Help Phone Shutting off randomly?

[brohammer619]

I have had it shut down many times during the day, without an alarm being set at all....after factory resets and all. I just got my new phone overnighted from Amazon, so hopefully the new one fairs better, otherwise I guess I'll be getting a different phone entirely.

Amazon really is a great company to get a phone from, no questions asked, shipped a brand new phone to me overnight, with return label to send the broken one back.

 

[redgrafx]

my galaxy s freezes on the bell network when a low signal. looks like a
rampant issue when you research on the net. when is this getting fixed?
I just picked up a brand new one (2nd in a week) and same issue

 

[AnalogKid]

I have had my phone since launch day on ATT and it has never shut down by itself. Got my wife a Captivate around 1st of Sept, and hers started shutting down in the middle of the night, whether plugged in or not. Wasn't due to battery being drained(after turning it back on it showed plenty of juice left) and it never turns off during the day that she remembers. I did root it and run one click lag fix, but it started with shutdowns before I did that.

I asked ATT sales people tonight about it while I was picking up a new phone for my daughter. They said they hadn't heard of that being an issue and had I heard of anyone else with this problem. Told them there was this huge thread here and they told me to bring phone in for exchange.

 

[richierich]

I get shutdowns and then the phone feels really hot. I think the cpu gets in an endless loop or something.

 

[redneckcajun1965]

Mine started this the day after purchase. Phone is not rooted, and has factory settings. After reading these posts I started paying close attention to the phones behavior. After a full charge the phone would shut off 4 or 5 times and then function perfectly the rest of the day. It never shut off at any other point. I tried several suggestions generously offered on this board, but none seemed to work. I called AT&T and Samsung. That was useless. I brought the phone back to place of purchase (Sams Club.) I had no problem getting a replacement. The new phone has been up and working with no problems for 3 days.

I believe there was a bad run of phones. This of course is just my opinion.

I wish everybody luck on resolving this issue on your phones.

 

[Jack45]

Mine started this the day after purchase. Phone is not rooted, and has factory settings. After reading these posts I started paying close attention to the phones behavior. After a full charge the phone would shut off 4 or 5 times and then function perfectly the rest of the day. It never shut off at any other point. I tried several suggestions generously offered on this board, but none seemed to work. I called AT&T and Samsung. That was useless. I brought the phone back to place of purchase (Sams Club.) I had no problem getting a replacement. The new phone has been up and working with no problems for 3 days.

I believe there was a bad run of phones. This of course is just my opinion.

I wish everybody luck on resolving this issue on your phones.

Your action in exchanging it was correct.

Your assessment that it was a bad run of phones is correct (IMHO).

Your evaluation of AT&T and Samsung support is correct.

And, finally, welcome!

 

[Alpha Frog]

"Originally Posted by RaistM75
This may be a little more technical for just the general section, but here is what I found. I used logcat to look at the event log for the phone and found that the power management was shutting down the phone completely. I also used cat to dump the kmsg file from the kernel messages and verified that it was indeed looking for a WakeLock and not finding one. It looks like the Android 2.1 update 1 kernel is a little more thorough in power management than it needs to be. Since this is also happening to the Vibrant, Droid, and the Nexus it is definitely not a hardware issue.

As I don't have the kernel code yet for this phone I can't make the modifications there and attempt to apply a more permanent fix, however there is a work around.

1. Search in the market for Load Monitor Version 1.4.2 (Khad Mobile App) and install it
2. Run it and hit the menu button => preferences
3. Check the following:
- Add Notification
- Only notify high load
- Auto start
- Wake lock (the important one)
- Also you can change the update interval to 5 minutes to make it less frequent

Hopefully this will relieve some of the issues until the Froyo release, in the hopes that the next revision will handle power management a little better."

Following this to a T has so far worked well for me. No shut offs since RaistM75's post on this. Thank you!

It's been two days and this seems to have worked for me, too. 48 hours is, by no means, definitive...but, it's definitely worth a try. Mine started shutting down every morning after I'd unplug it, check email, Facebook, etc...and then randomly throughout the day. My wife's (purchased at the same time) hasn't mysteriously shut down once.

 

[Jack45]

It's been two days and this seems to have worked for me, too. 48 hours is, by no means, definitive...but, it's definitely worth a try.

Others have found that this has not worked (although it initially seemed promising). If your shutdowns recur, exchange the unit. That's been the only remedy to date.

 

[John I]

Mine has started shutting down roughly every other day. When it does, I have to remove the battery and put it back in to get the phone to come back on. Is this normal? Do others have the same when their phone shuts down or are they able to simply turn the phone back on with the power button?

 

[Jack45]

Mine has started shutting down roughly every other day. When it does, I have to remove the battery and put it back in to get the phone to come back on. Is this normal? Do others have the same when their phone shuts down or are they able to simply turn the phone back on with the power button?

>>> Is this normal?

No.


>>> Do others have [to do] the same when their phone shuts down or are they able to simply turn the phone back on with the power button?

FWIW, with my previous phones I simply needed to press the power button. Having said that, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that it shouldn't randomly shut down in the first place. Exchange the phone. There is no other remedy.

Update: A poster on another forum wrote that the latest suggestion from Samsung support (what an oxymoron) is to call AT&T to get a replacement battery. He did, but it didn't help.

 

[Corran Horn]

On my 2nd phone now. Just turned itself off today and needed to remove battery to turn on. Last phone I did not need to remove the battery to turn back on. Now I am out of the 30 days...god damnit. I need to talk to Samsung now and go through them I guess?

 

[Jack45]

On my 2nd phone now. Just turned itself off today and needed to remove battery to turn on. Last phone I did not need to remove the battery to turn back on. Now I am out of the 30 days...god damnit. I need to talk to Samsung now and go through them I guess?

Samsung=No
AT&T=Yes for the next 11 months.

AT&T may send you back to the store for an exchange. If they don't offer it, request the option if it's more convenient for you.

One more thing. When you speak with AT&T be your normal, kind, gentle self (the old sugar vs. vinegar approach)

 

[John I]

>>> Is this normal?

No.


>>> Do others have [to do] the same when their phone shuts down or are they able to simply turn the phone back on with the power button?

FWIW, with my previous phones I simply needed to press the power button. Having said that, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that it shouldn't randomly shut down in the first place. Exchange the phone. There is no other remedy.

Update: A poster on another forum wrote that the latest suggestion from Samsung support (what an oxymoron) is to call AT&T to get a replacement battery. He did, but it didn't help.

Thanks for the reply. Looks like I need to exchange it. Unfortunately I have spent 2 months installing apps and getting the thing just right. I am not sure how to back it up so I can get a new one and hit the ground running in the exact same configuration. From what I here I might have to wait for Froyo for true backup if I don't want to root it? (Kies is the biggest POS I have ever seen. I still can't get it to see my Captivate from Win7 64 bit, Windows Vista 32 or my old Windows XP laptop.)

Thanks!

 

[Jack45]

Thanks for the reply. Looks like I need to exchange it. Unfortunately I have spent 2 months installing apps and getting the thing just right. I am not sure how to back it up so I can get a new one and hit the ground running in the exact same configuration. From what I here I might have to wait for Froyo for true backup if I don't want to root it? (Kies is the biggest POS I have ever seen. I still can't get it to see my Captivate from Win7 64 bit, Windows Vista 32 or my old Windows XP laptop.)

Thanks!

My suggestions:

1. Root (more on this later).
2. Purchase an SD card and install it (if you haven't already).
3. Purchase MyBackup Pro.

MyBackup Pro will need a rooted phone to do a respectable backup of all apps and data. Using it in a non-rooted environment is a waste of money. It won't back up your email settings, but that's about all you'll need to futz with on the new phone.

The reason for the SD card is that MyBackup Pro can use it for your backup. Once the backup is accomplished, remove the card and save it for your new device and subsequent app/data restoration.

Since it's been two months you'll need to get in touch with AT&T Warranty. Whether or not they check to see if your phone is rooted is unknown, but I'd un-root it before sending it back just to play safe.

In any event, they may give you special attention if you remind them that you're John I and that your papacy began in 523 and ended in 526. If AT&T happens to send you to a store for an exchange, wear an impressive ring and a robe. One more thing...when communicating with AT&T personnel refer to each of them as "my child."

 

[michaelkueter]

Has anyone else experienced trying to wake your phone from sleep only to find it has been powered off?
Strangely, this did not happen the first 2 days, but started after charging the phone fully for a second time.
Could this any way be app related? I've only downloaded a few so far such as ATK.

Edit: I checked my phone right after writing this, and what do you know, it turned off....

Your phone is malfunctioning. Bring it to the nearest customer service center. Hope it still has its warranty.

 

[zurdo82]

Two and a half weeks since I received my replacement phone. No random shutdowns yet. From the "who hasn't" thread , you can see this is not a very common situation so, return your phone if you are having issues! Follow Jack's advice to back up your phone.

 

[skywkrvnv]

I tried lots of the suggestions on here. But phone still randomly shut itself off. After getting replacement phone from AT&T i have had no random shut downs for 2 weeks now....and i have installed all the same apps, widgits i had before.

Strongly suggest everyone get replacement phone AS SOON AS RANDOM SHUT DOWN happens. It is obvious they had a bad production run at the beginning. Don't think you're going to "fix it" by playing with it. It is Samsung's problem, not yours! And, of course, neither Samsung nor AT&T will admit they have heard of any problem at all!!

 

[The Jester]

I have noticed that random shutdowns seem to coincide with using the power button to turn off the screen. If I let the screen power itself off (set at 1 minute) then I have not seen the random shutdown. If I use the powerbutton to force the screen to shut off then it does appear to be random.

 

[captiluva]

Hey guys. I had the same problem along with my phone's signal completely shutting down. I had only had the phone since last friday.well after troubleshooting with att...was told to go swap it out that it was a bad batch.i would recommend anyone else with same issue to do that.they were r rreally nice too and wanted me to swap right away.guess they don't want a similar issue like the iphone.my new phone hasn't lost signal or shut off and items been 3 days.hope this helps!

 

[Jack45]

I have noticed that random shutdowns seem to coincide with using the power button to turn off the screen. If I let the screen power itself off (set at 1 minute) then I have not seen the random shutdown. If I use the powerbutton to force the screen to shut off then it does appear to be random.

First, welcome!

Now down to business. You'll find that your theory won't hold water. All I ever use to put the phone in sleep mode is the power button. I never wait for a timeout.

Do yourself a favor. If you're still within the 30 day initial period, exchange it. If not, my advice is...exchange it.

 

[Android_J]

I have noticed that random shutdowns seem to coincide with using the power button to turn off the screen.

I've owned the Captivate for 2 months now and just had the lockup happen today. I used the power button to turn off the screen always and never had it lock up before. It was a complete lock and I had to remove the battery to reset.

 

[Bertpaho]

I had the same problem and contacted Samsung. It is a shame that such a nice device is shutting off. Mine sometimes does it 6 times a day. Now I squeezed in the back cover and it seems that it is cutting down to 3 times per day. Anyway WE NEED A PROMPT AND RELIABLE FIX FROM THE MANUFACTURER - SAMSUNG.

 

[o.maille]

"Originally Posted by RaistM75
This may be a little more technical for just the general section, but here is what I found. I used logcat to look at the event log for the phone and found that the power management was shutting down the phone completely. I also used cat to dump the kmsg file from the kernel messages and verified that it was indeed looking for a WakeLock and not finding one. It looks like the Android 2.1 update 1 kernel is a little more thorough in power management than it needs to be. Since this is also happening to the Vibrant, Droid, and the Nexus it is definitely not a hardware issue.

As I don't have the kernel code yet for this phone I can't make the modifications there and attempt to apply a more permanent fix, however there is a work around.

1. Search in the market for Load Monitor Version 1.4.2 (Khad Mobile App) and install it
2. Run it and hit the menu button => preferences
3. Check the following:
- Add Notification
- Only notify high load
- Auto start
- Wake lock (the important one)
- Also you can change the update interval to 5 minutes to make it less frequent

Hopefully this will relieve some of the issues until the Froyo release, in the hopes that the next revision will handle power management a little better."



It's been two days and this seems to have worked for me, too. 48 hours is, by no means, definitive...but, it's definitely worth a try. Mine started shutting down every morning after I'd unplug it, check email, Facebook, etc...and then randomly throughout the day. My wife's (purchased at the same time) hasn't mysteriously shut down once.

Have you any apps she doesn't, I have to assume this is an app related issue.

I've had the phone a month and been rooted with lag fix over a week, mine has started shutting down since this morning;
New apps (yesterday);

• androzip
• kwaak3
• Webkey
• droid wall
• appinstaller

Changed usage past 2-5 days;

• standard alarm enabled
• apndroid allowing traffic more regularly
• using navigation more

Apps that i am suspicious of;

• setcpu
• Facebook sync for contacts and calender - i've caught this one running for extended periods without success.

I'll try load monitor, are we sure the issue is CPU usage???

 

[skywkrvnv]

Many of you think its a software issue. IT IS NOT!!!!! IT IS A DEFECTIVE PRODUCTION RUN!

Exchange your phone. Period. That is the only solution.

I exchanged mine and it has not shut down! AT ALL!

Back away from your techie egos and exchange the phone! The bottom tier people at AT&T and Samsung (service folks) are unaware of the problem..why?....management doesn't want THEM telling people the phone is defective.

Strongly suggest everyone get replacement phone AS SOON AS RANDOM SHUT DOWN FIRST happens. It is obvious they had a bad production run at the beginning.

 

[captiluva]

Many of you think its a software issue. IT IS NOT!!!!! IT IS A DEFECTIVE PRODUCTION RUN!

Exchange your phone. Period. That is the only solution.

I exchanged mine and it has not shut down! AT ALL!

Back away from your techie egos and exchange the phone! The bottom tier people at AT&T and Samsung (service folks) are unaware of the problem..why?....management doesn't want THEM telling people the phone is defective.

Strongly suggest everyone get replacement phone AS SOON AS RANDOM SHUT DOWN FIRST happens. It is obvious they had a bad production run at the beginning.

I agree. i bought my phone about 2weeks or so ago and the minute i noticed the shut off...i called ATT and the rep said it was definitely a bad production and to return it immediately. not sure if this made any difference, but the box had a date of 8/23 on it and when i got the new one, it had a date of 9/3. that's probably the shipment date, but since i got the new phone...not one single problem with shut off. EXCHANGE YOUR PHONE ASAP!!!