.
Find out what is consuming so much battery.
Yes, I'm definitely having this issue. I'll debating if it's supposed to either be a flaw, a hardware feature, or a OS feature set by Motorola.
Either way, I fkn hate it and with I could fix it.
The phone doesn't even have to get actually hot for it to happen. With every other phone I had, they just disable charging so it doesn't get any hotter, but this is TX in the summer and I expect to be able to use my data when I'm not in an air conditioned area.
warlord698 said:
Yes, I'm definitely having this issue. I'll debating if it's supposed to either be a flaw, a hardware feature, or a OS feature set by Motorola.
Either way, I fkn hate it and with I could fix it.
The phone doesn't even have to get actually hot for it to happen. With every other phone I had, they just disable charging so it doesn't get any hotter, but this is TX in the summer and I expect to be able to use my data when I'm not in an air conditioned area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your in a dry part of TX a damp microfiber cloth works well to cool it. I do that when charging to keep it under 100F.
It maybe a cloud app running in the background.
Google backup Transport and Framework are notorious for doing this. Try temporarily disabling Goggle Play Services and see if this helps. Google Firebase will also index in the background.
my problem is less of that it gets warm. this is TX, everything gets warm. but usually when a phone gets too warm, it stops charging until it cools down.
this cuts off it ability to be called a phone alltogether (unless you have wifi calling on and are on wifi)