Help Keyboard keys intermittently stop funtioning. Anyone else had this?

[ctenorman]

Hi,

I'm the otherwise happy owner of a new Evo 3D. However, for some reason some of the keyboard keys will intermittently stop functioning. Particularly affected are the "E", "L" and "Backspace" buttons. They'll work just fine for a few minutes, then stop working for about 5 seconds, then kick back in again. When they work, they work great. But when they don't...

I've tried a factory reset, but that hasn't fixed it in the long term at least (it came back within a day, and I wasn't typing too much before that). It hasn't been rooted. And I haven't installed any other keyboards except for a wifi keyboard which came with remote web desktop, and I have turned it off. I have installed go launcher ex as a replacement for sense, and swapped out a few apps like sms, but again, it's unrooted.

Has anyone else had this problem? Is it a faulty device or is it a faulty piece of software causing the problem?

Thank you in advance for any feedback you have on your experiences or thoughts on what it might be!

-------------------

I've tracked down the cause of my strangely behaving keyboard, and the cause oddly enough is the installation of any new lock screen.

Whether it was "no lock", or an alternate lock screen app, the phone's keyboard operated less reliably after doing so. For example, certain keys wouldn't fire for several seconds, in particular the "l", "backspace", and "e" keys. At first I thought I was nuts, but tested it with quite a few lock programs and found the trouble appeared every time I tried a new lock program, and went away without fail every time I removed it.

Could someone else please confirm this behaviour on their phone, and maybe we could submit something to HTC about this, as I'd love to run No Lock on my E3D without compromising touch screen performance. Thanks!

 

[Thefoodman52]

Question ... do you have an issue with the phone not responding to touches in the particular spots?

This sounds more like a cracker jack digitizer more than anything else. I know a few third party keyboards can be unresponsive, but that's usually due to them just being bad. HTC's keyboard works fine, even on other phones, which is kinda leading me to believe that its the phone at fault.

When in doubt, stop by a Sprint store and have it checked out.

 

[kenn]

http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/385159-htc-test-program.html

This thread describes how to run the internal test program. It will let you draw lines on your screen to test the digitizer. Try drawing around the area where the keys aren't working and see if your screen has some dead areas...

 

[PyroSporker]

You also may want to peruse this thread:
http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/391315-phone-has-mind-its-own-possible-faulty-digitizer.html

 

[chris20nyy]

Experiencing the same issue. Keyboard interm stops responding when texting. I can hit the backspace button and it works. Happens once or twice a day.

Not rooted, using Gingerbread keyboard in handcent sms.

 

[atistang]

my keyboard likes to randomly disappear when i am typing, it comes right back when i click the text box, but its still annoying

 

[814 htc evo]

I have the same problem not rooted stock gingerbread and handcent sms keyboard I'm glad I'm not the only one I thought my phone was a ****ed up version but mine does that same Shit atleast once a day!!!!

 

[PyroSporker]

my keyboard likes to randomly disappear when i am typing, it comes right back when i click the text box, but its still annoying

This is unrelated to the original post, but yeah mine does this too in the messaging application. I think it happens as the message application clears the unread message count from the main screen. Its as if you get ahead of the system then it catches up with itself.

Sometimes my messages will all of a sudden flip to the top of the message thread too, mid-typing. It makes it so you can't even send the message or continue typing it. Then I will have to back all the way out to the menu and continue from the draft. It is pretty annoying as well.

-------------------

I've tracked down the cause of my strangely behaving keyboard, and the cause oddly enough is the installation of any new lock screen.

Whether it was "no lock", or an alternate lock screen app, the phone's keyboard operated less reliably after doing so. For example, certain keys wouldn't fire for several seconds, in particular the "l", "backspace", and "e" keys. At first I thought I was nuts, but tested it with quite a few lock programs and found the trouble appeared every time I tried a new lock program, and went away without fail every time I removed it.

Could someone else please confirm this behaviour on their phone, and maybe we could submit something to HTC about this, as I'd love to run No Lock on my E3D without compromising touch screen performance. Thanks!

Interesting findings. Hopefully someone else that uses 'No Lock' or other locks will be along to help confirm or deny. Or maybe someone else that is willing to test this out on their device for you. You could also go to a Sprint store and utilize the display model as a guinea pig

 

[Thefoodman52]

Well, as a contest (I think) towards it not being a lock screen application...

I quite often sit in bed just laying back after I get out of A School to relax for an hour or so, and I use poweramp, along with its alternative lockscreen for when music is playing.

I haven't had any issues yet, with or without music playing.




Also a random problem shot here... is there any water directly on the screen when you have these issues? I know that right after I wash my hands or something, I have to thoroughly dry my hands or my screen doesn't respond right. It just messes with the digitizer. Even small amounts of water.
Just a shot in the dark, never know. If its sprinkling outside... :S

 

[ctenorman]

I know it sounds nuts, but it's without question the lock screen that does it. I don't even have to uninstall it. I can simply disable and re-enable the "no lock" program, re-unlock the phone and the problem disappears.

Here's a good way to test it. Download and install no lock or any other lock screen changing program (whether it eliminates or changes the lock screen). Then use your phone, turning the display on and off a few times, for say 10-15 min. Then open up a window where you can type in some text for a while. Put your phone down on a table. With your left index finger move along the letters on the top of the keyboard. Between each letter type "L" (not caps) twice between each letter. The output will look something like this:

"qllwllellrlltllyllullillollpllallslldllfllgllhlljllkll"

With the lockscreen operating normally, I can reproduce that line 100% of the time. With a program operating that changes or eliminates the lock screen, I will never get that same output - there will always be "L"s and possibly other letters missing, despite pressing them without question.

If someone wants to try replicating that test I'd really appreciate it. Maybe then we can figure out where to go from there. Thanks!

 

[Thefoodman52]

I'm currently ill in bed with flu right now, might try it in a couple days to verify however.

 

[ctenorman]

I've also emailed HTC support about the problem, it will be interesting to hear what they have to say back.

I'm very glad I found the source of this problem, I was on the verge of returning what is otherwise a fantastic phone!

 

[PyroSporker]

Here's a good way to test it. Download and install no lock or any other lock screen changing program (whether it eliminates or changes the lock screen). Then use your phone, turning the display on and off a few times, for say 10-15 min. Then open up a window where you can type in some text for a while. Put your phone down on a table. With your left index finger move along the letters on the top of the keyboard. Between each letter type "L" (not caps) twice between each letter. The output will look something like this:

"qllwllellrlltllyllullillollpllallslldllfllgllhlljllkll"

Are you a really quick typist? Perhaps you could be having a multi-touch issue?
EVO 3D Touch Screen (Multi-Touch) Issues - YouTube

I'm currently ill in bed with flu right now, might try it in a couple days to verify however.

Get better dude!

 

[themuffinman75]

This is totally out of left field here but for those that are having issues with the phones lack of responsiveness, is your phone actually plugged in at the time and if it is are you using a different charger that came with the phone? I have seen many instances where crap chargers have affected the phone is bizarre ways. Just the other day a co-worker of mines was getting pissed off at her inspire 4g because it will never want to act right and she couldn't figure out why. She when to att several times on the issue and it was never resolved. I looked at her phone and I looked at her charger and I told her it was the charger that was causing it. I told her to use her oem charger exclusively to see if it made a difference and it did, the issue hasn't happened since. I also had an after market charger in my office and sometimes my 3vo would not recognize half of my inputs but it only happens when I am using a crap charger. I have also seen similar issues with my sisters thunderbolt as well as my original evo 4g.

Again, this may not apply here but I just wanted to mention it.

 

[ctenorman]

I'm sorry to hear that thefoodman52!

I'd agree that these other things could be possibilities for some. In my case though, I can start and stop the problem with 100% reproducibility by turning on and off new lock screen apps.

Thankfully the touchscreen functions perfectly when I don't modify the lock screen, so the work-around is fairly straightforward.

Thanks for your feedback and ideas!

 

[ctenorman]

Here's the official word from HTC:

Thank you for taking the time to contact HTC in regards to your new EVO 3D from Rogers.

We are sorry to hear that you are experiencing these issues when using a screen lock program. However, HTC does not support or endorse any third party apps. The installation and use of these apps is done at your discretion. The reason for this is because third party applications can sometimes have effects on other parts of your phone.

If you find that you are having issues with your keyboard when this application is running, our recommendation would be to remove it.

As always, we are here to answer any technical questions or concerns you may have between 6am to 1am EDST, 7 days a week for your convenience, or by phone at 1-866-449-8358.

To send a reply to this message or let me know I have successfully answered your question log in to our ContactUs site using your email address and your ticket number 11CACW34ENA000113.

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Well, so much for HTC working on a fix! I suppose the next step is to contact the lock screen changers. Grrrrr...

 

[chris20nyy]

I have no 3rd party lock screen software installed. So I can attribute this issue to that.

The only thing I have done so far is switch back to the factory keyboard. Did it about an hour ago and haven't had the issue since. Maybe it's the Gingerbread keyboard? Would love to get to the bottom of this.


FYI: This is also happening with the phone completely unplugged.

 

[ctenorman]

The issue occurs on every keyboard I've tried it on. After doing some more reading it seems that it's related to an issue about the sleep button not being released and it affecting multi-touch. It seems that when you click the lock button but don't actually unlock from the lock screen, the phone is assuming you still have the sleep button pressed. Then once you start hitting more than one key at a time on the keyboard (which I do when I type very quickly), it thinks you're performing some sort of other operation. Basically finding a way to get the phone to register the sleep button as being released is the thing we need to do.

It also appears that alternate kernels and roms in some cases fix this simply by being either newer or older. Perhaps flashing a new kernel will do the job, though I don't really feel like doing that just at the moment. And perhaps down the road if we get an upgrade to ice cream sandwich the issue will be fixable as well. Here's hoping!

 

[Spdy]

THANK YOU!..I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE!..haha sorry for the caps but honestly i thought this was just a fault with my phone...this seems to be a widespread issue as this has happened to other evo 3d owners i know as well as myself. Trust me this has happened to ALL of my keyboards as well as my screen in general...but.. i will definitely try out that internal test to see if anything is wrong. Dont worry op you aren't alone in this lol.

 

[themuffinman75]

Well like I said earlier, the only time I have these exact issues is when my phone is charging using a cheap charger. This issue seems similar to the grounding issues on the original evo where parts of the screen appeared to be unresponsive or in some cases the phone will be doing all sorts of things on its own.

 

[chevyblazer72]

I'm really new to this forum thing and have never done it before so i dont really know what im doing but i am currently experiencing these kinds of problems. When i am texting (I'm a frequent texter) my keyboard almost never lets me use the letter I, K, or the letter N. of course with that comes 8,?, and for some weird reason i can still use the ( + ) which is in place of the N i can not use on my letter keyboard. My phone also seems to get a mind of its own and kind of go crazy sometimes typing things on its own and opening internet and zooming in and out of Facebook(which is always my most frequent internet usage) and going to pictures and through the news feed, liking whatever it wants and doing all sorts of things. Along with actually opening my camera every now and then ( this ones rare) and taking pictures by itself

i guess i was wondering if these problems were similar to yours ? and if you have had any luck with fixing them ? anything would really help and be much appreciated , thanks !

 

[wake69]

Have you tried another keyboard? It may be a dead spot

 

[chevyblazer72]

I tried messing around with my phone for a while and seeing if i could get anything to work, i realized that i had downloaded the handcent sms app instead of using my original text messaging but that didnt make a diffrence at all. And i saw the video that you posted PYROSPORKER , and believe i downloaded the same exact drawing app that you used in your video ( at least i think so ) and as your phone left out parts of the line where your screen you said was unresponsive or dead in those areas. My phone didn't just not draw the line in those spots but instead will jump over to the right or left depending how close or far away from the right edge of the screen i am. And drawing a straight line up and down it will basically zig zag straight lines to the left and right at diffrent angels

I have attached a picture that i stupidly drew in paint of pretty damn close to identically what my screen looks like in the drawing app and yours from the video

as you can see to the left of where my screen seems to have the problems is pretty much fine and where the lines zig zag between the two straight lines i drew my fingers up and down and it kept shooting those patterns in between the lines .

any comments or advice would really help !

thanks

 

[chevyblazer72]

yea i went to the factory text message app and the keyboard still wont let me use the same letters and symbols, along with using the same keyboard on the internet etc.
and it doesn't seem to be dead , because when i hit the spot where the I should be it always gives me a U or O ; and the same with the other letters and symbols too. Its like its just jumping to a diffrent spot about the length of my thumb fingernail to the left or right , which im guessing is why im getting the letters next to them instead of the actual letters.. and it only started with I . then progressed to N , and then K along with the symbols in there place.

And it would usually only last for a little while and be fine a majority of the day, but now it is full time. Along with the screen going crazy from time to time

 

[JunBringer]

I had issues with my keyboard as well and come to find out it was from using an alternate lock screen app, just like OP said. Haven't had issues since removing it.