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Help Phone Shutting off randomly?

CKA is an imperfect work-around that actually will decrease your battery total lifespan (by how much is a matter of debate).

I discovered, strangely, that I have gotten rid of this problem entirely by NOT installing Facebook. Yes, Facebook. I am still investigating, as even if this app makes a difference no protected mode OS like Android/linux should allow a 'hard' crash/shut-off like this to be caused by any app. All I know is I took it slow, and Facebook was the app that caused this bug to manifest. Removing it, no problems again. As said above, I did revert to the original shipped OS with no OTA updates as well, but I'm curious to hear the results of this test -- does anyone seeing this problem not see it once they uninstall Facebook THEN reboot your device. After that, do you ever see it again? Like I said, no modern, protected mode OS should allow an app to crash the system, but this is an interesting clue in realizing where the problem lies.

On my Tab Facebook has no negative consequences, further leading me to believe that Facebook merely causes the bug to manifest in this case and isn't the true cause. Maybe all the background data transfer, I don't know.

I can also VERIFY that it will not shut down on charger, that has been everyone's experience. It happens, apparently, when the device goes into sleep mode, as the Capitvate Keep Alive app you use does just that -- keeps the phone from sleeping until battery level drops to X.

Anyway....

I am prepping mine for return, and trust me when I say that I've tried everything under the sun. In the end, this problem will beat you. Get a new unit. Everyone who has seems to have done well. I just dread dealing with these idiots who will walk me through trouble shooting as if I'm an idiot like them. The person on the phone may not know of the bug, it was probably somebody in India they just hired yesterday -- but *they* (AT&T and Samsung) as a collective entity know of this bug. No question.

The sales guy at the AT&T store I chatted with was had heard of it MANY times and was well aware of it... so there's NO WAY they aren't.
 
I don't doubt that a bit. It is just an interesting discovery that in my particular case Facebook installation is the event that causes the bug to first start manifesting. When I first got the device it didn't do this, then started some time after. Therefore, I've determined the point at which it seems my particular phone with its particular software starts failing in this manner. This strange 'tipping point' is probably why the issue got past QA to start with.

I'm just wondering if they did really fix it with newer models or not.. have they? Was it a hardware flaw, or is it an on-going software flaw waiting for a fix? Unknown.

I hate how they are handling this issue though. They need to do better, else they will lose customers as RIM did with the bungled Storm release.
 
I was thinking about it and the UNUSUAL delays in 2.2 official release from AT&T. I think they may not be sure what is causing this either, yet.. and someone's ass is probably on fire trying to figure it out. That's my GUESS.

I mean, it is inconsistent, hard to diagnose.. really need good hardware and software debugging tools to track it down.

So maybe salvation will eventually come if AT&T and/or Samsung keep at it and figure out WTF is going on. It could be catastrophic hardware failure under rare conditions, depending on which chips are active and maybe the state of the battery since it seems to have some impact. I mean, you never know. I suggest this because I haven't heard of the problem on other models of this same phone (e.g. the Fascinate, same but with a camera Flash).
 
I'm not holding my breath on Samsung fixing this problem. Samsung has a history of releasing phones then giving only marginal support for it. It costs them money to dig deeper into this phone's problems and since they will release a new phone in 6 months time, the Captivate's product life cycle will get shorter and shorter. Samsung did the same thing with the Instinct. They released the phone with buggy OS then updated it twice within a year, but the updates produced couple more bugs while fixing the original problems. Then, since the Instinct was already on the market and they released the Instinct HD, Samsung pretty much kicked the original Instinct phone to the curb and no more fixes were sent and left the original Instinct owners with a crippled phone. Even Sprint stopped supporting the original Instinct. Samsung produces and releases too many phones in too short period of time. Unfortunately, they have to to keep up with other phone manufacturers... and since they have to come up with a new phone to replace the Captivate to keep the Galaxy S class of phones fresh and to continue competing with other phone makers, it doesn't make economic sense to them to keep updating and fixing problems on existing phones whose product life cycle is coming to an end. They would prefer that you buy another new phone (from them). It wouldn't surprise me at all if Samsung never officially releases 2.2 or 3.0 for the Captivate phone. Upgrading the OS could potentially produce more problems for them and again, it'll cost them money to fix it. Samsung will probably release sometime next year Captivate II with 3.0 already installed rather than allowing an upgrade path to our existing phones. In the meanwhile, my Captivate works correctly with CKA installed. Even the GPS works well.... it's very accurate although sometimes it takes up to a minute to lock on to satellites. I'm inclined to believe since a software (CKA) fixed the random powering down problem (at least on my phone anyway), the problem within the Captivate phone is software related, not hardware. JH7, according to a Samsung tech I spoke to, was the last and most recent update to the firmware and my phone is running JH7. Obviously, the random powering down problem wasn't addressed with JH7 update and since not all phones are powering down randomly, Samsung doesn't know whats causing it.
 
Im not sure why the phone shuts off the way it does, but this works for me.
You have to do just two things when you turn on your phone.
1. When the "phone locked" screen loads, slide and unlock it IMMEDIATLY.
2. JUST LEAVE YOUR PHONE ALONE... until the screen turns itself off. (you might notice this takes a bit longer when you turn on your phone.) dont press the button or ANYTHING of the sort. If you do, the phone will shut off at some point.

i still wouldnt use your phone as a reliable alarm clock, however. My phone still occasionally shuts itself off during long periods of un-use, but thats not too often.

I would.apreciate any feedback from other users, as i am curious about other people's results.
 
New development: After thinking I had my phone 'under the threshold' in some way, it just did a hard crash (shut off) in the middle of a conversation. It hadn't shut off in days using it for non-phone calls (ok, I hadn't been using it much since I got my Tab). Anyway, I'm RMAing now.. this IS a hardware problem I do believe. The fact that is shuts off during a call says it all (at 100% charge btw, just took it off the charger).
 
Just talked to AT&T !!!

The helpful and polite person I talked to was AWARE of the issue (in contrast to previous reports of them denying any issue). She initially transferred me to the Android department, but they didn't pick up for about 1 minute and then she's back on the phone and says she'll take care of me since they are busy -- can't beat that. WOW! You mean, you'd rather help me now instead of make me hold. UNPRECEDENTED customer service, at least for me.

She informed me that her colleagues with Samsung Captivates observed this issue, and are fully aware of it. They determined it to be a faulty battery not properly holding its charge (or misreporting its charge, or both, or more.. but faulty battery).

It makes sense since the problem wasn't seen for the first month or so... And what component degrades over time? The battery. It could also be a 'not quite fit issue' since she asked how snugly the battery fit (seems as snug as it gets though). One of the prongs that connects to the battery looked out of alignment with the others -- part of the problem? I bet their new battery fits even snugger and/or has better contacts, but that's a guess.

In other ways, I'll believe it when I get the new battery and see it truly fixed. It does make sense though, from many angles. A lack of power would cause a hard immediate shut off like we see.

The are shipping the battery FREE and OVERNIGHT, so you can't beat that.

For now, I'm happy with AT&T's handling. They only asked if the water indicator strips were still white and if the contacts on my battery and the on the phone looked good still (not worn). They'll be calling back Jan 3 to see if it did fix the problem or not.

I like AT&T's handling of this. It is MUCH better than Verizon treated me years ago. BTW, I have family still on Verizon and when you walk into THEIR stores you sign up at a computer to get in line for support, unlike having a personal greeter. I say AT&T is tops in customer support. I won't even mention Verizon's 'Authorized Reseller' stores (even worse than Verizon's corporate owned stores). One time, in a Verizon corporate store, we walked around for 30 minutes until realizing we finally had to sign in to the darn computer to get helped.

SO --- People, call, and they will HELP you.

The number is 1-800-801-1101 Option 5

Go AT&T! My bet is that the new battery (which she said will look different) works and fixes the issue. They do NOT want me to return the old battery, just dispose of it.
 
I hope that works for you, jcoll. The reason that I went with exchange is that I have seen MULTIPLE people with MULTIPLE solutions, and the only one that has consistenly worked 100% of the time was getting a new unit. A post earlier reported that ATT and Samsung acknowledged a bad batch with certain IMEI numbers; mine fell into that category.

For those of you apprehensive to deal with ATT, let me be perfectly clear:
I PURCHASED MY PHONE FROM WIREFLY. ATT DID NOT ASK, I DID NOT TELL. THEY ASKED MY IMEI NUMBER, CHECKED FOR WATER INGRESS, AND TOLD ME TO EXCHANGE IT. THAT SIMPLE.

YMMV, but its that simple. They know the issue, the warranty person loaded ATK for me and showed me tricks to keep it from lagging and to save battery.

My advice to everyone: stop dicking around with CKA, cleaning your battery, doing a headstand and waiting for a full moon and go get a new unit. It's painless.
 
Jack45 said:
Forget "lesser degree." One time is too many. Especially if that one time is when a family member or friend needs to reach you in an emergency.

If you're sure that something in your purse is not repeatedly pressing the power button (an unlikely scenario), exchange the phone 'til you're satisfied that the issue isn't affecting the replacement unit.

Don't waste your time playing detective by futzing with apps. None have been proven to be the source reason for shutdowns. Some simply push the defective phone over the edge.

Don't settle.

http://androidforums.com/samsung-ca...calling-samsung-re-shutdowns.html#post2043879
Click to expand...

This. And if it does get better (mine was good for a month), it will start back up again. Get a new unit.
 
They also asked my IMEI number. I *hope* my reversion to the publicly availble UJ6 firmware didn't affect this. So maybe my phone isn't one in that bad batch... at least if that number is based entirely on the hardware (as it should be).

They did say they'd call back to see if it worked. I will be sure to tell them to call back in a month to make sure it still works. Thanks for the advice guys ;). It was probably mentioned before, but you know how it is... one page is enough, 9 pages is a lot to read.
 
I always update my posts, but then with email notifications nobody sees the updates. I should add that it could be that they later determined a cheaper method of fixing the issue by swapping the battery out. They did say the battery would look different, so it is something different.

We'll find out. I will report back if I ever see it again, you can believe that.

OT: In the meantime, I hate living in a duplex ;p. Stupid neighbors. Can they get any louder? Is it possible. Can't be.
 
My Captivate was bought at an AT&T Corporate store on Dec 16. Two days later, it started randomly powering off on its own. It started doing that after its first full charge. When I took the phone out of the box and put the battery in (at the store when they were programming it) it showed 80% battery charge. I fully charged it overnight and started using the phone on it's own battery power the next day. That's when it started dying on me. When the phone powered off, I would turn it back on and check the battery level. It showed 100% to 90% as the day went (of course randomly dying on me throughout the day also). I fully charged the battery again the next night then took the battery out and checked it with my voltmeter to see where it was at. It showed just under 4 volts at full charge. I reinstalled the battery in the phone and left it on. Several hours later (9 hours), I checked the voltage level of the phone again. It was at 3.95 volts. I also checked the contacts, did the "clean the contacts with alcohol swab", made sure the battery was in the battery compartment snug and tight. The phone still died on me randomly. I googled this problem and found that people were using "Captivate Keep Alive" as a workaround so I downloaded it. My phone has worked correctly since then. The only time it died on me even with CKA running was when I tested the clock ALARM function while running on battery. I haven't used the ALARM function since and my phone has not died mysteriously since then. I have not had the phone die on me while making phone calls. That is something I have not heard of. If it was the battery, I would think it would have died on me while I was sending and receiving text messages and using data connection as that puts a draw on the battery. In 11 days of owning the phone, I've used 217 Megs of data on and off the phone (3G) trying to stress the battery and much to my friends dismay, I sent them a LOT of text messages. LOL. With CKA, my phone works. Without CKA, it dies. That tells me its software related problem, not hardware.

I am hoping that for some bizarre reason, it is the battery and it's a simple fix. But, from my observation and tests, I don't think it's the battery.

Also, even with CKA running (set at 85%) my phone lasts just under 30 hours from full charge to "your battery is low" warning.

Although AT&T was rated the lowest by Consumer Reports recently, when I call them about anything, they have been very friendly and helpful also. It's just that my last call to them they didn't know anything about the powering off problem but the tech said he would research it during his lunch to see how widespread this problem was. I also called the AT&T store where I bought the phone and they simply told me to bring it back and they would give me another one, no questions asked. I haven't gone back because I believe ALL Captivates have this defect. I still have until Jan 15th to return the phone and if it dies on me once from now till then, it will be returned for refund.
 
neo1973 said:
I hope that works for you, jcoll. The reason that I went with exchange is that I have seen MULTIPLE people with MULTIPLE solutions, and the only one that has consistenly worked 100% of the time was getting a new unit. A post earlier reported that ATT and Samsung acknowledged a bad batch with certain IMEI numbers; mine fell into that category.

For those of you apprehensive to deal with ATT, let me be perfectly clear:
I PURCHASED MY PHONE FROM WIREFLY. ATT DID NOT ASK, I DID NOT TELL. THEY ASKED MY IMEI NUMBER, CHECKED FOR WATER INGRESS, AND TOLD ME TO EXCHANGE IT. THAT SIMPLE.

YMMV, but its that simple. They know the issue, the warranty person loaded ATK for me and showed me tricks to keep it from lagging and to save battery.

My advice to everyone: stop dicking around with CKA, cleaning your battery, doing a headstand and waiting for a full moon and go get a new unit. It's painless.
Click to expand...

----------------------

My phone was outside that IMEI range and according to Samsung website when I registered it, it was manufactured on Nov 6th. The phone came out of the box with the latest update too - JH7. Still had the "dying with fully charged battery" problem. There have been plenty of people who exchanged their phone for another one, only to have the same problem pop up again. Some have reported that they were on their 4th, 5th phone with the SAME problem.
 
I haven't gone back because I believe ALL Captivates have this defect.
Click to expand...

I believe this is a very likely possibility too, I'm just hoping it isn't the case. I don't feel the confidence that anyone really knows *for sure*, but we'll see. Time will tell. The status could change at any moment. They could go from not knowing to finally figuring it out. The only way we'll know when that moment comes (assuming it does) is through user reports.
 
SamsungCaptivated said:
----------------------

My phone was outside that IMEI range and according to Samsung website when I registered it, it was manufactured on Nov 6th. The phone came out of the box with the latest update too - JH7. Still had the "dying with fully charged battery" problem. There have been plenty of people who exchanged their phone for another one, only to have the same problem pop up again. Some have reported that they were on their 4th, 5th phone with the SAME problem.
Click to expand...

But there are several MORE people out there with $500 phones that function as they are supposed to. I will keep exchanging mine until either I get one that works (hopefully this one) or my 1 year is up.

If you (in general, not you specifically) want to use CKA and fiddle with battery returns, more power to you. I will not. I expect my phone to function properly, and will hold ATT/Samsung to task when it comes to such.
 
Fortunately this Samsung Tab has no issues ... Else I would really freak out. Thanks for quashing my hopes further, you are likely right.
 
I understand the frustration of wanting a phone that works as intended out of the box. You are correct and I fully agree with you that we shouldn't have to use a work-around, fiddle with power settings, figure out what we need to do to make it work. For me, I have been let down by Samsung before and this just further proved to me that Samsung cranks out too many devices then moves on to the next one without really giving 100% support behind the existing devices. They would prefer that we figure out how to make it work on our own then move on to the next device Samsung makes to replace this one.

I also read up on SamsungHub to follow how the Galaxy S phone worldwide is being supported. Looks like every other country is getting more support for existing devices than we are here in the States.

Samsung undecided on whether to release Android 2.3 for Galaxy S | Samsung Hub

Supposedly, Samsung (India!) tweeted that 2.3 will be coming along for the Galaxy S phones but, of course, no date mentioned. And if you read the article in the link above, it was supposedly said by Samsung...

... they’ll “review the possibility of implementation of such new version to the existing Samsung products.” The review, if you’re wondering, will be based on many factors like “the overall effect of such Update to Samsung products, the system requirements, the structural limitations, and the level of cooperation from the component suppliers and the software licensors.”

In other words, as I suspect, Samsung won't want to update the existing product because it will cannibalize new product being released. If Samsung was releasing a new phone in 6 months time (Captivate II maybe?) with Gingerbread OS pre-installed, they would want you to ditch what you have now and buy the new phone. It would serve them no purpose to allow us to upgrade the existing phone to "match" the functionality of the newer phones. It would be like Ford Motor Company allowing all older Mustang owners to get a free updated new engine with more horsepower and torque for their existing Mustangs. Why would anyone buy a new Mustang then if Ford gave them new updated engine as they came out?

For me, just getting my phone to work as I intend to use is what is important to me. Am I upset with Samsung that I have to use a workaround? Yes! I use my phone to make/take calls. I use it to look up information on the web using Google periodically. I use Google Maps extensively. I use my phone to receive company email daily and send receive text messages throughout the day. I use Google calendars linked to my phone for schedules and appointments. I use a scientific calculator and converter on the phone and occasionally use Google Sky Map for fun. That's it. I don't play games on it, don't use it as a music player, don't use it as my primary camera (I carry a separate high resolution camera), I don't use it other than as a phone and some minor ancillary function tool. I carry a separate laptop with mobile hotspot datacard when I need to do "real" computer work. So, using CKA to keep the phone alive so I can use it as a phone, it suits me fine. So far, its working as intended with the workaround. I will tell you though, I learned my lesson. I will never purchase another Samsung product again. I actually do wish I could go back to my old Palm Centro phone. It ran flawlessly because the Garnet OS v5.4.9 was developed, massaged and tweeked over years by Palm then by ACCESS to make sure all the bugs were squashed. The display certainly wasn't an eye candy, the "apps" were simple but effective, functionality was flawless. It just worked. Something I can't say about Samsung products.
 
As a software developer, I'm going to easily forgive Samsung if this battery replace works (I know , probably won't). This was an EASY thing to silp passed QA. Since they've done this Tab great, and I have been pleased with two Samsung Cameras I've owned, and Samsung actually manufactures many of their own components (e.g. FLASH and Super Amoled).... I consider them a highly innovative company.
 
Yes, they make new phones ... Even if you switch phone manufacturers, a lot of the major components will likely be made by Samsung. Compared to the RIM Storm disaster, this is nothing to me. They finally fixed and I think Samsung will too. Don't be so pessimistic. Buy a Tab, it will make you orgasm...
 
jcollake said:
Yes, they make new phones ... Even if you switch phone manufacturers, a lot of the major components will likely be made by Samsung.
Click to expand...

Oh, I don't doubt that. What I was getting at is this. This particular thread is about the Captivate randomly powering off and no one seems to know what's causing it. Could it be battery? Could it be software? Firmware bug? A bug within 2.1? Well, since Samsung is now coming out with an updated Galaxy S class phone running 2.3 AND dual CPU, do you think they will actually look backwards towards existing products and fix whatever is ailing it or.... look forward to try and sell as many of the newer product while trying to convince us to "upgrade" to the new phones? Again, I'm not holding my breath on Samsung fixing whatever is ailing the Captivate or coming out with 2.2 or 2.3. As soon as Galaxy S (II) phones come out, the time starts ticking for existing phones before their life cycle ends in Samsung's eyes (which is usually about 6 months).

Remember, Samsung released the first series of Galaxy S class phones only back in July! They are already talking about updated phones to be shown to the world in Feb 2011. (about 6 months.... like I said)
 
What I find most interesting is that all the other variants of this phone do not seem to have the same defect (e.g. The Fascinate). That gives me hope for a fix. Don't get me wrong, I am frustrated too, but won't be truly upset unless the battery fix doesn't work and there is no other fix by then. Then I will sound like you :).
 
LOL... jcollake, I'm with ya! LOL... I don't think Samsung will spend the time trying to fix the Captivate phone. What I'm more upset about it I was bragging to my iPhone toting friends about the Android powered Captivate and how awesome it was... until it started powering off on its own. Well, I tried holding it differently but it didn't help... LMAO!!!!!
 
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