This is a good troubleshooting step, but there is no reason a problematic app should routinely crash the entire system. I mean, what is this, 1992? Windows? DOS?
Nexus 7 Restarting at random
- Thread starter Triceranuke
- Start date
I think it's hard to avoid the occasional poorly coded app, or the unexpected interaction between two apps--it's a huge, relatively unregulated ecosystem out there. Besides, Windows 8 can still crash due to 3rd party software.
brosko
Well-known member
I've had the 2013-gen Nexus 7 now for maybe 9 months. I keep hoping "the next update" will fix this random crash/reboot problem. But it doesn't. What a pain in the neck. Is this really a rare issue, or is it common? Meaning, I should really try exchanging the hardware?!? The whole system is just very fragile. Some days I run a particular app, and that seems to crash, and bring down the whole tablet. Other days, like now, the tablet was just sitting on my desk, charging, doing nothing. Bam - Reboot. I probably don't even know how often it's doing this! Crazy!
I've never rooted this system. I turned off auto-updates: no difference. I did a complete reset months ago, and have been slow to add apps, since then. No difference. I *think* it's better if I avoid 5GHz WIFI, but that's probably just another shot in the dark. This is my first-ever Android device. Not leaving a good taste in my mouth!
Are you serious? MANY HAVE DONE IT?? This is NUTS! What a lemon!
I would say that the majority of n7's do NOT do this. Mine has only rebooted once in probably 1000 hours of up time however there are a lot of people on several different forums who have went through several n7's before getting a good one. I have even heard a few horror stories of going through 10 or more returns before getting that elusive working one. This is not the norm though. (At least I hope not)
That's why I don't run Windows. Android is Linux, and Linux does not crash like this. Apps should be isolated from each other, and from the core system. A poorly written app could crash all day, on a normal Linux box, and the system itself would keep running for months. Sorry, but my expectations are a little higher. Trying not to mention the "A" brand which also has phones and tablets where I've never had, nor heard of, this issue. This is really embarrassing for Google. They should be proactively contacting me, offering free lemon replacement.
Its unfortunate as others have already stated that this does happen. Without actually sitting there and running log cat reports on the device and getting a better picture of what is going on its a hard call. As said there is I'm sure a fair share of apps that are improperly coded or just don't run nice along side others. We can blame Google or Android for fragmentation and its open platform to any and all developers but then we wouldn't be where we are today either if it was closed source and locked down like other platforms. They have had their share of issues too, its just not as highlighted like Android because everyone right away drops the " open source or fragmentation " line as a reason for problems.
Not sure why the Nexus 7 has had the issues it does, ASUS isn't a slouch by any means and does make a great tablet. Its had its share of issues but they responded with a better version the second time around in the Nexus 2013.
Again without log cats ran, a well knowledgeable developer reviewing them its hard to determine is this fault of hardware or software and some bad luck mixed in...
brosko
Well-known member
Also, gathering info from other threads it seems that the camera app causes the reboots or has something to do with it.
I know for me, the one time it did reboot on me it was when I was trying to take a picture with the stock camera app. The screen just froze for a second or so and then it rebooted.
I know for me, the one time it did reboot on me it was when I was trying to take a picture with the stock camera app. The screen just froze for a second or so and then it rebooted.
Both my iPhone and iPads have hung on me numerous time. This is especially true since the IOS7 update. I am definitely not alone based on the traffic in the iMore forums.
My Debian and Fedora system hang and need to be rebooted every week or so.
The bottom line is every system or application can crash.
Thanks for all the posts and suggestions. Mine still crashes in safe mode, and again after I just removed a bunch of apps, including some that were starting up with some kind of service from boot time, and had no business doing so. (Certain games). I agree it's hard to tell whether hardware/software, but at this point I'm going with hardware. Now to convince some Asus tech weenie of that, and hope I'm under a 1-year warranty?!? :-\
I've also been waiting for this issue to pop up here, but it hasn't: https://support.google.com/nexus/
What are these "log cats" you speak of? I will Google that and turn on whatever logging I can.
I've also been waiting for this issue to pop up here, but it hasn't: https://support.google.com/nexus/
What are these "log cats" you speak of?
I will Google that and turn on whatever logging I can.
Search " Log cat " in Google Play Store. There are many to chose from but they all accomplish the same thing. It runs in the background and documents all processes, actions, etc. that the device is doing every second. A knowledgeable person can read those and see exactly the point of failure and help trace down what is causing it.
You must be fairly hard on your systems. I'm on a PC that I built, running Xubuntu, that I actively use 10 hrs/day. The current uptime is 40 days, and that's no big deal. But when I was first fiddling with, say, different graphics card drivers, sure it'd crash every day. Anyway, yes, ultimately, I agree with you. That's why I didn't send this tablet back, right away. I thought maybe I just had to "get used to" more frequent crashes. Plus, it shipped with the first release of os 4.3, so I figured after an update or two, things would settle down. Now it's on 4.4.2 and this has never gotten any better.
I know Android is a hacker's platform, and I'm fine with that. But, c'mon. This is the Google-branded, "reference" system, as I understand it. And, right, this is the 2nd gen of Nexus 7. I just expected it to be more solid, out of the box. That's all. I now have a logcat grabber going. I'll see where that leads. Thanks again.
SHOULD I root it? Would that help troubleshooting, or anything? I have been waiting, because of this reboot issue, so I could still get full support on that.
Yeah I've certainly crashed it with the camera. Or starting up an already-paired bluetooth keyboard while in the middle of an app. That's almost a guaranteed app crash. Usually not the whole system, though.
What are these "log cats" you speak of?
As applications runs they can log status message. These can be information "In start routine", warnings "could not find xxx, using default", or errors "unable to find xxxx, terminating. Stack dump is : .....". These messages can be picked up via utilities (ex. DDMS) and displayed on an attached computer. This is often useful for debugging.
Since you use Linux you may be familiar with these. The messages formats are similar (sometimes identical) to what you find in /var/log/messages.
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I have this same problem on my 2nd nexus 7 device where it would randomly reboot after updating some google apps and then the launcher failed to open correctly. The fix to this problem is to update the android OS. Somehow the shipped OS is corrupted that prevented me from auto updating it. Had to manually flash a new OS update and the random reboot is gone!
No help. My Nexus 7 started with 4.3.0 and has smoothly updated itself all the way to 4.4.2 currently. This rebooting issue has never gotten any better, or worse. Never seen your issue of launcher failing to open.
Just to report: I was without my tablet for 2.5 weeks. Asus accepted it into their tech department for repair. But they didn't do anything. They reset it and shipped it back. Their only case note is "No display" which makes no sense. Problem persists. Now I'm going even leaner/slower loading only the apps I really use, since it started fresh again. The random reboots seem farther apart, maybe. I'll just join this Windows mentality and shut it down every night. Done!
Just to report: I was without my tablet for 2.5 weeks. Asus accepted it into their tech department for repair. But they didn't do anything. They reset it and shipped it back. Their only case note is "No display" which makes no sense. Problem persists. Now I'm going even leaner/slower loading only the apps I really use, since it started fresh again. The random reboots seem farther apart, maybe. I'll just join this Windows mentality and shut it down every night. Done!
Some people have reported issues with reboots and hangs after using the camera. So if you might see if your issues are related to that.
preppystud
Well-known member
i just sent it for my 4th repair during the last six months.
you may need to send it again for another repair. some people can use this thing for a long time without rebooting.
i used "reboot logger" to record random reboots.
you may need to send it again for another repair. some people can use this thing for a long time without rebooting.
i used "reboot logger" to record random reboots.
Paul...I don't know what mythic pedestal your vision of Linux rests upon, but full blown desktop distros are *plenty* crash-prone. Google should not be proactively ANYthing. That being said maybe you should switch brands from a permanent-beta tablet to something more reliable. Something less.....ASUS.
I bought my 2gen Nexus around Oct. 2013 and it restarts randomly all the time. I have added all the android updates and nothing has made it change. I have tried to reset and have the minimum amount of apps on it, but it crashes with the most simplest use. I can be reading recipes in Chrome and it crashes or in facebook and it crashes. I opened developer mode and sent a couple of crash reports and have never heard back, and until today it reboot when it wants to. :'(
preppystud
Well-known member
yesyjim, you need to send it back for a repair. and you can add the free "reboot logger", it will tell you how many times your tablet restarts, etc.
do it before the one year warranty expires.
do it before the one year warranty expires.
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