Nexus 4 just went crazy!!

[tpd15]

My Nexus 4 has jsut become possessed! I went to turn the screen on to check for a new email, and it has gone bananas. The screen is flipping back and forth, apps are opening and closing, the camera came on, took a photo, closed, flash stayed on, etc... I am having a hard time even shutting it down, but can eventually manage to get it to give me the Power down / Airplane mode button. Sometimes it responds, sometimes not. If I power it back up again then it goes nuts again.

I had the 4.4.3 update yesterday and it was fine. No new apps today.

Argh!

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks
Toby.

 

[UJ95x]

My Nexus 4 has jsut become possessed! I went to turn the screen on to check for a new email, and it has gone bananas. The screen is flipping back and forth, apps are opening and closing, the camera came on, took a photo, closed, flash stayed on, etc... I am having a hard time even shutting it down, but can eventually manage to get it to give me the Power down / Airplane mode button. Sometimes it responds, sometimes not. If I power it back up again then it goes nuts again.

I had the 4.4.3 update yesterday and it was fine. No new apps today.

Argh!

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks
Toby.

If you manage to turn it off again, boot into recovery and wipe the cache partition. See if that helps

 

[zorak950]

Wipe off your screen first. Then do all the other things if that doesn't work.

 

[tpd15]

I was able to shut it down several times, but haven't yet booted it into recovery mode. I did give the screen a wipe, but that didn't help. It did seem like it was the touchscreen that was going mad, but I guess it could also be anything that controls the touchscreen.

What I did do was get frustrated and whack the screen with my knuckles. Annnd that fixed it. At least so far it's been fine (fingers crossed). What the heck could that be?!

Thanks,
Toby.

 

[UJ95x]

I was able to shut it down several times, but haven't yet booted it into recovery mode. I did give the screen a wipe, but that didn't help. It did seem like it was the touchscreen that was going mad, but I guess it could also be anything that controls the touchscreen.

What I did do was get frustrated and whack the screen with my knuckles. Annnd that fixed it. At least so far it's been fine (fingers crossed). What the heck could that be?!

Thanks,
Toby.

Uhh, that's weird
At least it's working for now...

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[tpd15]

I cleaned the entire device in rubbing alcohol, so it's nice 'n clean now. Still, it's gone crazy a couple of times again today, but not as seriously as yesterday. Each time I whacked the screen and it stopped. Boy, I don't like where this is headed...

 

[booboolala2000]

Rubbing alcohol will ruin your touchscreen. Damp rag is best. With the phone off

Posted via Android Central App

 

[UJ95x]

Rubbing alcohol will ruin your touchscreen. Damp rag is best. With the phone off

Posted via Android Central App

Yeah, rubbing alcohol isn't a good idea for any electronics.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[tpd15]

Well, the screen is glass, the trick is to make sure you don't get the alcohol off the edges or into any crevices. Anyway, given how this thing is behaving, stray IPA is the least of my worries

OK, so it hasn't gone crazy on me today, but it did it a few times yesterday. Then, I rapped it with my knuckles and it stopped.

I have tried booting into recovery mode and wiping the cache. No help. I have removed the few recent apps I added, wiped the cache again, rebooted, no help.

So far and also today there is another issue -- the touchscreen seems like it's not accurately registering my touch location. Typing a message is kinda tough, I have to add some allowance to where my finger should be. This is especially tricky / noticeable when using the long-touch shortcut on the period -- it's impossible to select one of the quick shortcuts, and the menu disappears.

Man, what is happening here?!

 

[zorak950]

For the record, most smartphone displays, including the Nexus 4, aren't just glass: they have a permanent coating over the glass, and substances like alcohol can damage it.

Back to your issue, though, it sounds like your capacitive layer is damaged. You may need to replace some hardware if you want to fix your phone.

 

[tpd15]

Ah, thanks for the screen info, I stand corrected there.

I just did a factory reset of the device, and even during the set-up process I am getting some funny touch behaviour from the screen.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

It definitely sounds like a hardware issue if a simple whack with your knuckles can temporarily solve the problem. Likely you've got some loose connection, and whacking the phone jars things back into place for a little bit. If you don't want to take the phone into a repair shop and see if they can track down the problem, best start looking at new devices. I doubt this problem will improve with time, sadly.

 

[tpd15]

I have already purchased a replacement from eBay -- a used (but mint) Nexus 4. Damn good phone (when they work properly ).

Actually, my original '4 has been better behaved today, only going nuts-o once....

 

[J Qualmann]

I am having problems that sound identical to yours. Also a Nexus 4. I run stock Lollipop. It just updated 2 days ago and now two days later, my screen is going "crazy".

I see this thread is a couple of months old, so I am wondering how you ever resolved the issue.