[Q] An issue triggers the Tab 10.1 touchscreen not responding.

idsam · Sep 7, 2011

Please don't try anything mentioned below, if you are not familiar with flashing roms and programming ! You've been warned !

The following steps had been done in 4 sets of Galaxy Tab 10.1 (from different sources), all touchscreens become unresponsive within a minute. The system is still running, volumn keys are working, orientation sensor is operational, even the clock and wifi signal is fine. The only problem is the touchscreen. All 4 devices are not rooted, brand new, fully charged, and now returned to Samsung for inspection.

WARNING !!! The following steps may cause you trouble ! I share these steps only because I think some experts here may be able to solve it ! I'm also looking for some proof, if the same problem occurs to Samsung Tab 10.1 devices in different countries.

The steps to trigger an unresponsive touchscreen :
(1). Download and install any file manager from the Market (skip if you already have).
(2). Browse to "/sys/devices/virtual/sec/sec_touch/".
(3). Select all files (excluding folders).
(4). Copy and paste to any other location that have write permission (such as sdcard). Some of the files are not allowed to be copied, so just skip it.

And then, in a short while, the touchscreen will not respond anymore.

The files mentioned in step 2, are some driver files of Atmel mxt1386 (the touchscreen hardware). It seems that users of Acer Iconia also have touchscreen issue, turned out to be using the same hardware.

I know that there are also many users that do not have any touchscreen problem. This may only because those files are not accidentally accessed yet. I'd rather hope that you have a different version of the hardware driver that does not have such problem.

I'd like to ask for help from experts and developers here. But please don't try it if you are not absolutely confident to at least restore the system. Please don't blame me if your Tab becomes un-usable.

For those who are willing to try (at your own risk), I'm much appreciated. And I'd like to say thank you to all of you. Your effort may be helping a lots of users who have this problem.

tier.ru · Sep 27, 2011

Hey idsam,
have you got any ideas how to fix touchscreen broken this way?

dannstarr · Sep 27, 2011

Im sorry, I dont get this.

To me its like saying "I removed my battery and now my device won't turn on"

So, if I dont mess around with my system files and touch screen drivers, then my touch screen will be fine?

If you mean something else, please explain

tier.ru · Sep 27, 2011

Yeah, you got wrong.
Topic starter made too complicated example. The simple description is: if you try to read files from /sys/devices/virtual/sec/sec_touch/ directory - you'll got broken touchscreen. Looks like this operation damages touchscreen firmware, though this won't happen with properly configured/written (by manufacturer) system.
So who wants to read from those files? Any software for any reason. E.g. a lot of users have bricked their devices by doing a full system scan with Dr.Web for Android antivirus.

idsam · Sep 27, 2011

Sorry for the complicated example. I just tried to provide as much information as I could.

Feedback from Samsung is that it need hardware replacement (which is weird due to a software issue). But when they have a lots to sell, they simply says that they don't have parts for replacement at this moment. And they confirmed that flashing rom does not recover the device.

Yes. In most cases, we won't touch those files, except using any kind of antivirus software. I don't think it is limited to one brand, unless the antivirus software doesn't scan system files at all.

Besides, I also noticed that some Tablet users talked about unresponsive touchscreen : some said it happened suddenly; some said after charging for a while; some said having a useless device when woke up in the morning. It is hard to believe that all caused by the same antivirus software, right ?

What I've mentioned in the first post, is a way to trigger the problem. There may be other causes I'm not aware of. Some experts here may be interested in this issue. But it will be quite difficult for them, if they don't know how to replicate the case. This is why I posted the steps in the first place, and hope someone can help.

IDroidThere4Iam · Sep 27, 2011

idsam said:
Sorry for the complicated example. I just tried to provide as much information as I could.

Feedback from Samsung is that it need hardware replacement (which is weird due to a software issue). But when they have a lots to sell, they simply says that they don't have parts for replacement at this moment. And they confirmed that flashing rom does not recover the device.

Yes. In most cases, we won't touch those files, except using any kind of antivirus software. I don't think it is limited to one brand, unless the antivirus software doesn't scan system files at all.

Besides, I also noticed that some Tablet users talked about unresponsive touchscreen : some said it happened suddenly; some said after charging for a while; some said having a useless device when woke up in the morning. It is hard to believe that all caused by the same antivirus software, right ?

What I've mentioned in the first post, is a way to trigger the problem. There may be other causes I'm not aware of. Some experts here may be interested in this issue. But it will be quite difficult for them, if they don't know how to replicate the case. This is why I posted the steps in the first place, and hope someone can help.

When the touchscreen goes unresponsive, do other parts of the device still function? For example, when you hold down the power button, will the shutdown menu appear? When you rotate the device will the orientation change?

I have had an unresponsive touchscreen many many times. I'm not sure it is the same unresponsive touchscreen you talk about here. When mine goes unresponsive I can still use the power button and if I rotate the screen a few times it eventually becomes responsive again.

idsam · Sep 27, 2011

Yes. The power and volume up/down buttons work, orientation sensor also works as a normal device. I tried to rotate the screen, discharge and recharge the battery, but it aside for hours and tried again, nothing helps.

And it is actually confirmed by Samsung that hardware replacement is needed. They said that they tried to recover the device by flashing rom, but failed.

Lanky14 · Sep 27, 2011

so I have the same problem. Quite frustrating. Not only that, I've noticed that there is a vertical 1-2 inch area from top to bottom of the screen that doesn't ever respond to touch.

I'm sending it to Samsung

AlexNovoross · Oct 1, 2011

Hi Idsam, I'm from Russia and have a same problem. After full scan by Dr. Web the touchscreen not responding and now I don't know what to do, beacause I've bought my Samsung in USA in Bestbuy, but now I'm at home in Russia, no warranty, no service, nothing. May be somebody can give me advise?

idsam · Oct 1, 2011

To be honest, it seems that Samsung doesn't have a solution yet. And probably worse, Samsung did not modify the driver at all, which means Atmel is responsible to fix the problem. No matter what, you can wait, but who knows how long it takes.

I think Best Buy has refund policy. You should discuss with them asap, as this kind of policy is normally time limited. You may consider to pay for delivery, in order to minimize your lost. If they refuse to refund for you, then you may need to contact Samsung Russia. I'm sure they know about this issue, and perhaps you may discuss with them. Still, you may need to consider to pay a little more as repair service charge.

BUT, I'm not saying you should pay more for what they've done wrong. It is only a suggestion, in order to speed up the process and at least minimize your lost.

The last option, I think, is to wait until Samsung announce a solution. If the method to fix it doesn't require hardware exchange, perhaps you may get information from Samsung and try to solve it by yourself.

As I know, when the touchscreen issue occurred, the Android system is actually still running WITHOUT problem. It means that you may still control the device by using ADB via USB. So, if Samsung can provide a patch, it may be easily fixed. I'm not sure if it is possible or not, just hope it will be as simple as that.

oawalker · Oct 1, 2011

I think I heard to get it on hold the lock button for 10 seconds then touch the screen the it should turn bk on try it let me know if it works

AlexNovoross · Oct 3, 2011

Thanks for your answer. As I understood we have to wait patch from Samsung and when they provide this patch then problem can be fix without hdd replacement?

---------- Post added at 07:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:23 AM ----------

oawalker said:
I think I heard to get it on hold the lock button for 10 seconds then touch the screen the it should turn bk on try it let me know if it works

No, it doesn't help. Only one method left - use the hammer.

idsam · Oct 3, 2011

oawalker said:
I think I heard to get it on hold the lock button for 10 seconds then touch the screen the it should turn bk on try it let me know if it works

Thanks for your suggestion, which I tried before and didn't help. Actually, I wouldn't start this thread if it is that simple. But probably too risky for anyone to try to fix this.

AlexNovoross said:
Thanks for your answer. As I understood we have to wait patch from Samsung and when they provide this patch then problem can be fix without hdd replacement?

I can't say if hardware replacement is needed or not. I just *HOPE* that a patch will be able to fix the problem, which should be the best news for all of us.

oawalker · Oct 3, 2011

idsam said:
Thanks for your suggestion, which I tried before and didn't help. Actually, I wouldn't start this thread if it is that simple. But probably too risky for anyone to try to fix this.

I can't say if hardware replacement is needed or not. I just *HOPE* that a patch will be able to fix the problem, which should be the best news for all of us.

I hope Samsung can patch this up when they update to 3.2 if that update comes

g.s.w · Oct 4, 2011

Does this mean i Lost my Tap if that patch did't come out..

!!!???

idsam · Oct 5, 2011

Honestly, only Samsung can answer your question. But my steps can help you to show proof to them that it is a design flaw, and force them to admit that it is their responsibility to provide solution.

sp3dev · Oct 16, 2011

This is, unfortunately, the known issue with all mxt1386, mxt224 and qt64-blah-something touchscreens. I have wasted a week debugging my iconia and have experienced tons of butthurt. To put it simple, when an error occurs in the touchscreen controller, it does not report proper ID, but an error code instead. Some versions of drivers (like Asus one) just return -ENODEV in that case. Acer's driver was intended to handle it, but was written poorly and died in a deadlock in such an event. My solution was to comment out semaphores and other synchronization techniques and that got past the device detection and cleared error bits.

You can read more in http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1143892 and try to use the drivers from iconia (the patched drivers are also uploaded and there's a link in that thread)

joealley · Oct 20, 2011

I have the same problem with my Galaxy Tab P1010. I can get into download and recovery mode i can move the selection using the volume button but i can't press the power to enter my selected option.

I have already tried re-installing the latest available firmware for my device using ODIN 1.7. Eventually everything seems to be ok until i reach the point where you select the language. I can't select any option mainly because the touchscreen is unresponsive. All along i thought this problem is only software? Hopefully somebody can find the solution to this.

idsam · Oct 20, 2011

sp3dev said:
This is, unfortunately, the known issue with all mxt1386, mxt224 and qt64-blah-something touchscreens. I have wasted a week debugging my iconia and have experienced tons of butthurt. To put it simple, when an error occurs in the touchscreen controller, it does not report proper ID, but an error code instead. Some versions of drivers (like Asus one) just return -ENODEV in that case. Acer's driver was intended to handle it, but was written poorly and died in a deadlock in such an event. My solution was to comment out semaphores and other synchronization techniques and that got past the device detection and cleared error bits.

You can read more in http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1143892 and try to use the drivers from iconia (the patched drivers are also uploaded and there's a link in that thread)

It seems that the second link is invalid. Besides, it is necessary to root the device and flash CWM recovery first, right ?

I mean, it may be a bit risky. I read your post before, but not sure if it is the same issue. If it is not, and the device is rooted, the official warranty may be voided too.

sp3dev · Oct 29, 2011

I have updated the links but the recovery image is only valid for the Iconia tablet. I mean, one could try using the attached driver sources and add them to the kernel but that will require at least flashing custom kernel. Samsung seems to be releasing a firmware update to fix this issues but people familiar with linux kernel development may try experimenting with the driver from acer.

[Q] An issue triggers the Tab 10.1 touchscreen not responding.

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