Help S2 keeps rebooting

[Russell Ng]

How do you know you do not have any apps installed in the external microSD card? You need to go to "Settings/Manage Applications" and under the On SD tab, look for any apps that are marked. You won't know if you try searching your external microSd card using My Files since those files are hidden. You can connect to PC and browse that way. There should be a folder Android_secure where these files are kept.

Not sure why the phones reboots, but if keeping the apps off the SD card works, I guess its still a good way.

Cheers

 

[aworbey]

I have a 16GB SD card and mine reboots. It only ever reboots in the evening and it seems when WiFi is on as it never reboots at work where my WiFi is switched off. Mine often reboots just sat on my desk, not even in my pocket!

My WiFi is switched on usually about 5pm and by about 8-9pm is when it rebbots. Super pain!

I have a couple of games on my SD card but the majority are on my internal memory

 

[Robert Webb]

How do you know you do not have any apps installed in the external microSD card? You need to go to "Settings/Manage Applications" and under the On SD tab, look for any apps that are marked. You won't know if you try searching your external microSd card using My Files since those files are hidden.

Oops, I stand corrected! Sill learning how this thing works. I do have quite a few apps ticked on the SD tab.

I presume if these really are causing reboots, then it should only be the ones which are running that could possibly cause the problem? In other words, if I find the overlap between running apps and apps on SD card, then in theory I should only have to move those.

Hard to imagine having apps on the SD card should matter, unless it's access to the SD card itself that's faulty, in which case any access, such as playing music, should be just as likely to cause the problem. Probably more likely due to more data being accessed.

Thoughts?
Rob.

 

[Russell Ng]

Not sure why having apps data in external microSD card can cause reboots. My reboots last time was likely caused after firmware update and likely due to clashing of old firmware remnants with new. Anyway, it hasn't happen in quite awhile and I think its cleared up. Maybe the old cache have been rewritten by the new after some period of use.

I usually don't keep apps in the external microSD card. Not because of reboots. Sometimes the apps are there after updates and could be there for quite awhile and mine does not reboot. But usually I prefer having the apps in the phone memory itself. The reason is the external microSD card is read last and during startup, sometimes the apps don't get loaded properly.

Music, Video is fine since its not being run on its own. I think anyway.

Cheers

 

[CargoMatatu]

Last night I decided to try the battery removal idea.

Let's wait and see what happens!

Since doing this on 10th January, my SGS2 has only rebooted once (that I am aware of).

It seems to have settled down now.

 

[JayJay83]

Mine also freezes and rebootes, sometimes multiple times an hour. Since those problems started at the same time it started to randomly go into driving or Kies mode, I blame all of them on the faulty USB port.

 

[nest]

Hello,
Have had the S2 since christmas and it has rebooted randomly.
Often several times throughout the day. Tried to factory reset but did not help. While waiting for a fix, I enabled automatic powersaving. Something has happened since enabling it. It has been on for over a week now without any reboots. Could be worth trying if everything else fails.

Regards
nest

 

[STIGMATA1]

I have had the AT&T S2 since the day it came out in the US. I never had the rebooting problem until I inserted the SD card (ScanDisk 32GB), which was about 1 month after I got the phone. Now every time I turn off the phone it will go into a reboot mode when it starts to scan the SD card. It did this with 2.3.4 and does the same for 2.3.6. I think this is an issue with AT&T customized software on the S2 and the SD card. I can wipe the cache and it will come back most of the time. I can also remove the SD card and it will start fine. So... Seems like an issue for AT&T and Samsung on the AT&T software. Any answers AT&T? It is frustrating...

 

[rhysv]

Mine has started doing this randomly as well, even when its just sitting on a table, I thought it was an app or something that was locking up and crashing the phone. Hopefully the next ROM update will fix it up so it doesn't happen too often.

 

[dafi]

I have been having the same problem but also sometimes just powers down and doesn't restart. There are some other threads also discussing this.
I am using 2.3.4 and was OK for the first couple of months. Now resets or power downs have been happening three or four times a day.
I do have an SD card inserted but have since nearly new (4 mths ago).
I tried the paper inserted to keep the battery tight and so far two days without problems BUT I haven't been out much in that time so it has been mainly sitting still.
This problem is obviously so prevalent that Samsung should be investigating.
Is there a log somewhere that says why a restart has occurred?

To summarise the current theories in these threads:
- loose battery (made worse by SD card) (I favour this theory at present)
- accidentally pressing power switch (unlikely)
- upgrading Anddroid version (not my case)
- various apps but in particular Skype (I have it but not usually running)
- faulty hardware ?

 

[fuzznut]

Newbie here.

I have had a S2 for several months and only noticed the reset issue after updating to 2.3.6. It may have been occurring before but gone un-noticed. I too have been through the SD card diagnosis before finding this forum. Thought that would fix it. Stripped out my apps. No change. Phone would reset multiple times a day but occassionally go for up to 2 days without a reset. Good case, no chance of bumping buttons.

BUT. While in Antarctica recently, where there is no cell phone coverage or wireless network I put the phone in flight mode to conserve battery. No resets for 12 days! Used it all the time, bumping around, taking videos in the cold, recharged a few times but never turned it off. Back home, unset flight mode, reset within an hour. Long way to go to diagnose that!

So, looks to me like the phone/network code is the likely root issue. I've had several resets during business calls. Perhaps should have stayed with my old phone and bought a tablet. Hopefully 2.3.7 will address the issue.

 

[Russell Ng]

Reset after firmware updates is sometimes caused by clashing of the remnants of old firmware with the new. The recommended method is to do a factory reset and clear the cache. It leaves the phone on the latest firmware, but all settings and apps have to be redone and re-downloaded. So I suggest backing up whatever you can if you intend to do this.

I had some reboots a few times after updating but it seems to have cleared up which I take it to mean that somehow the old cache have been rewritten or something like that. I never cleared the cache or factory reset since I already have 100+ apps which is such a hassle to redo everything.

Cheers

 

[paste60]

I have the same issue. It started being much more frequent (many times per day) after having updates the O.S. to the 2.3.6 version. Now after many tentatives, I disabled the WiFi, and the device is not rebooting since three days. It seems to me that the issue was more frequent when the battery was not fully charged: did anybody noticed this kind of behavior?

Do you know if it possible to go back to the 2.3.3 version, without loosing all the data?

 

[Friends4U]

I have the same issue. It started being much more frequent (many times per day) after having updates the O.S. to the 2.3.6 version. Now after many tentatives, I disabled the WiFi, and the device is not rebooting since three days. It seems to me that the issue was more frequent when the battery was not fully charged: did anybody noticed this kind of behavior?

Do you know if it possible to go back to the 2.3.3 version, without loosing all the data?

Same here... disabling wifi stops the rebooting, but i want wifi. on a full battery it happens less.

 

[DesignoSLK]

For those of you suggesting some sort of mechanical reason, i.e. loose battery or pushing the power button while in your pocket, that isn't it, so please stop suggesting it is. Because mine regularly reboots while just sitting on my kitchen counter top.

I find it a little irritating that Samsung seems to quiet on this obviously, wide-spread issue. And wouldn't be surprised if they just blow us SII users off since the SIII is coming out. I hope that's not the case because this is a great phone apart from this rebooting thing.

 

[erko]

Got my S2 3 weeks ago and it reboots several times a week. The strange thing is that it is done at the same time (10.30pm and 5.30am).

 

[DesignoSLK]

mine because of skype..if u have this app, simply throw it out..it worked...

I'm not running Skype...

I was thinking...maybe if folks could list what apps they have loaded, and whether or not they are experiencing the reboot, that might help narrow down the culprit(s). I don't think it's one app causing the issue, I think it's a combination of apps.

 

[dafi]

For those of you suggesting some sort of mechanical reason, i.e. loose battery or pushing the power button while in your pocket, that isn't it, so please stop suggesting it is. Because mine regularly reboots while just sitting on my kitchen counter top.

You may be right, but it has been 6 days since I wedged a piece of paper in with the battery and not a single reboot since.

It also does sound like a possible software issue but pinning it down will be tricky.

 

[dafi]

Drat! Jinxed myself. No sooner had I sent the previous post than my SGS2 rebooted uninvited around midnight while sitting totally undisturbed on the dressing table! Battery was > 80% at the time. WAF dropped another few pionts when it woke her up.

This is getting annoying.

 

[pippin12]

Hi guys, it's not just the S2 that's affected - I and lots of others have the same problem with the HTC Sensation XE. Also read that SE Experia series has the same problem. It sounds like an android problem to me (I'm on my second XE with the same problem).

 

[dafi]

Hi guys, it's not just the S2 that's affected - I and lots of others have the same problem with the HTC Sensation XE. Also read that SE Experia series has the same problem. It sounds like an android problem to me (I'm on my second XE with the same problem).

Thanks for that info. I wes starting to wonder if it was SGS2 specific. The question then is it Android or one or more apps?

Is there anyone with a barebones phone (minimum apps) that is also having this issue?

For me, the problem didn't surface for the first few months I had the phone, which suggest it might have started after some app I loaded. Pity I can't remember exactly which one

Surely if it was Android, every Android user would be screaming and Google wouldn't have a product to give away.

 

[Twok]

Android 2.3.5, SD 32GB Transcend Class 4, wifi is on most of the time

I saw up to several reboots a day until I backed up all data from the SD card, formatted it (FAT32) and copied the data back. I saw only one single reboot a short time after switching it on with the card again and since then it is stable (more than a week now).

Might help somebody...

 

[zulu92]

Hello All,

I was wondering if anyone can help with the constant restarting of the Samsung Galaxy s2. It is driving me insane. Here is what has happened so far.

My phone started rebooting itself after the 2.3.6 update about 6 times a day. I got pretty mad and called optus which put me onto samsung. They told me to hard reset the phone and gave me a code.

Problem came back an hour later so I called optus again and they said the phone must be sent away for repairs. I handed the phone in 2 weeks ago and got it back yesterday. The guy at the shop accuses me of a virus being on the phone which corrupted the software?? Anyway he said it was fixed...... But 3 hours later the same problem comes back while i was on the phone with a client and the phone rebooted in mid conversation.The phone has also rebooted while sitting on the kitchen bench and my office desk? was not even touching it.

I am so close to shoving this walk about droid up Samsung/optuses ........... as i have had enough. So if anyone here has anything that can help then please let me know.

Phone has been sent for repairs.
Phone has been reset
Memory card has been formatted
Internal memory has been formatted
No apps have been loaded
Version 2.3.6 baseband I9100XXKI4

Cheers

 

[strangedays]

Hi,

I just noticed this thread and mines on 2.3.5 and its rebooting randomly.


This battery thing thing cant be the case though as it will do it when just sitting there. I have tried moving the battery about and it definitley sits snug enough to keep power to the S2.

I suspected apps as well but ive been removing more and more. It could be to do with the SD card but its odd that everyone else is having issues.


I wonder if there is a driver style related issue. Hopefully they will iron this out. However I have to say I am starting to miss my old Iphone as Android is just too unreliable. I have had it reboot in a phone call already and that is pretty poor, I think sometimes that they are doing too much and forget that really its supposed to be a phone.

 

[zulu92]

Hi,

I just noticed this thread and mines on 2.3.5 and its rebooting randomly.


This battery thing thing cant be the case though as it will do it when just sitting there. I have tried moving the battery about and it definitley sits snug enough to keep power to the S2.

I suspected apps as well but ive been removing more and more. It could be to do with the SD card but its odd that everyone else is having issues.


I wonder if there is a driver style related issue. Hopefully they will iron this out. However I have to say I am starting to miss my old Iphone as Android is just too unreliable. I have had it reboot in a phone call already and that is pretty poor, I think sometimes that they are doing too much and forget that really its supposed to be a phone.

HI.It has nothing to do with apps as i have got my phone back from samsung warranty after they wiped the phone. all i did was make a call and it rebooted. So i am thinking its firmware or something wrong with the phones itself