[AC Question]

My HTC M9 keeps going black and then refreshes to the home screen. It does it when I'm in the middle of doing something. I downloaded updates last weekend and the problem started happening yesterday.

[Morty2264]

Welcome to the forums! Was this an official update that you installed to your HTC M9? What does it do when it is idle?

[CocoM]

Thank you! Yes, an official update. When idle, it flickers from black screen to awake constantly. If I push the power button to put it to sleep, then it stops flickering.

[Morty2264]

Thank you! Yes, an official update. When idle, it flickers from black screen to awake constantly. If I push the power button to put it to sleep, then it stops flickering.

Hmm. If all else fails, I'd suggest a factory reset as a last resort, as long as you have everything backed up and saved. It sounds like there may be something going on in your software. But I'm not sure. How long have you had the phone? if it's been a while, it could be showing its age. any other issues with it?

[CocoM]

No other issues - I have had it one year.

[Morty2264]

No other issues - I have had it one year.

Okay! Well, if you have everything backed up and feel it is safe to do so, I'd factory reset the phone and see if the problem still persists.

[CocoM]

Hi Morty - I followed the instructions on the HTC website and backed up my phone. I was never prompted to sign into anything. Then I did a data reset. Now I can't seem to restore the phone. It wants me to log-in into HTC account and I don't think I have one. I went to the HTC site and created one but it says nothing is backed up. Please HELP! I'm really scared that I lost all my photos.

[Morty2264]

Hi Morty - I followed the instructions on the HTC website and backed up my phone. I was never prompted to sign into anything. Then I did a data reset. Now I can't seem to restore the phone. It wants me to log-in into HTC account and I don't think I have one. I went to the HTC site and created one but it says nothing is backed up. Please HELP! I'm really scared that I lost all my photos.

First off, do not panic. Did you back up all of your important information? Are you sure they're asking you for your HTC account and not your Google account? Do you have photos or anything saved on Google Drive? Also, did they give you confirmation that you backed everything up successfully?

[Morty2264]

Hi, OP - any updates on how things are going?

[CocoM]

Hi Morty - I thought my google photos were always synced to my drive. I could access them from the computer, but everything from the last year deleted when I factory reset. My contacts, etc. returned, it's just the photos that are missing. I checked everywhere, drive, photos, trash, picasa, and google takeout. I must not have backed it up correctly. Do you think if I bring it into a tech story they can find them? Or should I pay and do one of those recovery (root the phone) programs? Thanks for all your help!

[Morty2264]

Hi Morty - I thought my google photos were always synced to my drive. I could access them from the computer, but everything from the last year deleted when I factory reset. My contacts, etc. returned, it's just the photos that are missing. I checked everywhere, drive, photos, trash, picasa, and google takeout. I must not have backed it up correctly. Do you think if I bring it into a tech story they can find them? Or should I pay and do one of those recovery (root the phone) programs? Thanks for all your help!

So, even what you had on the computer is gone? Were you able to access those photos and documents without your phone being plugged into your computer? If so, you should be able to locate them.

Hmm. I think if you went to a tech store, they may try to use your Google account to try and locate the photos. However, they're familiar with all of these workarounds and may know some tricks to see if you can get into your HTC account, so I highly recommend doing that. I wouldn't root your phone or anything yet - go to a tech store rep and see what they say.

In the meantime, do you remember anything about your HTC account? And I had a random thought - was anything saved to your SD card on your phone? If it was saved to the card and not the phone, then it may still be there. Try and access your SD card and see what it says as far as storage is concerned.

[CocoM]

I thought I was able to access them without being plugged in, but I can't remember for sure. It's funny because I kind of prided myself on having everything synced/backed up. Turns out I must of been doing something incorrectly!

I'm going to bring my phone in to a store this afternoon - fingers crossed they can help. I didn't have an SD card :-(

I'll let you know if I recover them, thanks for all your help!

[Morty2264]

I thought I was able to access them without being plugged in, but I can't remember for sure. It's funny because I kind of prided myself on having everything synced/backed up. Turns out I must of been doing something incorrectly!

I'm going to bring my phone in to a store this afternoon - fingers crossed they can help. I didn't have an SD card :-(

I'll let you know if I recover them, thanks for all your help!

It's okay! I don't think any of my pictures are backed up... The occasional ones sometimes are, but I upload the important ones to Facebook anyway, so I can always download them from that app to my new phone or factory reset phone if need be.

Speaking of Facebook, do you have any important pictures uploaded to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc? They'll always be there, and you can download those to your phone!

Okay, great! Keep us updated!