Droid 2 unresponsive after turning screen off

[a_husband21]

Whew! I was expecting to get laid out! Haha!!
To explain further about the difference in the two keys: the home key will leave an application open AND running in the background with a higher priority than others.
The back key will leave the application open but no longer running, with a lower priority. After a short period of not being used, or if another application needs the resources, it will be shut down. This is how Android manages applications and also why task killers are unnecessary.
Basically, what could be happening is that the OS has too many "running" applications with a "no shut down priority" so it shuts down (reboots) to shut them all down itself. If any of you know anything about amplifiers, this would be just like amp going into "protection".

Interesting!!! I will keep that in mind. I have been wondering if the home/back button actually shut down an application. Thanks

 

[FoxKat]

Folks, I did experience this on my D2, but only after having it for about 2 months. I called Verizon last week to explain the problem and the rep immediately said it was a known problem related to the power button. I suggested it could be an app I was running, and said I'd be happy to do a hard reset, but he said that wouldn't be necessary. Motorola is aware of the problem and their instructions to Verizon is to replace any phones which exhibit this symptom. He then proceeded to ship me out a new phone, which I received Tuesday.

As it was explained to me, apparently there's a sort of "watchdog" process built into the phone (term stolen from a responder to this same issue on another thread). I'm not sure if it's hard coded into the processor or if it's a foundation level process that runs, but it watches to see if the power button is pushed or if the keyboard slider is opened (along with perhaps hundreds if not thousands of other potential status changes), and then looks to see if the screen responds. First, if it doesn't see the two happen one right after the other, it then tries to start up the screen itself. It may try this several times for all I know - it makes sense. This explains why the screen will wake on its own sometimes upto half a minute or more after unsuccessful button presses or keyboard openings. Second, if it still doesn't see the screen respond after a time-out period (could be 1 minute?), then it does a self-initiated reboot. You will notice the self-initiated reboot never shows the White M (Motorola logo), but starts from a Black screen and goes right to the Droid eye animation.

This is apparently some kind of fail-safe mechanism, not unlike a forced reboot on a Windows based PC when the operating system becomes unstable, and it is the phone's attempt to resume normal operation, hand back control to the user, and (hopefully) resolve whatever was hanging the phone up in the first place. Perhaps those well versed in Linux can contribute a better (or more correct) explanation than my novice's representation.

Now, what actually caused the hang which results in the above? Well, I have yet to identify it. Perhaps armed with the knowledge above someone can drill down to the root cause and let us all know. It could be the issue mentioned regarding whether you use the back button or home button to leave an app, thereby leaving too many running processes. It could be a conflict between any two specific apps, or it could be a conflict in interrupts. Well, I am speculating at this point, but the new phone doesn't do the same thing...yet, so I am at least pleased of that.

 

[tiesto]

I have a similar problem sometimes, my screen will turn on and off quickly a bunch of times and then when I unlock it, the phone just starts opening random apps. Hasn't happened recently so maybe it stopped. Dont know what it was though...

 

[TooClose]

Originally Posted by Droid DOES!!
"Whew! I was expecting to get laid out! Haha!!
To explain further about the difference in the two keys: the home key will leave an application open AND running in the background with a higher priority than others.
The back key will leave the application open but no longer running, with a lower priority. After a short period of not being used, or if another application needs the resources, it will be shut down. This is how Android manages applications and also why task killers are unnecessary.
Basically, what could be happening is that the OS has too many "running" applications with a "no shut down priority" so it shuts down (reboots) to shut them all down itself. If any of you know anything about amplifiers, this would be just like amp going into "protection".

I can verify this ^ When I first purchased my D2 I always used the home button to exit applications. I took the phone back to the store and the rep advised me to use the "back" arrow to exit the apps instead of the home key. I have been doing this for about a week now and I have not had the issue since. Hopefully it's not dumb luck.

 

[FoxKat]

I have a similar problem sometimes, my screen will turn on and off quickly a bunch of times and then when I unlock it, the phone just starts opening random apps. Hasn't happened recently so maybe it stopped. Dont know what it was though...

Tiesto, the problems you are having sound like what some (including myself) have experienced while the phone is connected to a non-Motorola charger. My charger next to my bed is a third-party charger and although it does charge the phone properly and doesn't cause any issues otherwise, if I try to use the phone while connected (which I rarely do), it acts very strangely. Sometimes the screen will scroll up and down sporatically while I have my finger on one spot. It will also open, jump from and to, and close applications as though it has a mind of its own.

If I disconnect the charger, the phone immediately becomes 100% compliant and operates exactly as expected. Connect the charger and the flakiness comes right back. This also happened with a non-Motorola/Verizon car adapter, but I eliminated that adapter and don't experience the problem in the car anymore.

I believe the issue is RF interference and the third-party charger not being well filtered for line noise or other "digital" interference. Since the circuitry is microscopically small and extremely compacted in the space what would normally not be an issue for other electronic components becomes critical for these miniature computers.

Just a thought.

 

[dankarlinski]

Whew! I was expecting to get laid out! Haha!!
DroidForums junkie!!

oh ill lay you out alright



my last droid 2 (before it was replaced) had the same issue, but it happened right out of the box (er... replacement fedex box). i called verizon and did some searching and it turns out it is a moto issue. there a small nukmber of droid 2 and X users having random reboots after pressing the power button to "sleep".


here are a few after a quick google search


http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-2-tech-issues/104548-droid-2-restarts-itself-standby.html

https://supportforums.motorola.com/message/305300

Droid Life Forum • View topic - Droid X random restarts and other problems



all the posts seem to point to the Cell Standby feature.

 

[silverfang77]

Mine does that as well! I always exit apps by using the back button, so low memory shouldn't be a problem for me. The only ways I've been able to get it functional again were to reboot (Alt+Shift+Del) or to plug it in if the charger is available.

I hope Motorola will fix this in a system update, or perhaps Gingerbread.

 

[debjself]

Droid 2 Blank screen

I got my Droid 2 on 1/4/11 and had it activated/ It lasted all of 4 hours and went to a black screen. Carried it to verizon and they did a hard reset. That lasted a few hours and back to the store I went for hard reset. Each time the screen was black except for notification bar. None of the buttons would respond at all. So today it is working fine and I turn on screen and it is black again. Went to store and they did another hard reset. Said it was a app I had that was causing it and refused to replace the phone. All I had downloaded was 5 apps on it. It is averaging about every 2 days and powering it off will also bring up a black screen. It is stock and I hope this bug gets fixed.

 

[siriusgamer]

Uninstall all of your apps and use it. If it happens again and you have no apps installed, then you have a bad phone and they will have to replace it.

 

[silverfang77]

Call Verizon's 1-800 number. They are said to be more competent than the in-store reps.

 

[chrstdvd]

This is interesting. I have had my D2 since Sept. I have had a black screen a few times. I do not remember the circumstance or what I did to resolve the problem,

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums App

 

[Altimos]

I have had these blank screen/reboot issues on my D2 as well. I'm usually very concious about exciting apps and removing foreground processes. It has ben happening on stock rom and still happens after I flashed to squidly rom. I use a program called watchdog lite to monitor the cpu usage, also a root program that changed the minfree value of the android system to kill apps more effectively when memory is needed.i will be calling verizon in the next few days to are about a replacement phone

 

[HIcycles]

Dagnabbit. I just got my global, and it's doing this...

 

[millervee]

I have had my D2 since august and it has always had problems with the black sleep screen. I am constantly erasing apps just because I do not use them and yet it continues to get worse. Especially since I started reading books on my phone. Sometimes I have to take the battery out just to get it to start up again.

Sent from my DROID2

 

[silverfang77]

Just keep thinking Gingerbread, Gingerbread.