[Q] Nexus 4 randomly turning off, intermittently not being able to restart

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jhock

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2011
66
9
I can't seem to find it right now, but there is another thread on this topic wherein the OP suggests that there is something physically wrong with some phones. He actually has a video with a proposed fix that has worked for some people.

I am suspicious that it is a hardware problem because my unit has been fine for the past 2 1/2 months. I am running stock, unrooted and was without a case until two days ago. I've made no recent changes to apps or settings. The only change was that put a bumper on and my phone has suddenly started shutting down and remaining unresponsive for a period of time. The battery is always at least half charged (before and after the event). After it decides to come back on, it is as if nothing happened. It doesn't really strike me as a software issue, it is more like the battery suddenly disconnects.
 

varshil

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2010
730
399
32
mumbai
If phone becomes hot, theres a defense mechanism in which our kernel will make phone run at lower clocks which eventually gets our phone into sleep of death. So try one thing. If ever ur phone gets hot, dnt lock the screen and keep it on a cold surface, and once it get cold, press the lock button. See the diff!! ;)
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
 

algus

Senior Member
Mar 10, 2005
65
2
If phone becomes hot, theres a defense mechanism in which our kernel will make phone run at lower clocks which eventually gets our phone into sleep of death. So try one thing. If ever ur phone gets hot, dnt lock the screen and keep it on a cold surface, and once it get cold, press the lock button. See the diff!! ;)
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

It turns off at night while in standby mode, charger unplugged and battery has 30-70% left. With stock everything and default settings. Why should it overheat? Only if stock firmware has such bug.
 

varshil

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2010
730
399
32
mumbai
It turns off at night while in standby mode, charger unplugged and battery has 30-70% left. With stock everything and default settings. Why should it overheat? Only if stock firmware has such bug.

My phone does over heat at times and only after that it goes to sleep of death.. When you charge your phone, the phone gets heated too... Do you charge your phone at night before going to sleep?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
 

MildewMan

Senior Member
Dec 25, 2010
288
61
Saint Louis, MO
I haven't had extensive amounts of test with WiFi on and off at night. I'm now testing whether it actually has anything to do with it or not. Will post back in a few days or if it happens again with wifi off at night.

Just wanted to update on this. I have not had a night-time shutdown since turning my WiFi off before I go to sleep. I still don't have conclusive evidence that it is related to WiFi, but I'm going to keep turning it off at night until it shuts down again (if it shuts down again).
 

jlear3

Senior Member
Aug 22, 2011
1,456
478
Just wanted to update on this. I have not had a night-time shutdown since turning my WiFi off before I go to sleep. I still don't have conclusive evidence that it is related to WiFi, but I'm going to keep turning it off at night until it shuts down again (if it shuts down again).

+1

No problems yet, but I have flashed a bunch of other stuff too

Nexus 4
Franco r93
PROJECT ELE
 

elsrss

Member
Feb 22, 2013
9
2
No solution still but from discussions I had I found out also that some galaxy s3 users have the same problem. Also, it was suggested to me to install an app called "Wake lock" to prevent the phone or just its cpu going to sleep mode, as a temporary solution until we hear something from LG or Google. Just installed the app, will update if I see a difference
 

MildewMan

Senior Member
Dec 25, 2010
288
61
Saint Louis, MO
Just wanted to update on this. I have not had a night-time shutdown since turning my WiFi off before I go to sleep. I still don't have conclusive evidence that it is related to WiFi, but I'm going to keep turning it off at night until it shuts down again (if it shuts down again).

I can now conclude that WiFi has nothing to do with the random shutdowns. I had my first one in a while last night, and WiFi was off.
 

jlear3

Senior Member
Aug 22, 2011
1,456
478
What software are you on? (rom/kernel/bootloader/etc)

Let's try to get everyone's stats so we can narrow this down.

I haven't had it happen a single time since turning off wifi optimization. I've been on francos kernel only changing to new nightlies, 4.2.2 bootloader, and cm10 linao+bionic

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
 

MildewMan

Senior Member
Dec 25, 2010
288
61
Saint Louis, MO
What software are you on? (rom/kernel/bootloader/etc)

Let's try to get everyone's stats so we can narrow this down.

I haven't had it happen a single time since turning off wifi optimization. I've been on francos kernel only changing to new nightlies, 4.2.2 bootloader, and cm10 linao+bionic

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I'm on just the 4.2.2 OTA stock rom, stock kernel, stock bootloader. Only thing I've done is root my device and install CWM.
 

jlear3

Senior Member
Aug 22, 2011
1,456
478
Do you have wifi optimization off? Or just turned off wifi?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
 

MildewMan

Senior Member
Dec 25, 2010
288
61
Saint Louis, MO
Do you have wifi optimization off? Or just turned off wifi?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Well my original theory was that it had something to do with WiFi optimization (page 2 of this thread), so I turned it off. That theory didn't last very long because my phone shut off within a day or two.

My next thought was that it was WiFi period, so I have been turning it off before sleeping for the past week. Last night was my first shutoff since turning it off.

Here's the weird part about it. I think my phone has shut down 5 times since I've had it. 3/5 times, it shut down on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. In fact the first two times were on Saturday nights one week apart. I don't really know what to say the problem is anymore. I think I might just call Google and get a replacement.
 

elsrss

Member
Feb 22, 2013
9
2
I tried having WiFi optimization off but still got a shut down. Everything is stock, very few apps installed.

Things I have tried with no success:
Factory reset, resetting webmail account (some said it was causing fast battery drains), WiFi optimization off, NFC off, and a recovery procedure Google suggested (don't remember the details)

Haven't tried to disable location services yet, some say that worked for them.

One more common element in the power-offs for my wife's phone is that they occur when the phone runs on battery for at least a day and half, while still indicating 30-50% battery remaining (she is a light user), which makes me think that the way that the battery consumption is calculated when the phone is idle, is problematic.
 

edenist

Member
Jun 3, 2006
24
5
Melbourne
Just had the power off occur on me again last night. Second time in 2 weeks and under the same circumstances [battery on charge, about 30% full when I went to sleep. Woke up, phone off, battery full].

There still is next to nothing we can point to in this thread that can narrow any of this down besides speculation [not saying this in a judgemental way, it's just pretty much all we have at the moment as the problem is so random].

One thing has popped into my mind though when thinking about this this morning....

Then I switched my Nexus 4 with his, because I don't have this problem (running CM 10.1 Nightly) and we hoped that it may be a hardware issue. But after some hours, the first reboot occured again. So it appears to be no hardware problem.

The phones were swapped over with his own, yet his Dad was still experiencing the shutdowns. The only thing that was swapped between these two phones then was the sim card....
This very well could be a Radio issue, or something to do with certain cell network environments.

I have been having issues with my network carrier since I moved into a new place in the city. Basically, calls keep dropping out constantly even though my wife and I have full signal on our phones. Discussing with the network engineers, we believe it is to do with the fact that we are living in an appartment on a high numbered floor with very few tall buildings close by. Our phones can see many more cell towers than when on the ground [all with good signal], so it is undergoing constant negotiation for handover.

Could this issue be related to network settings or some sort of crash/bug in relation to network/cell tower protocols and handovers?

What sort of network conditions are others experiencing? And are crashes isolated to certain locations only?
 
Last edited:

jhock

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2011
66
9
I'm on stock and unrooted, was actually going to root this weekend when my random shut downs began. Glad it happened first so that I didn't think that rooting/flashing was the cause.
 

jlear3

Senior Member
Aug 22, 2011
1,456
478
Well if we're bringing in cell providers I'm att straight talk, have poor service at home, .27 radio, 4.2.2 bootloader

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
 

zach_yu

New member
Mar 4, 2013
2
0
I have similar issues.
I've used my phone for 1.5 month, the automatic-shudown-issue just happended recently. I didn't make any change to ROM or rooted. used to upgrade to 4.2.2 but it was 1 month earlier. I thought maybe its may be related to some apps, but I can not remember which app I recently installed.
I used to drop it on the floor and cracked the glass back 2 weeks ago. but it seems alright after that.
annoying!

---------- Post added at 04:02 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 AM ----------

I have similar issues.
I've used my phone for 1.5 month, the automatic-shudown-issue just happended recently. I didn't make any change to ROM or rooted. used to upgrade to 4.2.2 but it was 1 month earlier. I thought maybe its may be related to some apps, but I can not remember which app I recently installed.
I used to drop it on the floor and cracked the glass back 2 weeks ago. but it seems alright after that.
annoying!
 

reidar.ostrem

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2006
653
45
Sandnes
Nothing that I've done has helped on this matter, this only started after updating to 4.2.2 and I'm also starting to think that it might be the radio.
I will be flashing the 4.2.1 factory images again to see if the problem will go away, if so i'll wait until 4.2.3 is released :)
 

MildewMan

Senior Member
Dec 25, 2010
288
61
Saint Louis, MO
Ok I've turned on daydream mode (Settings -> Display) when charging. I'm hoping that if the screen stays active, then the phone can't go into what I like to call deep freeze mode ("shutdown" at night).

I will update all about my results.
 

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  • 3
    There is a youtube video showing a Nexus 4 being restored from a factory reset and experiencing intermittent powerdown when accessing forbes.com - a flash intensive site.

    Being new here I can't post a link to it - but you can find it if you go to youtube and search for: careh1 nexus 4
    2
    I am now currently running a self built cm 12.1 (android 5.1) on my nexus 4, and the issue is still there.
    2
    Looks like the new battery has fixed things! Haven't gotten round to cutting open the battery yet though.

    I cut the battery open today (see pictures). Cutting open the foil side and peeling it off shows a stack of (presumably) cells, mounted on a white material that looks a bit like PTFE tape. The cells are mounted on the white tape (sometimes on both sides), and are each composed of three layers, which I guess are cathode, electrolyte and anode. I'm pretty sure the battery was well-discharged when I took it to pieces, but I've left the parts sitting in the back of my fumehood to oxidise themselves to be sure.

    Without having a new battery to compare it to, its hard to say exactly why the battery is swelling. It could be one or more of the cells, or it might be say, the electrolyte layer in all of the cells. Perhaps if I measured the thickness of each of the different bits of cell as a before and after, it might be more obvious which part is failing. At the time I didn't have any vernier calipers handy, and I'm not going to dismantle a new battery just to find out myself. Unless someone wants to mail me one of course.
    2
    Almost 5 days now, running 3.9. With the wifi on all day, no shutdowns or reboots.
    1
    My wife and I bought two Nexus 4. Mine works perfectly so far. My wife's one has the random shutdown problem, appearing from the first day and occuring on average every 2-3 days.

    We already replaced it once, thinking it was a hardware problem, although it was really difficult to convice the seller that there was really a problem. You can't predict when a shutdown occurs, and of course when we brought the phone for a change, it appeared that it was working fine.

    The second phone she got has the same problem. She only uses basic functions and applications so far, facebook, what's up, webmail account etc. No rooting or any trouble-making app in there (e.g. HD widgets).

    We made a few more checks and also realized that after switching on the phone again, following the unexpected shutdown, the battery shows instant drains, going e.g from 35% before the shutdown to ~10% after... This happens after every random shutdown.

    Screenshot_2013-02-21-14-23-50.jpg

    The same problem is reported here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2014046

    It is suggested there that disabling location services may help, but of course we want to have location services on. So I don't see this as a solution, unless Google knows that this is the source of the problem and they plan to release a patch soon.

    We contacted Google and the person we spoke told us that she never heard anyone reporting this problem, but she has received several calls for random reboots. She gave us the contact for LG here in Germany and asked us to report to them if this problem appears again. She just proposed to reset the device, but that had no effect as the issue appeared again, even after upgrade to Android 4.2.2. We already contacted Google again and will wait to see if there is any answer.