Help me fix my volume buttons - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

After 5 years of heavy usage and not a single hardware issue my volume (down) button just started acting weird and pressing by itself.
Everything else still works fine and I don't want to say goodbye to my beloved Nexus 5 just yet.
What are my options?
Should I open it up and try cleaning it or should I disable the volume buttons entirely?
PS: Already tried to disable Volume down through root via System>Usr>Keylayout>Generic.kl but it didn't work.
Disabled Volume down via Button remapper app until I figure out what to do.

I'd say open it up, I had the same problem, but with the power button, ended up opening it and placing a piece of plastic to act as a "spring").
The Nexus 5 is really easy to open up, just watch some videos on yt and take it slow.

So I've open it up, cleaned all the gunk around the buttons, turned it on while still open so I can see if it actually made any difference but it didn't. Volume down is still all-time active though the actual button is clicky like it's nothing wrong with it. What now?

psydex said:
So I've open it up, cleaned all the gunk around the buttons, turned it on while still open so I can see if it actually made any difference but it didn't. Volume down is still all-time active though the actual button is clicky like it's nothing wrong with it. What now?
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Click to collapse
I imagine the pcb was in the casing while you powered it on, so the ceramic piece was still touching the button right?
Try holding the ceramic piece away from the pcb and see what happens then

Related

[Q] Power button bypass?

The other day my infuse's power button started dying, apparently i have bad luck with samsung buttons as my captivate's power button broke on me too. It started out just randomly lighting up as if it were touched, then moved on to rebooting, and now it just continuously plays the samsung logo over and over again, even when trying to go into recovery mode. Even with the plastic phone shell off, the problem persisted, so the plastic power button itself i know is not the issue.
I'm wondering if anyone knows of any possible way to render the power button useless, and remap one of the volume keys or something as the power key instead.
Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated, I really don't want to have to pay samsung to repair it.
There's an app called button remapper or something along those lines. But I believe it will kill any other function that the volume button does, like volume control. If you don't use it for that purpose, then try it out.
Sent from my SGH-I997

[Q] MY4GS Physical Buttons do not work randomly

When I turn on my phone sometimes non of the physical buttons will work, including the power button, so when the screen turns off I have no way to turn it back on. All I can do is pull the battery and wait to see if the next time it starts up it'll work. Using the slide will sometimes turn off the screen but the phone will still act as if the screen is on, so I have to turn it off and back on. And, still, sometimes opening the slide will disable all the physical buttons and I have to pull the battery and hope it will work. And sometimes I don't have to open the slide at all and the buttons will still stop working after a day or a few hours.
I know there has to be a physical problem, but why would the power button work every time when it's already off, but (today) 1 of 6 times after the phone booted up?
Thanks in advance.
GiftigDegen said:
When I turn on my phone sometimes non of the physical buttons will work, including the power button, so when the screen turns off I have no way to turn it back on. All I can do is pull the battery and wait to see if the next time it starts up it'll work. Using the slide will sometimes turn off the screen but the phone will still act as if the screen is on, so I have to turn it off and back on. And, still, sometimes opening the slide will disable all the physical buttons and I have to pull the battery and hope it will work. And sometimes I don't have to open the slide at all and the buttons will still stop working after a day or a few hours.
I know there has to be a physical problem, but why would the power button work every time when it's already off, but (today) 1 of 6 times after the phone booted up?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check your water damage indicator. I've had similar experiences with other phones, specifically one that went for a swim in the toilet. Water damage could explain it.
My other thought was the connector used for the keyboard, but i don't think that would affect the power button or the buttons below the screen.
If you dig through some of the posts, i believe you will find a guide on tearing this phone down. It may give you a good idea of how the device is put together and where to potentially look for failure.
*ninja edit*
Found the teardown guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1586028
The front buttons (home, menu, back, search and trackpad) are on one ribon cable
The power, volume buttons are on a different ribbon cable
and last the camera button is on it's own cable.
I suspect you have a rom problem if you are lossing all button functionality at once. Have you tried the keyboard home, menu, back, search buttons when it locks up?
I would do a factory reset if you are on the stock rom or reflash the rom you are using.
And if changing firmware/software dosent help know all buttons come down to the main flex
Sent from my Nexus One using xda app-developers app
I was able to buy a used phone and from its and this phone's parts made a working phone. There was a problem with the flex cable that was causing the buttons to stop working when I slid the phone open.
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using xda app-developers app

Power button stuck, can only get to fastboot

My N5 has a hardware fault where the phone thinks the power button is permanently pressed, so as soon as you try and boot it, it turns off again.
I am able to get to fastboot, by holding down the volume down button and power. But from there, I cannot boot to recovery or normal system boot.
I have been unable to fix this, and I really want to get some of my app data off.
Is there a way of extracting a backup somehow from fastboot?
I'm guessing no, as you can't access via adb through fastboot can you?
Any ideas gratefully received.
Did you try removing the motherboard and cleaning the area around the power button with alcohol? I had a sticky power button too and removed the motherboard, applied a lot of pressure to the power button as I pressed and released it for a couple of minutes and this solved the issue.
I had this issue, took apart the phone, didn't fix the issue. Read a thread were multiple owners said smacking the phone on a hard surface on the power button side fixed it.
So I was hesitant but after a few hard taps, it fixed and haven't had the issue for 4 months so far. I also pressed the power button a few times hard.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Hi. Yes, I have tried all those, no joy.
I'm resigned to the fact the phone is bricked.
So, given that, do I have any options to get the app data off?
Merry Christmas by the way!
I suggest getting a quote to replace the power button.
Wonder if I can desolder it, and use a paperclip to short the switch connection?
There are 3 connections for the motherboard for the power switch and it looks pretty easy to de-solder according to youtube videos I watched. I'm not good at soldering so I had my local repair shop replace it with a new one.

Recover data from dead/faulty Nexus 5 (power button loop)

Hi
My Nexus 5 has entered into (what I believe to be) a hardware bootloop due to a faulty power button switch. I will look into getting it fixed locally but am currently wondering if there's a way to get the phone on (disabling the power button in some way?) in order that I can recover data from the built in storage.
I realise this is unlikely as it would involve some kind of invasive hardware trick.
On the basis that my phone may never turn back on, is there any way to extract data from the built in storage at all?
try smacking it into table below the power button. Seriously If it wont help, just pop off the back cover and using a knife or something "brake" the button, and insert the usb cable while holding volume down button,. then send "fastboot reboot" command. You are going to fix the button anyway, so breaking it wont matter
I had same problem. I took phone apart and soaked button side in pure alcohol. And then some tapping and pushing the button and it started to work.
The power button getting stuck has happened a few times to me. I literally just find a wood table and give a few stiff taps to the top corner of the phone (power button facing down). Always does the trick for me.
gauthier81 said:
The power button getting stuck has happened a few times to me. I literally just find a wood table and give a few stiff taps to the top corner of the phone (power button facing down). Always does the trick for me.
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Thanks, but I've had no luck with this 'solution'. I have tried tactically hitting my device but no luck. Have also smacked it down out of anger and no luck either.
I think there are two distinct power button failures. One where the button still works but sticks and can be unstuck (I had this on my first Nexus 5 and it was replaced by Google out of warranty) and another where the power button module fails and becomes 'always on' needing replaced.

Ring and Notification Volume Keeps Getting Turned Down to Zero

I completely stock android 11. I sometimes pull out my phone and finding that the ring and notification volume is set all the way down to zero. At first I thought that that the volume down button must be getting pushed when the phone is in my holster, but I have been paying attention to how I put it away lately and I don't think that is what is happening. I have it in a Spigen Tough Armor case and the buttons require a really firm press to operate and they operate perfectly when intentionally pressed - they never get stuck. I carry the phone/case in a belt holster that is bigger than the phone/case and I don't think there is any way that the buttons are being pressed accidentally.
So I think that it is a software issue. Anyone else here have the problem? Anyone have any idea how I could troubleshoot it?
I know it's over a month later, and this may not be what is happening to you, but it was to me. Under Settings >System >Gestures >Prevent Ringing- option was turned on to switch phone to silent using Power+Vol Up key combo. My buttons may not be as guarded as yours, but I'm pretty sure I was accidentally pressing the two buttons on accident when I put it in or took it out of my pocket.
kilgoresparrot said:
I know it's over a month later, and this may not be what is happening to you, but it was to me. Under Settings >System >Gestures >Prevent Ringing- option was turned on to switch phone to silent using Power+Vol Up key combo. My buttons may not be as guarded as yours, but I'm pretty sure I was accidentally pressing the two buttons on accident when I put it in or took it out of my pocket.
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Click to collapse
Thank you. I did not know this setting existed. It is plausible that I was hitting both buttons when I was trying to hit the power button before holstering the phone. I have not been seeing the problem as often as I had been, so it is a little difficult to diagnose. It might be that I am better at hitting just the power button now that I have had the phone longer.

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