Help diagnosing freezes and random reboots

stoobie-doo

Senior Member
May 2, 2008
447
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Dallas
I am hoping someone has dealt with either of the following problems, and come up with a way to effectively diagnose and fix either.

The phone - 1101 build; running AT&T Stock KK4; rooted via kernel swap method (using stock KK4 kernel after swap, i.e., do not have clockwork recovery); some AT&T bloatware frozen with TiBu, otherwise stock with root

Problem #1 - roughly once a day, the phone will freeze when in sleep mode; I have had this happen with both the slide to unlock and Exchange PIN lock screen up; when I hit power to wake the phone, the screen wakes up but is unresponsive and then the screen won't shot off again; live wallpaper is frozen in place, but if the phone was plugged in, the battery icon continues with the animation loop. And if the phone is not plugged in, battery power drops rapidly in this state.
The phone isn't completely dead, because if I connect/disconnect it via USB (set to debug mode) to my laptop, the computer recognizes the phone is connected, but it is dead enough that if I call the phone, it does not recognize the missed call. The only way I can restore the phone is a battery pull. Usually it takes several minutes for the phone to come back after this, acting like it would if I had flushed the dalvik cache or installed an update.zip from recovery.

Problem #2 -also roughly once a day, at random times the screen will wake up momentarily, then clear, and I will hear the AT&T boot up sound, after a short while, the phone will run through the media scanner and any other startup launches, acting as though it had been turned on, but the battery stats show continuous uptime throughout. I have had this happen when using the phone, including when on a phone call (and the call did not drop).

I have seen problem #2 on virtually all of the AT&T GB leaks, and it seems to get more frequent the more apps that are installed. I had not seen problem #1 until recently.

The phone is out of warranty, and owned by my employer. I am not due for a new phone from them until July. I've done more master clear/reflash stock cycles than I care to admit, tried replacing/testing for disk errors the external SD card, etc..., and am afraid of doing that and having the problems come up again.

Any thoughts on how to diagnose either of these problems?
 

RootTheMachine

Senior Member
Oct 4, 2011
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Hmm... I don't really think there is an exact diagnosis for any of these issues. Some phones are just problematic like that. The only thing I can suggest is trying a different ROM or kernel, and that might help your stability.
 

miscrap

Senior Member
Jan 17, 2011
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I have the exact same problems. Hope someone comes up with a fix. The only help I can give you is that when the phone freezes, instead of pulling the battery, you can hold the vol up & power buttons for 10 seconds and the phone will restart. Easier than pulling your phone apart, especially if you have it in a case, like I do.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk
 

stoobie-doo

Senior Member
May 2, 2008
447
37
28
Dallas
Hmm... I don't really think there is an exact diagnosis for any of these issues. Some phones are just problematic like that. The only thing I can suggest is trying a different ROM or kernel, and that might help your stability.
So, the way I see it, unfortunately these problems could be a function of:
Bad hardware
Misbehaving app
ROM issue
Kernel issue

I tried pretty much every leaked AT&T GB ROM and had random reboots with all of them. Seems to track with the number of apps installed, but can't prove that. I have not tried any custom ROMs or kernels.

Since this is technically not my phone, I am trying to avoid doing anything that can't really be undone if I need to turn the phone back in at some point. And I need something that can be a daily driver for work calls and Exchange email, and rely heavily on tethering when I am on the road.

Anyone with ideas on what to test, or how to capture enough log information to figure out where the problem is, would be a big help. Otherwise, I am stuck riding this out until July when I can get a new phone from my employer.
 

stoobie-doo

Senior Member
May 2, 2008
447
37
28
Dallas
Nothing you do can't be undone, it's just a simple Odin flash away.

Be sure to back up your efs folder before flashing too much
I've used Odin with the various GB leaks; if I go further afield (heck, performance is dicey already, how many more problems could I have with one of the ICS alphas:rolleyes:), is it still a straight shot back to stock KK4, or are there other steps to do first?

And before I go down that road, any suggestions on diagnostics (other than yet again pulling apps off of the Captivate to see if one of them is the culprit...?)
 

RootTheMachine

Senior Member
Oct 4, 2011
2,092
534
0
I've used Odin with the various GB leaks; if I go further afield (heck, performance is dicey already, how many more problems could I have with one of the ICS alphas:rolleyes:), is it still a straight shot back to stock KK4, or are there other steps to do first?

And before I go down that road, any suggestions on diagnostics (other than yet again pulling apps off of the Captivate to see if one of them is the culprit...?)
You actually might have less problems on ICS. But it all depends. You can always get back to stock with one, bootloader-free, safe flash. Diagnostics wise, there isn't really much you can do besides removing apps. I would only worry about the ones that are constantly running in the background, as they could possibly be screwing with the phone while in sleep. I think it's unlikely that this sort of testing would actually help though. I still say try something different.
 

rcartwr

New member
Mar 31, 2012
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Chattanooga
Anyone with ideas on what to test, or how to capture enough log information to figure out where the problem is, would be a big help. Otherwise, I am stuck riding this out until July when I can get a new phone from my employer.
I am having the same issues except in my case I have tried to recreate the conditions and check memory and I am close to maxing it out. Part of my problem is that I come from a Palm background and I have found that Android, or at least the Cappy, is not as responsive (I was really spoiled by Cards on my Pre) I was thinking that my Android noobness is causing me to push the phone too hard and locking it up. FWIW, you might want to check memory issues