Home button stopped working

[stavrakits]

Hello, everyone!

I am facing this situation on my Samsung Galaxy S2, which I haven't been able to deal with after a lot of googling:
After updating 8 apps on Android 4.04, the Home Button stopped working. It has no functionality at all, either short- or long-pressed. The problem hasn't been solved after the following actions:
- Updating Andoid to 4.1.2
- Factory data reset

This meant originally no muti-tasking. I am currently dealing with the issue with apps as alternatives to the hard button functionality, which I am mentioning for people that might face the same problem:
- RecentApps for a constant notification icon as a shortcut to Application Manager
- Home Button for a constant notification icon as a shortcut to home screen

My questions:
1) Any suggestions for retrieving the hard button functionality?
2) Does this seem like a hardware issue? Although I am not sure if it has any relevance, I will mention that I dropped the device 2 months ago.
3) Should I send the device to Samsung (it is within warranty, but it has a small mark on the top left corner after the drop)?

Thank you all very much in advance for your help!

 

[undogooder]

It is a hardware issue. I had a similar problem with my Epic 4g Touch. My menu Burton would get hyper twitchy turning on/off. And sometimes the search button would join the fun but not as bad. Searched and searched for an answer, no luck. Then the menu button just up and quit. I was within the year warranty so I called right away. Note that I am on Virgin Mobile but they didn't even ask what was wrong with it and I had a refurbished one in 5 days...(looked brand new with all the stickers still on it!!) and my phone was rooted if that is an issue. They won't care about a little blemish or a big gouge. I know plenty of people with different providers that have returned beat up phones within warranty. I would return right away! Hope this helped.

Sent from my SPH-D710VMUB using Android Central Forums

 

[Lanhoj]

You might want to check out "Pie Control"--> https://forums.androidcentral.com/e.../details?id=jun.ace.piecontrol&token=EQshH38-
It won't fix the hardware problem but it can give you the functionality a different way by assigning "Home" to a gesture.

 

[stavrakits]

Dear undogooder,

Thank you for your answer. I bought it cash a few months ago and I would be very happy, if I could solve the problem myself, rather than getting into the warranty cycle... In any case, thank you once again, I agree with you that it seems like a hardware issue. Any other comments are most welcome!

 

[stavrakits]

Seems useful, thanks! I wish I could solve the hardware issue, though...

 

[cyanogen-man]

Unless you have an electronics repair near you that you trust the only solution is to do a diy kit and take the phone apart and hope you don't screw it up or send it off if it's hardware no app will fix it think of it as a smashed screen you gotta open it up to put new glass in same with this

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Android Central Forums

 

[stavrakits]

Thanks for the reply. Would you suggest cleaning, replacing the key or something else?

 

[cyanogen-man]

Q tip

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Android Central Forums