Can software really fix a stuck pixel? - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I just got a replacement Nexus 5 which is fine except for 1 stuck green pixel just about at the centre of the screen. It's a bit annoying. I don't know if they would send me a new phone over this or if it's worth the hassle.
There are a number of apps that claim to fix stuck pixels by cycling through colours. I've tried a few for a few minutes. People in the comments have said running it overnight fixed their stuck pixels.
Does this really work? What's the principle that would allow a stuck pixel to become unstuck?
If I want to try this should the screen be set to maximum brightness or not? I'm a little concerned that leaving the phone plugged in with the screen on at max brightness may cause damage to the phone or screen due to overheating. Is this something I should be worried about?
Thanks.

tmagritte said:
I just got a replacement Nexus 5 which is fine except for 1 stuck green pixel just about at the centre of the screen. It's a bit annoying. I don't know if they would send me a new phone over this or if it's worth the hassle.
There are a number of apps that claim to fix stuck pixels by cycling through colours. I've tried a few for a few minutes. People in the comments have said running it overnight fixed their stuck pixels.
Does this really work? What's the principle that would allow a stuck pixel to become unstuck?
If I want to try this should the screen be set to maximum brightness or not? I'm a little concerned that leaving the phone plugged in with the screen on at max brightness may cause damage to the phone or screen due to overheating. Is this something I should be worried about?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usualy its hardware (screen itself) related so software cannot fix that.

No. In answer to your question
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

So what's going on with people who claim it's worked for them?
In any case, I think I'll call Google and see if I can get another replacement. Maybe third time will be the charm...

Because it can work.
Think of each pixel as 3 switches.
One red. One blue. B one green.
In your case one pixel has the green switch stuck on.
These apps are designed to force the switches to keep turning on and off.
Sometimes you can get lucky and the switch will eventually free itself after so many tries.
Sometimes it will not work no matter what.
These apps just try to get it unstuck.
Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Related

Nexus 5 screen died today + dangerously hot lower screen

Went to unlock my phone this morning off the charger and the screen is totally dead. Couldn't unlock or do anything to it or even see what was going on, called Google and ordered a replacement ASAP.
Went through the not fun task of doing a nandroid backup without seeing what was on the screen and doing some trickery with screenshots then backing up my entire SD card.
However, here's the strange and potentially dangerous thing that I noticed later when I got home this evening. I went to look at the phone and go to a fastboot flash with the factory images and went to touch the bottom of the screen. When I went to do so, to the little bit of the left of the LED light was a SUPER hot portion of the phone. I almost burnt my finger it was so hot.
Not sure what to do about the issue, I feel like if I just call the support line they won't actually take in my concern legitimately. Any suggestions?
thats something quite strange
let us know what google says about RMA and this issue
Agree, maybe it's just your phone, maybe it's all the batch. Which batch/model do you have?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
kentoe said:
Went to unlock my phone this morning off the charger and the screen is totally dead. Couldn't unlock or do anything to it or even see what was going on, called Google and ordered a replacement ASAP.
Went through the not fun task of doing a nandroid backup without seeing what was on the screen and doing some trickery with screenshots then backing up my entire SD card.
However, here's the strange and potentially dangerous thing that I noticed later when I got home this evening. I went to look at the phone and go to a fastboot flash with the factory images and went to touch the bottom of the screen. When I went to do so, to the little bit of the left of the LED light was a SUPER hot portion of the phone. I almost burnt my finger it was so hot.
Not sure what to do about the issue, I feel like if I just call the support line they won't actually take in my concern legitimately. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my Transformer Infinity, sometimes the screen won't turn on at all. On a few occasions, if I press Power enough times, I get a glimpse of a message saying the Launcher process has stopped, but then my touchscreen doesn't register any input. The tablet is also sometimes running quite hot at those times. The only way I know to recover from this is press the Power button long enough to force a reboot, then everything is normal. Could this be what's happening? Do you know if the phone is still running under the black screen? Have you tried forcing a reboot, and did it work?
As for the hot phone, I've noticed my N5 does get a bit warm when I'm using it intensively (4G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and screen on all at the same time and in use) but not enough to burn me. Could be hard to tell which component is heating up like that since I think it could be the screen backlight, SoC or battery... Do let us know if you find out more.
meethere said:
thats something quite strange
let us know what google says about RMA and this issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had called them and reported the screen totally dead with lines streaking vertically and got a new replacement ordered. It wasn't until late last night when I got back and had the screen on in this dead mode that the bottom was extremely hot. I'll have to call them back and let them know
dark_ente said:
Agree, maybe it's just your phone, maybe it's all the batch. Which batch/model do you have?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah hopefully, it definitely seems like it could be one of those things that could potentially start fire.The one I have is the LG-D820. Any more info I can provide?
daemonios said:
On my Transformer Infinity, sometimes the screen won't turn on at all. On a few occasions, if I press Power enough times, I get a glimpse of a message saying the Launcher process has stopped, but then my touchscreen doesn't register any input. The tablet is also sometimes running quite hot at those times. The only way I know to recover from this is press the Power button long enough to force a reboot, then everything is normal. Could this be what's happening? Do you know if the phone is still running under the black screen? Have you tried forcing a reboot, and did it work?
As for the hot phone, I've noticed my N5 does get a bit warm when I'm using it intensively (4G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and screen on all at the same time and in use) but not enough to burn me. Could be hard to tell which component is heating up like that since I think it could be the screen backlight, SoC or battery... Do let us know if you find out more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, no its definitely dead. There were streaked lines across it, rebooted it multiple times. I ended up going into the bootloader and recovery via adb/fastboot and all that jazz. It eventually just would not work now.
In regards to the hot part I definitely think it was the lower part of the screen. It was quite literally half an inch away from the LED to the left. Was super super hot then once I shut the defective screen off (I could tell by the backlit light or whatever) it wasn't hot anymore after a minute or so.
Is it black/white? 16 or 32? When did you get it?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
dark_ente said:
Is it black/white? 16 or 32? When did you get it?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
32gb black version. I ordered it immediately when they announced it that day.
mine gets really warm when i'm doing a TWRP backup then it goes into bootloop after and wont cool down. i have to force it to power off from recovery and let it cool, but i've always seen it happen. i wonder if yours was attempting to boot over and over for hours and cooked itself.....? i have a launch day black 32gb too, running Cataclysm with Franco at the moment but it was doing it on rooted stock with stock kernel
I had to send my 19 day old 32Gb Red Nexus 5 in to LG for the same reason. I was using the phone and all of the sudden had vertical lines and the bottom of the screen got burn your fingers hot. Waiting to see what LG does with my phone. The only thin I can figure is the synaptics chip which controls the screen is bad. Its the only thing in that area that could get that hot. I also noticed when I first got my phone the glass in the same area looked like it had a slight wave in it. Didn't think anything of it at the time. I'll let you know how it goes.
Is RMA/replacement applicable for Rooted and unlocked devices?
I don't believe its an issue with developer phones as long as the issue wasn't caused by something you did like brick it by flashing a wrong radio or something like that. It has to be a manufacture defect to get it fixed for free.
Sent from my ME173X using XDA Free mobile app
Bear3825 said:
I don't believe its an issue with developer phones as long as the issue wasn't caused by something you did like brick it by flashing a wrong radio or something like that. It has to be a manufacture defect to get it fixed for free.
Sent from my ME173X using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My device issue is related to power button. there is no software issue.
The power button is rattling since from the purchase of the device.
Hope my device gets repaired.
Like I said. Hardware issues that are production faults should be covered.
Sent from my ME173X using XDA Free mobile app

Can anyone with recent Tmob Software update confirm- Always On Display behavior

Looks like the AOD is no longer shifting every few minutes to avoid burn in. I've been watching for the past 30 mins and have not seen a change- anyone else?
it's possible they just increased the length of time between shifts.. When I lock and unlock- sometimes the position changes, but not when I leave the phone locked.
mdsenn said:
Looks like the AOD is no longer shifting every few minutes to avoid burn in. I've been watching for the past 30 mins and have not seen a change- anyone else?
it's possible they just increased the length of time between shifts.. When I lock and unlock- sometimes the position changes, but not when I leave the phone locked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm this. I also notice they've changed the hue of the font to a cooler white entirely, possibly to compensate for a static position.
Each time i tried to update it say update failed after the installation android screen after reboot. Anyone have that problem?
Sent from my SM-G930T using XDA-Developers mobile app
I wonder if the lack of switching positions is intentional to help with battery consumption
Sent from my SM-G930T using XDA-Developers mobile app
I am experiencing this same behavior on both mine and my wife's Galaxy S7's since the update. I got online with T-Mobile support and the guy had no clue. After a detailed explanation of what was going on, he wanted to know if I needed to turn AOD back on. I explained it again and he got with someone higher up and then emailed me instructions on how to do a master reset on my phone. I don't think the the customer support people know anything about this and I don't know who to contact to find out if it's going to damage the screen.
The update totally broke AOD. Not only does it not move anymore....it rarely ever gets bright...even in well lit environments. Something is definitely wrong.
Just make sure to log an official complaint with Tmo. Hopefully it gets fixed soon, as AOD had to be shut off. I don't want to risk any screen burn...and half the time, I can't even see it now anyway.
laureanop said:
I wonder if the lack of switching positions is intentional to help with battery consumption
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it is intended to, it isn't helping any. Same 1% per hour as before (as opposed to AOD turned off), measured by Battery Monitor Widget overnight.
Well, on the bright side, that's the 1% per hour I'm not going to be losing any more (at least until they fix it).
UPDATE: on the bright side, I can confirm that it's always picking a new location when you turn the display on and off again (or when the phone does it on its own for whatever reason). It might be just a few pixels off the previous one, but it's new.
I was able to remove the update on my s7 using package disabler pro. Back to how it used to work at the moment.
That update was driving me bonkers lol

Nexus 5 Black Screen, But Still Working

So my Nexus 5 (a couple months ago) has started to just randomly go black. I get notifications and stuff, and the backlight but no display. Not sure what to do or what part to replace. Would flashing/rooting help at all?
Appears to be a hardware problem.
Was the phone every dropped or exposed to water/moisture? Possible loose connection inside?
No way to tell for sure if the phone needs a new screen unless you are able to test the motherboard in another N5.
audit13 said:
Appears to be a hardware problem.
Was the phone every dropped or exposed to water/moisture? Possible loose connection inside?
No way to tell for sure if the phone needs a new screen unless you are able to test the motherboard in another N5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been dropped a couple times but not like any major drops or anything. Im pretty sure I checked all the connections inside and they were good. Im starting to figure out that the phone has to be off for a little bit then I have to charge it and turn it on and it works again
Sounds like it could be a damaged lcd or lcd connection. If it can work after being charged while powered off, could be battery or USB flex cable issue.
audit13 said:
Sounds like it could be a damaged lcd or lcd connection. If it can work after being charged while powered off, could be battery or USB flex cable issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thanks, ill have to look up some videos on how to check everything
Same problem
cocook2000 said:
So my Nexus 5 (a couple months ago) has started to just randomly go black. I get notifications and stuff, and the backlight but no display. Not sure what to do or what part to replace. Would flashing/rooting help at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen suddenly goes black and after force reboot every thung is fine. When screen was black i tried calling my no it ranged but i cannot answer thr phone.
It had happed around 5-6 times in a about a week with me.
Cant figure problem.
After reboot every thing is fine working normally
[email protected] said:
The screen suddenly goes black and after force reboot every thung is fine. When screen was black i tried calling my no it ranged but i cannot answer thr phone.
It had happed around 5-6 times in a about a week with me.
Cant figure problem.
After reboot every thing is fine working normally
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya I figured out I have to reboot it a bunch of times then it will work
I think it might be the battery because this is my dad's old phone so it's been in use for a solid 3 years.. I wish I knew for sure though
So I have discovered that if my screen is on for a while the task bar at the bottom starts to shift up and down
Have you found out more about this? I think I have the same problem. My phone never turns black while I use it. But when the screen is off/sleeping, it sometimes won't turn on again. So a force reboot fixes it. Sometimes this happens a lot, some times it works fine a whole day.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
tor0en said:
Have you found out more about this? I think I have the same problem. My phone never turns black while I use it. But when the screen is off/sleeping, it sometimes won't turn on again. So a force reboot fixes it. Sometimes this happens a lot, some times it works fine a whole day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I decided to send it into LG I'll update this when they tell me what's up with it
cocook2000 said:
No I decided to send it into LG I'll update this when they tell me what's up with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK!
I could also mention that this happen every time I unlocked the lockscreen on stock ROMs, and custom. But nameless ROM for some reason got it to this point at least. If any one have black screen on unlocking the block screen, try nameless rom...
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
tor0en said:
OK!
I could also mention that this happen every time I unlocked the lockscreen on stock ROMs, and custom. But nameless ROM for some reason got it to this point at least. If any one have black screen on unlocking the block screen, try nameless rom...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what your saying is to try the rom and see if it fixes it? Can I have a link or something, I don't know much about roms
cocook2000 said:
So what your saying is to try the rom and see if it fixes it? Can I have a link or something, I don't know much about roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe, I don't think so. My phone was useless, black screen on every screen unlock. But namelessrom took that away, so that tip about nameless was for those who have the same black screen I had earlier. But now I have the same black screens as you do. Anyway, if you want to try it out, nameless-rom.org
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Happens with my nexus too. The screen goes blank randomly ..... But i have managed to deal with it.
Its happan to me also, with 4 nexus 5 of my family.
Is a firmware problem?
I'm trying to buy a new flex cable to see if it will help I'll update when I find out
You're replacing the USB charging flex cable? If you are, be careful with cheap third-party replacements as I have read reports of people having issues with charging, signal, or speaker functionality after installing the cable.
tor0en said:
Have you found out more about this? I think I have the same problem. My phone never turns black while I use it. But when the screen is off/sleeping, it sometimes won't turn on again. So a force reboot fixes it. Sometimes this happens a lot, some times it works fine a whole day.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya so i sent it to LG finally and the diagnostic said that it was a flex cable issue which I was sure that it was anyway but I have a confirmation now
I've had a similar problem when my display suddenly started failing. First, there was colourful bands over the working display, then colourful static only and then black with backlight only. Bought a new phone, left it for a year and today after digging in the phone for a while I found a fix. The connection between the motherboard (the top bit) and the daughter board (the bit below battery with USB and connection to display) was somewhat loose and when pressed on, the display worked beautifully. I stuffed the insides with some tape to maintain pressure on the connection and phone works great.
Might not work for your problem, but it's worth a try if you're out of warranty and have tools to disassemble the phone.

LG Stylo Phone screen about to die?

Recently when ive been on my LG stylo the screen on my phone will suddently get whiter within time, then eventually go back down to the regular colors. And before anyone tries to respond thinking i am a dumb ass, THIS IS NOT A BRIGHTNESS ISSUE!!!!!
I can not replicate when this happens as it happens randomly. But to further describe my problems, every once in a while my screen will get whiter (as if someone were to turn up the contrast on your tv [which is why this is not a brightness issue]) then a little while later it will return to normal. It almost looks like my screen is attempting to burn-in an image.
If anyone knows what is happening please tell me. I can not post any pics of this phenomenon unfortunately as i can only use the screenshot feature and as everyone that is here should know, screenshots wont show any problems.
Hello, I have an LG Stylo 2. I've had the same thing happen a few times during this winter. I would go and touch the screen and it would turn white. Later it never happened again. I thought the screen was going bad. I think I correlated it to static electricity. I twas cold and dry in the office. When I touched the screen some static discharge possibly charged the screen??? Is it happening often. First time it happened I took the battery out and let the phone rest for an hour. After puttiing back together it didn't do it again.
oh wow. I have had this issue numerous times on my stylo in the past month, and I have en had this issue before on my iPhone 5S... Considering LG makes the screens for the iPhone 5S, I wouldn't deny the fact that LG LCD's are weak under low temperatures. Literally eactly what you are describing has happened to me numerous times! I have even had to replace my 5S screen before because of this issue. My advice would be try to warm the phone up by putting it by a heater for a few minutes under your supervision, or wait it out, or maybe you can try to put it under your legs and see if that helps.
It us a know issue with the screen on all stylos best bet goto where you bought it and they should replace it
Sent from my LG-H631 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
allenjthomsen said:
It us a know issue with the screen on all stylos best bet goto where you bought it and they should replace it
Sent from my LG-H631 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, ive had the phone for 6 months, and bought it off of ebay, thats not an option.
But for anyone else that would be good advice, granted it happens within 30-90 days. Or have a contract with a carrier. (which i have neither)

Pixel 3 screen flash

Didn't see this posted here yet, but forgive me if I missed it.
Trying to find out if anyone has seen or heard of any acknowledgement from Google regarding this. My new Pixel 3 (Verizon; non XL) since day 1 has had an annoying issue with the screen flashing when ambient screen engages. I have my settings with alwayson set to off, and new notifications set to on. If the screen is asleep and I get a text or any notification, the ambient screen wakes and will initially make the entire screen flash white very quickly.
I do not get a flash of the screen in any other scenario when the phones on, it only seems to be when the screens totally asleep and the ambient screen wakes. I can unlock the phone or hit the power button to fully wake the phone to my home screen with no flashing. Its not every single time, but its very often. I do notice sometimes when it doesn't flash the whole screen, the time or text on the ambient display will be at full brightness when it first wakes for a split second and then will go to the dim text Im used to seeing.
Replaced the phone through Verizon. Got another brand new one with the same exact problem. This one even flashes on reboot occasionally just before the white "Google" screen pops up. Google had me send them a bug report this time and are supposed to be having their dev team look at it.
WHY.
Mine did it once
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
I've also now noticed mine will flash in Instagram when I "like" something lol. Just the picture flashes within the app itself in that case, not the whole screen. Such a weird thing, that may have something to do with the app on the new pixel? I don't even know anymore.
I just saw the white flash. It was only for a few ms but it looked like a full brightness white flash on the whole screen. I had just set my phone down and I think the AOD was coming on.
Weird.
Yeah I have a feeling this is happening on way more devices than we're reading about. I hope it's addressed. Sometimes my notification audio cuts out real quick too. Hoping it's just all memory related.
I have this weird kind of screen flickering on my device as soon as I use the fingerprint area to turn the phone on. It is very faint and fast but its like static lines for half a second when the screen comes on??
Archangel said:
I have this weird kind of screen flickering on my device as soon as I use the fingerprint area to turn the phone on. It is very faint and fast but its like static lines for half a second when the screen comes on??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, I haven't had any issues like that using the fingerprint reader or just hitting the power button. Mine are all directly related to ambient screen waking.
My Pixel 3 is doing the same thing when I unlock it. Flashes like taking a selfie... I have even looked for the selfie to no avail.
It does not do this regularly, very random.
edster00 said:
My Pixel 3 is doing the same thing when I unlock it. Flashes like taking a selfie... I have even looked for the selfie to no avail.
It does not do this regularly, very random.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Sometimes when I tap the screen to wake it up, it flashes. Just did it a minute ago before I wrote this.
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
I just charged the Pixel face down; during the charge I picked it up to check the progress and I got the screen flash ~2X out of 10.
edster00 said:
I just charged the Pixel face down; during the charge I picked it up to check the progress and I got the screen flash ~2X out of 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Report it to Google. I feel like it's something they're aware of (I hope) but support certainly isn't saying so if they are.
I saw a post on Android Police about bug trackers and read in some of the comments that people were having problem with screen flashing. Some of them said it was related to the always on display. Mine was flashing like white static lines. But it was only for half a second when you turn on the screen and it didnt happen every time, it was random. I turned off the AOD and it never happened again. Kinda sucks cause I like AOD. But that tells me it is a software problems and not hardware.
I turned off AOD too, for 1 day; the next day I turned AOD back on. I have not had a screen flash since (a few days now).
edster00 said:
I turned off AOD too, for 1 day; the next day I turned AOD back on. I have not had a screen flash since (a few days now).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try rebooting. I bet it's still happening you just may not be noticing. I've had my AOD off for a while and as soon as I turn the new notifications option it comes back. Not every time but still often.
I'm having the same issue, doesn't happen all the time but I can reproduce it usually by unlocking the device, locking it then when ambient display comes on, unlock it and the screen flashes/flickers. I've only managed to do it with ambient screen set to always on.
I've RMA'd this morning so I'll report back when the new phone comes.
I hope you RMA's for other reasons too because it is likely that you will get a phone with the same flickering problem. I think it is a software issue esp since it goes away after we turn off AOD.
steslatt said:
I'm having the same issue, doesn't happen all the time but I can reproduce it usually by unlocking the device, locking it then when ambient display comes on, unlock it and the screen flashes/flickers. I've only managed to do it with ambient screen set to always on.
I've RMA'd this morning so I'll report back when the new phone comes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Archangel said:
I hope you RMA's for other reasons too because it is likely that you will get a phone with the same flickering problem. I think it is a software issue esp since it goes away after we turn off AOD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just find it strange that people are having the flicker in different scenarios, like mine is only when ambient is set to always on but other people are having the issue when it's set to double tap etc. Anyway I guess I'll see when the new phone comes.
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
Yeah let us know please once you get the new phone. It seems like it is hit or miss with people so you might get lucky and avoid it.
steslatt said:
I just find it strange that people are having the flicker in different scenarios, like mine is only when ambient is set to always on but other people are having the issue when it's set to double tap etc. Anyway I guess I'll see when the new phone comes.
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick update. My new phone arrived this morning and I've managed to get the screen to flash once so far where as my old one would do it 8 times out of 10. I feel like this is a poor display hardware problem rather than software.
I believe or rather am hoping that because it only happens when you turn on AOD that it is a software issue and not a hardware one. The only way something will be done is enough people complain on a bug tracker.
steslatt said:
Quick update. My new phone arrived this morning and I've managed to get the screen to flash once so far where as my old one would do it 8 times out of 10. I feel like this is a poor display hardware problem rather than software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

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