Screen does not turn back on during call

[PatG]

This just started happening with my S4 (it's about 1 year old). During a phone call when I take the phone away from my ear the screen does not come back on automatically. About half the time I can press the power button to activate the screen. But there were a couple of calls yesterday where pressing the power button wouldn't turn on the screen. I wanted to put the phone on speaker but there was no way to do so. Also I can't end the call. During those calls the only time the screen came back on was when the other person ended the call. Has anyone else experienced this type of problem?Thanks!

 

[leeshor]

I have experienced a delay of second or 2, otherwise no problem.

 

[Hoodedzeus]

Yep I've had the same problem. I'm on my 4th phone now because of this. I call Verizon and they want to do there usual Crap with doing a factory reset and what not and it never helps. So they just keep sending new phones. The other day they transfered me to Samsung about it and they couldn't figure it out either. They had me put the phone in safe mode because they thought it was a 3rd party app causing the problem but they were wrong cuz that didn't do crap. I'd say it's a design flaw having the ear piece right next to the proximity sensors allowing dust to get in. Let me know if you find anything more out

 

[PatG]

Yep I've had the same problem. I'm on my 4th phone now because of this. I call Verizon and they want to do there usual Crap with doing a factory reset and what not and it never helps. So they just keep sending new phones. The other day they transfered me to Samsung about it and they couldn't figure it out either. They had me put the phone in safe mode because they thought it was a 3rd party app causing the problem but they were wrong cuz that didn't do crap. I'd say it's a design flaw having the ear piece right next to the proximity sensors allowing dust to get in. Let me know if you find anything more out

Not good news. I was going to try to blow out the ear piece because I read that helped some others, but I had doubts. I see if I can live it it for a while; but I need to get it fixed. I'll post if I find out more or get something to work.

 

[loonie01]

It's a proximity sensor problem. You'll need to get your phone replaced. I tried blowing out the ear piece to get rid of dust and tweaked the sensor software. It's all a temporary fix.

 

[leeshor]

One more thought. Is it in a case? What type?

 

[PatG]

Yes it's on a simple gel case. Not sure exactly what the brand is

 

[leeshor]

Can you try without the case to see if it still acts up?

 

[Caren4u2]

I'm having the same problem along with an additional issue. When I'm on a call sometimes the number keys will light up as if a ghost is dialing a number. Weird. When that happens the mute button gets activated....and then the phone becomes Unresponsive. It won't even power off. I have to do a battery pull.

 

[PatG]

Did some more testing today; called my cell phone from my office phone. When I took the phone away from my ear the screen never came on, not once. I assume it is supposed to come on? I did 5 calls; 4 out of the 5 times I could turn the screen on by pressing the power button. One of the times I could not. I got two calls today; both time the screen would not come on with the power button. So I have a theory that at some point during the call - maybe after 5 minutes - is when I can no longer turn on the screen.

What I don't understand even if the proximity sensor is shot the power button should *always* turn on the screen.

So it's decision time. I am about 3 weeks away from the phone turning 1 year old and the manufacturers warranty is expiring. Nothing else wrong with the phone. So do I go through the hassle of getting and setting up a new phone given that a new phone will be refurbished and may also have problems?

 

[Caren4u2]

So it's decision time. I am about 3 weeks away from the phone turning 1 year old and the manufacturers warranty is expiring. Nothing else wrong with the phone. So do I go through the hassle of getting and setting up a new phone given that a new phone will be refurbished and may also have problems?[/QUOTE]

I would. I've had this issue with my Note 2 for a few months now. It's now progressed to not only going black on me but during calls randomly tapping keys on the keypad (including the mute button) then locking up during calls. Doing a battery pull is the only thing that works. I called tech support....they are saying definitely a hardware issue with proximity switch. My CLN shipped out tonight.

 

[PatG]

After more experimenting the screen does not come on about half the time by pressing the power button. So at about 50% of the calls I can't end the call or check anything else out on the phone. Very disappointing. I did some research about the issue and come to find out there are a lot of threads out there; it seems to be a fairly common problem. Best solution is to get a can of compressed air and blow the air into the ear peace to loosen up any dust. That did not work for me. Another option is to go into one of the menus and fiddle with the proximity sensor; unfortunately Verizon has locked down that menu. Need to be rooted to get access.So short term I disabled the proximity sensor. I have to now turn off the screen manually when I get a call or make a call. Kind of a pain in the butt. Will go down to the Verizon store and see what they say; but will probably exchange the phone. But then there is always the chance of getting a dud.

 

[mettech]

After more experimenting the screen does not come on about half the time by pressing the power button. So at about 50% of the calls I can't end the call or check anything else out on the phone. Very disappointing. I did some research about the issue and come to find out there are a lot of threads out there; it seems to be a fairly common problem. Best solution is to get a can of compressed air and blow the air into the ear peace to loosen up any dust. That did not work for me. Another option is to go into one of the menus and fiddle with the proximity sensor; unfortunately Verizon has locked down that menu. Need to be rooted to get access.So short term I disabled the proximity sensor. I have to now turn off the screen manually when I get a call or make a call. Kind of a pain in the butt. Will go down to the Verizon store and see what they say; but will probably exchange the phone. But then there is always the chance of getting a dud.

I have had the same issue with the phone screen freezing up during a phone call. Samsung had me clear all of the cache. That seems to have worked. Verizion rep told me that the next update will fix the issue.

 

[PatG]

What cache are you talking about? Is it the phone app cache? I tried it but made no difference

 

[mettech]

What cache are you talking about? Is it the phone app cache? I tried it but made no difference

Reset: Samsung Galaxy S 4 | T-Mobile Support

[h=3]Wipe cache partition[/h]If the phone is not working correctly, you may need to master reset it and also clear the cache partition. These two resets clear different parts of the phone storage. Unlike a master reset, wiping the cache partition does not delete your personal data.

To wipe the cache partition, follow these steps:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time:
   • Volume Up key
   • Home key
   • Power key
3. When the phone vibrates, let go of the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
4. When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
5. Press the Volume Down key to highlight 'wipe cache partition.'
6. Press the Power key to select. The phone will automatically restart after the cache is wiped.