Ok, this is a weird one. I set my alarms last night, and the phone worked fine. This morning, I woke up and performed functions not essential to this post. While I was occupied, my phone's alarm went off. My wife tried to turn it off, but the screen was frozen. After a few minutes, I returned and found it wouldn't respond to anything. I couldn't move the ring on the lock screen, and the phone seemed frozen. I restarted it with the power button, and when it came back up, the phone was displaying nothing but pink tinged non moving static. It appeared that the phone was still functional, as my alarm started going off. (My wife had managed to get the alarm to snooze.)
Experimenting, I found that the touchscreen was still functioning, even though it was only showing the static. When I turn off the screen with the power button, the screen turns off normally. When I turn it back on, it comes back with the field of static. Pressing the home button at this point does nothing. If I move my finger up the screen like I'm unlocking the lockscreen, the home button will cause the haptic feedback vibration as normal. I called the phone from my landline, and it rang normally, just nothing on the screen.
Eventually, I was able to restart the phone into safe mode. It still came back in the field of static, but I found that I could eventually get the phone to show the regular screen. The display was very slow to update at first, though it seemed as if the phone itself was loading what I told it to normally, it just didn't update the screen very fast. For instance, pressing the software information button in the About menu did nothing when the screen seemed frozen, but cycling the power button and clearing the lock screen then opened to the software information being displayed. After a lot of playing with it, I found that if I let the phone rest, it returned to the field of static. By forcing it to do things (turning it on and off, rotating through the home screens, etc) I could eventually get it to show the actual screen. It acts slow, and needs about ten screen turn on/off cycles, then the phone acts normally. Until I let it rest, that is, and then it's back to the field of static.
Even when the field of static is active, the phone will adjust the brightness automatically.
My phone is not rooted, and never has been. I am running Android version 4.0.4, HTC Sense version 4.1. Software version 2.13.651.1 710RD. HTC SDK API level 4.24.
If this keeps it up, I'll be taking it back to sprint on Monday, where I'm sure they'll give me a refurbished one in exchange. (I hate that Sprint thinks that a refurbished phone is a fix for a warranty issue.) Anyone have any ideas as to what is causing this or how to fix it?
I took a picture of the phone with the static display, the link is below:
http://www.dragonflights.net/images/Static.JPG
Thanks,
Daniel
Hi Daniel,
Sorry to hear about your display problem, that definitely isn’t normal behavior! If you have already removed any apps installed from the Google Play Store or other sources, and still have the same problem; the next step would be to perform a Factory Data Reset. I recommend calling in to my teammates in customer support for a step by step walk through on the procedure. You will find the contact number for your area on our website at http://www.htc.com/support
Shoot us a reply back with an update to let us know if your problem improves!
I took it to the sprint store where I got it from. The technician there said it was covered under the warranty, and he attempted a repair. He took it apart with a small torx screwdriver and poked around for about 5 minutes (literally poked around) then seemed impressed with himself that he got it to go from a pure static screen to a static screen with red lines going down it. (I was less than impressed.) After a reboot, it went back to the static screen and I've not been able to get it to come back to a normal view since. They've ordered a new phone for me, and it should be in today. I just hope it's an actual new phone, and not Sprint's usual trick of throwing a refurb at me and calling it a day.
Thanks for the reply, Matt!
Not a problem Mnementh, shoot a reply back if you have any further questions or concerns in the future; we will be here to help you out!
I'm having the IDENTICAL problem with my phone. I've gone as far as trying a hard reboot, to no avail. All my apps, contacts, files, and information are gone, but the pink static screen still remains. Any other suggestions, Matt?
Unfortunately, my experience with Sprint didn't go as well as Daniel's. I called support, who sent me to a specific store where they said I could have an engineer look at my phone, and where I could pick up a new phone. The folks at Sprint told me I had been misdirected, and that they could not help me. They said that If I were to go another store they would be able to ship my phone to HTC, but that it would be a $35 service charge. I quite frankly don't understand why Sprint would charge me $35 to replace a defective piece of equipment.
Anyway, I called HTC, who said I could send it in for repair, but that it could take up to 10 days. That seems like an absurdly long time to be without a phone, and, if possible, not the option I'd like to take. Has anybody figured out what is causing this problem? Or how if there is a way to fix it?
Hi Tfife,
Performing a factory data reset on your device is generally the last resort step for troubleshooting when all else has failed. If your phone still doesn’t work afterward, the problem is likely something physically wrong with the device. The next would be to reach out to my teammates in customer support and call in; the contact number can be found on our website at http://www.htc.com/support for your area.
I am having the same problem :-( It is clearly a problem with the communication between the device and the display electronics. Mine goes from normal to static and back to normal several times a day. I have been actively working on it when it fails, and the screen image slows down and can't refresh to reflect what is actually happening on the device. After a few seconds of that, if goes to a multicolored static field. I seem to be able to get it to go back back by gently tapping and applying gentle twisting to the body of the phone. It does seem to be getting worse. It should be under warranty, so I'll probably send it back to HTC. I am visiting the Sprint store to ask today.
Wow guess I`m not the only one. Phone has been acting weird for awhile touch sensitivty and notification bar not working. Today the display is completely screwed up thousands of pink and light blue pixels on a white backround. The phone rings and receives texts cause I can here the alerts but can not operate the screen to see them. Should have stuck with my original EVO.
My husband's phone is having this same issue. I went to Sprint first and they were anything but helpful. My response from them was I could call HTC (myself) OR for $99 I could get a refurbished phone (excuse me $99 for a refurbished phone?! ummm no). So, I called HTC and told them what was happening...the 1st response I got was "what did you do". Nothing. My husband was making calls on it and I called him back and when he went to it it had this static screen on it. If he is in our car that has bluetooth he can talk to the person on the other end since the steering wheel has the answer buttons on it. HTC only told me I could send it in and see if it's covered under warranty. After seeing all these, it better be!
Mine is doing the same, yet I don't have another phone to call Customer Service available, is there an email address to try and communicate with them?
Mine is doing the same as well. The "static" started randomly one morning, and applying gentle pressure to the rear casing of the phone towards the middle-bottom would "revive" the display. Throughout the next week, the "static" became more and more frequent, until there was no more bringing it back. Its stuck on static now, though the phone and touch screen are clearly working. Sprint wont touch it without a $50 fee to evaluate, and can't promise they will even replace it with a refurb, unless I add insurance (why would I need to insure against a hardware defect?).
I opened a ticket with HTC for repair, but again, i'm going to be stuck without a phone for ~10 days. At least give us the option of proactive replacement of the phone! I'm sure most of us wouldn't mind and putting a hold on a credit card in case HTC determines the issue caused by damage (it is clearly a hardware defect, not cause by damage).
Has anybody had a success story after receiving the Static display issue? I loved my original EVO 4G, but the build quality/cheap feeling of the 4G LTE and now defective hardware... I'm sadly considering leaving HTC for my next handset.