Help Softkey buttons intermittently totally dead

vickilh2 · Jan 16, 2011

We got our Captivates about a month and a half ago. My husband had his replaced already due to the random shutdown problem, mine took a little longer before it was also shutting down randomly every day.

I took it yesterday to a nearby AT&T warranty appliance center and got a replacement (refurbished) phone. This one will, for some unknown reason, get itself into a state where the softkeys (menu, home, back, search buttons at the button) are totally dead. Not an issue with not pressing them correctly, we'd been doing this without a problem. The only way you can get back to home, etc. is to power off. We did a hard reset, problem was still there.

How did this get past quality control?? -- Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions before I make the long trek yet again out to the AT&T center?

saintdanbert · Jan 16, 2011

Do you have any sort of screen protector -- Zagg or similar -- on your phone? There are several posts that describe button troubles with screen protectors.

~~~ 0;-Dan

vickilh2 · Jan 16, 2011

No screen protector.

The 'soft key' buttons worked initially, went totally dead - even a hard reset didn't help, and then miraculously after overnight they worked again.

Buttons were definitely, completely dead.

Does anyone reading this know how these soft key buttons (menu, back, etc.) work? Are they a linux device? ... Trying to figure if this is/was a software or hardware problem. If software, it might be transitory. If hardware, - phone is going.

thanks!

Lincoln4 · Jan 20, 2011

Mine (Craptivate #4) just started doing the same thing. However, it's only the Home button. When touched, the buttons light up, but nothing happens. The other buttons work, just not the "Home" button. A restart later, all is fine until the next time it occurs.

saintdanbert · Jan 25, 2011

When my Captivate hard buttons -- Menu + Home + Back + Search -- stopped working, I blamed my screen protector. Later, I blamed the protective glove (case, holster, etc). And then I discovered the real trouble...

It seems that the hard buttons are just that "buttons". While part of the
touch screen, they seem to require some amount of mechanical travel
at specific contact points loosely identified by the silk-screened icons.
When the glove or protector limits the ability of the butt-end screen to move within the original phone body, the "button" does not trigger.

Worked for me,
~~~ 0;-Dan

sremick · Jan 26, 2011

saintdanbert said:
It seems that the hard buttons are just that "buttons". While part of the
touch screen, they seem to require some amount of mechanical travel
at specific contact points loosely identified by the silk-screened icons.

This is not true. Not only would it not be possible since the surface of the Captivate is one piece of solid glass, but it's been proven in disassembly. See here, for example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uki6aA4MxgM

Note: I am not advocating the etching that this guy is suggesting. However the video shows clearly that it is simply a glass screen with a capacitive sensor and lighting strip that sticks behind the 4 "buttons".

jonsfoley · Sep 12, 2012

Anyone find a resolution to this? I am experiencing a similar issue. Non-Rooted, no screen protector, cleaned the screen, have done a factory reset several times.. nothing works. Sometimes the phone will spasm (starting apps, vibrating, going home, etc) without anything touching the phone.

Phone is 3 weeks out of warranty- 6 months until I can renew and get a new phone. Please help!!!

Help Softkey buttons intermittently totally dead

vickilh2

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saintdanbert

Well-Known Member

vickilh2

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Lincoln4

Newbie

saintdanbert

Well-Known Member

sremick

Android Expert

jonsfoley

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