Help help! my sensation keeps shutting down randomly

[Supersaukko]

My sensation is now doing this too, it started a couple of days back and has gotten much worse, it now hardly stays on at all.

Has anyone found a solution to this yet ?

Yes. I found the solution a couple months ago and someone also quoted it here. In case you didn't read it above here it is again:

Originally Postedby Supersaukko I have the same problem and have found a solution for it. The Sensation shuts down when it changes to 2G GSM network. I found this out when I thought it might have something to do with the bad 3G singal in my house, so I changed my phone to 2G only mode and it couldn't stay on formore than 10 seconds. Then I tried to put it on 3G WCDMA only and it hasn't shut down since. It has worked for 5 days now. To change this go to the mobile network menu in settings and changetheNetwork mode to WCDMA only. I'm still going to send my phone to maintenance though.

Still haven't done anything about it, I hope they fix this with the next update. At least the phone hasn't shut done in months, but the 3G signal is really bad at my home so I'm not happy.

 

[addepallis]

All,
I also have the same problem and i have gone to service center 3 times for random shutdown or signal drop issue. The service center guy have replaced PCB board of HTC sensation. I think the random shutdown is hardware bug.


Regards
Srikanth

 

[Caity]

i have a problem similar to all of yours but i really need your help, i will try and charge it when its turned off (when it shuts down) and i will leave it for a while then turn it on... as soon as i turn it on it just shuts down again?? can u help me!!??

 

[mb1268mb]

I have a HTC sensation and traced this problem to the wifi connection. Whenever I used wifi the phone kept rebooting. I found another forum thread when someone said to set the router to a channel higher than 10 and believe it or not it seems to have cleared up my issue.

 

[dutchy11]

Yes. I found the solution a couple months ago and someone also quoted it here. In case you didn't read it above here it is again:


Still haven't done anything about it, I hope they fix this with the next update. At least the phone hasn't shut done in months, but the 3G signal is really bad at my home so I'm not happy.

thanks,this has worked for me for two days now.before it was cutting out all the time,thanks again

 

[Ericband]

I having the same issue. I tried the above quoted solution but 5 seconds after changing the setting, it automatically changed back to GSM/WCDMA auto! Can't get it to stay on that setting. Frustrating.

 

[rjarman]

My sensation just started powering off after the new HTC update. Powers off about 3 times a day. It happens in and out of my pocket. Is there a bug in the new update? Im on version

Software version 1.50.531.1
HTC sense Version 3.0
Android 2.3.4

Thoughts?

 

[dayungexec]

My phone(htc sensation) kept saying I'm not rooted. I didn't know what to do. Straight to the point I put the PM58IMGzip file on my sdcard and booted the phone in recovery mode. hboot read the file and tried to update and it went through. Now 2 things, m
1. my phone wont start up, it turns on and off all the time. It won't load bootanimation nor to the OS.
2. If I switch the sdcard to one hboot that dont have the PM58IMGzip file I can flash roms or flash backups from CWM.
But still my phone keep turning on and off.
What can I do?

Also hboot will always read the PM58IMGzip file and it tries to update but comes up as CID update failed. What does this mean?

 

[hungus]

i was having this problem, i seem to have solved it by taking off the back cover and slightly raising the connecting points that would connect to the inside of the back cover.

hope this helps

 

[HF1980]

I've been having this problem with my phone for months and months. I've been on every thread I can find about this issue and have pretty much done EVERYTHING suggested. Bought an Anker battery, still doing the same thing...changed networks...worked for like a day, then back to the same thing...removed the task killer app I was using...worked for a day, then back to shutting off randomly. I was going to root my phone but I'm not confident enough that I won't permanently render it completely useless.

I AM FED UP WITH THIS PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Has anyone had ANY luck with any OTHER modifications to this piece of crap???

 

[mbatson89]

Sounds like you got a bad one, take it back to the shop and get it swapped/repaired under warranty?

 

[AdderW]

I suggest that you reboot into SAFE MODE. If it stops the restarting bit, you are probably having issues with 3rd party apps. If it keeps doing it, it is inherent in the system. Get it back to the store and have it replaced.

 

[colbertroader]

Same problem here. For months my HTC Sensation shuts off at random. It even did it once while plugged in. It always has great battery life before and after this happens. HTC and Bell have been no help. So far I've done what they suggested.

They gave me a new battery - no help

I did a hard restart that wiped everything - no help

Guess I'm going to have to send away - warranty expires in June. They'll likley send back & say nothing's wrong

It's annoying I may be missing calls and not waking up because of no alarm!

 

[colbertroader]

Just sent mine in for repair. In the repair details I asked them to prove the problem on the bench before repairing (so they know there actually is a problem here). Told them 95% chance it will power off if left idle between 10 min and 8 hours. Then also told them to keep for 8-24 hrs after repairing to prove issue doesn't occur before returning. Also gave them copy of this and other forums regarding this unsolved issue including the HTC forum.

 

[colbertroader]

OMG now I'm p*ssed. They're sending my phone back claiming water damage to main board.
What happened is hours before I took it in for repair I tried something someone else posted which was cleaning the battery contacts with alcohol and a Q-tip. Little did I know there is a little sticker close to the contacts which absorbed some of the alcohol and changed color. The store clerk picked up on it right away and said there's evidence of water damage here..........I though oh man here we go.......
So my $150 phone that I'm stuck in a plan with came with an obviously common defect that causes me to miss calls & messages and alarms and the manufacturer charges me $20 for a loaner then sends my phone back and says I broke it!!!!!!
I'm P*ssed but will have to live with this thing for another year or so
Not impressed with HTC will NEVER NEVER deal with them again
P*ISSED!!!

 

[colbertroader]

OMG now I'm p*ssed. They're sending my phone back claiming water damage to main board.
What happened is hours before I took it in for repair I tried something someone else posted which was cleaning the battery contacts with alcohol and a Q-tip. Little did I know there is a little sticker close to the contacts which absorbed some of the alcohol and changed color. The store clerk picked up on it right away and said there's evidence of water damage here..........I though oh man here we go.......
So my $150 phone that I'm stuck in a plan with came with an obviously common defect that causes me to miss calls & messages and alarms and the manufacturer charges me $20 for a loaner then sends my phone back and says I broke it!!!!!!
I'm P*ssed but will have to live with this thing for another year or so
Not impressed with HTC will NEVER NEVER deal with them again
P*ISSED!!!

On the form that came back with the phone (It was from FutureTel 570 Alden Raod, Unit 14 Markham ON, l3R-8N5 (902) 415-2388 On this form they have a Ref # F2941341 ESN/MEID/IMEI 356441045084189 MSN SH16KV604181

They're actual quote from FutureTel on the form was "WORK PERFORMED - [C004] - RETURN TO END USER W/O REPAIR LIQUID DAMAGED ON MAIN BOARD AND LCD -----NOT REPAIRABLE REPAIR CODE: C004
When I got it back it worked the same as when I sent it (geesch "not repairable return to customer w/o repair")

AND I SEE NOW I NO LONGER HAVE AN SD CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY TOOK IT OUT AND DIDN'T RETURN IT!! OMFG WHAT NEXT Plus - the random screenshot issue has magnified to happening almost steady - each time referring to there being an error with my SD card .................well HELLO - that`s when I noticed I no longer have an SD card!! Grrrr I sent the phone away and they had me keep my battery and cover. When my phone came back and the Bell rep put it together and sent me on my way my SD card was gone.


OK so it`s not alot of money but I can see another disfunctional not my problem`` conversation. `Hey I got my phone back and there`s no SD card in it`. No sir we don`t take the SD card out you must have lost it.....blah blah blah So I`ll be buying another SD card I guess

 

[lemongalaxy]

A couple of months ago I upgraded to a new Anker battery. Battery levels started suddenly dropping to 0% remaining, and (gracefully) shutting down the phone. I realised the battery needed calibrating, I installed clockwork mod, calibrated the battery and installed ARHD (gingerbread) instead of stock. Battery performance was great, for about a week until...

With increasing frequency the phone started to power itself off - immediately and without warning. It mostly happened whist pocketed, but occasionally during a call, or sometimes immediately after waking from standby. It almost always happened when travelling, and seemed to correlate with the signal falling back to GSM. I reverted to stock gingerbread and then stock ICS with the same problem. The problem didn't seem related to power draw - I could play Dead Space quite happily without it loosing power. I assumed ARHD had caused damage by clocking CPU to 1.5GHz.

I noticed that changing mobile network settings to "WCDMA only" immediately reduced the frequency of power downs, to 1-2 per week. Anyone on Vodafone UK knows that "WCDMA only" is not a usable option, so I got so frustrated that I have just pre-ordered the One X to replace it.

Yesterday morning I decided to put the old stock battery back in. I changed the network mode to WCDMA/GSM auto to provoke it into powering down - guess what, it hasn't powered down since. Seems odd that some people report going from stock battery to Anker fixed the problem, but in my case it was reversed. I tried everything I could think of. Very odd, don't know how the battery can cause this.

Anyway, I now hate this phone so much that it is getting sold as soon as the One X arrives.

 

[StuartTheFish]

My sensation's doing this too, and has been on and off for months. I first noticed it when I'd gone onto ics, and it only happens randomly, no pattern to it whatsoever other than the lower the battery level is, the more likely it'll shut itself off. It doesn't do any down animations or say shutting down, it's literally as if the battery is pulled.

It's not an overheating issue since sometimes it can be stone cold, I try to unlock it and it just goes off, other times I can be half way through doing something and it just shut off. And once it starts doing it it keeps doing it until it thinks the battery is empty or if I plug it into a charger. It never happens when on charge. There are no loose connections that I know of, and if there were I'd also struggle to turn it back on again. It works perfectly when in fastboot or recovery, but as soon as it's showing the boot animation it's possible for it to shut off. So I'm guessing it's something to do with the OS power management.

Suspecting my anker battery, I went back to the standard battery and it was fine for a while, but recently it started doing exactly the same on that too. I've since had the anker replaced on warranty and it still happens, proving it wasn't the battery at fault after all. So now I'm stumped.

I'd read about forcing wcdma only to stop it dropping onto 2g, but firstly I don't see why that would fix it, and secondly I can't find the option in the ROM I'm using anyway. It is very frustrating though, I can't depend on it as it is at the moment.

Edit: I just found it by dialling *#*#4636#*#*, but when setting to wcdma only it shuts off very soon after. So it seems trying to reconnect to 3g is a problem some times?

 

[yoshisusie]

Hello, having a lot of problems with my sensation. Here is what it is doing:

1. Phone randomly keeps shutting itself down with no pattern
2. Battery life is intermittent, one time I can charge it overnight and it lasts days, othertimea it will last a few hours tops.
3. My clock is constantly changing time by hours or sometimes minutes and the weather app has suddenly stopped working
4. The speakerphone when messaging no longer recognises any words I say.

No amount of rebooting or updating has fixed these problems. Any ideas or am I going to have to get rid?

 

[StuartTheFish]

Might have a solution. As I said above, it's apparently linked to reception issues. Well today it started to repeatedly shut off again, so I tried seeing if it was a grounding issue. If you remove the battery cover, there's a little silver pin half way up on one side which is a ground for the antennas in the cover. This is well known for causing touchscreen issues for some reason, but I thought adjusting it wouldn't hurt to see if it could be the cause of this too. As soon as I'd done it, I turned the phone back on and it instantly stopped randomly shutting down!

I only did it this morning so I'll see if it lasts, but I've got my fingers crossed.

 

[Greybeard33]

As I previously posted here, I believe this problem is caused by oxidation of the battery contacts, which is why replacing the battery, or even just removing and refitting it, can give a temporary improvement. I have had good results from cleaning the contacts with WD-40.

 

[StuartTheFish]

I didn't even touch the battery earlier today though mate, I literally just pulled the grounding pin out a little and it suddenly stayed on. Time will tell though of course.

 

[Dendrophyl]

Hey guys!

I had the same problem for the last couple of weeks, my phone kept shutting down every 5-10 hours, sometimes even more often, so I came here a couple of days ago with intention to find out how to deal with it. I tried to change the network settings and it seemed to work for a day straight, before I started to think about the question "why?". What I was thinking is if there is something running in the background, that keeps connecting to the internet and got updated before my phone started having this problem. Then I changed my network settings back to auto, got sure that my phone kept shutting down and then uninstalled Fecebook updates (so it came back to the version that was installed as I bought the phone). And guess what, the problem was gone.

I don't know if it maybe is some kind of coincidence, but what worked for me may work for someone else.

 

[marceldiepstra]

First of all I would like to thank all people that have replied to this specific topic, without all your help I would never come up with my solution to the problem. I won't explain how they have helped me, but at least I can tell you my phone kept shutting down about 4 or 5 times per day. I have implemented my solution a week ago and the phone hasn't shut down since.

If you open up the back cover of the Sensation and you look at the battery, you'll notice that the bottom side of the battery is slightly angled. This causes the battery to not be in full contact with the four pins that are attached to the Sensations case. If you pull the right top side of the battery a little down, you'll notice that the battery will make a better connection with the four pins. So for me the problem was solved by putting something in between the top right of the battery and the casing. I've used a business card (I knew saving those would pay of at one time) and tore of the rest that was sticking out. It's been fine ever since.

Now my explanation, although I'm far from being a electrician, is that the battery connection to the case is fine for low power situations. But as soon as more power is required by the phone, like in low connection situations, the phone will loose power and shut down. That's why ensuring that those situations do not happen or rarely happen gives some result.

Oh and two notes to HTC. One, please fire your support department, because they suck. And two, please ensure that the batteries are being held in place by your case next time you make a phone.

 

[japinder]

+1

A piece of paper to force the battery against the pins worked for me as well.

Cheers, Jp