Root Having Some Hardware Issues - help wanted

[GrandTheftBJJ]

Hey guys / gals, I've been having a bit of a problem that has gotten worse lately. The power button does not always wake or lock the phone. Sometimes the phone will wake but not usually unlock at random (though I did pocket dial someone the other day). The power menu (reboot, shutdown, screenshot, etc...) will randomly appear on screen. I did a full wipe and installed a new ROM (10/15 MTDEV CM7) opposed to an earlier version. The problem persisted even while the phone had not been activated yet. This lead me to believe that the problem is hardware related. Sad to say, this Triumph may be close to retirement. Unless I find something here... (fingers crossed).

While ordering another triumph from VM at $200 is a pretty tempting offer, has anyone had any other luck with the HTC Evo V or with other companies such as Boost, Metro PCS, or T-Mobile? T-Mboile and Metro do both have a Galaxy S III but at a mortgage payment.

FYI: Metro's plans are $40 for everything unlimited and data throttled after 250 MB data, 50 throttled after 2.5 GB, and 55 unthrottled. Boost, if you're not familiar has everything unlimited (unsure of when throttling occurs) for $50 but shrinking payments down to $35 after 18 consecutive payments. T-Mobile is $50/mo unlimited all.


Thanks for the help!

 

[dsmryder]

Hey guys / gals, I've been having a bit of a problem that has gotten worse lately. The power button does not always wake or lock the phone. Sometimes the phone will wake but not usually unlock at random (though I did pocket dial someone the other day). The power menu (reboot, shutdown, screenshot, etc...) will randomly appear on screen. I did a full wipe and installed a new ROM (10/15 MTDEV CM7) opposed to an earlier version. The problem persisted even while the phone had not been activated yet. This lead me to believe that the problem is hardware related. Sad to say, this Triumph may be close to retirement. Unless I find something here... (fingers crossed).

While ordering another triumph from VM at $200 is a pretty tempting offer, has anyone had any other luck with the HTC Evo V or with other companies such as Boost, Metro PCS, or T-Mobile? T-Mboile and Metro do both have a Galaxy S III but at a mortgage payment.

FYI: Metro's plans are $40 for everything unlimited and data throttled after 250 MB data, 50 throttled after 2.5 GB, and 55 unthrottled. Boost, if you're not familiar has everything unlimited (unsure of when throttling occurs) for $50 but shrinking payments down to $35 after 18 consecutive payments. T-Mobile is $50/mo unlimited all.


Thanks for the help!

I wish I could tell you that you don't have a failing power button, but it seems so. As far as the different service providers, I had metro for almost a year (the phone I had was a sad excuse for a smart phone) and the service was near perfect for me. Boost will of course be simular to VM as it's a (anacrim that means it is rented Sprint towers) and was the way I would have went when switching from metro before I found VM. I think the other concideration is T-Mo. The $30/mo plan is tempting and if I could mangage the free calling thing I read about it would be worth it for me. Well, it wasn't available when I switched to VM... (random thoughts)

I love the screens on the sammys. I would love to put on on my MT. I would even consider a GS2. It's not like it's a piece of garbage. And compared to the MT, it is better in almost every way.

Truth is I moved to VM to save money. I spent a couple of extra bucks to get the MTs for me and my wife so that we would have good phones while milking the $25 plan. So I'm sticking around for quite a while. And that's why I DEV. so I can make my phone better, and I like to tinker. (more rambling)

In any case, I hope you enjoy what ever you decide to do. Holla back and let us know how it goes.

 

[g60madman]

Are you over your first year? If not call vm and get a replacement. Another option is to pay for the $5.00 monthly insurance for 2 months and call to get a replacement for $100.00. Another option if you are willing to pay $200 for another triumph is look at the nexus 4 for a little more

http://www.google.com/nexus/4/

There is a lot of pay as you go gsm providers to look at. It just depends on how much your willing to dish for a phone and how much are you willing to pay for a plan. Good luck!

 

[GrandTheftBJJ]

Thanks for the input guys! Yes, dsmryder, I'm aware of the hardware problem. I was hoping that it was ROM related, like broken code or something, but once a new wipe / flash didn't work that put the nail in the coffin. Glad to hear other options are reliable as well. I'll do some shopping around, and maybe jump on some Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales

G60, I'm a MT faithful since Aug '11 So looks like there will be no replacement. I guess i'm looking in the $200 (MT now) to $300 (MT when new). Feature wise 4G and a front facing camera are musts, dual-core processor would be nice but not necessary, and ideally ICS or at least an ICS ROM. And i've got no problems waiting for a while for a good deal or new releases. Time to research

I'll for sure let you guys know. Hopefully I'll be around for a while, but if not, I wish the MT community all the best! The whole MTDEV team does fabulous work and great communication with the rest of the forum, classy as always.

Edit: The Nexus 4 is no GS3, but for $300 and a 30/mo plan (if you can keep talk time under 100 min) on T-Mob its looking pretty spiffy! Checking coverage maps, 4G is not available in my area, so its notched off, but I plan on perhaps selling my point and shoot camera to finance a better phone.

 

[g60madman]

A good article to check out is

Top 4 US pre-paid wireless plans for the Nexus 4 | Android and Me

Check out the actual sites and prices. Before I got hardcore into development I was looking at the Samsung Nexus and simple mobile. I don't know if my Wife has any plans of giving my Nexus 7 a friend for Christmas but as it stands I have no plans of dropping VM or the Triumph.

 

[Motofrust]

Are you over your first year? If not call vm and get a replacement. Another option is to pay for the $5.00 monthly insurance for 2 months and call to get a replacement for $100.00. Another option if you are willing to pay $200 for another triumph is look at the nexus 4 for a little more

Nexus ? Google

There is a lot of pay as you go gsm providers to look at. It just depends on how much your willing to dish for a phone and how much are you willing to pay for a plan. Good luck!

Will this phone work for VM?

 

[dsmryder]

Will this phone work for VM?

I have heard some rumors that some people will add your compatable phone to VM's list. I have contacted them and they (VM) said they won't do it, period.

Short answer, No.

 

[OverByter]

Will this phone work for VM?

It's GSM only, Virgin is CDMA so no possibility of it working.

 

[GrandTheftBJJ]

A good article to check out is

Top 4 US pre-paid wireless plans for the Nexus 4 | Android and Me

Check out the actual sites and prices. Before I got hardcore into development I was looking at the Samsung Nexus and simple mobile. I don't know if my Wife has any plans of giving my Nexus 7 a friend for Christmas but as it stands I have no plans of dropping VM or the Triumph.

Thanks for the good read! If it were only a software or firmware issue I would have scowerd the intent relentlessly to salvage my MT. However, since the problem is hardware related I think its time for me to finally move on. Perhaps purchase another MT, but i'm open to trying new things ... ah the beauty of prepaid! The more I look at it, a Nexus 4 on T-Mob's $30 plan is looking REALLY appealing. I love what we have done w/ the MT here, but if your 10 yr old car were to die today, would you buy another 10 yr old car? The MT has served me well thanks to the help of this community. While I'd prefer to not have to switch from VM, I don't think having to eat one months $25 bill would kill me if I'm dropping $350 on a 16 GB Nexus 4

Come on MT, don't die before the post-Turkey Day sales! lol

 

[jamesd1085]

I don't want to leave my triumph...but if I do it will probably be to the galaxy note 2

 

[GrandTheftBJJ]

I don't want to leave my triumph...but if I do it will probably be to the galaxy note 2

If US Cellular retails in your area (it does not in mine), look here
Samsung Galaxy Note

 

[dsmryder]

Thanks for the good read! If it were only a software or firmware issue I would have scowerd the intent relentlessly to salvage my MT. However, since the problem is hardware related I think its time for me to finally move on. Perhaps purchase another MT, but i'm open to trying new things ... ah the beauty of prepaid! The more I look at it, a Nexus 4 on T-Mob's $30 plan is looking REALLY appealing. I love what we have done w/ the MT here, but if your 10 yr old car were to die today, would you buy another 10 yr old car? The MT has served me well thanks to the help of this community. While I'd prefer to not have to switch from VM, I don't think having to eat one months $25 bill would kill me if I'm dropping $350 on a 16 GB Nexus 4

Come on MT, don't die before the post-Turkey Day sales! lol

I'm a mechanic, so my 10+ year old cars don't die.
But I know what you mean.

 

[rdoac]

Get a quote online to have it fixed. If you're ever in Northern Illinois, a guy in our mall will do it for you.

 

[GrandTheftBJJ]

I'm a mechanic, so my 10+ year old cars don't die.
But I know what you mean.

touche my friend But for the rest of us who are not mechanically inclined, I thought the analogy fit well.

Get a quote online to have it fixed. If you're ever in Northern Illinois, a guy in our mall will do it for you.

I used to live in IL, but now, it would take a plane ticket to get me back there... so I think that for that kinda $$ I'll just jump ship to a new phone.

Updated 11/9/12: Doesn't look like my MT will survive to Thanksgiving, today the volume buttons began to fail as well, as the phone now not only reboots on its own, randomly pops up the shutdown menu, and is stubborn as hell to lock/unlock, BUT will also boot into recovery on its own. Looking like the Nexus 4 sooner than later. The plan tentatively is to purchase the phone from Google Play on Tuesday (11/13), then drop by a T-Mo store to pick up a sim card so that I'm ready to activate the online exclusive $30/mo plan online when the phone arrives.

 

[Chairshot215]

Sadly I had to replace my Triumph after owning it for a year. No hardware failure, kinda dropped it and cracked the screen. Have the insurance so was not a big deal, still miss the OG Triumph though for some reason. Otherwise and there always is, I was able to find a Triumph in decent condition on ebay for $50.00 I am using UN-activated as a dev phone.

 

[andr2d2]

To bad smartphone isn't open sourced to the point that computers are to were you could buy the casing you want and then configure the hardware the way you want it.

 

[GrandTheftBJJ]

Well things have changed a bit. I opted for a "new in box" T-Mobile 16GB GS3 that I got on ebay for $450 w/ ottebox case. That was the estimated in-store price of a 16GB Nexus 4. I suppose I could have waited to purchase the Nexus 4 directly from Google Play for $350 but given the my rapidly decaying MT, I didn't want to wait for it ship, and then have to go through the activation process.

Now, what turned me to the GS3 was not the LTE capability, heck, i'll be hard pressed to get 4g period in my area. What did it for me that the Nexus 4 does not have an external SD card slot. While it simple enough to downsize media content that you store on the phone, this is very scary principle from a rooting standpoint. (the Nexus 4 ships with Jelly Bean, and the GS3 w/ ICS, but a JB rom is available). Another thing I was not crazy about was that I heard rumors that the Nexus 4 will not support VOIP immediately. With only 100min / mo on T-Mobiles $30 plan, this is a crucial feature.

All in all, I paid more than I wanted to for a new phone, but I think that I still got a good deal. True enough, I could have gotten myself two new MTs for the same price, but neither of them would have had the hardware features of the GS3. At the time it was offered, the MT was a steal, esp w/ some hefty dev work here but now, I think there are better offers on the prepaid table now. I still love my MT, but I have no doubt that the GS3 will exceed all expectations I'll post some tests in here when it arrives just for comparison's sake. If any of our devs need / want my old MT, I'd be happy to ship it to any of you after wiping and restocking it.

 

[GrandTheftBJJ]

*bump*

Final update (*tear) - Well guys, I'm officially sporting a GS3 via T-Mobile, though I am no longer in the prepaid ranks (the plans were identical pre and post paid.. strange, i know). From now on I'll be most active over there, though they are kinda slow since the phone is still pretty new. There's tons of fun to be had here though! So this is my official fair well to this forum. I'll still chime in time to time if I can help. I'm glad to have been of any assistance to anyone and greatly appreciate all the hard work and sleepless hours all the devs here have put in.

Cheers!

 

[dsmryder]

*bump*

Final update (*tear) - Well guys, I'm officially sporting a GS3 via T-Mobile, though I am no longer in the prepaid ranks (the plans were identical pre and post paid.. strange, i know). From now on I'll be most active over there, though they are kinda slow since the phone is still pretty new. There's tons of fun to be had here though! So this is my official fair well to this forum. I'll still chime in time to time if I can help. I'm glad to have been of any assistance to anyone and greatly appreciate all the hard work and sleepless hours all the devs here have put in.

Cheers!

Well, good luck. I'm sure you'll love your new phone.