I just wanted to share this, since I was able to replicate this issue with three different phones, also asking if other people are having the same issue.
I am using my Samsung Nexus S for three days.
I noticed that the back button (the first capacitive button on the bottom left) appears to have an hardware problem.
Basically normally it works fine, I mean when I'm not using the phone for some hours.
Then if I start to use the phone, after a moderate use (example installing applications from the market, browsing etc) the button gets less and less sensitive.
After some minutes it gets really annoying.
To make it work it is necessary to use a really stronger pressure with the finger, and it is not even always working!
I am planning to return my device, but today talking with some people/colleagues I discovered that two of them have exactly the same problem.
I'm suspecting there is a batch of Nexus S phones with this glitch, I am curious to know how many people have the same problem.
Note:
At first I thought it was a general issue of the capacitive buttons. But I can't replicate the same problem with the other three buttons, they work very smoothly just lighltly skimming the finger over them, even after long usage.
Anyone with the same problem? What is your experience with this button after some usage?
Cheers
I want to say that I noticed something similar the other day, but it was short-lived, and I'm not 100% sure. It wasn't long enough or bad enough to make me think the phone is defective, but I'm a bit used to funky capacitive button responses from my N1 days.
I can't reproduce the issue right now, though. How much usage are you talking about needing to duplicate?
Does your phone get hot, or feel hotter than normal when this happens?
I'd see if there's some particular pattern or software that seems to trigger it if you're interested in trouble-shooting.
The problem goes away when I don't touch the phone for a while (it seems that 1 hour is enough to reset the problem).
It seems "recharging".
Then with normal usage, nothing in particular, just even browsing in the settings/maps/market/browser etc., in few minutes the problem appears. The button definitely loses his "power".
It's very annoying, and my friends confirmed the same behavior.
EDIT:
Forgot to sat that the phone is not getting hotter, everything else is really normal.
Cheers
Mine definitely can be used for much more than a few minutes without the problem you're describing appearing.
I'd take it back. Factory reset the phone to protect your private data before taking it back. After the factory reset, you might want to test the behavior again, if it went away, the phone's not defective, you just had some software glitch.
Reminder, factory reset erases everything on the phone, so if you do it as troubleshooting step, be prepared to have to set the phone up from scratch again...I'm sure you knew this, but just covering my butt in case you didn't. It's a good trouble shooting step no matter what if you don't mind the hassle of re-setting things up.
I have a similar experience with the back button. Not sure what to think yet.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
I had a similar problem when I had the Vibrant. Just exchanged it and luckily I got a better one without any problems. I did find out though if you are using the screen protector that came with the phone, it can cause this type of problem.
No problem, I will try everything tomorrow. This is not my primary phone (still loving my rooted Nexus One with CyanogenMod 6.1.1 ;-) I can't renounce to the colored trackball for the different notifications), but just a "dev" phone for testing purposes.
michele72 said:
No problem, I will try everything tomorrow. This is not my primary phone (still loving my rooted Nexus One with CyanogenMod 6.1.1 ;-) I can't renounce to the colored trackball for the different notifications), but just a "dev" phone for testing purposes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The app NOLED from the Market may interest you if you can't live without trackball style color notifications. Seems to work fine when I tested it.
distortedloop said:
The app NOLED from the Market may interest you if you can't live without trackball style color notifications. Seems to work fine when I tested it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, giving it a try.
Anyway, today I factory-reset my telephone and the problem of the back button is still there. I am returning the device.
Back button non responsive
Hi,
I just got my new nexus S (about an hour ago) that I was really excited about and am faced with a problem with the back button too.
Its got factory settings, so it cannot be a downloaded software issue. Also, I have not yet charged the battery at all, its still running on the same battery power that it shipped with.
The other buttons at the bottom of the phone (home, menu and search) all respond fine, its only the back button that does not seem to work. After going through this thread, I tried long-pressing the button, hard-pressing it, pressing just above it, below it, etc. It just wont respond. I had removed the screen protector it shipped with, so that cannot be the issue either.
If this is a known hardware problem (i.e. others have faced it too), irrespective of whether it is acknowledged by Samsung / Google, I'll return the handset. I do not want to spend a fortune and be landed with a handset that does not work - forget working as desired, but it does not seem to be working as designed !
Thanks & Regards,
Rohan
Yep. Definitely a problem here with the back button. There's also two other threads here about it.
I'm having similar problems. I have to touch the button just right for it to work properly
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
I was experiencing the same thing with my Nexus S, wasn't sure if it was the case I was using! Took of case and still had problem. I eventually returned mine cause it seemed like it was getting worse! I have a new one worth no problems, definitely a hardware problem! Return it!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
michele72 said:
I just wanted to share this, since I was able to replicate this issue with three different phones, also asking if other people are having the same issue.
I am using my Samsung Nexus S for three days.
I noticed that the back button (the first capacitive button on the bottom left) appears to have an hardware problem.
Basically normally it works fine, I mean when I'm not using the phone for some hours.
Then if I start to use the phone, after a moderate use (example installing applications from the market, browsing etc) the button gets less and less sensitive.
After some minutes it gets really annoying.
To make it work it is necessary to use a really stronger pressure with the finger, and it is not even always working!
I am planning to return my device, but today talking with some people/colleagues I discovered that two of them have exactly the same problem.
I'm suspecting there is a batch of Nexus S phones with this glitch, I am curious to know how many people have the same problem.
Note:
At first I thought it was a general issue of the capacitive buttons. But I can't replicate the same problem with the other three buttons, they work very smoothly just lighltly skimming the finger over them, even after long usage.
Anyone with the same problem? What is your experience with this button after some usage?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
those buttons work over the heat of your finger. thats why after use it doesnt get as responsive. its because the screen is also heated and the heat of the screen is effecting the buttons. thats why you need harder pressure for the phone to understand this is your finger.
same issue was with Nexus 1. less responsive buttons. thats why there is a bigger gap between the buttons and the screen for galaxy S phones. i dont know why they did such a thing again with the nexus S. its like samsung didnt learn from anything from HTCs mistake.
They work with capacitance, not heat. Hence it being called a capacitive screen with capacitive buttons.
I think this is true ...
I have an HTC Desire with AMOLED screen.
When I play a finger intensive game, like "SkyForce Reloaded", after some times, the touch is not registered.
Then I must stop for a while, or change finger
Try that, you will know what I meant.
But, I don't have issue with the back button on HTC Desire because it is a hardware button. I am just trying to explain about loosing touch registration because finger interaction on (s)amoled screen.
PS: SkyForce Reloaded is an old school shot'em up game where you control a little space ship with your finger, shooting enemies.
ll_l_x_l_ll said:
those buttons work over the heat of your finger. thats why after use it doesnt get as responsive. its because the screen is also heated and the heat of the screen is effecting the buttons. thats why you need harder pressure for the phone to understand this is your finger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Desire's digitizer is the same Clearpad 2000 which is used in the Nexus One (and quite a few others), the problem there is that it's pants.
Rusty! said:
They work with capacitance, not heat. Hence it being called a capacitive screen with capacitive buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, isnt called like that because it registers the heat from your fingers. thats why if you try to use a pen, it wont register . and thus. the screen is NOT resistive type "where it will recognize anything since its being pushed by force ? "
Much more too it than that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitive_touch_screen
Rusty! said:
Much more too it than that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitive_touch_screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
from your link
"A capacitive touchscreen panel is one which consists of an insulator such as glass, coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide (ITO).[7][8] As the human body is also a conductor, touching the surface of the screen results in a distortion of the screen's electrostatic field, measurable as a change in capacitance. Different technologies may be used to determine the location of the touch. The location is then sent to the controller for processing.
I need someone to be able to heat up a HTC HD2 touchscreen to see if the problem with touchscreens not working is the two layers of glass are splitting and heating and pressing will help or destroy.
The other problem with them is when you press the end button the touchscreen goes out but later responds like normal.
I probably need a electric oven to do this evenly
Thanks
use a hair dryer
ultraprimeomega said:
I need someone to be able to heat up a HTC HD2 touchscreen to see if the problem with touchscreens not working is the two layers of glass are splitting and heating and pressing will help or destroy.
The other problem with them is when you press the end button the touchscreen goes out but later responds like normal.
I probably need a electric oven to do this evenly
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am having the same problem with my HD2.. For the past few weeks, after pressing the end button the touch screen stopped responding for a few hours...
Since yesterday, the touch screen has stopped responding all together... i did a hard reset, soft reset... nothing works..
i saw that you were having the same problem in another thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-603418.html
Have you found a solution to this problem. thanks in advance.
My htc sensation touchscreen broke. As the softkeys are separate from the digitiser,should they work if the touchscreen broke? They still light up but I get no reaction from them. Im asking this to know if I have to change the softkeys too.
clau22bv said:
My htc sensation touchscreen broke. As the softkeys are separate from the digitiser,should they work if the touchscreen broke? They still light up but I get no reaction from them. Im asking this to know if I have to change the softkeys too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The soft keys are capacitive buttons. This means that it is basically a touchscreen without a screen but buttons. So it is actually part of the digitizer. The only way to change the digitizer is by changing the soft keys as they are the same piece. As for the lighting up, it is because of the buttons' own backlight behind which lights it up.
The front face buttons dont work, just under the touch screen, the home button, settings, back, go and enter button, right at the bottom of the base. not the slide out keyboard. I have rebooted the phone several times, if I slide out the keyboard I cant use the buttons under the screen. yet my slide out keyboard buttons work just fine. i hope its not dead and its time for a new phone because I only like phones with keyboards, I hate touch screen keys. Do I have to buy a replacement part and is it hard to repair yourself?
If it helps anyone I also noticed that the center or enter key is red but if you look closely at it, its always on it just wont turn off like it used too, and now Im getting prompts that read superuser has been denied. I dont understand why I havent done anything or updated anything. not sure if I should flash the rom again and start over its been working fine the last 8 or so months all of a sudden its been acting up today
There is a small ribbon that connects those buttons, more than likely this is all you need to replace and you should find it for 10$ or less on eBay
Disassembly is easy except for getting to the LCD (which you need to do) just need a hair dryer to loosen the sticky on the back of LCD and be careful taking it off so not to damage LCD, the rest is simple
Best of luck
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
There is this guide as well:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1586028
So on various android devices with capacitive buttons over the years, mostly Samsung, I've always had an issue fat fingering the capacitive buttons. OPO seems to be no different. I'm running the latest CM nightly and its been driving me crazy. What i mean is ill be doing something on the screen close to the bottom edge and accidentally hit one of the capacitive buttons. I know the obvious answer is to switch to on screen buttons. I am currently using the on screen buttons while I wait for a CM build I think will fix my issue to finish, but I've noticed something else. Switching to on screen buttons seems to really help with touchscreen issues.
So my questions are A) does anyone else "accidentally" hit the capacitive buttons while using their OPO like all the time, and B) has anyone else noticed using the on screen buttons helps with touch issues? Or appears to at least.
Yup. This build does indeed fix my issue with the capacitive buttons.