Onscreen Keyboard Issue

[kratos]

I searched and didn't find anything related to my question/issue. If I missed posts, please direct me to them.

My Motorola Droid has intermittent issues with the onscreen keyboard. It usually happens when I am texting for long periods at a time (think 2-5 hours).

The issue is that sometimes, when I click on the text box, the onscreen keyboard shows, but the text box is greyed out. I can type and the letters appear on the auto-corrector line, but do not appear in the text box at all.

The only way I can resolve this issue is to fully power cycle the phone. Is this a known issue with the phone or the Android system? Is there any way to permanently correct this issue?

I just got my phone and if it is a one in a million issue, I may need to take it to Verizon to have it swapped out for a new one. However, I would rather just fix it myself, if possible.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Kratos

 

[aaron5610]

Sounds like you might want to do a factory rest first. I've never heard of this problem myself, but it could just be a software bug that the rest can fix. I would give that a shot first, but make sure you have everything on the phone backed up to Google so everything will come back.

 

[shadowdude777]

I searched and didn't find anything related to my question/issue. If I missed posts, please direct me to them.

My Motorola Droid has intermittent issues with the onscreen keyboard. It usually happens when I am texting for long periods at a time (think 2-5 hours).

The issue is that sometimes, when I click on the text box, the onscreen keyboard shows, but the text box is greyed out. I can type and the letters appear on the auto-corrector line, but do not appear in the text box at all.

The only way I can resolve this issue is to fully power cycle the phone. Is this a known issue with the phone or the Android system? Is there any way to permanently correct this issue?

I just got my phone and if it is a one in a million issue, I may need to take it to Verizon to have it swapped out for a new one. However, I would rather just fix it myself, if possible.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Kratos

I've had this issue before. It's definitely not a hardware issue. Probably just a bug. Have you considered trying one of the alternate keyboards? HTC_IME, which there is a thread on in this forum, is free and gives you an HTC-like keyboard like on the Droid Eris. It's much more responsive and ironically, even though it's community-created, I don't have nearly as many issues.

 

[thrifty]

I had this happen once or twice also.. annoying if anything.

I remember having to restart the phone..or back out completly from where I was.

 

[vincentp]

Software bug as far as I can tell. This used to happen to me all the time, but after rooting and installing custom ROMs and kernels that have tweaks and keyboard fixes, it hasn't happened since. There wasn't much I could do about it before. The way I usually fixed it was to type in the field with the physical keyboard, then reopen the app, and the onscreen would usually work again.

 

[kratos]

Sounds like you might want to do a factory rest first. I've never heard of this problem myself, but it could just be a software bug that the rest can fix. I would give that a shot first, but make sure you have everything on the phone backed up to Google so everything will come back.

Thank you Aaron. I think I might try that. I know that all of my data is backed up to Google's servers.

I've had this issue before. It's definitely not a hardware issue. Probably just a bug. Have you considered trying one of the alternate keyboards? HTC_IME, which there is a thread on in this forum, is free and gives you an HTC-like keyboard like on the Droid Eris. It's much more responsive and ironically, even though it's community-created, I don't have nearly as many issues.

Shadow, I will install that app and see if it works better than the default keyboard after I try a factory reset. I've never really thought about installing keyboard apps simply because it seems redundant.

Software bug as far as I can tell. This used to happen to me all the time, but after rooting and installing custom ROMs and kernels that have tweaks and keyboard fixes, it hasn't happened since. There wasn't much I could do about it before. The way I usually fixed it was to type in the field with the physical keyboard, then reopen the app, and the onscreen would usually work again.

I am a little weary about rooting my phone simply because I don't need a really expensive paperweight. Also, with my luck, something would happen to my phone that I would need to use my accidental damage warranty for and Verizon would figure out that I had rooted my phone and then I would be out all that money.

 

[kratos]

Ok, just to update, I installed the Swype beta and all is good. Thus far (knock on wood) I haven't had this issue.

Kratos

 

[kratos]

Well, it's happening again. This time it seems to happen every three to four hours. I text a lot (about 3000-5000/month) but don't see how that would have anything to do with this.

When it happens, I try turning off the keyboard and killing the settings app. This doesn't work. So I then turn off my phone and turn it back on. This does fix the issue.

Are there any other workarounds or anything. I don't see many others complaining or talking about this issue so that leads me to believe that it is mostly isolated to my phone.

Thanks,
Kratos

 

[Leroy157]

I had the same issue, and other issues, all because I wasn't using the charger that came with my Droid, but rather the wall charger that I was using with my BlackBerry. If you're not using the usb charger that came with your droid, I would try that.

 

[BlueIce5249]

Who texts for 5 hours? No wonder you have issues, your phone is getting pissed off at you. Give it a break, or just call them.

 

[kratos]

Who texts for 5 hours? No wonder you have issues, your phone is getting pissed off at you. Give it a break, or just call them.

I wish I could, but I work a full time (plus some) job, own my own business, and go to school full time. I text while doing all of that because I am unable to be on the phone.

Kratos