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Help Phone Shutting off randomly?

Backstory (skip if you wish)
I purchased my SGH-i897 back in OCT. when release and it was a great phone. It really was . I was so excited with all of the apps and games. So not wanting to waste anytime to find out my phone's true potential I immediately found out how to root it and did so. (Think I need not worry about such things as warranty, I mean common , such an expensive phone must not have any problems right?) Wrong!!!
I was stupid not to get the insurance on my phone and having already voided the warranty could not just send it back.

So I have dealt with the random shutdown issue all this time until I decided . "If it's a software issue , why not change it?" So I flashed cognition 4.5.3 and all was well for about 2 days. Then my problem re-emerged!!!!
Lately I just got tired of Cognition and wanted something else. I stumbled upon MiUi and decided to go with that.
BEHOLD!!! I've been up for 624 hrs 23 min so far.. (my ohone that is)

How to fix :
1: Use ODIN One-Click to flash back to stock (recommend master clear but up to you)

2:Root

3: Do NOT skip this step.. due to a glitch in the MiUI install you will not be able to access your ext_sd . I found out the hard way and had to do it over.
Install Cognition 4.5.3 and let phone boot.

4: Install Rom manager and download MIUI 1.7.1 or later (I will be flashing 1.8 later today)

5:Flash MiUi and there you go.

6: MiUi has all sorts of features so try them out... like firewall to block apps that only need connection for ads :)

Links MiUi.us (english) Find the rom for the captivate.
Google.com is your friend if any of the following get moved...

ODIN One-Click (flash to stock)
[STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY - xda-developers

Cognition Rom:
[ROM][2.2]
 
Glad that worked for you. Here is my experience based on finally solving this and speaking to tech reps:

1. It is caused by software or hardware circuitry over-charging the battery. If you tend to leave your phone plugged in as much as possible to keep the life of the battery good, quit. Let it drop to 40-60%, that won't hurt much. This makes the difference. The battery life is going to die over time no matter what you do anyway.

2. (half related) If you get a replacement from Samsung, they first send you a battery. I believe they know it is the above issue, but it is hard for them to say 'charge it a certain way', as there should be no way you can charge it wrong. All they have said is they think it is the battery, I deduced the rest. Then they send you the replacement unit. The replacement unit is a refurb, something someone else sent back. In my case it had a crack on the camera screen. Still works, still takes pictures. I'd have sent it back, but then I tried to 'cut out' the camera lens and really screwed it up.

So, ever wonder why this happened mostly to the 'geekier' types of us? It is because we are the ones obsessed with keeping out batteries charged. In this case, it causes an overcharge that results in this condition.

As for third-party firmwares, it is possible that they change just enough to somehow cause this bug to not manifest in some cases. It is possible, not likely though. I like these third-party OSes, but there are issues. Namely, some apps are not legally available (e.g. Swype). Secondly, you can not be 100% sure of security unless you examine every line of code or really trust the developer. I have never heard of any case of an unsecure or trojan firmware out in the world, but it could happen.
 
My captivate kept shutting off randomly, no water damage or anything and At&t would not fix it. I got used to it for a while until it shut off 6 times in 20 minutes then I had enough and called for help. I sent it in to Samsung to get fixed for free and it hasn't shut off on its own since. They updated my phone for me and kept all my contacts and pictures etc. Although my phone does go VERY slow at times and freezes up. Now it ramdomly beeps. I think they made my phone worse. I would rather have the shutting off problems than the ones im having now. My battery life is way less than what it was before I think they downgraded me on my battery. :(
 
My phone was doing this almost every day to every other day for the longest time. It hasn't randomly shut off in over a month though.
 
Ha.

Random shutdowns: exchange it.

GPS problems: live with it or get another phone with working GPS functionality within the 30 day trial period.

Lag, etc.: flash a custom ROM like Serendipity.
 
I have a Samsung GIO. I had the same problem, just a week after buying it. I read the forums and decide to update the firmware, I even tried Gingerberd but it didnt work, I was very dissapointed about the phone, the wifi didnt work, no cell signal, the screen brightnes suddenly turned off and on.

I returned my phone to its original firmware 2.2.1. fixed the wifi and brightess issue, but still turned off randomly.

I formated my SD card. problem solved. for more than a month =)

I installed a lot of apps, and realized i had no memory left. =( so i decided to make a reset (menu - settings - privacy dta - fctory reset.). BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!

it turns off like 5 times in a day!!!

I did a master reset: Key in *2767*3855# and dial it.

it showed a warning in red letters and reboot. ...

I installed my favorite apps.... then IT TURNED OFF!!!!!

formated my SD card...... It hast turned off again.....

I think this may be a solution, it worked for me twice....

I hope this helps you. =) it worked for me.
 
First, welcome!

There is only one solution for any device experiencing random shutdowns. Exchange it. There is no other viable long-term solution. No silver bullet, no smoking gun, no salve, no ointment, no cream, no transdermal patch, nothing.
 
jblaze5779 said:
My captivate has twice turned itself off during the night while I was sleeping and once while I was running errands with it in my pocket.

I've searched the internet for people having similar problems but have found none.

Anyone else having this issue?

I love the android OS (came from iphone4) but I'm second guessing my phone selection with the gps and now this issue.....
Click to expand...

This has been a major problem for me as well. I have had several issues with this phone, but this is by far one of the most annoying. My phone randomly turns itself off at least a couple of times per week. Most of the time it does it while I am sleeping, but also sometimes when I simply haven't used it or looked at it for a little while. I use the alarm clock on my phone to wake up in the mornings and when it shuts off, the alarm doesn't sound (obviously). My husband has the exact same phone. It has never done this. When he turns the phone off himself and has an alarm set, the phone will turn itself on JUST to sound the alarm... In addition to that, I forgot to put the area code in with my husband's number when I first got the phone and ever since, even after totally deleting his contact all together, it won't let me add it. I have to manually put in his number every time I want to txt him... SO ANNOYING!

Does anyone know how to fix this??
 
CCochran said:
Does anyone know how to fix this??
Click to expand...

You need to exchange the phone anyway (I'm confident you read the post just above yours). After you do, see if your husband's contact info is accepted by the replacement device.

I was going to add that since half of all marriages end in divorce, you could just wait it out. You may wind up not wanting to store his contact info after all. After deciding that posting this suggestion might be in poor taste, I omitted it.
 
I have had my new Captivate for about a week now and last night, for the first time, it powered off by itself and of course my alarm didn't go off this morning. This is the first time it happened but since then it has done it 4 more times. After reading a lot of these posts it seems that the only fix is to exchange it for a new one, so I called AT&T. I am within my 30 days. They gave me a web address that I can't post here because I am a new user but it was basically w-w-w (dot) samsung(dot)com/us/frouyoupgrade2_2/captivate to do some type of Kies update. I am not sure if this even needs to be done with my phone or if it may have come with this on it already but she told me to do the update first. Then if it keeps happening they will exchange my phone. I am downloading the update to my pc now. Has anybody done this update and had it help with the powering off problem? I haven't seen any posts lately of anybody saying anything about a Kies update.

After I do this update is my phone going to be empty? DO I need to take out my external sd card before I do this update? I am new to Android so this is all foreign to me. I am not even sure if I am going to do the update right or unsure of what might happen to my phone after this update.

Any feedback on this Kies update?
 
I was ocasionally having the random shutdown issue after my captivate was charged past 100%. I purchased the phone onilne, not from ATT. My phone was an early IMEI number. See Here or Here. I recently sent my phone in to Samsung for repairs since it was still under warranty. I heard back today that it has been repaired. Here is the repair report...

Please view additional information below for more details.

Original Problem:
TECHNICAL INQUIRY - POWER - INTERMITTENT POWER DOWN

Problem found:
AUTO POWER OFF W/BATT/TEST CAB

Solution:
REPLACED COMPONENT


I called the support line to find out exactly what was done. All they could tell me was that some internal component was replaced. It was tested after along with my battery and checked out ok. They also updated the software since I reset it before sending it in. It's now being shipped back to me. Hopefully this fixes the problem.
 
That means they handed you your phone back after taking the battery out and putting it back in ;p.
Well, they MAY HAVE replaced the battery -- that is what they did for me.

Even my new Samsung Infuse 4G (like a Samsung Galaxy S 1.5) has this same problem, if I super-over-charge it.. it's an ongoing issue, in my opinion.
 
rickreeves1 said:
I was ocasionally having the random shutdown issue after my captivate was charged past 100%. I purchased the phone onilne, not from ATT. My phone was an early IMEI number. See Here or Here. I recently sent my phone in to Samsung for repairs since it was still under warranty. I heard back today that it has been repaired. Here is the repair report...

Please view additional information below for more details.

Original Problem:
TECHNICAL INQUIRY - POWER - INTERMITTENT POWER DOWN

Problem found:
AUTO POWER OFF W/BATT/TEST CAB

Solution:
REPLACED COMPONENT


I called the support line to find out exactly what was done. All they could tell me was that some internal component was replaced. It was tested after along with my battery and checked out ok. It's now being shipped back to me. Hopefully this fixes the problem.
Click to expand...

If it continues to have random shutdowns, exchange it. No thinking required. Just exchange it.

And welcome!
 
jcollake said:
That means they handed you your phone back after taking the battery out and putting it back in ;p.
Well, they MAY HAVE replaced the battery -- that is what they did for me.

Even my new Samsung Infuse 4G (like a Samsung Galaxy S 1.5) has this same problem, if I super-over-charge it.. it's an ongoing issue, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I called and asked specifically what was done. I was told they replaced an internal component on the phone. My original battery tested out ok and is being returned with the phone. When I first called I reported that it was having the power down issue and they had me check the IMEI number to verify that it was in the bad batch. I guess we'll see.
 
Jack45 said:
If it continues to have random shutdowns, exchange it. No thinking required. Just exchange it.

And welcome!
Click to expand...

Like I said it was purchased online not from ATT so exchanging it is not an option for many of us! I'm not posting for help but to help others who may be in the same situation.
 
I woke up at 4 something in the morning I was on the phone before that & fell asleep when I woke up I pushed the power button to see if I was still on the phone call then it shut off I've tried removing the battery taking the sim card out and charging it & it is now 6:01 am... I don't know what to do I barely ordered the phone off the internet not that long ago. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME IT'S NOT TURNING ON & IF IT DOES IT DOESN'T TURN ALL THE WAY ON ONLY BEGINS TO POWER ON THEN GOES OFF AGAIN. PLEASEEE HELPPP. :'(
 
My wife and I both have Captivates that were purchased in March 2010 so we are out of warranty.

Mine has had the intermittent shut off issue all along but hers just started it today.

Does anyone have any experience trying to get their phones exchanged when out of warranty if they are on the IMEI list of phones known to be defective.

My wife has been working on AT&T to let her upgrade early but if they would exchange the phones we would give them a try first.
 
vortech347 said:
My wife and I both have Captivates that were purchased in March 2010 so we are out of warranty.

Mine has had the intermittent shut off issue all along but hers just started it today.

Does anyone have any experience trying to get their phones exchanged when out of warranty if they are on the IMEI list of phones known to be defective.

My wife has been working on AT&T to let her upgrade early but if they would exchange the phones we would give them a try first.
Click to expand...

I just got off the phone with AT&T and no dice. I've been having the problem for quite a while, but recently it started getting really bad - several shutdowns a day. Since I'm out of the warranty period (my refurb unit only had a 30 day warranty) AT&T pretty much told me to take it up with Samsung. I've got a feeling I'll be told to go pound sand there too, but I'm hoping I'm wrong. Samsung doesn't take calls on Sundays so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what they say.

Not cool. Not cool at all. :mad:

-----

Edit - Looks like Samsung is going to repair it at no cost even though my warranty period is up. Definitely good news!:)
 
71Corvette said:
I just got off the phone with AT&T and no dice. I've been having the problem for quite a while, but recently it started getting really bad - several shutdowns a day. Since I'm out of the warranty period (my refurb unit only had a 30 day warranty) AT&T pretty much told me to take it up with Samsung. I've got a feeling I'll be told to go pound sand there too, but I'm hoping I'm wrong. Samsung doesn't take calls on Sundays so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what they say.

Not cool. Not cool at all. :mad:

-----

Edit - Looks like Samsung is going to repair it at no cost even though my warranty period is up. Definitely good news!:)
Click to expand...

Success! Same situation as you Corvette, aside from my previous attempts to resolve the issue within the warranty period without success.

AT&T reps wouldn't help at all, said they had no record of my tries to resolve the issue.

Anyhoo, decided to file a complaint with BBB and heard back from AT&T today. They tried to find a replacement Captivate, but were out of stock. The upgraded me to the S2!!!

Hope this helps someone else. The AT&T rep I spoke with this time was very helpful.
 
Squiner said:
They tried to find a replacement Captivate, but were out of stock. The upgraded me to the S2!!!
Click to expand...

Methinks they wanted you to be a happy camper. Their Web site still lists the Captivate available at a cost of one penny (plus the "cost" of a two year contract).

Anyway, congrats. Your random shutdowns were resolved by an act of random kindness.
 
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