• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Ghostly turn on

This is a Acer A3-A10 tablet, every now & then it will switch itself on, even in the night, anyone else have the same?? 😕
 
Please clarify what you mean by '...switch itself on...' Is this a matter where your tablet is indeed powered off and it's starting up on its own; or is it just an issue where the display is in sleep mode and it's randomly awoken? Two different situations that are most likely caused by different influences.
If the former, it would be very odd for your tablet to just start itself up without some kind of reason. The power button could be inadvertently pressed by an object pushed against it, or maybe the button itself is broken internally or a sliver of something is wedged into the side of the button.
If the latter, it sounds like there's just some app, like email or Facebook or some other notification, that's triggering your tablet's screen to come back on. Then it becomes a matter of determining just what app/background service is the culprit.
 
Yes it is switched off altogether, then after awhile I can hear it starting up. It isnt near any objects or other electrical items. Strange!!!!
Thank you for the info. Myhusband thinks we have a ghost!!!!!!!.
 
Any device that starts up on its own would freak me out.
You have a ghost.
 
OK so this is really weird. On a lot of PCs there are BIOS options that might include booting up the computer on a scheduled time but that's not a Android device kind of thing, plus this occurring only at random makes it that much harder to determine. Trying to think if this could be a software issue (something in the Settings menu or an app) but it sounds more like a hardware issue since the tablet is powered off.
This is a long shot but try wiping the system cache partition. The system cache is relative only to the operating system and the cache itself doesn't contain any vital settings nor does it have anything to do with your personal data you have saved on your tablet so it's safe to do. It does require you to boot your tablet into its Recovery Mode though. When running in Recovery Mode it's a text only interface so follow the indicated instructions on your screen on which buttons to use to navigate through the different menu options and select the 'wipe cache partition' option.
Instructions on how to access Recovery Mode here:
http://www.hardreset.info/devices/acer/acer-iconia-a3-a10/recovery-mode/

Has this random boot-up issue been a problem all along or has it just started recently? If recently can you recall anything like a system update or installing anything just previous to when this started to occur?
 
Hi, I am a novice really so am reluctant to try things I don't know, but will try, as long as I don't loose anything.. I'M sure I haven't downloaded anything unusual. What exactly does the recovery mode do?.
 
While running your tablet in Recovery Mode this allows you to do specific maintenance tasks that aren't possible running your tablet normally. It's not for every day usage.
If you're not comfortable doing something like this, it's not necessarily difficult but it is something that can really mess up your tablet -- just do each step one at a time paying careful attention to what you're doing. Wiping the system cache was merely a suggestion but not a real solid one, as a device automatically booting up on its own is not a common problem. (...and again, the system cache does not store any settings or documents, and the system cache has its own dedicated partition that's completely separate from the user data partition, where your saved personal data resides. So wiping the cache partition is a possible benefit but it doesn't delete anything you need or want, the system cache itself is solely related to lower level operating system functionality.)
 
Thank you for that information. I will leave that for now, I have kept a note of the link & may give it a go if this causes me any problems in future. Thanks again. ☺
 
Back
Top Bottom