[killroy420]

So my wife got the Stratosphere on launch, and she has been experience a weird, intermittent problem since about the second week of ownership. The physical keyboard will not type properly, instead certain keys will act like quick launch buttons. For example, q ends up opening a browser. For all of the keys, they get these secondary functions or they don't work at all as they should, until the phone has been reset.

Another issue that happens is the onscreen keyboard loses responsiveness when the above issue happens. It also seems to come back regularly after resets, but we don't know why.

I personally believe this to be a software problem, but is there anything I can do to fix this? Should we just bring it in to Verizon and swap it for a different model? What do you guys think?

[wewantutopia]

Perhaps she is accidentally also hitting another button at the same time (like search with her thumb) triggering an Android Keyboard shortcut

Use keyboard shortcuts to switch between applications in android: | Android Tips & Tricks: Best of all the How to's & Apps.

While it doesn't say q launches the browser, search + b does

[killroy420]

Yeah, I checked that. We weren't hitting multiple buttons, but perhaps a button is getting stuck? I will have to check that out too, cause then it would be a hardware problem...thanks for the idea!

[Dubbman]

My GF had this problem on her droid 2 global and hitting the magnifying glass key turned it off, hasn't happened since.

[rickhamilton620]

I haven't personally had this issue yet, it'll be something to watch for I guess.

[soxfan5]

I've had this problem as well. It doesn't happen very often, but it is quite annoying. Restarting the phone will fix the problem right away, and I've also noticed it will go back to normal if I haven't used the keyboard for a little while. The onscreen keyboard has always worked for me when the hardware keyboard is messed up.

[ekloot]

Yeah, this happened to me the first time today. I was typing a txt and the "e" button kept opening an email setup menu no matter what I did. After that, I went into the keyboard options menu but didn't change anything and everything was normal after exiting. Could be a coincidence though. I've had the phone about a month and this was the first I've seen of this problem. Hopefully it was just a fluke. I definitely wasn't hitting any other buttons by mistake.

[Dubbman]

The search key on the physical keyboard activates the shortcuts. If it happens again try pressing it instead of hoping into settings and such first.

[ekloot]

Yeah, I was thinking about trying that if it happens again. This was the first time the keyboard has done that since I got the phone a month ago so who knows if and when it will happen again.

[northbanker]

Yeah, this happened to me the first time today. I was typing a txt and the "e" button kept opening an email setup menu no matter what I did.

Would make me wonder about a physical key getting stuck. I've had that with PC keyboards and ALT keys over the years. Maybe someone should find out what are the keyboard shortcuts for Android and/or this phone... then see if there's a pattern here? I.e. is there some key that combined with "e" would launch Email Setup menu? If so, perhaps that other key is stuck.

[Dubbman]

This apparently happens with most physical keyboard android phones. Just a little bug in the framework. My GF's hasn't done it since her GB upgrade. Same with her friend who has an Epic 4G on Sprint.

[ekloot]

Northbanker,
If a key was getting stuck and causing it...it would be the "search" key, because holding that key and pressing the "e" opens the email setup thing that I saw. However, I've never pressed that button on the physical keyboard so I don't know how it would have gotten stuck. Something clearly triggers the phone to think that it was being pressed though. Must be some sort of software fluke.

[Dubbman]

It's stuck in the software, not the hardware. Simply pressing the search key when this happens should fix it. Hopefully we'll see ICS and this will be fixed, but I'm not holding my breath.

[rickhamilton620]

It's stuck in the software, not the hardware. Simply pressing the search key when this happens should fix it. Hopefully we'll see ICS and this will be fixed, but I'm not holding my breath.

Just curious, holding your breath on what, official ICS or the bug being fixed?

[northbanker]

Northbanker,
If a key was getting stuck and causing it...it would be the "search" key, because holding that key and pressing the "e" opens the email setup thing that I saw. However, I've never pressed that button on the physical keyboard so I don't know how it would have gotten stuck. Something clearly triggers the phone to think that it was being pressed though. Must be some sort of software fluke.

Apparently that's the best theory... Search key erroneously activated by software bug.

The OP said that pressing "Q" would bring up the browser I think. Can anyone confirm that Search+Q has that designed functionality?

If so, then it adds more ammo to Search being the key. Pun intended.

[ekloot]

No...pressing "search" and "q" doesn't bring up the browser...it just brings up the same screen as if I just pressed the hardware button for "q" by itself. Maybe the original poster was mistaken with it being the "q" button?

[Dubbman]

Just curious, holding your breath on what, official ICS or the bug being fixed?

Official ICS. Verizon hasn't even sent a request for update for our phone to Samsung yet. I guess the Breakout of all things already got the request sent to Pantech. Most of VZW's current Moto phones are getting it due to VZW and Moto being bestest friends for everz. The Charge is only just now getting it's GB update. HTC got a request for the Tbolt from VZW already. I have no idea if VZW even cares about LG.

Honestly, the request for updates VZW sends out are usually staggered and scattered so we may yet see a request before year's end, but I doubt it. If we do see an official update it'll likely be around the time Google releases the next big Android update unless their Update Alliance finally kicks in. Then we could see it by June. I just don't know why this agreement for faster updates isn't moving faster.

[rickhamilton620]

Had it happen today, it's decidedly a software problem, no physical keys were stuck on my Stratosphere. A tap of the search key fixed it.

Official ICS. Verizon hasn't even sent a request for update for our phone to Samsung yet. I guess the Breakout of all things already got the request sent to Pantech. Most of VZW's current Moto phones are getting it due to VZW and Moto being bestest friends for everz. The Charge is only just now getting it's GB update. HTC got a request for the Tbolt from VZW already. I have no idea if VZW even cares about LG.

Honestly, the request for updates VZW sends out are usually staggered and scattered so we may yet see a request before year's end, but I doubt it. If we do see an official update it'll likely be around the time Google releases the next big Android update unless their Update Alliance finally kicks in. Then we could see it by June. I just don't know why this agreement for faster updates isn't moving faster.

True, I'm awaiting the first MR myself to see if it addresses my reboot issue before sending the phone into amazon. I cannot recall how long it took for the Droid 3 to get its first MR update, but I don't think Breakout's gotten a MR yet. Charge got its first MR June 9th, and it came out on April 28th.

Based on that date, we have a ways to go before our first MR, let alone the seemingly strange protracted major OS release window that Samsung's have. (How many Gingerbread Epic, Charge and Fascinate test build leaks have people seen again? :P)

The Android Update Alliance thing has been nothing but talk pretty much besides SonyEricsson's commitment to update the entire 2011 lineup, ditto AT&T's promise to update their 2011 lineup to GB if they launched w/out it. Beyond that there's been no official talk about the Alliance since I/O.

[Dubbman]

I know there's a bit of stuff happening, but it's so damn slow. I know Google was hoping to have this all ironed out by the time ICS released.

Let's look at how Samsung does things:

New big version of Android comes out
Sammy gets it working on their flagship line (GSII in this case) and their mainstay line (GSI)
Once Android boots on the general hardware it usually boots on all the hardware from that line, this way they have a base to start with
Once they get carrier requests for update they take the version of Android for w/e line (GSI in this case) and install TW, then optimize for the phone
Carrier and Sammy go back and forth for about a month or 2 (or more) on issues and fixes
When the carrier is appeased they roll out the OTA

The biggest setback we're gonna see is TW. I mean, how does Sammy go about RUINING the already amazing looking ICS? We'll see in a few months when the OTA's hot for the GSII's.

[rickhamilton620]

I know there's a bit of stuff happening, but it's so damn slow. I know Google was hoping to have this all ironed out by the time ICS released.

Let's look at how Samsung does things:

New big version of Android comes out
Sammy gets it working on their flagship line (GSII in this case) and their mainstay line (GSI)
Once Android boots on the general hardware it usually boots on all the hardware from that line, this way they have a base to start with
Once they get carrier requests for update they take the version of Android for w/e line (GSI in this case) and install TW, then optimize for the phone
Carrier and Sammy go back and forth for about a month or 2 (or more) on issues and fixes
When the carrier is appeased they roll out the OTA

The biggest setback we're gonna see is TW. I mean, how does Sammy go about RUINING the already amazing looking ICS? We'll see in a few months when the OTA's hot for the GSII's.

Yep that timeline sounds like it makes the most sense.

As for TouchWiz, I've always have had a soft spot for it and its one of the reasons why I chose Stratosphere. I'm excited to see what Samsung does because ICS still looks very plain, it's not the dramatic change everyone's making it out to be IMO, but that's just me.

[killroy420]

Apparently that's the best theory... Search key erroneously activated by software bug.

The OP said that pressing "Q" would bring up the browser I think. Can anyone confirm that Search+Q has that designed functionality?

If so, then it adds more ammo to Search being the key. Pun intended.

Sorry, if I cause some confusion...I said the "Q" + search, but I really was just saying that as a random example because I didn't have my wife's phone on me at the time and couldn't remember exactly which key it was. It was in fact the "E" key that jumped to email settings as another poster pointed out. The rest of the keys had their own shortcuts as well (or were deactivated).

I appreciate everyone's responses on this matter. It does seem to be a software bug, as I have carefully inspected the hardware and found no issues. At this point, I am just waiting and wishing for root and a CM9 port. Our experience with the Epic 4g tells me that it is going to be a long wait for official ICS from Samsung...

[KnightCrusader]

Yeah, its a software problem in Android itself, and it happens randomly. It happened to me yesterday, prompting me to reboot.

I used to get the same problem all the time on my Droid 2 running stock Froyo. I wonder if CM7 has this issue or not.... hmmm, I'm gonna check on that.

[ruidoso]

So my wife got the Stratosphere on launch, and she has been experience a weird, intermittent problem since about the second week of ownership. The physical keyboard will not type properly, instead certain keys will act like quick launch buttons. For example, q ends up opening a browser. For all of the keys, they get these secondary functions or they don't work at all as they should, until the phone has been reset.

Another issue that happens is the onscreen keyboard loses responsiveness when the above issue happens. It also seems to come back regularly after resets, but we don't know why.

I personally believe this to be a software problem, but is there anything I can do to fix this? Should we just bring it in to Verizon and swap it for a different model? What do you guys think?

[ruidoso]

I also have this problem, weird, my keyboard started it in my 2nd week. Certain keys act like hotkeys. Today it's e [launches email] & other keys. Last week, it was t & s. Well, it looks like there's no point in turning it in as a warrenty issue, since it's not just me. Today, I didn't reset, I just exited txt mode...later it was fine. It's worst in email. Others' thoughts, pls??

[ruidoso]

The search key on the physical keyboard activates the shortcuts. If it happens again try pressing it instead of hoping into settings and such first.