Nexus 4 turning off when unplugged from charger

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Nezam

Senior Member
Aug 21, 2012
233
12
Hey guys, i have been owning this piece of great phone for almost two years. But it never gave me a big issue.
Nevertheless, few months back i flashed cm12 and it worked great too.. I had been using it gracefully till i decided to update to cm12.1. So i decided to update, but the update always crashed google play services. The update did not happen automatically so i had to flash the zip through custom recovery (already installed) by myself.

I could not come out of that so i went ahead and did a full wipe and flashed cm12.1 along with gapps. Since then when i am unplugged it goes only to about few minutes (on battery) and shuts down. So, i now decided that this piece of update is buggy and did a full wipe and reflashed the original cm12 zip and gapps which i had placed in the first place. But, to my horror even this time it could not go past the bootscreen even and turns itself off when its about to start up. (Battery is full charged, did an overnight charge as well).One very unusual thing i noticed that almost all the the time i try to power it on it showed me "optimising app X of Y" which is weird. This kinda happens only on first boot.

But if i keep my phone plugged in to ac charge then it works fine.. but only last night it hanged and turned off even on charge. So there i decided that the cm thing is not for me. So i followed this tutorial and flashed the stock 5.1.1 rom (did a full wipe, tried oem lock and re unlocked and proceeded too).

But, i find the same problem same issue!! When unplugged my device, it just turns off even on full battery charge.

Can someone explain me the technical parts of the issue and what has gone wrong and how it can be fixed?

Please, Thanks

EDIT

Last time i locked - unlocked bootloader and proceeded with a fresh factory image flash, the device turned off on boot even when plugged in to my mac and it's hot on the back side
 
Last edited:

Planterz

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2014
2,275
817
Tucson, AZ
Sounds to me like there''s something physically wrong with the phone, probably the battery. Time for a new one anyway. Lithium batteries degrade with use. After ~500 charge cycles it'll have lost upwards of 20% of its original capacity and might show other signs of wearing out like inconsistent voltages. After 2 years of use, you'll be well beyond 500 cycles. A new battery off eBay is pretty cheap, and some sellers include the needed tools.Go to ifixit.com for a tear-down guide. A hair drier can help soften up the adhesive. The fact that it turned off despite being plugged in to your computer also points to the battery being toast - the USB amperage from a computer is less than the typical wall charger.

If it's not the battery giving you woes, I don't know what it could be.

And FYI, the whole "optimizing app" thing is the OS rebuilding the cache. When you flash your GAPPs package or a zipped Titanium backup it has to build the cache for the new apps. Same as when you do the "wipe Dalvik and cache" part of standard flashing procedure to avoid conflicts. In order for apps to load quickly, Android stores a lot of the necessary data in cache, so when you clear it or have new apps, it has to rebuild the cache. On Lollipop this takes a loooooooong time because of the way ART works.
 

Nezam

Senior Member
Aug 21, 2012
233
12
The fact that it turned off despite being plugged in to your computer also points to the battery being toast - the USB amperage from a computer is less than the typical wall charger.

If it's not the battery giving you woes, I don't know what it could be.

How can i be completely sure that it's the battery which needs to be replaced? The battery shows charge. When i plug in and boot up it shows enough battery power left.

Currently, without external power it does not go past the google screen on boot. When i plug in power while device is off, the battery meter shows just a little depletion from full charge. When turned on, battery level is 82 %

After all , all this hardware mess up can be the consequence of a bad cm flash ?

the whole "optimizing app" thing is the OS rebuilding the cache.

I know this. Earlier it was happening on each boot. Now it seemed to be stopped.
 

avinashjirapure

Senior Member
Dec 19, 2010
224
120
Google Pixel 2 XL
Hey guys, i have been owning this piece of great phone for almost two years. But it never gave me a big issue.
Nevertheless, few months back i flashed cm12 and it worked great too.. I had been using it gracefully till i decided to update to cm12.1. So i decided to update, but the update always crashed google play services. The update did not happen automatically so i had to flash the zip through custom recovery (already installed) by myself.

I could not come out of that so i went ahead and did a full wipe and flashed cm12.1 along with gapps. Since then when i am unplugged it goes only to about few minutes (on battery) and shuts down. So, i now decided that this piece of update is buggy and did a full wipe and reflashed the original cm12 zip and gapps which i had placed in the first place. But, to my horror even this time it could not go past the bootscreen even and turns itself off when its about to start up. (Battery is full charged, did an overnight charge as well).One very unusual thing i noticed that almost all the the time i try to power it on it showed me "optimising app X of Y" which is weird. This kinda happens only on first boot.

But if i keep my phone plugged in to ac charge then it works fine.. but only last night it hanged and turned off even on charge. So there i decided that the cm thing is not for me. So i followed this tutorial and flashed the stock 5.1.1 rom (did a full wipe, tried oem lock and re unlocked and proceeded too).

But, i find the same problem same issue!! When unplugged my device, it just turns off even on full battery charge.

Can someone explain me the technical parts of the issue and what has gone wrong and how it can be fixed?

Please, Thanks

EDIT

Last time i locked - unlocked bootloader and proceeded with a fresh factory image flash, the device turned off on boot even when plugged in to my mac and it's hot on the back side

Exactly same problem is started with my Nexus 4 ... I really wonder, what is causing this. Meanwhile, have it sorted for you ? is that hardware (Battery) issue?
 

shazR00t

New member
Sep 5, 2015
4
1
Hey guys, i have been owning this piece of great phone for almost two years. But it never gave me a big issue.
Nevertheless, few months back i flashed cm12 and it worked great too.. I had been using it gracefully till i decided to update to cm12.1. So i decided to update, but the update always crashed google play services. The update did not happen automatically so i had to flash the zip through custom recovery (already installed) by myself...

I too am facing kinda similar problem.
It first started on my stock Lollipop 5.1.1. I had kept it on charge and when I removed it, it got switched off. Thinking that it might be just another of the multitude of bugs in Lollipop, since I already had lots of problems with it, I decided to flash CM 12.1 Stable on it.

Unlocked bootloader, flashed TWRP recovery, created a backup (using TWRP), wiped data, cache, dalvik and started installing CM 12.1. Now comes the problem, I selected 'restart system' and it did restart and CyanogenMod logo was displayed for few minutes before the phone crashed. I switched it on again normally and the Google logo got displayed, and then again phone got off just after the Google logo. I tried flashing again by same procedure, but this time not even the Cyanogen logo was displayed. The Google logo got displayed and the went off.

Then I decided to restore the backup. Restored it but it still had the same problem at the startup Google logo.

Now I have managed to install CM 12.1, which works fine unless I don't open certain apps. When I open certain apps like Phone or Clock (those are some I have tried yet), it crashes the system.

This maybe a hardware or software problem, but pretty sure it isn't battery problem, coz it retains good charge when I switch it back on after crash.
 

elonus

Senior Member
Nov 27, 2011
373
123
Oslo
OnePlus 7T
I too am facing kinda similar problem.
It first started on my stock Lollipop 5.1.1. I had kept it on charge and when I removed it, it got switched off. Thinking that it might be just another of the multitude of bugs in Lollipop, since I already had lots of problems with it, I decided to flash CM 12.1 Stable on it.

Unlocked bootloader, flashed TWRP recovery, created a backup (using TWRP), wiped data, cache, dalvik and started installing CM 12.1. Now comes the problem, I selected 'restart system' and it did restart and CyanogenMod logo was displayed for few minutes before the phone crashed. I switched it on again normally and the Google logo got displayed, and then again phone got off just after the Google logo. I tried flashing again by same procedure, but this time not even the Cyanogen logo was displayed. The Google logo got displayed and the went off.

Then I decided to restore the backup. Restored it but it still had the same problem at the startup Google logo.

Now I have managed to install CM 12.1, which works fine unless I don't open certain apps. When I open certain apps like Phone or Clock (those are some I have tried yet), it crashes the system.

This maybe a hardware or software problem, but pretty sure it isn't battery problem, coz it retains good charge when I switch it back on after crash.
Since you already unlocked the bootloader, and therefore already wiped everything, you could try flashing a factory image.
 

nsinghal25

New member
Sep 6, 2015
1
0
I also got the same problem. I thought this is battery problem, so I replaced the battery but problem still there. I thought this is problem of lollipop, never installed CM or anything. It is always running stock android. After that I even downgrade to Kitkat stock version still it is not working. One more thing I noticed is If I don't unlock the device than it will be powered on, but as soon as I unlock it and if it is not plugged in to charger it will be switched off. Any suggestion what should I do?
 

shazR00t

New member
Sep 5, 2015
4
1
Since you already unlocked the bootloader, and therefore already wiped everything, you could try flashing a factory image.

Just tried flashing Lollipop 5.1.1 (LMY48I) factory image. The same problem still exists. Faced few weird problems on running the first time. Following scenarios explains it exactly...
Not On Charge: Crashes after startup Google logo
Connected to Laptop (USB Charge): Crashes a few minutess after entering "Optimizing apps" screen
On Charger (AC): Completed the install (optimizing apps and setup) without problems

Now I can access the home screen and menu without problems. But when I start any app, phone will go off. Not just apps, at times even when the recent apps menu is opened.
 

elonus

Senior Member
Nov 27, 2011
373
123
Oslo
OnePlus 7T
Just tried flashing Lollipop 5.1.1 (LMY48I) factory image. The same problem still exists. Faced few weird problems on running the first time. Following scenarios explains it exactly...
Not On Charge: Crashes after startup Google logo
Connected to Laptop (USB Charge): Crashes a few minutess after entering "Optimizing apps" screen
On Charger (AC): Completed the install (optimizing apps and setup) without problems

Now I can access the home screen and menu without problems. But when I start any app, phone will go off. Not just apps, at times even when the recent apps menu is opened.
When you flashed the factory image did you do it via fastboot or by flashing a zip file. If you used the zip file I would suggest you do it with fastboot.
 

shazR00t

New member
Sep 5, 2015
4
1
When you flashed the factory image did you do it via fastboot or by flashing a zip file. If you used the zip file I would suggest you do it with fastboot.

By "flashing zip" you mean using "fastboot update" command? ...If so, nope I didnt. I extracted all compressed files and then flashed each of the img's using fastboot. Flashed a total of 6 img files.
 
Last edited:

elonus

Senior Member
Nov 27, 2011
373
123
Oslo
OnePlus 7T
By "flashing zip" you mean using "fastboot update" command? ...If so, nope I didnt. I extracted all compressed files and then flashed each of the img's using fastboot. Flashed a total of 6 img files.

Yeah, I meant flashing each of the image files. If you did that then u don't have any other suggestions.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 20:42 ---------- Previous post was at 20:41 ----------

By "flashing zip" you mean using "fastboot update" command? ...If so, nope I didnt. I extracted all compressed files and then flashed each of the img's using fastboot. Flashed a total of 6 img files.

Yeah, I meant flashing each of the images. If you did that then I don't have any other suggestions.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 

Ganesh Mane

New member
Sep 12, 2015
1
0
I m too facing the similar issues. Phone is getting turned off suddenly when not charging, on charging it is working fine. i have done factory reset and also done factory image reset to 5.1.0. i m still facing the same issues. I don't think so it is related to battery. if anyone have the solution then please let me know.
 

greg17477

Senior Member
Mar 9, 2009
462
89
By "flashing zip" you mean using "fastboot update" command? ...If so, nope I didnt. I extracted all compressed files and then flashed each of the img's using fastboot. Flashed a total of 6 img files.

Try the very basic flash technique by double clicking the flash-all.bat. It's not the same as flashing the imgs one by one.
 

Nezam

Senior Member
Aug 21, 2012
233
12
Ok guys i confirm that this is a battery issue. I took it to the service center and the guy temporarily replaced battery to show me issue solved... But... there i saw another issue due to which i did not buy the battery. I saw half the touchscreen not working (including the navigation buttons ). The guy at the center told its a h/w issue and i would have to spend 7K on it so i left my phone dead for now. The Question is ... can this be a s/w issue.. or result of bad flash which can solve on reflashing ??
 

beinghuman23

Member
Jul 2, 2014
40
7
same problem with my nexus ,but one thing i noticed that the phone does not power off while in recovery...Any idea??
 

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  • 1
    Battery is the issue. Get it changed. I also faced same problem, and visited LG service center and they changed the battery. Phone working fine now.
    1
    Battery is the issue. Get it changed. I also faced same problem, and visited LG service center and they changed the battery. Phone working fine now.

    Ok so Battery was the problem!! Got it changed, phone working fine now. Thanx all! :)
    1
    hi guys i too had the same issue, phone will turn on only after connecting to charger,unplugging will not turn off the phone and once you start using some apps it will again turn off.Phone wont turn off like this if we are in recovery.
    I went to an local service centre ,opened the phone checked the amp and volt of battery. Battery couldn't provide enough volt /amp to run the phone when its switched on and boots completely ,causing it to turn off instantly. however it doesn't need much volt in recovery mode.
    We can use the phone for few more days while connected to the charger later on battery dies completely and phone wont turn on.All what we can get is recovery mode.
    SO THE SOLUTION FOR THE PROBLEM IS REPLACE YOUR BATTERY.I HAVE ORDERED ONE AND WAITING FOR DELIVERY.
    Its not a hardware fault its the battery which causes the issue.we are dealing with a 3 year old phone and heavily used battery. i recommend use original Lg made OEM li-io polymer battery . 3rd party accessories wont last like the OEM one.
    1
    Replaced at a near LG service center

    Is that problem got solved to u? or still facing the same issue that, if u unplug the charger then it gets off automatically after few seconds...?
    Even i am facing the same issue from today morning.:(

    Yeah the issue is solved for me by changing the battery at the nearest LG service center.
    The battery's cost was some Rs 900 plus, far cheaper than any duplicate battery available out there.