Power button does not work, software of hardware issue?

SuperAkuma · August 15th, 2011, 03:02 AM

Had my captivate for almost a year now. The GPS never worked well and the battery always sucked but I got used to all of that.

Currently running a custom Froyo rom, had it for about 7 months now with the same rom without any problem.

Just a few minutes ago I tried to turn on my phone and I couldn't turn it one. So I removed the battery and put it back in to restart the phone. It came on and everything was great until the screen turned off again. I tried turning it back on by pressing the power button and it does not turn on the phone. So I removed the battery and reinstalled it again. Still the same thing.

So while my phone was a sleep, I plugged in the USB cable and it turned on the phone and I was able to use it again until it goes to sleep again. Everything is full function except the power buttom

The last time I installed a new program was about 3 days ago and it was a game. I didn't do anything else to the phone, no updates or anything.

Is there a way to test to see if this is a hardware issue or a software issue?

update:
I think it is a hardware issue. I put the recovery mode by holding the power up/down button at the same time while I reboot, the phone. I am able to get to the recovery mode and the power button still does not work. On the recovery mode, the power button is the enter button but nothing happens.

Usil · August 16th, 2011, 01:34 PM

You could also try running adb logcat and see if you are getting any messages that would tell you that you are getting that keypress. Here is an example from my logcat when I hit the power key:

I/power ( 192): *** set_screen_state 1
D/Sensors ( 192): Smb380Sensor::~enable(0,1)
D/Sensors ( 192): Smb380Sensor::~enable(0, 1) open /sys/class/input/event1/device/enable
D/Sensors ( 192): Smb380Sensor::~enable(0, 1) opened /sys/class/input/event1/device/enable
D/Sensors ( 192): Smb380Sensor::~setDelay(0, 200000000)

If you do not see message traffic from the keypress then you may be correct in assuming a hardware malfuction. If you do see messages I would suggest that you flash back to a stock rom to see if that helps fix your issue. Another good place to look is to adb shell then cat /proc/kmsg. My two cents!

Killowatt59 · August 24th, 2011, 10:26 AM

I've got the EXACT same problem. I called Samsung repair and it took me two days to finally get to talk to someone......After an hour of being on hold, I just hung up....BUT when I did talk someone they provided good customer service and let me know it should still be under warranty as long as I didn't damage it.

They sent me a shipping label and everything. They said 6-10 days to fix it and get it back to me. So that's what I am going to do...but our problems are exactly the same.

I even took my power button off to see if it wasn't getting a connection, but that didn't help either.

reinbeau · September 4th, 2011, 09:27 PM

SuperAkuma, Try taking a picture. Seriously. Take a picture and then see if your power button doesn't start working again. Don't ask me why, but it works.