[Q] Anyone else have touchscreen problems - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshootin

My phone last week wasn't receiving texts so I restarted it and when it came back on the touchscreen no longer worked. The little white light would go on when I touched it so it knew where my finger was but any movement would not unlock the phone so I couldn't actually do anything with it. Sure enough a factory reset fixed the problem but I am still waiting for them to get me a new one in case the problem happens again to me. Anyone else have this happen to them or just a freak occurrence for me?

My son has gotten a hold of my s4 twice now since I have owned it. Both times I couldn't get the phone unlocked even though the touch screen was recognizing my touch. Restarting fixed it both times for me. Not sure if this is the same problem you are talking about, just thought I would share.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Happened to me a few times. Both screen swipes and the capacitive button presses werent registering. Happened on lock screen, call logs (swiping to call wasnt working), and swipe to answer. Pressing the home button and going back to the app fixed it. Very random but annoying nonetheless especially when not able to answer a call

Seems like buggy software to me. I've had a different issue, my phone says I have data, but I don't, I've had to restart the phone to properly pick up a data signal. This has happened twice now. Seems to be like Samsung's touchwhiz is quite buggy...

Yeah restarting it did nothing for me, tried many times, took the battery out put it back in all that stuff. The same thing happened with my data, I had a connection that entire time that I was not receiving texts but none of them actually went through which is when the problem began.
sam2c said:
Happened to me a few times. Both screen swipes and the capacitive button presses werent registering. Happened on lock screen, call logs (swiping to call wasnt working), and swipe to answer. Pressing the home button and going back to the app fixed it. Very random but annoying nonetheless especially when not able to answer a call
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What app were you able to get in to to fix it? Would like to know in case the problem happens again when they get me a new one.

This happened to me last night, about had a major freak out.
First I have a couple questions for all of you who had this issue, so maybe we can pinpoint the actual cause:
1. Did you get any type of moisture (even just a little condensation) anywhere on or around the phone? Mine started acting up after I accidentally put my phone on the coffee table where some condensation had formed from a drink being there previously.
2. Any of you drop your phone at all? Even just a minor drop...as the day before I had a little drop (maybe from a foot off the ground), but I do have a case.
The reason I ask is because I started having this issue immediately after the phone was put on the condensation. Don't know if that was the cause, though, because I'm not sure exactly which of the steps below actually fixed it.
First I had to identify the exact problem...which I found by turning on "show touches" in Developer Options within the settings menu. This brings up a little white dot on the screen any time it registers a touch. Sure enough, I was getting "ghost touches" on the top left corner of my screen every 30 seconds or so - and it would generally last for 10-30 seconds or until I turned my screen on and off (that would fix it temporarily). The ghost touch was causing my drop down menu to pull down slightly every once in awhile, as well as not registering any of my other touches (including capacitive buttons). I knew the screen itself wasn't broken, because any addition touches were registering via the white dot - they just weren't interacting with the UI.
After doing some research online, apparently there are a couple main reasons that this ghost touching could occur:.
1. Faulty digitizer. Obviously this would Suck, and I really hoped it wasn't the cause. To repair would mean replacing the entire screen, as apparently the digitizer is attached to the screen and would be very difficult to replace by itself.
2. Any kind of moisture, whether water, skin oil, etc, getting in the cracks of the phone and staying under the screen, causing the pressure to indicate a false touch. Possible repair options included putting the phone near a WARM (but not too hot) surface for a period of time to hopefully cause the moisture to evaporate. Also some people said it just evaporated on its own after a few days (again, I hoped I wouldn't have to resort to this as I'm impatient and don't want to be without my phone for that long lol).
3. Software issue. Possible fix includes toggling HW overlays and/or GPU rendering.
Here's what I did:
Took the phone apart completely, made sure there was no visible moisture anywhere (there wasn't). Intermittently blew the phone (from the back and front, while it was disassembled) with warm air from a blow dryer. Left it alone, disassembled, for about 30 minutes.
Put the phone back together, booted up, immediately went to developer Options and (a) disabled HW overlays and (b) DISABLED "Force GPU rendering" (I actually already had it enabled).
BOOM - problem was gone!
So like I said, I'm not sure which of those did the trick - or which problem I had to begin with - but I'd be interested to know if anyone else had similar issues and/or fixes?

sam2c said:
Happened to me a few times. Both screen swipes and the capacitive button presses werent registering. Happened on lock screen, call logs (swiping to call wasnt working), and swipe to answer. Pressing the home button and going back to the app fixed it. Very random but annoying nonetheless especially when not able to answer a call
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CPA Poke said:
This happened to me last night, about had a major freak out.
First I have a couple questions for all of you who had this issue, so maybe we can pinpoint the actual cause:
1. Did you get any type of moisture (even just a little condensation) anywhere on or around the phone? Mine started acting up after I accidentally put my phone on the coffee table where some condensation had formed from a drink being there previously.
2. Any of you drop your phone at all? Even just a minor drop...as the day before I had a little drop (maybe from a foot off the ground), but I do have a case.
The reason I ask is because I started having this issue immediately after the phone was put on the condensation. Don't know if that was the cause, though, because I'm not sure exactly which of the steps below actually fixed it.
First I had to identify the exact problem...which I found by turning on "show touches" in Developer Options within the settings menu. This brings up a little white dot on the screen any time it registers a touch. Sure enough, I was getting "ghost touches" on the top left corner of my screen every 30 seconds or so - and it would generally last for 10-30 seconds or until I turned my screen on and off (that would fix it temporarily). The ghost touch was causing my drop down menu to pull down slightly every once in awhile, as well as not registering any of my other touches (including capacitive buttons). I knew the screen itself wasn't broken, because any addition touches were registering via the white dot - they just weren't interacting with the UI.
After doing some research online, apparently there are a couple main reasons that this ghost touching could occur:.
1. Faulty digitizer. Obviously this would Suck, and I really hoped it wasn't the cause. To repair would mean replacing the entire screen, as apparently the digitizer is attached to the screen and would be very difficult to replace by itself.
2. Any kind of moisture, whether water, skin oil, etc, getting in the cracks of the phone and staying under the screen, causing the pressure to indicate a false touch. Possible repair options included putting the phone near a WARM (but not too hot) surface for a period of time to hopefully cause the moisture to evaporate. Also some people said it just evaporated on its own after a few days (again, I hoped I wouldn't have to resort to this as I'm impatient and don't want to be without my phone for that long lol).
3. Software issue. Possible fix includes toggling HW overlays and/or GPU rendering.
Here's what I did:
Took the phone apart completely, made sure there was no visible moisture anywhere (there wasn't). Intermittently blew the phone (from the back and front, while it was disassembled) with warm air from a blow dryer. Left it alone, disassembled, for about 30 minutes.
Put the phone back together, booted up, immediately went to developer Options and (a) disabled HW overlays and (b) DISABLED "Force GPU rendering" (I actually already had it enabled).
BOOM - problem was gone!
So like I said, I'm not sure which of those did the trick - or which problem I had to begin with - but I'd be interested to know if anyone else had similar issues and/or fixes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should not have had any condensation at all on my screen when it began. I was using the phone playing with WatchOn and setting it up for my TV, I was messing with it for quite a while and realized after a period I hadn't received texts in a long time (I normally get at least 1 every 10 minutes, I was going on a hour and a half with 0) which I thought was weird so I restarted the phone.
When the phone came back online I did not notice the white dot pressing itself anywhere, but anytime I touched the screen it would immediately know where my finger was and follow it around, but not actually press anything. When I held the power button and the little Shutdown and Restart options came up, if I sat there and just pressed either one of them constantly they would eventually recognize that I pressed something and do that action.
I was also able to get into the homescreen by getting the talk option to come up and backing out of it (The buttons on the bottom of the screen all worked fine) but once in the homescreen I couldn't actually press any buttons regularly so gave up on it.
The guy at the ATT store said he hadn't seen any other complaints about it so I did a factory reset while there (I had already backed up everything with Kies) and when it came back on there seemed to be no problems.
Like I said though I am waiting for a new one anyway, they are backordered at my local store (Should have got a new batch in Friday, not sure where my phone is now) so hopefully the new one I get doesn't have this problem nor the lag problem a lot of people have been getting.

bmroczka said:
Yeah restarting it did nothing for me, tried many times, took the battery out put it back in all that stuff. The same thing happened with my data, I had a connection that entire time that I was not receiving texts but none of them actually went through which is when the problem began.
What app were you able to get in to to fix it? Would like to know in case the problem happens again when they get me a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just the stock Phone app. My problem seemed like a software problem more than anything else.
But if you have to restart the phone in order for the digitizer to respond, thats a different story. A swap should fix your issue, since it seems so uncommon.

Related

Screen glitches/freezes (To do with magnetic case)

Hello from down-under ,
I've come to put forward a problem myself and a few others are having over at the Mtekk forums. I currently just purchased an I-Mate JasJam on Telstras' new NextG network and have been using it for about a week and a half. As this fantastic piece of equipment is a little on the expensive side, I wanted to make sure it was kept safe all the time, so I began to use (no matter how silly it made me look ) the I-Mate supplied Pouch, little did I know it did more damage then not using it...
After investigating over the last few days, It was concluded that the magnetic found in the supplied Pouch had some diverse effect on the switching on Landscape to Portrait mode when removing the JasJam from the Pouch to answer/make a call, play a game or send a text message; often resulting in a 'bugged' or 'glitched' screen, stuck between either Landscape or Portrait etc (I fixed by removing the JasJam and sliding out the Keyboard and back in).
After I few days I thought that this couldn't be right for a brand new machine and took my problem to the Internet in which I found others with the same problem. Since then I have stopped using the supplied Pouch and am now looking at purchasing the Krussel Orbit Pouch as a magnetic-less replacement (any users with one, I'd love your feedback). I am making this thread to see if any users of the XDA-Developers board have faced this issue and ask one further question:
1. Since I stopped using the Pouch I can only find one annoying trait left, whenever I switch the Screen back on from 'Standby' mode I seem to receive a small 'glitch' in the Today Screen if the device has been locked, if the device has been left unlocked the Screen can be switched on/off with no issue - does anyone else have this problem, I'm concerned that the magnetic pouch has caused some internal damage...
Thanks,
Elite_Gamer04
Hi, there is a bit more about this problem in the accessories thread, I noticed the magnet causing issues and wondered about internal damage as you did, even possibly causing the align issues, but a few people reported back they had been using the case from day 1 and while it affected the landscape/portrait, they had no align issues or any other problems, so I don't suspect that there is any internal damage occurring..I do wonder about your screen glitch but without actually seein it..I haven't a clue, also do you have a lot of today plugins?..could possibly be one of them is buggy..I'm not sure, but the case does certainly suck, I was immediately concerned with the magnet strength, off topic..but on my device if my thumb is a bit damp or any metal touches the aluminum bezel around the ear piece of the phone..the screen will flicker.
Thanks for your reply Chaotic, My device is in the same state as when it come out of the box, so this isn't a 3rd party issue. I have tried removing/adding the default Today Screen icons to see if it makes an issue to the 'glitching' of my screen when it on/off and it makes no difference, only thing I can see that makes it not happen *sometimes* is when the device is not locked.
Well thats one user without my issue, hoping someone will report it, or I'm going to get a replacement.
*If your testing to see if you have the same issue as me, simply hold your device in your hand (try both with it Locked and Unlocked) and push the top right-hand side button which should switch your screen off, press it again for it to come on. If you see a sort of 'glitch' of white on your Today Screen and then it fixes itself (I'm talkin 1-2 seconds) you have the same as me.*
Hi chaps,
I've used the magnetic pouch from day one with my UK T-Mobile Vario II and am still yet to see the landscape/portrait switching issue when removing the Vario II to answer a call.
I had a theory about this, and it's probably going to get shot down in flames for it's obviousness, but I'll mention it anyway... Could the problem be down to the machine being powered down (manually or automatically) while in Landscape mode... then when switching on automatically when a phone call is received, the phone tries to switch back to portrait mode but gets stuck?
I have road tested this theory on my own Vario II and have not seen the problem at all, but my ROM may handle things differently to yours? Apologies again if this suggestion is obvious.
elite_gamer04 said:
Thanks for your reply Chaotic, My device is in the same state as when it come out of the box, so this isn't a 3rd party issue. I have tried removing/adding the default Today Screen icons to see if it makes an issue to the 'glitching' of my screen when it on/off and it makes no difference, only thing I can see that makes it not happen *sometimes* is when the device is not locked.
Well thats one user without my issue, hoping someone will report it, or I'm going to get a replacement.
*If your testing to see if you have the same issue as me, simply hold your device in your hand (try both with it Locked and Unlocked) and push the top right-hand side button which should switch your screen off, press it again for it to come on. If you see a sort of 'glitch' of white on your Today Screen and then it fixes itself (I'm talkin 1-2 seconds) you have the same as me.*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume you are referring to the lock/unlock option found on the Today screen? I also see a short white screen delay when using this Today screen option.
I also see an even longer delay when using the password/pin lock option. Probably something to do with the locking program checking to see if the preset time delay for locking and requesting the password/pin has passed.
Disabling both options makes starting up a lot faster, although you may of course need these options enabled. I'm sure it's something that will be resolved by the manufacturer in time.
elite_gamer04, I hadn't ever used the lock on my device, so I enabled it just to test, and there wasn't any differences, I also wasn't sure of what the actual glitch was, but since you mentioned it I did some further investigating, I do notice a white screen when coming back from standby, but it lasts no longer than half a second..definitely not 2 seconds.
g00nerz, its all good, all info around here is appreciated, but there is definitely an issue with the case magnet, I don't have a single landscape/portrait issue unless I put it in the bundle case..I use a modded aluminum case at the moment..but if I switch back it happens, I'm pretty sure the words "bundle case" are in the title of the post with others with this issue if you want to check it out.
I have read where some people were discussing that they thought some had different screens..that could be why you haven't had this issue or maybe it is ROM related, but from what I understand its been a variety of brands with this issue...now that I think about it..I wonder if all the brands bundle cases are the same?
I think its Mike(I hope I got that right) that has tore one of these apart..few posts about it with pics on the forum he might know, but anyhow I wonder if theres actually a hardware switch that triggers the switch from portrait/landscape when the slide out kb is opened, and the magnet is affecting that..could also be it was revised on some models.
I'm just speculating/guessin on what might be causing it, I really haven't any solid info other than some people definitely have an issue with the case, including me.
I also see a short white screen delay when using this Today screen option
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I <3 you hehe. Thank god its not just me . Yes I was referring to the 'Device Lock' and 'Device Unlock' function on the Today Screen. When it is Unlocked and I switch on/off the screen I see no 'lag' or 'white glitch' but with it on I see a small 1-2 sec lag. Anyways as you have confirmed it also I don't have to worry about returning mine and will get on with my new Krussel case I'm about to order.
Thanks
P.S If others are having this issue, or know of how to fix, don't hesitate to post.
Please consider that the use of wifi may drasticely slow down the device's power up. I do use the default case with the strong magnet, and when I power up my device with the wifi enabled it takes a while until he completely awake; the wifi plus the switch landscape => portrait (thanks HTC case) slow it down.
I am also experiencing the "auto answer" issue; from time to time when I put my device off its case it answer to the incoming phone call, but till now I was not sure that the case could be involved; are you sure about this? I tried to give some testing but I was not able to reproduce it; it only happen when it is not expected to happen
elite_gamer04 said:
Hello from down-under ,
As this fantastic piece of equipment ......the I-Mate supplied Pouch, little did I know it did more damage then not using it.........I switch the Screen back on from 'Standby' mode I seem to receive a small 'glitch' in the Today Screen if the device has been locked, ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi elite_gamer04, As you had rightly mentioned this is really a fantastic device and no doubt about it.....like you I had the same problem when I bought it around 2 months back.
I was breaking my head as to why its happening, it looked for me as if the device hangs on and off...but did not notice keenly the instances when it happened as removing it out of the pouch was too normal a thing that did not hint me that it has something to do with the issue...But I was totally broken and disturbed and decided somehow I am going to get a replacement. I took it to the service centre and the guy there (very smart) as soon as I mentioned about the problem ( I went there thinking that it has something to do with the sliding mechanism) responded spontaneously taking the pouch opened the flap and took the magnet side over the screen and showed it to me....wow yes...its the pouch which was the culprit as we noticed the screen going crazy....Anyway I was relaxed but from that instance I kept aside the pouch that came with the pack and I am currently using a different one from the stores. Till now I have noticed no glitches and am happy I own a real amazing fast device.
About the other glitch you mentioned when the phone is locked yes I tried and it is there even for me but I dont think its a major issue for you to replace the device as its something to do with the screen refresh rate and memory which am sure would be fixed by new ROM upgrades in the days to come...but relax rest assured you own a fantastic device.
All the best
Thanks for posting this about the screen - I thought I was going nuts. I bought a replacement pouch that has a belt loop - so slightly more secure than the clip. But when i started using it - it always switches to landscape mode.
I'll have to find one without a magnet i guess!

My Hero does the weirdest thing...

Sometimes, I'll place the handset down on a table or whatever, and completely of it's own accord, the screen will scroll right to the second page. Then a couple seconds later, it'll scroll right again to the third, and fourth. I'll pick it up and swipe back to the home screen and put it back down, and it'll do the same thing again. Basically.... wtf?
Sometimes it does it in menus aswell, scrolling down lists one by one every few seconds when the thing isn't even in my hands.
Has anyone else experienced this? I've had a couple of replacement handsets and it's done it on all of them!
Switchbitch said:
Sometimes, I'll place the handset down on a table or whatever, and completely of it's own accord, the screen will scroll left to the second page. Then a couple seconds later, it'll scroll left again to the third, and fourth. I'll pick it up and swipe back to the home screen and put it back down, and it'll do the same thing again. Basically.... wtf?
Sometimes it does it in menus aswell, scrolling down lists one by one every few seconds when the thing isn't even in my hands.
Has anyone else experienced this? I've had a couple of replacement handsets and it's done it on all of them!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has happened to mine, intermittently. I was hoping that it was just a little piece of grit under the trackball and that it would stop, but now you've got me worried that it is a common fault. Mine is an unlocked white in the UK, bought from Devicewire and delivered around 10 days ago...
Yup, I can comfirm it has happened to me with 3 white sim free Heros. It can happen when the device is completely undisturbed so i'm assuming it's some weird software glitch.
I can't even identify what causes it, to recreate the conditions. Seems totally random.
Switchbitch said:
Yup, I can comfirm it has happened to me with 3 white sim free Heros. It can happen when the device is completely undisturbed so i'm assuming it's some weird software glitch.
I can't even identify what causes it, to recreate the conditions. Seems totally random.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully a (rapid) firmware upgrade will sort it...
Could it be something on the touch screen?
I think I have seen this too! Do we all have screen protectors on? I do on my Hero....
It seems to me like the people widget caused me some issues. I have removed it and the device is faster and this bug hasn't appeared for me at all since.
The Jones said:
I think I have seen this too! Do we all have screen protectors on? I do on my Hero....
It seems to me like the people widget caused me some issues. I have removed it and the device is faster and this bug hasn't appeared for me at all since.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screen protector, yes. And the People widget (which I find very useful!)
Speaking about really weird things going on with the Hero. I can contribute with some funky stuff too:
When having my Hero near/under my mousecable the mousepointer (on the monitor) gets its own life. It starts moving randomly and begins to scroll the pages up and down in my browser WITHOUT me touching anything. I do have a cable connected mouse (USB). The phone has wifi, GPS and Network activated. I have not yet tested what happens with those turned off though.
Haha this is getting interesting. I noticed some mousepointer jitter when I was using the PC at work today, with my Hero nearby. I'll investigate more today.
Mine doesn't have a screen protector, but I do use the people widget on my second page. I'll remove it and see if it makes a difference to the spontaneous scrolling.
I just got my white unlocked hero 3 days ago and I just noticed this problem for the first time. The home screen would move over 1 or 2 screens without me even doing anything. Im wondering if it was major lag from previous movements I made. Im sure this is a software bug, does anyone know if HTC releases software updates for their android devices? I just switched from an iphone and hope they would release updates and fixes like apple did when something was wrong with a software release.
This phone is what... a week since launch day? We are early adopters and will find bugs. There'll be an update soon I'm pretty sure.
I think there is some interference with Wifi/Other radio and the Hero screen.
When i put mine on my desk next to my PC i cannot press all buttons on the touch screen but the wheel and hardware keys still work. When i move it 1m away from my PC this behavior is gone.
This problem happened to me when I had wet hands. All I did was wipe the hero dry and it worked fine again.
Thiesen said:
Speaking about really weird things going on with the Hero. I can contribute with some funky stuff too:
When having my Hero near/under my mousecable the mousepointer (on the monitor) gets its own life. It starts moving randomly and begins to scroll the pages up and down in my browser WITHOUT me touching anything. I do have a cable connected mouse (USB). The phone has wifi, GPS and Network activated. I have not yet tested what happens with those turned off though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is due to the phones aggressively high SAR value (it's really really high). I would think twice before putting this phone in your pant pockets if you ever want to have chidren
Ovek said:
This is due to the phones aggressively high SAR value (it's really really high). I would think twice before putting this phone in your pant pockets if you ever want to have chidren
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, really? I already have 2 so going to keep this in my pocket from now on!!!
Aaaaaaaand HTC didn't bother fixing this in the new rom. The T9 keyboard input bug and huge lag are also unchanged.
I can confirm that this odd bug still lurks around in the official 2.73.405.5 build.
It has been suggested that it migh be due to dirt inside the trackbal housing but then why would the homescreen suddenly scroll on its own without being touched? Maybe a sensor glitch? I don't know what solution HTC are using to read the movements of the trackball though... one thing is for sure; it's not a good one....
I'm 100% sure now it's not a hardware issue. It's happened on multiple Heros I've used, not long out the box either. The only thing I've noticed that indicates any kind of pattern to the apparent randomness is that it gets a lot worse when there's a lot of mobile data transfer going on. One time I physically couldn't get it to stay on the homescreen long enough to click an icon.
Just pitching in, exact same problem here. Very strange that everyone gets it to the right :/
Just notice on mine too, some automovement in menu and home
Upgraded yesterday to new firmware (modaco)
Could be an increase of trackball sensibili? I see a settings to tweak it on blackberry device...on android?

G1 screen keeps malfunctioning!

Hey again gang,
I bought a used G1 on craigslist for $25 a week ago.
This thing has been dropped a ton of times and a very small crack in the upper right corner of the screen, but the screen works fine. It powers on and operates 100%.
The problem:
The screen randomly goes out and fades to a black screen but is still back-lit.
The rest of the device is still functioning and operates normally. (continues to play music, doesn't lock up, etc).
At times, this happens when I press one of the bottom four buttons but not all the time. I could just be reading a website and not touching any buttons and the screen will 'fizzle out' and not come back.
The ONLY way I can get the screen to respond is to press the red/end button and make sure the bottom buttons are not lit... then wait 5-20 seconds, THEN press menu to wake up the phone again. At this point I stand a 25% chance the phone will activate the screen again. It WILL wake up the rest of the device correctly every time... just not the screen. 50% of the time I have to let the G1 sit for a few minutes in 'standby' mode then try again.
(i am not a novice with Android phones and know this is not a back-light settings/timeout issue.)
At first I thought "This is a simple short somewhere!", but I am not so sure...
When the device stays on I performed the following tests:
* Applied pressure to the screens surface in every direction and can not duplicate the problem.
* Applied pressure to the movement of the screen in every direction and can not duplicate the problem.
* Applied pressure to every button on the device and can not duplicate the problem.
* Applied pressure to the chassis surface (completely) and can not duplicate the problem.
My next thought was "The guy i got this G1 from dropped it in liquid. I need to remove any mineral deposits from the internal parts!"
... I then gave the device an alcohol bath for 1 minute.
(relax... it was 100% alcohol not 70%)
After letting the alcohol dissipate for 2 days I inserted the battery and started the G1. All was going well for about 20 minutes... then the same 'fizzle out' problem happened.
My next thought was "Maybe the battery is damaged?!?!!"... but then I remembered that the rest of the device still continues to function properly. No lock-ups or anything. Just the screen 'fizzles out' and fades to black but is still back-lit.
I will try a friends battery just to rule this out, but I am not optimistic.
This G1 is not my primary phone. If I can't figure this out I will probably just hang on to it and use it to test apps I make, so it is no big deal.
What do you think the issue is?
a) the screen needs to be replaced.
b) the motherboard needs to be replaced.
c) the battery needs to be replaced.
d) the device has lived a good life... don't waste your time and money.
no tips on this problem?
never mind...
in a fit of rage i smashed it with a hammer.
the good news is, i don't have this problem anymore =)
kidding.... i sold it on Craigslist.
Seems it was jus the screen that was jacked up man, maybe the ribbon that connects the screen to the Mboard was damage/worn out

[Q] Bottom half of screen not responding to touch

I had an exam and removed the battery for my phone for the duration. When I put it back in, the bottom half of my screen stopped responding to touch. The screen itself is unharmed and uncracked. The S Pen still works flawlessly. However, the bottom half of the screen ("above" about 890 pixels on the Y axis) simply does not respond to normal touch. In addition, the volume buttons no longer change my notification volume. They still work for music volume, just not touch volume. When I long-press the power button, the power menu sits at the very top of the screen and has black covering the whole bottom of the screen for some reason. When I receive calls, the buttons are right at the top. Because of this, this seems to be some sort of software issue, but I have no idea what would cause it. Has anyone with more experience with Samsung devices seen this before? Multiple restarts and battery pulls have done nothing.
EDIT: In case anyone else encounters this, it had something to do with my case. I think my phone thought it was a smart cover for some reason. I enabled and disabled smart cover and then removed and replaced the case. It's working fine now.
EDIT: Never mind, that was a coincidence. The issue is DEFINITELY that the phone thinks it has a smart cover on it, but it has nothing to do with my own case.
gilros said:
I had an exam and removed the battery for my phone for the duration. When I put it back in, the bottom half of my screen stopped responding to touch. The screen itself is unharmed and uncracked. The S Pen still works flawlessly. However, the bottom half of the screen ("above" about 890 pixels on the Y axis) simply does not respond to normal touch. In addition, the volume buttons no longer change my notification volume. They still work for music volume, just not touch volume. When I long-press the power button, the power menu sits at the very top of the screen and has black covering the whole bottom of the screen for some reason. When I receive calls, the buttons are right at the top. Because of this, this seems to be some sort of software issue, but I have no idea what would cause it. Has anyone with more experience with Samsung devices seen this before? Multiple restarts and battery pulls have done nothing.
EDIT: In case anyone else encounters this, it had something to do with my case. I think my phone thought it was a smart cover for some reason. I enabled and disabled smart cover and then removed and replaced the case. It's working fine now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had much the same problem. While the S-Pen was able to make selections that the touchscreen wouldn't, other S-Pen functions such as Air Command and being able to start an Action Memo wouldn't work. Waiting for an extended period of time (like 24 hours) and all of a sudden it started working again. However, while I was waiting, rebooting - even performing a factory reset - didn't' fix it! I just now rebooted it and it's not working again, and it's not in a case.
Where do you find the option to enable and disable Smart Cover? On the Note 2, it was (apparently) under Security / Device Administrators, but I don't find it there. The only option I could find was in Accessories / S View Cover / Automatic Unlock but changing this setting (including rebooting between settings) hasn't solved it.
hiroller173 said:
I've had much the same problem. While the S-Pen was able to make selections that the touchscreen wouldn't, other S-Pen functions such as Air Command and being able to start an Action Memo wouldn't work. Waiting for an extended period of time (like 24 hours) and all of a sudden it started working again. However, while I was waiting, rebooting - even performing a factory reset - didn't' fix it! I just now rebooted it and it's not working again, and it's not in a case.
Where do you find the option to enable and disable Smart Cover? On the Note 2, it was (apparently) under Security / Device Administrators, but I don't find it there. The only option I could find was in Accessories / S View Cover / Automatic Unlock but changing this setting (including rebooting between settings) hasn't solved it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, it was just coincidence that it randomly stopped happening when I enabled and disabled the auto-unlock feature with Smart Cover. My phone started doing it again and I've been unable to repair it. I went to Verizon and they wiped my phone before telling me I'll just have to get it replaced with a refurbished one. Very frustrated. Shame there aren't any AOSP based ROMs yet (like CyanogenMod)-- they'd probably fix it since the cover thing wouldn't be a feature.
Bump.
Anyone know of the APK which would handle S View Cover behavior? If we were to disable that I imagine the problem would go away. I'm still not totally sure of the origin of the issue, but it seems to come from a combination of hardware and software problems. The hardware sensor thinks I have the case on, so the software changes things around. When I call people, I get the S View Cover style call screen. If I change the toggle in accessory settings to automatically unlock the phone when opening the cover, hitting the lock button automatically unlocks the phone as though I had no lockscreen. However, when this is disabled, the lock screen is NOT in the S View Cover form-- it looks stock. This confuses me.
Any ideas from anyone else getting the issue?
Same experience
Just to add my experience as I go. This afternoon I received an error that my SMS data could not be downloaded. Upon sliding down the notifications I was unable to control much. I ripped the majority of my hair out over this.... My pen works flawlessly everywhere though. I eventually discovered it works fine on the bottom half as you described. I have to run to some appointments, but I'll touch back after I try a few things.
gilros said:
Bump.
Anyone know of the APK which would handle S View Cover behavior? If we were to disable that I imagine the problem would go away. I'm still not totally sure of the origin of the issue, but it seems to come from a combination of hardware and software problems. The hardware sensor thinks I have the case on, so the software changes things around. When I call people, I get the S View Cover style call screen. If I change the toggle in accessory settings to automatically unlock the phone when opening the cover, hitting the lock button automatically unlocks the phone as though I had no lockscreen. However, when this is disabled, the lock screen is NOT in the S View Cover form-- it looks stock. This confuses me.
Any ideas from anyone else getting the issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gilros said:
Any ideas from anyone else getting the issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it was caused by the battery insertion or backplate replacement. Perhaps too much pressure or an uneven pressure damaged the circuitry, which is now loose and causing the intermittent error.
Or perhaps it was a static discharge from the battery.
Both cases seem to me to be warrenty items.
SGH-I717/SM-N900V/XDA Premium
Uh oh... I'm rooted and on Verizon. There isn't a way to unroot yet is there?
Frank Westlake said:
Maybe it was caused by the battery insertion or backplate replacement. Perhaps too much pressure or an uneven pressure damaged the circuitry, which is now loose and causing the intermittent error.
Or perhaps it was a static discharge from the battery.
Both cases seem to me to be warrenty items.
SGH-I717/SM-N900V/XDA Premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thematt917 said:
Uh oh... I'm rooted and on Verizon. There isn't a way to unroot yet is there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the only thing necessary to unroot is to flash the stock ROM. The download is linked from the de la Vega post.
SGH-I717/SM-N900V/XDA Premium
I realized had about 3 days left on my Best Buy (elite+) 45 day return. Swapped for a brand new one :good: with no issues!
Frank Westlake said:
I thought the only thing necessary to unroot is to flash the stock ROM. The download is linked from the de la Vega post.
SGH-I717/SM-N900V/XDA Premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gilros said:
I had an exam and removed the battery for my phone for the duration. When I put it back in, the bottom half of my screen stopped responding to touch. The screen itself is unharmed and uncracked. The S Pen still works flawlessly. However, the bottom half of the screen ("above" about 890 pixels on the Y axis) simply does not respond to normal touch. In addition, the volume buttons no longer change my notification volume. They still work for music volume, just not touch volume. When I long-press the power button, the power menu sits at the very top of the screen and has black covering the whole bottom of the screen for some reason. When I receive calls, the buttons are right at the top. Because of this, this seems to be some sort of software issue, but I have no idea what would cause it. Has anyone with more experience with Samsung devices seen this before? Multiple restarts and battery pulls have done nothing.
EDIT: In case anyone else encounters this, it had something to do with my case. I think my phone thought it was a smart cover for some reason. I enabled and disabled smart cover and then removed and replaced the case. It's working fine now.
EDIT: Never mind, that was a coincidence. The issue is DEFINITELY that the phone thinks it has a smart cover on it, but it has nothing to do with my own case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same issue. I ve been trying to understand why this happened but no luck. I tried everything from updating to reseting. I first noticed it when i took the battery out as well. but the problem kinda fixed it self so i thought the phone has a spaz or something. but when i removed the battery again it happened again.
I took it to the people i bought it from and all they can say is cause there were a couple of scratches on the side of the case that it may not fall under warranty...
i was pretty angry cause its only two months old and the warranty is for a year. and the problem started happening while i was overseas so its been like that for almost a month. hopefully the sales guy is just talk cause its not up to him its just his "opinion" as he put it.
Did they explain to you why this happened? or if this is a common issue?
Hope your new phone is ok
I have this problem intermittently also. Exactly as described above.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
any updates on this? im having the same problem now with my tmobile version. it fell facedown and the extended battery i had it in fell out. im going to try putting an aosp rom on it when i get home from work.
Timely post! I gave up. Verizon sending me a warranty replacement to arrive today.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
I have the solution!
Please. Let me know it worked for you, so people that doesn´t like to post and only read can solve this problem.
The Problem:
The half bottom screen is not working. Including the back button, the option button and the home buttom. they only work if you use the S Pen. Except for the home button. The volumes button do not work either. So the Solution is this..
take off the battery while the phone is on. YES, do not turn off the telephone and the take off the battery. Just take off the battery while the phone is on. It should work. I hope this is the solution.
One more thing. Do not allow your phone to dried up the battery completly so this wont happen again. It is better to turn it off before it dries up.!
Please let me know if it worked for you! I will let you know if this problems start again and if was only an coincidence.Hopes it not!
This tough me a good lesson! never buy a Phone from not trusted retailer, it is better to pay the full price a good store. The people that sold me the phone has a crappy warrraty like if the screen it cellphone is complete off they wont allow me to use the warranty and my phone had faulty battery conecction so it was off. then I paid 100 dollars to be repaired then this problem.
Ok, guys please let us know if it worked so people start saving their phone
Just happened to mine as well
Hard reset didn't work, on the phone with support trying to request a replacement now.
Finally Solved!
Hi
I had same problem
I did everything u said like:
mega wipe and changing rom
custom roms
taking out battery when it's on ( I Did this but I don't know It had any effects on my phone or not!)
taking out external card
But I still Had the Problem
Solution:
But I had a flip cover and I separated that from phone and thanks God,surprisingly It's Fixed and it works like a charm!!! after that I used my original cover and there is no problem till now.
Good Luck
Had the same problem of touch not working.
I tried everything as suggested by the members but my Note 3 is still not working right.Touch not responding all of a sudden in the bottom part of screen after i removed the battery for sim change. Please suggest something.
luas_13 said:
I tried everything as suggested by the members but my Note 3 is still not working right.Touch not responding all of a sudden in the bottom part of screen after i removed the battery for sim change. Please suggest something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't gone back to refresh my memory but it seems to me that all these occurrances were caused by removing the back cover. Try removing it and the battery and firmly press on every spot with your thumb. First place the device face down on table padded with a single layer of a blanket. Remove the SIM and SD card and firmly reinsert. Press the back cover on and try it, then return it for warranty if it is still bad.
Frank
I also was faced with this issue today at the start of my morning BUT I FOUND A SOLUTION
I have a Sprint Galaxy Note 3 N900P Stock ROM/ no root, no mods/custom kernels/boots etc...
My device side effects were
The bottom half of my screen was not responding to my fingers,
When you press the Power Button, The options appeared on the top section of the screen instead of being the center
When I press the volume up/down keys, The volume would raise and lower, But the screen that pops up and shows you the volume had increased or decreased didnt show up
Only way to use device was with S Pen
Basically all the issues everyone listed, I had them.
Now my solution; if the issue is a hardware issue.
After dissembling my phone to see what each hardware part of the phone controls, I've come to the conclusion that there was an issue with my USB Dock Connector section of the phone. I uploaded a image pointing which connector controls it. I tried to just wipe and clean it up a bit because mines had some residue on the underneath of it. Then I plugged it back in and it started back to work %100. After I tried restarting it a few times and shaking the device up, it still works; Although I am still going to order a replacement USB Charging Port with flex cable just in case.
fixed.
This is the definitely the hardware problem.
most likely happen if u ever dropped ur phone to the ground ----------- and reboot ur phone some what later time. (can be days or months).
Temp Solution to this problem is...
face down your phone to the flat floor or a table, gently hit the back, strong enough to shock the devide, but not that strong to crack your screen.
one other simple way is to drop your phone to the floor, screen is facing down, from about 30 cm high from the floor.
"simply, hit your device like you used to fix your ur old TV. "
that is just a temp. GL.

Alert Slider Weirdness

I have noticed, maybe not from the very start (I don't remember, actually), that I often need to slide my alert slider all the way up and down before it would actually start to "react" and put my device into the desired state of alerts.
For example, I need to slide it all up, then down, before it would actually start to register the position I want it to be and put the phone in either 'vibrate' or 'silent' or 'normal' mode.
The thing is, after I do this and continue to slide it, there is absolutely no problem for it to register its position; it's only after I've not been using it for some time and only the first slide up or down, so I don't think it is HW-related but probably something SW. No, there are also no dust or particles in it, as I take extra care of my electronic devices and they are cleaned several times a day. Could it be kernel-related? (I use Kirisakura, but I noticed it with some others before too).
I've noticed this too couple of times. Putting the slider up does nothing. I slide it back down, nothing. Repeat two to three times and suddenly the phone starts responding, and goes trough all the modes when slider is moved. Came here to see if anyone else has had the same issues. Maybeit started with the last software update 10.5.11.IN11BA ? Stock kernel and ROM.
patchmefirm said:
I've noticed this too couple of times. Putting the slider up does nothing. I slide it back down, nothing. Repeat two to three times and suddenly the phone starts responding, and goes trough all the modes when slider is moved. Came here to see if anyone else has had the same issues. Maybeit started with the last software update 10.5.11.IN11BA ? Stock kernel and ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, that's exactly the issue I'm having, no idea what it's coming from.
Facing the same issue...any solution?
Also noticed a few times...
Haven't had this although I only use mine once a night and at times not in the day..
Slider seems to be of solid design, probably the same as previous 1+ models which themselves have been of good quality..
Quite odd, could if be debris? Seems like a tiny place for debris to be lodged though..
Have you altered what the positions do by any chance?
dladz said:
Haven't had this although I only use mine once a night and at times not in the day..
Slider seems to be of solid design, probably the same as previous 1+ models which themselves have been of good quality..
Quite odd, could if be debris? Seems like a tiny place for debris to be lodged though..
Have you altered what the positions do by any chance?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it happened immediately after I bought it, or hours after I started using it. So I'm not sure what caused the problem: a bootloader unlock, a root, a module, an app, an update? Can't say. What I'm sure of, though, is that it's not dust or debris or physical damage to my unit (I'm quite fussy about my phones' cleanliness and they're completely covered by cases and screen protectors).
Never had this problem with my previous 1+ devices.
The issue went away with system update to version 10.5.12.IN11BA. So for me this issue was only present in the software version 10.5.11.IN11BA.
Surfeur-des-Reves said:
Nope, it happened immediately after I bought it, or hours after I started using it. So I'm not sure what caused the problem: a bootloader unlock, a root, a module, an app, an update? Can't say. What I'm sure of, though, is that it's not dust or debris or physical damage to my unit (I'm quite fussy about my phones' cleanliness and they're completely covered by cases and screen protectors).
Never had this problem with my previous 1+ devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's been happening since you got it then I'd have thought it's more than likely an actual fault..I'd have sent mine back.

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