Android behaving badly on Moto G

csbc · Aug 15, 2016

I'm posting in this forum as I had to choose one, but I doubt it is a specific Moto G issue.

I bought a dual sim 2nd gen about a year back, not realising it only had half the storage of the 1st gen, so even with no photos and a few 'essential' apps added it was soon bursting at the seams and it got to the stage that there was not even room to update Chrome or Sophos.

Last week, all of a sudden, there must have been some smaller updates and both Chrome and Sophos snuck their updates in, but it was still full.

I then deleted Solo Launcher which I'd had more or less from day 1, and also ran and then deleted an app to confirm that the recently-announced vulnerability existed in my Qualcom chip-set. I also deleted and re-installed Google Keep as random notes were not updating.

The current situation is that Keep will not launch properly, it just goes to an empty home page with the turning wheels [the notes are still there with iOS and OSX].

Also the Home button does nothing unless I first minimise the current app. And although a PIN is set it now only operates on a boot, not from sleep which is a worry. Finally random public hotspots can't be accessed [it logs in at home and to some sites I am registered with, but not to wifi that needs a log in page every time you return.

I took it to the Google place in Tottenham Court Road who had no suggestion other than a Safe re-boot [which did nothing other than turn data on and give me an unexpected bill!].

Apparently all they offer is the 'Google Experience'!

Does anyone out there know more than Google?!

Cheers, Colin

Thom · Aug 15, 2016

Welcome to Android Forums.

The usual approach for addressing problems on an un-root-ed device are ...

Wipe Cache Partition deleting all temporary data ant not touching any per meant data, installed apps, or settings.
If there is still a problem run in Safer Mode disabling all apps you added without uninstalling them. If the problem stops it was caused by an app that you added.
If the problem is still there do a Factory Data Reset deleting all apps you added data and settings (this is drastic).
If the problem is still there it is hardware.

Running in Safe Mode without first doing a Wipe Cache Partition will give inconclusive results.

... Thom

csbc · Aug 15, 2016

Thom said:
Welcome to Android Forums.

The usual approach for addressing problems on an un-root-ed device are ...

Wipe Cache Partition deleting all temporary data ant not touching any per meant data, installed apps, or settings.

If there is still a problem run in Safer Mode disabling all apps you added without uninstalling them. If the problem stops it was caused by an app that you added.

If the problem is still there do a Factory Data Reset deleting all apps you added data and settings (this is drastic).

If the problem is still there it is hardware.

Running in Safe Mode without first doing a Wipe Cache Partition will give inconclusive results.

... Thom

Thanks so much Thom.

Before I try, and asI'm a novice in Android, am I right in thinking that un-root-ed is the equivalent in iOS of un-jail-broken? Not that I'd need to 'jail-break' the Moto as it was supplied Sim-free.

Cheers, C

kate · Aug 15, 2016

csbc said:
am I right in thinking that un-root-ed is the equivalent in iOS of un-jail-broken?

Yes

You said you have the 2nd gen but posted in the 3rd gen forum, here are the steps to clear the cache partition for both.

Wipe Cache partition for the Moto G 2nd gen:
https://motorola-global-portal.cust...prod_answer_detail/a_id/99808/p/30,6720,9151/

Moto G 2015 3rd Gen Clear Cache:
https://motorola-global-portal.cust...prod_answer_detail/a_id/105527/p/30,6720,9390

csbc · Aug 15, 2016

Thanks! Sorry for not noticing if I was in the wrong gen. I got it in April 2015, I thought it was 2nd gen, I guess 3rd gen was later in 2015.

C

Thom · Aug 15, 2016

un-root-ed is equivalent to not-jail broken,

The key to success in Android when you have a problem ... first do a Wipe Cache Partition. It is a result of the Android design for speed in launching apps.

... Thom

csbc · Aug 15, 2016

Thanks both of you again, but the link at https://motorola-global-portal.cust...prod_answer_detail/a_id/99808/p/30,6720,9151/ does not work for me, tho I have tried it several times.

1 With the phone powered off, press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power button at the same time until the device turns on.

For me nothing happened until after I released both buttons, then I got the choice offered at

2 Press the Volume Down button to highlight "Recovery mode"

This works but at instead of 'You'll see an image of an Android robot with a red exclamation mark' I got a normal restart

I did this several times and wondered if I should hold the power button until it restarted but that just resulted in a cycle of partial boots followed by shut-downs, followed by partial reboots.

Any other ideas for wiping the cache?

Cheers, C

kate · Aug 15, 2016

csbc said:
2 Press the Volume Down button to highlight "Recovery mode"

This works but at instead of 'You'll see an image of an Android robot with a red exclamation mark' I got a normal restart

I don't have your model so I can't test, but did you quickly press the Power button after highlighting Recovery Mode? For KitKat it says it restarts if you wait, not sure about newer versions.

csbc said:
I did this several times and wondered if I should hold the power button until it restarted but that just resulted in a cycle of partial boots followed by shut-downs, followed by partial reboots.

Are you referring to step 3? You should only have to quickly press and release the Power button.

csbc · Aug 17, 2016

Thanks both again, I was off-air for a day ...

A quick press after pressing down vol to the Recovery mode in the menu just turns it off again.

I was wondering if memory might be too tight for it to work sensibly [Memory is av 66% used, free 304Mb or 8Gb, so 7.44 of 8Gb used in all] as now Gmail seems not to sync - or rather the app does not, but new mail arrives in Chrome. Also the light flashes to show there are messages, but pulling down from the top of the screen shows 'No notifications'.

I think my next steps are:
1 delete another app to free memory
2 factory reset [I assume I lose all data within an app, but not say photos in Google Photos rather than Albums or stuff in Drive or Evernote]
3 buy an iPhone.

Alternative and less costly advice welcome!

Cheers, Colin

kate · Aug 17, 2016

I would definitely free up some space, if you have pics/videos transfer some to a computer if possible.

Go to Settings -> Apps -> All, and sort apps by size to see which ones take up the most space.

You can clear your phones cache (different from the cache partition above) by doing the following:
1. Go to your phones settings
2. Tap Storage
3. Tap Cached Data
4. It will confirm you want to remove cached data.

Also read through this thread:
http://androidforums.com/threads/the-insufficient-storage-problem.1004573/

csbc · Aug 18, 2016

Thanks Kate.

I think I need to look further, in particular at Google Photos which I don't use but now see has accumulated all the pix I deleted from Gallery.

My guess is that unlike Google Drive the images are stored locally and as they go back to when I first tried it on a Mac more than a decade back that's a lot of pix! If this is the case is there any way to stop photos being stored in both Photos and Gallery [not sure if Gallery is standard Android or was added by Motorola].

I see I can disable either of them, but assume they will relaunch at next restart, or is that wrong?

Thanks again, C

kate · Aug 18, 2016

When you disable an app it stays disabled even after a reboot.

If you do a Force Stop then the app will restart.

csbc · Aug 18, 2016

Thanks for that Kate, cache emptied, but that is not enough.

Looking through my list of apps to delete I came on CQA Test which I'd not seen before. On another board there was quite a bit about it, including people saying that since Marshmallow it has caused lots of issues, including disabling the Home button which is one of my problems. I have disabled it and restarted my phone, but it has made no difference.

I think a factory reset is the next, drastic step. I assume that this deletes all non-standard apps and any data within apps but not data in the cloud in Keep [the first app that went wonky], Evernote, and similar apps.

Cheers, Colin

kate · Aug 18, 2016

Yep after a factory reset it will just be Android and the preinstalled apps so make sure your data, contacts, etc. are backed up.

Hope that solves the problem.

csbc · Aug 19, 2016

Thanks again Kate,

Has anyone come on this 'CQA Test' issue, especially as those others who have complained say it has screwed their Home button, which is one of my problems too? There is a suggestion that it appears as a result of using Recovery mode [without it working in my case].

Also I'd be glad of confirmation that data created in apps such as Google Keep, Evernote, or even Google photos will not be deleted from the cloud by a factory reset given that it is the nuclear option.

Cheers, Colin

Android behaving badly on Moto G

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