Zenfone 5 Max (ZC550KL) - ZenuiLauncher stopped working! Stuck at lockscreen

[Android Central Question]

Hey there, i recently had a problem 3weeks ago with my phone with a message popping up that "ZenUI Launcher has stopped working" I click ok, and after that the message keep popping up, so i went to Google Play Store to download another launcher, its working fine! or was now, recently I was just watching youtube, youtube crashed, and sent me out to the lock screen. From the lock screen i cant go past it, the screen keeps fading to black and fading back to show my lock screen picture. This keeps doing the same process over and over until I press the power button to turn off my phone.

If you're wondering the launcher that i downloaded to get around the error message, I downloaded Nova Launcher.

Is there anyway remove ZenUI Launcher and make Nova Launcher as the main launcher? (keep in mind i cant get pass the Lock screen as it fades to black and shows lock screen wallpaper, as I'm typing this its rapidly doing the fading thing)

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Does this also happen in Safe Mode? http://howtosafemode.com/1080/how-to-turn-on-safe-mode-on-asus-zenfone-max-zc550kl

 

[Drill22]

Welcome to Android Central! Does this also happen in Safe Mode? How to turn on safe mode on Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL

Sorry for late reply, yes this does also happen in safe mode. It is very annoying!!!

 

[B. Diddy]

If it's happening in Safe Mode, I think it may have more to do with which launcher app you're using. Try wiping the cache partition: https://www.hardreset.info/devices/asus/asus-zenfone-max-zc550kl/recovery-mode/. If that doesn't help, you may have to try a factory reset.

BTW, I moved this to the Zenfone Max forum.

 

[Drill22]

Wiping the cache partition did helped, but last night i forgot to charge my phone so it shut down. Later when i fully charged my phone and turned it back on, it does the same thing over again. Fyi I did a factory reset before this was happening like crazy(this error happened before but not as crazy as its happening now). Is this a sign of my phone degrading? I've had this phone since it was launched on the market

 

[B. Diddy]

I'm not sure if failing hardware would make a specific app shut down. I would still wonder about some app you customarily install that might be causing the problem. Consider doing another factory reset, and this time, don't restore from a backup, and try using the phone for a while without installing any 3rd party apps.

Also, don't make a habit of letting the battery drain completely. That's a good way of shortening the battery's overall lifespan. Make it a rule to start charging at around 30%.

 

[Drill22]

Ok I will try to reset factory but the thing is the 1st time i factory reset (didnt do any backups) the ZenUI Launcher keeps crashing, so i doubt doing another reset and kept it running the ZenUI Launcher for a while without installing another 3rd party app will change anything. About me mentioning when I downloaded Nova Launcher is when the ZenUI launcher was crashing but it still works time to time, so i had access to Google Play Store and download the Nova Launcher. It fixed the issue until the phone crashed causing it to restart and caused this lock screen blinking thing.

 

[B. Diddy]

Are you certain that when you did the first factory reset, you didn't select the option to restore from a previous backup? If you did, then previously installed apps might have started to install automatically, so you might not have had the phone in a completely pristine state for long.

 

[Drill22]

Yup, Im sure i didnt click restore from a previous backup. I had to install the app one by one. when i did the factory reset its stuck on the booting up screen forever so I didnt touched since your reply, until now i tried to boot it up again, its still stuck on the booting screen. So... I dont really know what happened to my phone really.

 

[B. Diddy]

That makes me suspect the firmware is corrupt or the motherboard is failing. I assume the phone is out of warranty, correct? You might just have to bring it to a repair shop.

 

[Drill22]

sorry for the long wait reply again, and about you saying that the firmware is corrupt or motherboard is failing i might say the same thing. about the warranty, I think it is out of warranty since i got this phone when it first came out. but if its motherboard failing or firmware corrupted, i might as well get a new phone

 

[B. Diddy]

Yeah, sorry! You may want to check the forums at XDA-Developers.com or ASUS's own ZenTalk forum to see if it's relatively easy to try reflashing the firmware.

 

[Drill22]

Ok, il try checking the forums! Thanks! and sorry for taking so long for me to reply. Thanks again!