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Help Phone Shutting off randomly?

So, I went to a warranty center yesterday and swapped out my phone for a new one. Very easy to do, no questions asked...overall a simple process. Problem is, when I got home I ran the IMEI through Samsung's registration process and I found out that this phone was manufactured before the phone I turned in, AND the IMEI still falls in the range of problem phones. I didn't even think to check the IMEI when I was at the warranty center...thought to myself "there's no way they'd exchange a bad phone with another potentially bad phone" - guess I was wrong.

Should I just go back and ask them to exchange it again, this time instructing them to pay attention to the range of IMEI's that might be affected by the random shutdown/freeze issue, or should I push my luck and see if this phone works fine?
 
Dunno on that one, good question. Since it may be refurbished the IMEI may not represent the true date of remanufacture.. maybe. I would like to say I couldn't see them being so dumb as to replace a known defective unit with another known defective unit, but people make mistakes and are sometimes dumb (or maybe it is just me).
 
FWIW, I discovered that (since I have two batteries), after accidentally charging one I 'ruined it'. Now, I could try to do a few things and restore it, but it was essentially holding no charge. This suggests something is wrong in the circuitry I/we have long suspected. So, advice: Don't leave your unit charging. This advice is given anyway, and given on other devices (in contrast to my previous errant post). However, it may be what saves your phone... just another theory, one of 100 ;p

P.S. Man, I wish they'd go with 2.2. I am not comfortable using a non-official release because it is not secure (or necessarily bug free.. there could be hardware-specific patches they don't have).
 
mine did the same thing when i first got it.. had to exchange it for a new phone.. ATT said that they were having problems with the captivate.. and they were hoping to get the problem resolved..
 
I have had mine for over 3 months and the random power-down thing just started happening. I think it started after I downloaded Weather Channel and ESPN Score Center apps. So I am now in troubleshoot mode. Just uninstalled TWC to see what happens.
 
i too faced the same problem which i figured out was because of some live wallpapers i changed them and put some static wallpapers now everything is working fine
but guys can anyone help me in finding out the reason why am i not able to get any call waiting notification on android 2.2 froyo.
 
I just bought my AT&T Captivate in the beginning of January (the 4th or so), have an IMEI of far greater than 3529, and have been having this problem ever since two weeks after I received the device. It is to the point now where half the time I take the phone out of my pocket, it's turned off.
 
My phone doesn't randomly shut down and my last 4 don't fall within the range of numbers with the known problem. If I put my phone down and go to sleep, it will be off when I wake up as long as it wasn't connected to a charger. I'm 4 for 4 on this and to my knowledge there is no other way to have this phone shut down like it's doing.

Comments are welcome.
 
gcobb said:
My phone doesn't randomly shut down and my last 4 don't fall within the range of numbers with the known problem. If I put my phone down and go to sleep, it will be off when I wake up as long as it wasn't connected to a charger. I'm 4 for 4 on this and to my knowledge there is no other way to have this phone shut down like it's doing.

Comments are welcome.
Click to expand...

I *know* right?

People have great theories for when it happens but for me it's all random. I get it twice/day now. It seems to be getting worse since I woke up without my alarm this morning and I expect it will turn off at least twice more today.
last 4 digits are 67..
It shuts off at 35, 58, and 100 percent (not the same twice)
It shuts off when idling on a table, waiting for my snooze to kick in, in my coat pocket, on a desk, in a case, etc.
 
I just got an EVO 5 days ago and on day 2 the text msgs started being out of sync by time stamp & when received...then i started shutting down randomly...i haven't downloaded anything - Sprint says just bring it back, but after seeing this forum I don't think that will fix the problem.
We did a *HARD* reset which screwed up all my contacts and phone book...and now it shuts down even more times per day.
 
keylimediva said:
I just got an EVO 5 days ago and on day 2 the text msgs started being out of sync by time stamp & when received...then i started shutting down randomly...i haven't downloaded anything - Sprint says just bring it back, but after seeing this forum I don't think that will fix the problem.
We did a *HARD* reset which screwed up all my contacts and phone book...and now it shuts down even more times per day.
Click to expand...

Use a gmail account and sync all your contacts there. That's my plan B.

I'll be calling about mine.
 
gcobb said:
My phone doesn't randomly shut down and my last 4 don't fall within the range of numbers with the known problem. If I put my phone down and go to sleep, it will be off when I wake up as long as it wasn't connected to a charger. I'm 4 for 4 on this and to my knowledge there is no other way to have this phone shut down like it's doing.

Comments are welcome.
Click to expand...

Are you using the ALARM function of the phone? My Captivate will shut off on its own even if running CKA if I use the ALARM and it's NOT plugged in to the charger. If plugged in, no problem... alarm works fine.

My phone was having the same shutdown problem. Loaded CKA and it's being running like a champ, except for the alarm shutting off the phone when not plugged in. I'm learning the quirks of this phone and working around it.... LOL.
 
jcollake said:
FWIW, I discovered that (since I have two batteries), after accidentally charging one I 'ruined it'. Now, I could try to do a few things and restore it, but it was essentially holding no charge. This suggests something is wrong in the circuitry I/we have long suspected. So, advice: Don't leave your unit charging. This advice is given anyway, and given on other devices (in contrast to my previous errant post). However, it may be what saves your phone... just another theory, one of 100 ;p

P.S. Man, I wish they'd go with 2.2. I am not comfortable using a non-official release because it is not secure (or necessarily bug free.. there could be hardware-specific patches they don't have).
Click to expand...

FWIW, jcollake, I've let my phone charge over the weekend continuously plugged in for over 72 hours (friday through sunday) and have not had a single problem with the battery. The phone shuts off the charging process once the battery reaches full charge. My Galaxy Tab was left plugged in for over a week and it suffered no ill effect either. In fact, I usually just leave the phone and the TAB on the charger when I'm not using it then unplug it when I'm heading out.
 
seanje said:
I just bought my AT&T Captivate in the beginning of January (the 4th or so), have an IMEI of far greater than 3529, and have been having this problem ever since two weeks after I received the device. It is to the point now where half the time I take the phone out of my pocket, it's turned off.
Click to expand...

Just as I suspected.... that's why I didn't return my Captivate with the random shutdown problem to exchange it with another one that may have the same problem. I just keep the damn thing alive with CKA and it's working fine for me. I know some people are against using an app to keep the CPU running until it reaches a certain battery level. I've been pretty happy with the outcome so far. You can try to exchange it over and over for another Captivate and hope that it won't fall asleep on you (when you need it the most) or try CKA, or get something other than Samsung. Motorola is coming out soon with their new Android powered phone.

By the way, Samsung finally admitted that the Galaxy Tab sold nowhere near what they've been telling people and industry to date.... 2 million shipped to date to dealers, but only a fraction actually sold to consumers. Samsung is sounding a bit shady these days. I'm not holding my breath for 2.2 for the Captivates either.
 
As far as i can tell, they have updated the memo to clarify that it is indeed the LAST four digits of the IMEI that are important. If the last four of yours is LOWER than 5394, then it will eventually be affected. The mfg date does not matter if the IMEI number is higher than 5394. The only confusing part is if you punch in *#06# in the dialer, the IMEI number shown may add a /## at the end, but those numbers don't matter. Just count off the first 11 digits and the following four digits are the ones you want.

I do not believe there is anything you can do with software changes, resets, or deleting of aps that will fix it. It may mitigate it slightly, but , IMHO, i mostly believe it to be little more than a placebo effect.

Call ATT if you are having this issue. You may have to tell the person on the phone that there is a memo regarding this issue. I did and he was extremely helpful. He found the memo, had me confirm my IMEI number, check the water indicators and promptly got someone from their warranty department to send a new phone to me. He even stayed on the line with me when he transferred me over, going so far as to ask for a call back number in case we got disconnected.

The entire process was pain free and they were extremely courteous with me the entire time. At no point did i feel the need to get defensive, raise my voice or in any way be rude to them.

I got my new phone super fast and it has been drop dead reliable.
 
It was nice to read that AT&T has finally been so helpful to people with this shut down issue. After reading all of your posts on your experience with getting new phones, I decided to go ahead and call them myself.

I had been dealing with the shut downs by using Captivate Keep Alive App, but was getting sick of the serious battery drain. So, the night after arranging for AT&T to send me a referb phone I decided to turn off CKA, to test the random shut downs one more time before my referb shows up.

Its been 24 hours off the charger and not one random shut down! I used to get up to 5 a day before CKA. Now I'm worried my shut down problem miraculously disappeared and im going to be exchanging my phone for no reason. :(

I've read plenty of stories of people only having the random shut down problem appear months after purchasing the phone. I've been dealing with the problem since mid-Oct last year, and now im getting worried that my problem went away. I was actually hoping my phone would be shut down when I checked it as to justify my request for a replacement.
 
Ajax_IX said:
Now I'm worried my shut down problem miraculously disappeared and im going to be exchanging my phone for no reason.
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First, welcome!

The problem is simply hibernating and will strike again at will, hence the word "randomly" in the thread's topic.

Exchanging it is the right thing to do.
 
I'm with Jack. I haven't had the time to call and ask about a new phone, but ... mine comes and goes. Sometimes I'll go a day or more without any, and sometimes I'll have multiple shut downs in one hour. It's certainly random for me, and messing with apps hasn't helped one bit.

I'm most upset that I LOVE this phone, so I'm crossing all my fingers/toes that I can get a replacement without this problem. I am going to be extremely upset if I have to pay out of pocket $600 for a different smartphone now that I'm under contract. Sigh!
 
Mine was doing the same thing, ATT replaced the phone and no more problems. Samsung would not acknowledge the problem.
 
tompac said:
Mine was doing the same thing, ATT replaced the phone and no more problems. Samsung would not acknowledge the problem.
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Hello, tompac. Welcome!

Samsung? Do yourself a favor. Don't place any trust in them or their support machine.

Samsung. We breed disappointment.
 
Just called at&t. They are sending me a new phone. The at&t tech support person said that samsung has acknowledged that some captivates made before Nov 20th 2010 have a hibernate crashing issue. And she said I would be specifically sent one made after that date.

The tech asked me a few basic questions about the water indicator and IMEI number. Then she asked me for the firmware version and baseband version. I have actually installed a custom rom, but I didnt tell her that. I looked up what the stock values were online and gave her those stock values firmware= 2.1-update1, baseband= I897UCJH7. Not sure what would have happened if I told her I had a custom rom on it.

p.s. DO NOT CALL SAMSUNG! They will ask you to send in your phone for repair without any guarantee they can fix it.
 
I also just called them. I should have a replacement phone in a few days. I backed up with My Backup Pro.

If you installed a ROM, they could charge you for the phone.
 
The biggest pain was double checking i had transferred over everything i wanted to save. They send out a replacement phone, but with no battery or back cover. This left me doing one or two things, then shutting down, swapping the battery, powering up over and over. Once i was satisfied i got everything, i waited another day or two to make sure i didn't end up going "crap! I should got that!" haha. After that, i deleted everything i could find and did a factory reset on the old one.

I did have a little scare with returning the old one. I started getting automated calls from ATT saying they haven't gotten the old phone yet and i was going to be charged $450 if they don't get it. The return instructions specifically state that you could just drop it in your mailbox, so that's what i did. That means i had no way of proving i had returned it. It eventually showed up, but if i ever have to return something like this again, i'll take it to the post office myself to get a receipt.

Anyway, I'm almost a month in with the replacement and not one random shut down has occurred.
 
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